Five years ago, fitness bracelets could only display heart rate, and the number of steps walked during the day. Now they offer a wide range of measurable parameters with high data accuracy and convenient graphs in mobile apps to track changes.
Let us tell you how to choose the best fitness bracelet for 2022. Some even support games, so repeating Dragon Tiger game winning tricks would be a good idea.
What we need fitness bracelets for
Fitness bracelets in recent years have evolved from an exciting but meaningless toy from China to an indispensable gadget for many people. So measuring heart rate, blood oxygen, distance covered, and sleep analysis. These and other indicators are essential for those who monitor their physical condition: the elderly, athletes, and people with health problems.
For example, the Xiaomi Mi Band 2, released in 2016, could count steps and monitor heart rate – at that time, it was already quite a lot. Only the heart rate monitor was disappointing. People complained about the high measurement error: when exercising in the gym with heavy weights, it could show 70 beats per minute. Although usually under such loads, the heart rate reaches an average of 100-120 beats per minute.
Two thousand twenty-two wearable devices still do not have medical certification, and making an official diagnosis based on their readings is impossible. But such bracelets can indicate the possible presence of a disease. For example, the Honor Band 6 can measure oxygen in the blood, which is very relevant today.
There is a more specific way to use fitness trackers. For example, in the mobile application (every manufacturer of wearable devices produces its mobile application for pairing and interacting with a smartphone), you can track the minimum and maximum heart rate dynamics by day, week, and other time intervals. Useful for athletes and people with arrhythmia. Distance traveled, calories burned – the dynamics of these indicators are also tracked in the mobile app at a distance (during the day, week, month). With a fitness tracker, it’s easy to assess how diligent you are in fulfilling your minimum exercise plan.
What parameters to choose the best fitness bracelets in 2022
- Several metrics to measure. In 2022, a fitness tracker should have the ability to measure heart rate, steps, calories, and blood oxygen.
- Workout modes. These determine which metrics the system focuses on first. The best models offer more and more ways, and their number is approaching three digits. In this case, it is essential not so much the number of modes as how easy they are to configure. The same Honor Band 6 automatically recognizes six types of physical activity: running, walking, walking on a treadmill, walking outside, rowing machine, and an elliptical trainer. So start exercising, and the device detects one of the activities – no need to waste time selecting a mode.
- Autonomy. It is the main advantage of the whole segment of fitness bracelets. Fourteen days with a standard load (not in the economy or in any training modes. When your heart rate is not measured 24/7) is the minimum fitness bracelets offer. Imagine you’re going on vacation for just that amount of time. You could charge the bracelet and not take the cord with you. Minus one thread in your bag, plus one free outlet at the hotel, and the fitness tracker is with you and solves the task at hand.
- Screen. In 2022, you will no longer find a model with a monochrome display. Diagonal and color render all models plus or minus at the same level – 1.4 inches, with a matrix type AMOLED (it makes the colors more saturated compared to IPS). At the same time, in 2021 went the trend toward increasing the width of the screen. Thanks to this, Honor Band 6 and Huawei Band 6 became more like smartwatches than fitness bracelets. They are more convenient to consume content – for example, it is more comfortable to read notifications.
The best fitness bracelets in 2022
Digma Force A4 TFT.
Not a wrong way to get acquainted with the world of fitness trackers. The budget bracelet supports many useful functions. Among them – are analysis of sleep quality, heart rate, and pressure measurement, counting calories burned and steps for the day, and the distance traveled.
The compromise is a TFT screen. Its disadvantage is the background of IPS and AMOLED is relatively low brightness and glare on a clear day, complicating its use on the street. But, at the same time, color allows you to navigate the notifications better. For example, the heart rate is displayed in red, the number of steps in green, etc. All in all, a top for its money.
Honor Band 5.
The rating of the best fitness bracelets continues to be revolutionary for its time (2019) model. Yet, even after several years, it is a bargain in terms of price and functionality – one of the few available trackers that measure blood oxygen levels. Another strong point of the device is sleep monitoring with TrueSleep 2.0 technology. The algorithms divide the wearer’s sleep into several periods. Then, after waking up, they analyze the user’s activity and show the rest’s time and quality.
Huawei Health is one of fitness bracelets’ most practical and functional applications. It has conveniently structured good-quality graphs with the dynamics of the indicators. Moreover, you can change the operation and training modes and adjust the sound and vibration.
Honor Band 5 Coral Pink
Another version of the functional bracelet emphasized appearance. The color of the strap is pink, which is rare for a fitness tracker. However, as a rule, their design does not go beyond a strict black, gray or blue color.
Another difference in the strap is a large number of adjustment levels. It makes the bracelet compatible with both children’s and adults’ hands. In addition, the tracker itself repeats the anatomical curve of the hand, making it seem even more ergonomic.
Huawei Band 4e.
Affordable bracelet with many measured indicators: sleep, physical activity, distance traveled, and calories consumed. Their dynamics are displayed in the same Huawei Health application. At the same time, another advantage of the device is its autonomy. The tracker works up to 336 hours, or 14 days in active mode, while the market average is seven days.
The compromise is a black and white screen with a slight diagonal (0.5 inches, although the market average is 1.4).
Jet Sport W-1.
Fitness tracker with a screen like a smartwatch. The main advantage of the round display relative to the classic rectangular – one is increased data, which makes content consumption more comfortable. For example, reading notifications on such a screen is more convenient.
The measured parameters are standard: sleep, heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen level, and the number of steps—autonomy indicator – up to 7 days without recharging, the allowed minimum.
Honor Band 6.
The same bracelet took fitness trackers to a new level. It received a widescreen, so it became easier to interact with the interface: it is more convenient to monitor physical activity data and notifications.
In terms of functionality, the device can be called a barometer of quality, which should be equal to the best smart bracelets. Six training modes are defined automatically, with all the necessary physical activity parameters (heart rate, pressure, steps, distance, blood oxygen). All in all, the optimal set of features for a fitness tracker in 2022.
