The best Fitbits you can buy

Why you'll love it: The Fitbit Versa is the best-looking smartwatch-style tracker the company has made yet.

If you want a great fitness tracker with a few key smartwatch features, the Fitbit Versa is a great choice. It's the best looking Fitbit smartwatch so far, and it has a nice unisex design that works equally well for men and women.

The Versa tracks your fitness metrics just like every other Fitbit in our guide. It has a built-in heart rate monitor and it uses your phone's GPS to track workouts. It doesn't have standalone GPS like the Ionic, though, so runners who like to leave their phones behind may be disappointed.

As a smartwatch, the Versa isn't as fully featured as the Apple Watch or Android Wear watches, but it has more than enough smart features to keep most people happy — so long as you want a fitness tracker first and a smartwatch second. As a fitness tracker, the Versa is great. It has excellent pre-set workouts you can follow, you can swim with it on, it has a personal coach, tracks your sleep and activity, and you can see how your workout is going in real time for more than 15 types of exercise.

The Versa can hold about 300 downloaded songs and it works with Deezer or Pandora. Unfortunately, other music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music are MIA. Again, this only matters if you leave your phone behind because otherwise, you just play music on your phone. You can also pair wireless headphones to the Versa if you do want to leave your phone behind.

The app and watch face selection is still fairly limited, but hopefully more developers will add apps as time goes on. You can get notifications for texts, calls, and WhatsApp messages on the Versa, which is a nice touch. Sadly, iPhone owners can't reply to messages on the watch, though Android users have the option to reply with a few canned responses.

From a distance, the Versa almost looks like the Apple Watch, but close up, it looks much more like the now-defunct Pebble Time Steel. The screen is more square in shape than the curvy rectangular Apple Watch, but it still looks quite nice if slightly less polished. The Versa is good enough looking that you could easily wear it to work or with a nice outfit, and it looks equally good on men and women.

The case is made out of aluminum and you can get it in silver, rose gold, or black finishes. Each Versa comes with both small and large silicone wristbands in either gray (for silver), black (for black), or pink (for rose gold). There are some special-edition bands, too.

You can also choose to buy additional wristbands made from leather, metal, or silicone. Those come in a variety of fun colors and styles. The only downside is that they cost extra.

I tested the silver Versa with the gray silicone wristband and a special Horween leather wristband. Both options looked great with the Versa, and I liked wearing the leather one for work and other nice occasions. The silicone one is perfect for workouts, yoga, and running because it can handle sweat without being damaged. — Malarie Gokey

Pros: Good fitness tracking, heart rate monitor, uses phone's GPS, notifications, some apps, can choose your watch face, good looking

Cons: Bezel isn't as slim as it could be, few apps, no built-in GPS

Buy the Fitbit Versa from Fitbit for $169.95 (originally $199.95) Shop Classic Versa silicone bands for $29.95 Shop Versa leather bands for $49.95 Shop metal Versa bands for $99.95

Why you'll love it: If you’re looking for a fitness tracker with a super slim, sleek design, but don’t want to give up the ability to track your heart rate, the Fitbit Alta HR is perfect for you.

I tested the Alta HR myself, and I can confidently say that its slim design makes it the best-looking Fitbit I've tried. It's a nice option for women with smaller wrists who want to track activity in style.

While you do give up some more advanced features like being able to track workouts in real time on a larger screen, you still have access to your basic stats like steps, heart rate, and calories burned on the smaller screen. It also has a decent battery life and lasted me almost a week before I had to charge it.

Fitbit offers an impressive number of colors and different styles of bands to choose from with the Alta, so you can easily go from a more casual look to one that’s better suited to going out for the evening. It’s slim design also makes it possible to wear other bracelets on the same wrist. Even by itself, it isn’t overly obvious that you’re wearing a fitness tracker.

If you choose to change up the band, it can be snapped on and off easily. I tested one of the leather bands and was impressed with both the comfort and the quality. The Alta HR comes in three sizes: Small, Large, and Extra Large so you can find your perfect fit.

