The Best Wearable Technology and Fitness Trackers to Monitor Your Health and Wellness

Learn About The Best Wearable Technology And Fitness Trackers Today!

Introduction

Wearable technology is a term that refers to devices that can be worn on the body or embedded in clothing or accessories, such as smartwatches, fitness trackers, smart glasses, smart patches, and smart clothing. These devices can collect and transmit data about various aspects of the user’s health, fitness, activity, and environment, such as heart rate, blood pressure, calories burned, steps taken, sleep quality, posture, temperature, and air quality.

Related: Technology Ultimate Guide

Wearable technology can have many benefits for the user’s health and wellness, such as:

• Providing real-time feedback and personalized guidance on exercise, nutrition, and lifestyle choices
• Motivating the user to achieve their fitness goals and improve their performance
• Detecting health issues early and alerting the user or their health care provider
• Enhancing the user’s safety and comfort by adjusting to their needs and preferences
• Improving the user’s mental health and well-being by reducing stress, anxiety, and depression

However, not all wearable devices are created equal. Some may have more features, accuracy, reliability, battery life, compatibility, and usability than others. Therefore, it is important to choose the best wearable technology and fitness trackers that suit your needs, goals, preferences, and budget.

In this article, we will review some of the best wearable technology and fitness trackers available in 2023 based on their features, functions, reviews, ratings, and prices. We will also provide some tips on how to use them effectively to monitor your health and wellness.

Best wearables for heart health: Apple Watch Series 8 and Fitbit Charge 5

Heart health is one of the most important aspects of overall health and wellness. According to the World Health Organization¹, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death globally¹, accounting for nearly 18 million deaths in 2020¹. Therefore, it is essential to monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen level, and electrocardiogram (ECG) regularly to prevent or manage heart problems.

Two of the best wearable devices that can help you monitor your heart health are the Apple Watch Series 8² and the Fitbit Charge 5³. Both devices can measure your heart rate continuously throughout the day and night using optical sensors on the back of the device. They can also alert you if your heart rate is too high or too low or if it detects an irregular rhythm that could indicate atrial fibrillation (AFib), a common type of arrhythmia that increases the risk of stroke⁴.

Additionally, both devices can measure your blood oxygen level (SpO2) using red and infrared light sensors on the back of the device. SpO2 is an indicator of how well your body is delivering oxygen to your tissues and organs. A low SpO2 level could indicate hypoxia (low oxygen in the blood) or hypoxemia (low oxygen in the tissues), which could be caused by various conditions such as lung disease, heart disease, anemia, or sleep apnea⁵.

Moreover, both devices can perform an ECG using electrodes on the side or back of the device. An ECG is a test that records the electrical activity of your heart and can detect various types of arrhythmias such as AFib⁶. To perform an ECG with either device, you need to touch your finger to a metal ring on the side or back of the device for 30 seconds while resting your arm on a table. The device will then analyze your heart rhythm and display the results on the screen or on a connected smartphone app.

The Apple Watch Series 8² has some additional features that make it stand out from other wearables for heart health. For example:

• It has a blood pressure sensor that can measure your systolic and diastolic blood pressure using sound waves. Blood pressure is a measure of how hard your blood pushes against your artery walls as it flows through them. High blood pressure (hypertension) can damage your arteries and increase your risk of heart attack, stroke, and other complications⁷.
• It has a fall detection feature that can sense if you have fallen hard and automatically call emergency services if you are unresponsive. Falls are a common cause of injury and death among older adults, especially those with heart problems⁸.
• It has a fitness subscription service called Apple Fitness+ that offers guided workouts tailored to your goals, preferences, and fitness level. The service also integrates with your Apple Watch data to provide real-time feedback, motivation, and encouragement during your workouts.

The Fitbit Charge 5³ also has some unique features that make it a great choice for heart health monitoring. For example:

• It has an electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor that can measure your skin’s response to stress. Stress can affect your heart health by increasing your blood pressure, heart rate, and inflammation⁹. The device can help you track your stress level and provide guided breathing exercises, meditations, and mindfulness sessions to help you relax and cope.
• It has a health metrics dashboard that can show you trends and insights on your heart rate variability (HRV), breathing rate, and skin temperature. HRV is a measure of the variation in time between your heartbeats and reflects how well your nervous system is balancing your body’s needs¹⁰. Breathing rate is the number of breaths you take per minute and reflects how well your respiratory system is functioning¹¹. Skin temperature is the temperature of your skin surface and reflects how your body is regulating its internal temperature¹².
• It has a premium subscription service called Fitbit Premium that offers personalized insights, coaching, and guidance based on your data. The service also gives you access to hundreds of workouts, wellness programs, sleep tools, and nutrition tips to help you improve your health and wellness.

Both devices are compatible with iOS and Android smartphones and have a sleek and stylish design that can be customized with different bands and watch faces. They also have other features such as GPS, sleep tracking, activity tracking, smart notifications, and payment options. The Apple Watch Series 8² costs $399 for the GPS-only model and $499 for the GPS + Cellular model, while the Fitbit Charge 5³ costs $179.95.

