Feel overwhelmed when it comes to picking the best fitness tracker for your needs? We compared three of the best so you don’t have to.

By Sabrina Rogers-Anderson

When I tell people I don’t have a wearable, they often look at me like I just fell off a turnip truck. I’m a gym addict and recently completed an intense fitness race - how can I not be tracking my stats?!

The truth is that I’ve been hesitant to add more tech to my life. Do I really need my phone calls to buzz on my wrist or to obsess over how many hours of quality sleep I get? I’ve been worried having so much data at my fingertips will make me obsessive. I definitely have that gene and I’ve worked hard to become a more laidback person.

I’ve also been overwhelmed by the different options on the market. Some of my mates love their Apple Watch while my more hardcore fitness friends swear by Garmin. And now there’s WHOOP too?!

So, I tried out these three popular fitness trackers to see which one I liked most before committing to one. Here they are in no particular price order given that WHOOP is a subscription model.

Apple Watch Series 10

Faced with increasing competition, Apple had to up the ante with its Series 10 watch. It features a shiny new case (plus three titanium options), the biggest and most advanced screen ever, a wide-angle OLED display that makes it brighter and easier to read at an angle, and it’s the thinnest it’s ever been.

The newfangled model is also faster charging, has a better speaker, plays music for the first time and reduces background noise on calls. WatchOS 11 has some cool new features, including sleep apnoea notifications and a Vitals app that tracks key metrics while you sleep.

While I couldn’t compare it to previous models given that I was an Apple Watch virgin, I was impressed by how light it felt on my wrist and how easy it was to use. It tracked all my activities without a hitch and gave me a decent amount of data and insights, but it left me wanting more advanced fitness metrics. I’m not a fan of sleeping with a clunky watch on, so that was a bit annoying.

I was also surprised to find out that the Series 10 battery life is no better than the very first Apple Watch model - 18 hours and it’s a goner. When I took it off to charge it, I worried I wouldn’t be tracking every minute of my daily activity and I might not ‘close my rings’, which made me realise that this gamified feature could easily lead me to become a tad obsessive.

Pros: Biggest screen and thinnest watch ever, better speakers that play music, syncs with everything Apple and WatchOS 11 has useful new health tools. 

Cons: Battery life still sucks.

Price: From $649 (plus a monthly charge from your mobile provider starting at $5 if you want to use it as a phone)

Garmin Venu 3

Garmin started making running watches in the early 2000s and most of its models still prioritise tracking running workouts with top-of-the-line GPS. But the Venu 3 is Garmin’s sport watch/smartwatch hybrid designed for the everyday athlete and it delivers in spades on both fronts.

Compared to the clunky Garmins of yore, the Venu 3 is super stylish. The colourful and super high-res AMOLED screen is smaller than the Apple Watch’s but larger than other Garmin watches, allowing you to easily read incoming texts and browse through huge amounts of data. With 30 preloaded sports apps, including activities for wheelchair users, you can track all the ways you move your body.

The Venu 3 also monitors your energy levels throughout the day, sleep quality, recovery time, skin temperature, breathing, blood oxygen saturation, stress levels and so much more. It analyses all these key metrics to provide you with highly personalised health and workout recommendations. 

You can also take calls, answer texts, listen to music and do all sorts of other smartwatchy things with ease.

I loved the look, functionality and impressive amounts of data and insights generated by the Venu 3. For fitness fanatics like me, the Garmin is a better choice than the Apple Watch.

Pros: Looks and feels great, tracks a vast array of health and fitness metrics, and has all the smartwatch features you need.

Cons: The price tag is up there and it doesn’t have the same advanced training metrics you’ll find on other Garmin watches.

Price: $749 (plus a monthly charge if you want to use it as a phone)

WHOOP 4.0

Let’s make one thing clear: WHOOP isn’t a smartwatch. It doesn't even have a screen - the band simply captures your biometric data from your wrist and sends it to the app on your phone. This might be a deal-breaker for some, but for someone like me who doesn't want to be distracted by constant pings, it’s a huge selling point.

WHOOP’s data and insights are far superior to the other two trackers. By measuring the variation in time between each heartbeat (known as heart rate variability or HRV), the quality of your sleep, your daily behaviours, and your activity and stress levels, WHOOP gives you a Recovery Score between 0 and 100% every morning and suggests a level of activity your body can handle that day. It’s no wonder pro athletes trust WHOOP to give them the most accurate and detailed data on the market to optimise their performance.

The sleek and super-comfortable band comes in an array of materials and colours and is designed to be worn 24/7. You don’t even need to take it off to charge it - simply slip the waterproof, wireless battery pack over your band and voila! 

WHOOP is a subscription service, so you don’t own the band outright. You can pay per month, year or two years (with costs going down the longer you commit) and they’ll send you a band for “free”. They’ll replace it if anything goes wrong and upgrade it whenever a new model comes out.

Pros: Superior metrics and insights, a sleek band with no distracting screen, one month free trial, and free replacements and upgrades.

Cons: Some people hate the screenless model and the subscription service isn’t cheap. 

Price: $44 per month, $379 upfront for one year (equal to $32/month) or $634 upfront for two years (equal to $27/month).