Resolved to improve fitness, lose weight? Win with these wearables

Marc Saltzman, Special to USA TODAY Published 7:00 a.m. ET Jan. 5, 2020 | Updated 10:23 a.m. ET Jan. 5, 2020

With the start of a new year perhaps you’re resolved to improve yourself.

If one of your goals to lose weight â€" especially after an indulgent holiday season â€" or to improve fitness, relatively inexpensive activity trackers might give you the support and the kick in the pants you need to get moving.

These fitness bands count your steps, stairs climbed, total distance traveled, and estimated calories burned. Many can also monitor your heart rate â€" measured in beats per minute â€" and capture sleep information, too. Most of these devices show you data on a small screen, as well as on a companion app on your smartphone, for a deeper dive into the information.

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Apple Watch Series 3 (from $199) is a smartwatch packed with fitness features including Siri voice support. (Photo: Apple Inc.)

Smartwatches can also capture exercise data, of course, and do much more. Starting at about $80 for an activity tracker and about $200 for a smartwatch, it’s a good time to invest in one today â€" with recommended features to look for highlighted below â€" but you can also expect this space to mature over the coming years. 

“The biggest impact on the fitness tracker and wearable market will be the launching of 5G technologies,” predicts Alex Paskoff, senior vice president and managing director of mobility at Ingram Micro Commerce & Lifecycle Services, the world’s largest distributor of tech products. “Wearables will be able to capture and process rich data in real-time with nearly zero latency.” 

Paskoff cites an industry report by Tractica, which predicts the wearable device market is expected to nearly quadruple by 2022 to 430 million units worldwide. In a separate report, research and consulting firm GlobalData forecasts global wearable technology revenues to more grow from nearly $23 billion in 2018 to $54 billion by 2023.

This â€œremarkable growth,” Paskoff said, may also fuel health applications, and not just fitness ones. “Real-time data connectivity will enable wearable devices to capture patient data, allowing physicians to remotely deliver a diagnosis," he said.

“If patients can provide their vital signs remotely, such as blood pressure and heart rate, healthcare costs should be lower for patients and healthcare providers alike,” Paskoff said. “Billions of dollars could be cut from the ecosystem.”

•Comfort and style: Even if your fitness device has a long laundry list of features, you’re not going to want to wear it if it doesn’t look good or isn’t comfortable (or both). If you’re buying one at retail, try it on first. See how it feels. Do you like the design? Is the display large enough to read comfortably? Does it let you change clock faces to suit your style? Is there support for multiple bands, in case you want a colorful silicone one for sweating while working out but a leather or stainless-steel option for going out on the town?

•GPS and automatic exercise recognition: Some activity trackers, like the Fitbit Inspire HR ($79) can automatically recognize workouts â€" such as walks, runs, swims, bike rides, yoga, and more â€" and segregate them for you in the Fitbit app. You can often set a goal per workout and get real-time stats on your exercise.

If your fitness tracker or smartwatch does not have a built-in GPS chip, many still show you speed and mileage info via your phone’s GPS (when it's nearby). If GPS is important to you, you might want to consider a smartwatch, like Apple Watch Series 3 (from $199), over an activity tracker.

The Fitbit Versa 2 ($179) is more of a smartwatch than a straightforward activity tracker. (Photo: Fitbit, Inc.)

•Notifications, voice support: While it costs a little more for activity trackers to show you smartphone notifications on your wrist â€"such as who’s calling, texting, calendar appointments and more â€" it’s a nice feature to have since you can glance down while exercising to glean some information (though most require your smartphone to be nearby). Some may also show you weather info, social media posts, and music (which you can control remotely or even store on the device itself). The Fitbit Versa 2 ($179) also includes built-in Amazon Alexa voice support.

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Garmin’s vívosmart 4 Activity Tracker + Heart Rate ($99). (Photo: Garmin Ltd.)

•Battery life, waterproof: While not the sexiest of features, battery life is important so you don’t have to remember to charge it every night â€" not to mention it could be frustrating if the tracker dies during a workout. Samsung’s Galaxy Fit Activity Tracker + Heart Rate ($79) doesn’t offer advanced features but has an attractive full color AMOLED display and offers a week of battery life between charges.

Garmin’s vívosmart 4 Activity Tracker + Heart Rate ($99) is another seven-day workhorse (excluding sleep tracking) and is safe for swimming and showering, too. A waterproof tracker is important if you want to capture your swimming data or often jog in the rain. Read what the device is capable of before you buy. The Fitbit Versa 2 is water resistant to 50 meters. 

Other features that might be important to you include community support (as extra motivation, perhaps), advanced sleep analysis and reports, guided breathing sessions, and the ability to load up a credit or debit card and tap your device to buy something at retail.

Follow Marc on Twitter: @marc_saltzman. Email him or subscribe to his Tech It Out podcast at www.marcsaltzman.com.

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