This post is part ofFind Your Fit Tech, Lifehacker’s fitness wearables buying guide.
Here are my picks for the best of this category.
Neither has a screen for you to look at.
They merely gather data and present their conclusions in a smartphone app.
They also arent (necessarily) worn on the wrist.
Thats great news for people who want something minimalist and distraction-free.
But thats not everyone.
Here are the questions to ask yourself when youre shopping around.
Do you want a sleep tracker, or a smartwatch that can track sleep?
Most general-purpose smartwatches can do adequate sleep tracking.
You may find the watch youreallywant in one of those categories.
Are you OK with paying for a subscription?
My two top picks both require a subscription to make the most of your data.
Do you need accurate activity tracking?
But that means that when it added activity tracking later on…well, its not great.
Its better than I would have expected, to be sure.
But it would definitely not be my choice for tracking exercise.
Whoop does a better job than Oura, but it still has its issues.
Thats a pretty big margin of error.
If you hate wearing wristwatches and dont really care about activity tracking, this is the unit for you.
Both can tell you something about your stress and fatigue levels.
On the flip side, RHR can lower over time as you improve your cardio fitness.
The sleep score gives you an idea of how long and how well you slept.
The readiness score is highest when youre under the least stress (low RHR, high HRV).
ButI find these scores less useful than the raw data theyre built on.
An Oura ring without a subscriptiononlyprovides these scores in the app, without the raw data.
The hardware alone is not worth it.
The ring is chunky enough to interfere with your grip and dig into your skin.
You wont be able to do your best lifts while youre wearing it.
And if you care about the rings appearance, lifting weights will definitely scratch it up.
I lift a lot, so I leave my ring on the charger when I head to the gym.
(Ineverstick with a wearable that long.)
Two generations of the Oura ring are currently being sold.
If youre happy to strap a gadget to your wrist, greatthats the easiest way to wear a Whoop.
One of Whoops characteristic features is that it’s possible for you to wear it 24/7.
Instead of plugging it in to charge, there is a little detachable battery that you plug in.
When its fully charged, the indicator light will change colors and you could slide it off.
(If you really want the most accurate heart rate, youll want toget a chest strapanyway.)
The app models sleep and activitywhich it calls Strainas two sides of the same coin.
Other colors and styles cost extra, and you get free hardware upgrades when a new model comes out.
The non-athletes I know tend to love the Body Battery.
Like Whoops approach, this sees exercise and sleep as sort of opposite forces.
It will drain as you exercise, or if youre under a lot of stress.
Sleeping fills it back up again.
you’ve got the option to get some or all of these features on almost any Garmin watch.
But if youd like to buy a new smartwatchjustfor sleep tracking, Id suggest the Garmin Venu 3.
It also has skin temperature sensing, which not all Garmins do.