While it does have plenty of features to offer, this tracker doesn’t have some of the more advanced features found in the Charge 2 or the Ionic. It lacks GPS capabilities and the ability to track workouts in real time. However, it will automatically record activities like running, and workout information can also be logged into the app. If you do want more advanced stats for workouts or specific activities like running or cycling, you won’t find those features here.

It should also be noted that the Alta HR is water and sweat resistant, but not waterproof. This won’t be a tracker that you’ll be showering or swimming with.

Despite some of the features it lacks, this fitness tracker still offers plenty. Steps, heart rate tracking, sleep tracking, and calories burned are all here. The Alta HR will also receive smartphone notifications so you’ll know when you’re getting a text or call.

I was especially glad that the accurate sleep tracking is still present in the Alta HR. I like that you can see specific percentages of the sleep stages you were in, including deep, light, and REM sleep throughout the night, as well as the time spent awake.

As with all other Fitbits, the Alta HR syncs with the Fitbit app, so you can keep all your information in one place and view your progress over time.

The reviews for the Alta HR are positive overall. Users who liked the original Fitbit Alta loved the addition of the heart rate monitor to the original sleek design, and others liked the slim fit for all-day comfort as well as the accurate sleep tracking.

Pros: Ultra-sleek design, comfortable fit, built in heart-rate, accurate sleep tracking, ability to receive smartphone notifications

Cons: Smaller screen, no on-screen workout tracking, no GPS capabilities, not waterproof

Buy the Fitbit Alta HR for $129.95

Why you'll love it: The Fitbit Ionic tracks your daily activity, gives you in-depth workout stats, and real-time coaching, plus, it has smartwatch features.

While it definitely has a place in the smartwatch arena, the Ionic puts fitness tracking first, which isn’t a bad thing if your main priority is to track daily activity and workouts. The smartwatch market is continuing to grow, and with big contenders like Apple dominating the scene, it makes sense that Fitbit released its own version of a smartwatch. I tested the Ionic and was impressed with all the features it offers.

Design wise, the Ionic isn’t the sleekest looking smartwatch out there. It’s angular and bulky — especially on my small wrist. However, despite being on the bulky side, I still found it comfortable to wear throughout the day. People with larger wrists may find it to be the perfect size, too.

Though it does offer in-depth sleep tracking like the Charge 2 and the Alta HR, because of its bigger design I didn’t find it to be the most comfortable thing to wear to bed. I did love it’s bright, full-color display that made it easy to go through all my stats for the day.

Like most of the other Fitbits, the Ionic comes in multiple colors and with multiple strap options that can be easily snapped on and off. The Ionic is also waterproof so swimmers rejoice — you can now track your laps in the pool. It also has a decent multi-day battery life. While testing, it lasted almost 5 days for me before I had to recharge it.

So what does the Ionic do? If you look at it as a stand-alone fitness tracker, it does its job extremely well. It tracks steps, calories burned, and floors climbed. In addition, it offers heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, and has a built-in GPS. I especially appreciated the built-in GPS as a runner. It was nice not to have to take my phone with me on my runs to track distance. The Ionic can also store music.

The Ionic has plenty of tools to improve your workout experience. You can track workouts in real time on the large screen, and get coached through actual workouts on the watch. Three basic workouts are included with the Coach app. It will also automatically sense an exercise or activity if you forget to start the timer for a workout. It’s also compatible with Bluetooth headphones for listening to stored music or coaching cues.

While it does extremely well as a fitness tracker, there is still some work to be done on the smartwatch front. However, if fitness is your focus and you just want the main features a smartwatch offers, you won’t be disappointed. You can receive call, text, and calendar notifications, check the weather, sync additional workouts with Strava (if you have an account), and even make payments with your watch (similar to Apple Pay).