Best wearables for fitness and performance: Garmin Forerunner 265 and Wahoo Tickr X

Fitness and performance are also important aspects of health and wellness, especially for athletes, runners, cyclists, and other fitness enthusiasts. To improve your fitness and performance, you need to track various metrics such as distance, speed, pace, cadence, power, calories, and more. You also need to monitor your training load, recovery, and progress to optimize your workouts and avoid overtraining or injury.

Two of the best wearable devices that can help you track your fitness and performance are the Garmin Forerunner 265¹³ and the Wahoo Tickr X¹⁴. Both devices are designed for outdoor workouts such as running, cycling, hiking, swimming, and more. They can measure various metrics using GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer, compass, and other sensors. They can also connect to external sensors such as heart rate monitors, power meters, speed sensors, cadence sensors, and more using Bluetooth or ANT+.

Additionally, both devices can provide advanced training features such as:

• Training plans: Both devices can offer personalized training plans based on your goals, fitness level, and schedule. The plans can adapt to your performance and feedback and guide you through each workout with audio cues, vibrations, or visual prompts.
• Training status: Both devices can assess your current training status based on your recent workouts, recovery, and fitness level. They can tell you if you are undertraining, overtraining, maintaining, or improving your fitness. They can also give you suggestions on how to adjust your training intensity, duration, or frequency to achieve optimal results.
• Training effect: Both devices can measure the impact of each workout on your aerobic and anaerobic fitness. They can tell you how much each workout improves or maintains your VO2 max (the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during exercise) or lactate threshold (the point at which lactic acid accumulates in your muscles faster than it can be cleared). They can also tell you how long it takes for you to recover from each workout.

The Garmin Forerunner 265¹³ has some additional features that make it one of the best wearables for fitness and performance. For example:

• It has a pulse oximeter that can measure your blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) using red and infrared light sensors on the back of the device. SpO2 is an indicator of how well your body is delivering oxygen to your tissues and organs. A low SpO2 level could indicate hypoxia (low oxygen in the blood) or hypoxemia (low oxygen in the tissues), which could impair your performance or cause altitude sickness.
• It has a body battery feature that can estimate your energy level based on your heart rate variability (HRV), stress level, sleep quality, and activity level. Body battery is a scale from 0 to 100 that shows how much energy you have left or how much you need to recharge. It can help you plan your workouts, rest days, and sleep schedule accordingly.
• It has a safety and tracking feature that can send an emergency alert to your contacts or emergency services if you need assistance or if the device detects an incident such as a fall or a crash. It can also share your live location with your contacts or on social media if you want them to follow your progress or join you.

The Wahoo Tickr X¹⁴ also has some unique features that make it one of the best wearables for fitness and performance. For example:

• It has a memory feature that can store up to 50 hours of workout data on the device itself. This means you can use the device without a smartphone or a GPS watch and still record your metrics. You can then sync the data to your smartphone app or other compatible apps later.
• It has a running smoothness feature that can measure your running efficiency and form. It can calculate your ground contact time, vertical oscillation, and cadence using the accelerometer and gyroscope sensors on the device. It can also provide you with audio feedback and coaching tips to help you improve your running smoothness and reduce your risk of injury.
• It has a rep counting feature that can track your reps, sets, time, and calories for various exercises such as push-ups, squats, lunges, and more. It can also recognize the type of exercise you are doing and provide you with audio feedback and coaching tips to help you improve your form and technique.

Both devices are compatible with iOS and Android smartphones and have a durable and waterproof design that can withstand sweat, rain, and swimming. They also have other features such as sleep tracking, smart notifications, music control, and payment options. The Garmin Forerunner 265 costs $299.99, while the Wahoo Tickr X costs $79.99.

Best wearables for sleep quality: Oura Ring and Withings ScanWatch

Sleep quality is another crucial aspect of health and wellness, as it affects your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, adults need about seven to nine hours of sleep per night to function optimally. However, many people suffer from poor sleep quality due to various factors such as stress, noise, light, temperature, or medical conditions.

Two of the best wearable devices that can help you monitor and improve your sleep quality are the Oura Ring and the Withings ScanWatch. Both devices are designed to be worn on your finger or wrist during the night and measure various aspects of your sleep using infrared light sensors, accelerometer, gyroscope, temperature sensor, and other sensors. They can also connect to your smartphone app via Bluetooth to display your sleep data and insights.

Additionally, both devices can provide advanced sleep features such as:

• Sleep stages: Both devices can track your sleep stages throughout the night based on your brain activity, eye movements, and muscle tone. They can tell you how much time you spend in each stage: light sleep, deep sleep, REM sleep, and awake. Sleep stages are important for different functions such as memory consolidation, cellular repair, dreaming, and emotional regulation.
• Sleep score: Both devices can calculate your sleep score based on various factors such as duration, efficiency, continuity, restfulness, and timing. Sleep score is a scale from 0 to 100 that shows how well you slept compared to your personal baseline or optimal range. It can help you evaluate your sleep quality and identify areas of improvement.
• Sleep advice: Both devices can provide you with personalized advice and recommendations based on your sleep data and goals. They can suggest ways to improve your sleep hygiene, environment, routine, and habits. They can also help you set and track your sleep goals and monitor your progress over time.

