12 best activity trackers and fitness watches for 2025, tried and tested

Score: 91/100

With a sleek Apple-esque design, a lengthy 10-day battery life and advanced sleep, fitness and health tracking capabilities, there’s lots to love about our experts' (joint) top-rated tracker from Huawei.

The iOS and Android-compatible wearable is ultra lightweight with an elegant design and a scratch-resistant AMOLED sapphire glass screen for ultimate durability. Our fitness pro praised how comfy it was to wear – they barely noticed they had it on – and said the bright, responsive screen was easy to swipe around mid-activity.

Powered by Huawei’s TruSense tracking system, the watch delivers medical-grade ECG readings and sleep apnoea detection, along with stress monitoring, resting heart rate, blood oxygen levels, body temperature data and more. Fitness-wise, you get dual-frequency GPS, plenty of sports modes (from hiking to water sports), exercise form analysis and recovery recommendations. Our expert confirmed the GPS, heart rate and sleep data were extremely accurate, and they liked the user-friendly Huawei Health app for reviewing their progress.

Unlike many smartwatches, the battery life is impressive at 10 days, and takes just 60 minutes to refuel, so you don't have to worry about daily charging. It lacks contactless payments and syncing with third-party apps is limited, but they may not be dealbreakers.

Score: 91/100

The Apple Watch 10 boasts an array of exciting new features, including a larger, brighter screen, a more powerful processor and enhanced health sensors.

Our expert praised the design, which is slimmer and lighter than the Series 9, saying it felt extremely comfortable to wear for hours on end. They found the GPS accurate in both cities and forests, and the heart rate and blood oxygen level readings were also spot on when tested against third-party devices.

In terms of health and fitness tracking, there’s the Vitals app, which monitors five key metrics overnight (including heart rate, sleep duration and wrist temperature) and lets you know if there are any deviations from the norm. It also provides FDA-approved sleep apnea detection and a training load score to help you gauge if you’re exercising at the right intensity and frequency.

The battery life is still a little disappointing, but the Series 10 does offer faster charging, promising an 80% charge in just 30 minutes. For dedicated Apple users, it offers a seamless smartwatch experience like no other. It’s slick, responsive and its cellular tech means you can pretty much run your life from your wrist.

If you're particularly outdoorsy and your budget stretches, it's worth considering the Apple Watch Ultra 2, which scored 96/100 in our tests. It boasts highly accurate dual GPS, downloadable maps and even a water temperature detector.

Score: 87/100

Seen on the wrists of top athletes and celebrities including Michael Phelps, Vogue Williams and even Price William, Whoop is one of the hottest wearables on the market.

It uses a subscription model, with three membership tiers to choose from, starting with the basic Whoop One plan at £169 per year. This includes a knitted band, wired charger and in-depth health monitoring that tracks heart rate, blood oxygen levels, skin temperature and more.

In the user-friendly Whoop app, you’re presented with daily scores based on three key areas: sleep, strain (how much physical stress you’re putting your body under) and recovery (how prepared your body is to perform). Our expert found the data was accurate and easy to interpret. They also appreciated the holistic recommendations – Whoop will analyse your stats and provide personalised insights to help you build healthier habits.

It has an unobtrusive, screen-free design, making it a good choice if you don’t want endless notifications flashing up while you’re trying to get on with your day. According to our expert, the device is lightweight, and the fabric band is supremely comfy – you'll barely notice you have it on. It can last up to 14 days (14!) on a full charge, and has a handy wireless power pack, so you never have to worry about forgetting to charge it.

For fancier features like stress monitoring and a ‘pace of ageing’ estimate, opt for Whoop Peak, the mid-level tier that costs £229 per year. The top-tier plan, Whoop Life, comes in at £349 per year and includes a Whoop MG (which stands for medical grade) band with ECG capabilities, irregular heart rhythm notifications and even blood pressure estimates.

Score: 86/100

With Olympian brand ambassadors Eliud Kipchoge and Eilish McColgan, we had high hopes when the Coros Pace 3 arrived in our lab, and it didn’t disappoint.

The lightweight, comfy watch is brimming with features found on pricier models. We’re talking dual-frequency GPS for greater accuracy, custom routes and turn-by-turn navigation, plus exceptional battery life — over two weeks of normal daily use and up to 38 hours of GPS time.