While apps are available, there is currently a limited selection, which will hopefully improve over time. As far as displaying the time goes, there are multiple options for customizing your watch face. One of my favorites was under the Fitbit Labs section, which features a watch with an interactive pet that you “feed” with steps. My Cat Luna, with a cute green-eyed kitty, definitely inspired me to walk a little further each day. The dog lovers won’t be disappointed either as there are dog options, too. Fitbit aims to please everyone with all the different displays to choose from.

While reviews were positive overall, some reviewers would like to see more apps become available for the Ionic, and do complain that the display can be a little slow at times. I had no issues with the display except when working out — I do wish that it would stay on a little longer and react more quickly. Otherwise, I enjoyed working out and running with the Ionic and loved the full-color screen with the interchangeable clock faces.

This reviewer says it best: If your main priority is to have a reliable fitness tracker, with smartwatch features being secondary you’ll be happy with the Ionic. It may not have all the smartwatch features of the Apple Watch, but it goes above and beyond as an advanced fitness tracker.

Pros: Daily activity tracking, built-in GPS, heart-rate monitoring, sleep tracking, waterproof, great workout features, decent battery life, multiple watch faces to choose from, phone notifications

Cons: Bulky design, limited number of apps currently available, display can be slow at times

Buy the Fitbit Ionic for $229.95 (originally $299.95)

Why you'll love it: If you have a young child who has been begging you for a Fitbit, or you’re looking for a simple, sturdy fitness tracker that you don’t have to wear on your wrist, the Fitbit Zip is the device for you.

The Zip is a great basic fitness tracker if you’re just entering the world of wearables, or you have a young kid who’s interested in owning a Fitbit for themselves. Rather than deter them from something that could help them build healthy habits, start them off with the Zip. If it’s you who wants to get in on the Fitness tracker action, but you don’t need something with all the bells and whistles, this device is great for kids and adults alike.

Bonus? If you decide to upgrade to a tracker with more advanced features, it gives you something fun to pass along to younger members of the family to encourage them to be more active.

Out of all the devices Fitbit currently offers, the Zip is the outlier of the bunch when it comes to looks. Rather than being worn on the wrist, it’s designed to be clipped to your clothing, also making it the more discreet looking tracker of the bunch if you don’t feel like wearing it out in plain view.

For such a small tracker, it offers a large tap display so you can easily see your daily stats. These stats can then be synced with your smartphone and stored in the Fitbit app. The Zip offers the least amount of style options, but it does come in two colors: Charcoal and magenta.

It also offers up to 6 months of battery life, so you won’t have to constantly charge it. The inexpensive 3v coin battery is replaceable, so while you won’t have to charge the Zip, you will have to get a new battery when the old one gets low.

As far as features go, it functions mainly as a reliable pedometer. If you’re more interested in tracking your steps throughout the day than having any other fancy features, the Zip will suit you just fine. Its simplicity is also great for kids, who won’t need a lot of the high-tech extras, but will get a kick out of seeing how many steps they can get in a day. However, if you want to keep track of your heart rate and track your sleep, you’ll have to look elsewhere.

In addition to steps, it will also track your distance according to steps taken, as well as the calories you’ve burned. You can also log any exercise in the app, so you can keep track of the workouts you’ve done during the week, and for the month, using the monthly exercise calendar.

The Zip is sweat, rain, and splash proof, but not waterproof, so you won’t want to take this swimming with you. This is the tracker to consider if you’re not 100% sure how you feel about having something wrapped around your wrist for all hours of the day, but you want to give tracking your daily activity a shot without spending a lot of money. Most users find the Zip reliable and accurate, and love its simple design and discreet size.

Fitbit also launched a rebranded version of the Alta called the Fitbit Ace. Because it costs nearly $100, we still recommend the Zip for kids instead.

Pros: Doesn’t need to be worn on the wrist to function, reliable step counting and distance tracking, tracks calories burned, up to 6 months of battery life, wireless syncing to app, relatively affordable

Cons: No heart rate tracking or sleep tracking, not waterproof, limited color and design options

Buy the Fitbit Zip for $59.95