The Oura Ring has some additional features that make it one of the best wearables for sleep quality. For example:

• It has a body temperature sensor that can measure your skin temperature throughout the night and compare it to your baseline. Body temperature is an indicator of your circadian rhythm (your natural 24-hour cycle of biological processes) and hormonal changes. A change in body temperature could indicate an illness, infection, or pregnancy.
• It has a readiness score that can assess how ready you are for the day ahead based on your sleep quality, activity level, recovery status, and previous night’s data. Readiness score is a scale from 0 to 100 that shows how well you are prepared for physical or mental challenges. It can help you plan your day accordingly.
• It has a meditation feature that can guide you through various breathing exercises, meditations, and mindfulness sessions to help you relax before bed or during the day. Meditation can improve your sleep quality by reducing stress, anxiety, and depression.

The Withings ScanWatch also has some unique features that make it a great choice for sleep quality monitoring. For example:

• It has a respiratory scan feature that can measure your breathing rate, blood oxygen level (SpO2), and heart rate during the night using infrared light sensors on the back of the device. Respiratory scan can detect signs of sleep apnea (a disorder where breathing stops or becomes shallow during sleep) or other respiratory issues.
• It has a smart wake-up feature that can wake you up gently at the best time in your sleep cycle using vibrations or sounds. Smart wake-up can help you feel more refreshed and energized in the morning.
• It has a sleep apnea detection feature that can perform an electrocardiogram (ECG) using electrodes on the side of the device. An ECG is a test that records the electrical activity of your heart and can detect various types of arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation (AFib). AFib is a common type of arrhythmia that increases the risk of stroke and is often associated with sleep apnea.

Both devices are compatible with iOS and Android smartphones and have a sleek and elegant design that can be customized with different colors and materials. They also have other features such as activity tracking, heart health monitoring, smart notifications, and payment options. The Oura Ring costs $299, while the Withings ScanWatch costs $279.95.

Conclusion

Wearable technology and fitness trackers are powerful tools that can help you monitor and improve your health and wellness. By choosing the best devices that suit your needs, goals, preferences, and budget, you can benefit from various features and functions that can provide you with real-time feedback, personalized guidance, motivation, and insights. You can also use them effectively by following some tips such as:

• Wear them consistently and correctly to ensure accurate and reliable data
• Sync them regularly with your smartphone app or other compatible apps to view your data and insights
• Set realistic and specific goals and track your progress over time
• Review your data and insights regularly and make adjustments as needed
• Seek professional advice if you have any health concerns or questions

By doing so, you can optimize your health and wellness outcomes and enjoy a better quality of life.

References

1. World Health Organization, “Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs),” [https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cardiovascular-diseases-(cvds)].
2. Apple, “Apple Watch Series 8,” [https://www.apple.com/apple-watch-series-8/].
3. Fitbit, “Fitbit Charge 5,” [https://www.fitbit.com/global/us/products/trackers/charge5] .
4. Mayo Clinic, “Atrial fibrillation,”

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• Medical News Today, “Blood oxygen level: What is it?” [https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/blood-oxygen-levels] .
• Mayo Clinic, “Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG),” [https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/ekg/about/pac-20384983] .
• Mayo Clinic, “High blood pressure (hypertension),”

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• National Council on Aging, “Falls Prevention Facts,” [https://www.ncoa.org/article/falls-prevention-facts] .
• American Psychological Association, “Stress Effects on the Body,” [https://www.apa.org/topics/stress/body] .
• Harvard Health Publishing, “Heart rate variability: What is it?” [https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/heart-rate-variability-new-way-track-well-2017112212789] .
• Healthline, “Breathing rate: What is it?” [https://www.healthline.com/health/breathing-rate#normal-breathing-rate] .
• Healthline, “Skin temperature: What is it?” [https://www.healthline.com/health/skin-temperature#normal-skin-temperature] .
• Garmin, “Garmin Forerunner 265,” [https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/698833] .
• Wahoo Fitness, “Wahoo Tickr X,”

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1. American Academy of Sleep Medicine, “Healthy Sleep Habits,” [https://aasm.org/resources/factsheets/sleephygiene.pdf] .
2. Oura, “Oura Ring,” [https://ouraring.com/] .
3. Withings, “Withings ScanWatch,” [https://www.withings.com/us/en/scanwatch] .
4. Sleep Foundation, “Sleep stages: What are they?” [https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/stages-of-sleep] .
5. Healthline, “Body temperature: What is it?” [https://www.healthline.com/health/body-temperature#normal-body-temperature] .
6. Mayo Clinic, “Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress,”

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• Mayo Clinic, “Sleep apnea – Symptoms and causes,”

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• Sleep Cycle, “Smart Wake-Up: How to Wake Up Feeling Refreshed Every Morning,”

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• American Heart Association, “Sleep Apnea & Atrial Fibrillation (AFib),”

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