Recently, there is a huge increase in the trendy smartwatches and fitness trackers people have wrapped around their wrists. If you want to buy one for yourself, consider it one of the best decisions you will make.
How Do Fitness Trackers Work
Fitness trackers like Fitbit or the Apple Watch series work by using motion sensors and special technology that enables these devices to monitor your body’s movements. So, whether you are running, walking, or standing still, the motion sensor records these movements and uses the data to make further suggestions. So, if you are walking, the tracker counts how many steps you have taken or how many stairs you have climbed and uses the data to calculate your burnt calories during this walking session.
Different records imply different things for each person. This is because these trackers require you to add specific information and details about yourself, including your weight and height.
Some trackers also let women add in the details for their menstruation cycle to use these to count the days in their cycle and track symptoms and conditions they face.
While counting the steps you take, you can also use GPS technology to measure the distance and miles you walked. This is ideal for people who want to track their training sessions and have a weight loss or fitness goal.
Other than just walking and counting steps, advanced trackers can also do the following:
- Monitor your sleep
- Count your steps
- Monitor your heart rate
- Counting calories
- Have voice assistants
- Sync with your phone for quick notifications
How To Choose The Best Fitness Trackers
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Size
Like with any type of watch or wrist accessory, you need to consider the size of the tracker as well. If it’s too big, it will be heavy and uncomfortable on your wrist. This might hinder your comfort and cause demotivation for you, and you might not enjoy wearing it. Plus, for people with smaller wrists, a tracker with a big round dial is inconvenient. For this purpose, Fitbit watches, and fitness trackers are ideal since many of the products in the series have a slim-trim, sleek-looking dial.
Meanwhile, you also need to consider whether or not the wrist band is adjustable and how adjustable it is. Is it interchangeable with other designs of wrist bands? Apple watch series have all adjustable and changeable straps. This makes the trackers more good looking, so you can wear them with your outfits on various occasions.
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Type of sensor
Advanced technology has allowed high-quality sensors to be tiny in size and fit in these fitness trackers. These sensors record your physical movement and health to provide you with valuable data. However, there are more than just anyone kind of sensor. Look for either of these or a combination of these sensors with different functions:
- Accelerometer – senses your motion direction and speed on three axis
- Gyroscope – senses rotation
- Altimeter – senses climbing movements
- Temperature sensors- for your body temp
- Optical sensor – for measuring heart rate
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Battery life
Of course, these gadgets are all wireless and need charging. While we are always equipped with electricity and now even portable or wireless chargers, recharging can still be a huge load of responsibility and a worry, especially if you are on the go. For this reason, don’t settle for a fitness tracker that doesn’t have good battery life. The battery life is often mentioned in the product’s specs, so it shouldn’t be difficult to consider this factor.
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Display
Other than the “dial” of the tracker and its size, see how readable and clear the display is. Is the size of the display too small? Are the text and other information on the display too compressed and uneasy to read? Plus, most of the latest technology has touch displays. If the display is too congested, the whole experience can go down the drain. The colors and clarity of the display are also equally important.
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Do you need GPS?
The GPS feature helps track the distance and miles you have run or walked. This can be essential for pro athletes or people who are training for a specific goal. However, you may need an internet connection for this feature to work. But that shouldn’t be a problem because these days you will find the internet widely spread across cities, urban areas and even rural internet.
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Waterproof and durability
When it comes to fitness and physical activity, swimming is one thing that many people consider taking up as a new hobby. Swimming is excellent for your health and is fun as well. Many athletes and professionals use fitness trackers and wear these while swimming to track their fitness, such as heart rate and calories burnt during swimming. For this to happen, the tracker needs to be waterproof.
Other indicators of a good and durable build include dust-proof construction, rust-resistant straps, and so on.
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Voice assistant?
Like the Apple Watch, fitness trackers of different kinds have voice assistants in them. For Apple, there is Siri. Alexa is also a good voice assistant that can be found in Fitbit trackers. While voice assistants are not necessarily essential and do add up to the cost of the gadget, they are pretty handy when it comes to doing small tasks like playing or pausing music, reading a message, and much more.
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Device compatibility
You should check out whether or not the gadget is compatible with your mobile and devices. This is because by syncing these devices, you can access your data from anywhere and everywhere, have the same accounts running on all devices, so you can also avail yourself features like view messages on your watch and check fitness data on your mobile screen. However, for the data to sync, you need a stable internet connection. You can check out internet packages from various ISPs at buytvinternetphone, so you have internet while on the go as well.
Conclusion
Technology has obviously changed our lives tremendously. Smartwatches and fitness trackers have highly advanced and powerful sensors in them that let us monitor our health closely. This increases independence and self-awareness for the users!