Our expert was impressed with the breadth of data available on the watch itself and via the user-friendly Coros app. Here, you can find a breakdown of your exercise performance, training load, sleep and recovery, with easy-to-interpret colour-coded graphs. It even measures your heart rate variability (the time between each heartbeat), highlighting any deviations from the norm and identifying when you need to take it easy.

There are built-in training plans and workouts, as well as the option to connect to third-party apps like Strava and Apple Health. Though it stands out for its running and cycling features, there are countless sports modes to choose from, including swimming, strength training and hiking.

We liked navigating the menu using the touchscreen or buttons on the side, however we found the screen a tad dull. While it does offer music support for phone-free exercising, music must be downloaded onto the watch via MP3 files – you can’t use apps like Spotify. It’s also worth noting that the strap feels a tad basic and plasticky, but that was our only major quibble.

Score: 86/100

Android users looking for a sleek, feature-packed fitness watch should consider Google’s third-generation model. It looks more like a classic timepiece than a tracker, with a glossy pebble-shaped face and subtle silicone strap.

Our expert praised the crystal-clear, responsive AMOLED display and rated the smooth digital crown for scrolling through apps. On that note, you can access all Google services, including Gmail, Calendar, Google Maps and Google Assistant, from your wrist.

Along with 40 workout modes, sleep stages and menstrual health tracking, there’s a ‘Morning Brief’ that provides a daily health overview, personalised running recommendations and ECG readings. You do need a premium Fitbit subscription (you get six months included with the device, then it’s £7.99 a month) to unlock extras like mindfulness sessions, workout videos and more, though.

Its safety features are impressive, with fall detection, SOS calls and loss of pulse detection – if your heart stops beating, it alerts emergency services and people around you. The battery life isn't the best, but it's better than the previous model, stretching up to 36 hours in battery-saving mode.

Read our editor's full Google Pixel Watch 3 review.

Score: 83/100

A fitness watch isn’t just about functionality – you want something that will look good too. Enter this attractive Huawei model, which has an elegant pendant design, a sleek strap and over 25,000 watch faces to choose from.

Aesthetics aside, the iOs and Android-compatible wearable is brimming with features to help you reach your health and fitness goals. It offers everything from workout modes (no fewer than 100), heart rate monitoring and SpO2 readings, to in-depth sleep analysis, stress management and exercise plans. It also has smart menstrual cycle and fertility tracking, with personalised predictions based on physiological indicators such as body temperature and breathing rate.

The huge 14-day battery life means you don’t have to carry a charger around with you, the AMOLED screen is crystal clear, responsive and easy to read on the move, and the Huawei Health app is a pleasure to navigate and use. Its GPS also proved extremely accurate during testing.

Third-party app support is limited – Google Maps, Spotify and Apple Pay are a no-go – but that may or may not bother you.

Score: 83/100

A departure from Garmin’s traditional rugged style, the Vivomove Trend is part of the brand’s hybrid collection – combining classic analogue style with smartwatch functionality – and we’re big fans.

Design-wise, the watch is petite and lightweight, it felt comfy to wear and, best of all, it has a hidden touchscreen – just flick your wrist or tap the screen to watch the ticking hands move away so you can see your stats and smart notifications.

The display, which is bright and easy to read, reveals metrics such as heart rate, step count, sleep, stress and blood oxygen levels, and you can access additional features via the Garmin Connect App, including menstrual cycle, hydration and respiration tracking. It also comes with all your usual workout modes, including cardio, strength training, cycling, swimming and running. Just note that it doesn’t have built-in GPS, so you’ll have to tuck your phone into your pocket for GPS support. We would have liked to see more data on the in-workout screen, but you easily review these in the app after your session.

The Vivomove Trend is the very first Garmin model to offer wireless charging – no need to scramble around looking for a lead – plus a quick 15-minute charge will give you up to 24 hours of battery.

If you’re after a stylish office-to-gym model, this is your perfect match.

Score: 82/100

The Samsung Watch 7 isn’t reinventing the wheel, but there are some exciting new features that make it a worthwhile buy. We’re talking AI-powered wellness tools, precise dual-band GPS and an upgraded BioActive sensor for more detailed sleep tracking. It’s even FDA authorised for sleep apnea detection, and it provides a useful ‘energy score’, which analyses your metrics to rate your physical and mental readiness for the day.

Our expert said the sleek circular design was a pleasure to wear and surprisingly innovative to use. They particularly liked the ‘double-pinch gesture’, which allows you to control it one-handed – ideal when your hands are full and you’re on the go.

It proved extremely accurate when it came to activity tracking, sleep monitoring and health insights, including heart rate and blood oxygen levels, plus the GPS worked well in both built-up areas and shady forests.

Like many smartwatches, the battery life isn’t the best – our expert found it lasted around a day when tracking their workouts and sleep – but when you consider the super AMOLED touchscreen, speedy processor and in-depth health and fitness tracking capabilities, it’s a winner for dedicated Samsung users.

Score: 82/100

This sleek and stylish fitness tracker pairs precision and performance with simplicity, proving surprisingly easy to set up thanks to its clear instructions.

The GPS tracking was accurate and it provided a detailed breakdown of our heart rate zones during exercise - our favourite feature - showing our work rate in each session. It is very similar to the original Polar Ignite, but the brand says the Ignite 2 has a slightly longer battery life in training mode. Like the original, it can track an impressive 130 different activities, but we found it often didn’t detect when we started exercising.

The watch itself feels lightweight to wear and the comfortable rubber strap didn’t rub at all during workouts. However, the touch screen can be difficult to see while running. It also wasn’t very responsive, sometimes lagging behind or failing to recognise our commands.

Score: 80/100

Not your bog-standard smartwatch, Huawei’s Watch D is the first of its kind to provide 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (AMBP). It captures blood pressure fluctuations throughout the day and can take readings overnight almost silently, without disturbing sleep. An extremely convenient alternative to traditional cuffs, which are noisy and bulky, it can help detect signs of hypertension and highlight fluctuations that may need medical attention. Clever, huh?

Beyond cutting-edge blood pressure monitoring, our expert liked the Health Glance feature, which reveals six key health metrics – including heart rate, blood oxygen, stress levels, skin temperature, breathing awareness and sleep monitoring – with a single tap. There are no less than 80 different activity modes to track your exercise along with on-board GPS, which our expert found to be accurate.

Though on the bulkier side, the large, AMOLED screen allows for enhanced readability and the strap is soft and comfortable to wear throughout the night. Other plus points include the lengthy battery life (up to six days), calling capabilities and the ability to share health data with friends and family via the Huawei Health app.

If you want to take control of your wellbeing and work on your long-term health outcomes, then this innovative offering is seriously worth considering.

Score: 77/100

When it comes to value for money, this fuss-free design is hard to beat. For under £70, you get over 120 workout modes (with automatic detection for seven activities), built-in GPS, continuous heart rate monitoring and blood oxygen readings, as well as in-depth sleep, stress and menstrual cycle tracking.

The Bip 5 also has third party integration with apps such as Apple Health and Strava and includes basic smart functions like email notifications, alarms, to-do lists and weather reports. There’s no contactless payments or streaming apps, but you can take calls from your wrist.

Our tester was really impressed with the sleek tracker, praising the clear, responsive touchscreen and lightweight design. It wasn’t bulky and didn’t get in the way during workouts. It scored highly for accuracy in terms of step count, distance, heart rate and SP02 readings, and the accompanying Zepp app was easy to set up and use.

Admittedly, the Bip 3 Pro doesn’t feel quite as premium as the more expensive models on this list, and it lacks some bells and whistles, but that’s hardly a dealbreaker given the price.

Score: 74/100

The Fitbit Sense 2 stands out from the crowd for its wellbeing and stress tracking functionality. It has a continuous cEDA sensor, which tracks electrodermal activity in your skin and will ping you when it senses your body is under stress. Our tester raved about the mindful breathing sessions, daily stress management scores and the option to log your feelings, saying they were more mindful of their mental health when wearing the watch.

It also monitors your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, skin temperature and sleep, using the data to provide a ‘daily readiness score’ that lets you know whether your body can handle intense exercise, or if you should prioritise rest. If you are ready to push yourself, there are 41 exercise modes, from yoga to gymnastics, with detailed data screens and heart rate zone tracking. We particularly liked the active zone minutes, which tell you when you’ve reached your weekly goal.

Though it has a built-in microphone and speakers so you can make and receive calls, you can’t access any third-party apps, there’s no music playback or WiFi, and you can’t use Google Assistant. On the plus side, you get up to six days of battery life on a single charge and there’s a fast-charge feature.