Best Activity Monitor – Guide and Review
Do you ever wonder just how many calories you burn each day? Do you have fitness goals but have no idea if you’re achieving them? You need an activity monitor. An activity monitor is a watch-like device that tracks your body’s movements each day to give you valuable information like step count and calories burned.
If you think an activity monitor is something you need, read on! I spent hours researching the best activity monitors available for sale on the internet today, and narrowed the list down to the five best ones. Here are the five finalists, including a short review of each one:
Recommended Product Reviews
1. EFOSHM Wireless Activity Sleep Monitor Pedometer
This fitness tracker from EFOSHM has lots of features like a Fitbit, but it only costs a fraction of the price. You can get it in black, blue, or red.
Fitness Data
Like most activity monitors, this one will count each step you take during the day, total distance traveled, and calculate how many calories you burn based on your activity level. It also has a sedentary reminder that tells you when you’ve been still for too long, so you get up and moving. This fitness bracelet also monitors your sleep patterns at night, which is another important part of your overall health.
Compatibility
You can sync all the data your activity monitor collects with your phone or tablet with the free Zeroner app. The app and bracelet are compatible with all iPhones 4S and up, Android devices 4.3 or newer, and it requires Bluetooth 4.0 or newer. Syncing your activity monitor to the fitness app is a great way to keep track of your progress towards your short and long-term fitness goals, plus you can share your victories with your friends.
The Extras
Here are a few of the advanced features that you get with the EFOSHM activity monitor:
Gesture Control – To activate your bracelet when it’s dark, just rotate your wrist 90 degrees.
Camera Remote Control – Operate the camera on your phone with your new fitness bracelet. The selfie possibilities are endless.
Voice Control – Using your Bluetooth or other hands-free device, you can control your phone’s functions using only your voice.
For an activity monitor that does all the basics well in addition to some pretty advanced features, this is a great selection.
2. EFOSHM K5 Plus Wireless Activity and Sleep Monitor
The K5 from EFOSHM is another fine choice if you want all the features with none of the price. It comes in black, blue, or pink.
Compatibility
The K5 can be synced to your mobile device and the data can be merged onto the Zeroner fitness app available at the App Store and Google Play.
It works with all Android devices 4.3 and newer, or iOS devices with 8.0 software. Bluetooth 4.0 is also required for proper operation. With your free fitness app, you can now keep track of your fitness goals!
Fitness Data
With the K5 activity monitor, you get all the data you need to track your activity throughout the day. It counts the total number of steps you’ve taken today, how many calories you’ve burned, and the total distance you’ve traveled.
It also times how much sleep you get each night, and total amount of light and deep sleep. With the K5, you’ll never have to wonder how far you walked today.
More great features
If you have trouble waking up to your alarm clock, you’re going to love this fitness bracelet. You can set it to wake you up in the morning with a gentle vibration on your wrist.
If you’re sitting down for too long, it will also remind you that you need to get up and moving. Other reminders include phone calls missed, and incoming text messages, including the caller or sender.
The K5 works with your phone so you’ll always be connected. If you’ve been looking for an activity monitor that comes in pink, you can’t go wrong by selecting this full-featured model.
3. Garmin vivofit Fitness Band
This activity monitor from Garmin is a little better quality and has some features that set it apart.
You can buy it in black, blue, purple, red, grey, or green, but aftermarket bands are also available for purchase in any color imaginable.
Batteries
Most activity monitors use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries that need to be constantly recharged. Not so with the vivofit band. Garmin uses two standard watch batteries to power this device, which gives you a full year of use worry-free. This is a great feature that most people can really appreciate.
Wear it 24/7
The vivofit fitness band is extremely comfortable, so you might not want to take it off. Well that’s ok, because you don’t have to. It’s water resistant, so you can shower with it on or wear it jogging in the rain without any issues. Durable construction and water resistance make the vivofit stand out in a sea of similar products.
Data
The vivofit band will keep track of your calories burned each day based upon your metabolic rate. It learns your normal activity level and then gradually increases activity each day.
It also tracks the quantity and quality of your sleep each night, so you can see how you’re performing when you rest. The move bar lets you know when you’ve been still for too long and need to get up and moving, and your steps and distance are tracked as well each day.
All of this data can be synced to your computer or mobile device using the Garmin Connect app, so you can improve your wellness each and every day.
For the quality and features you get with the vivofit fitness band, the price is still very reasonable. This is a very nice activity monitor.
4. Polar A300 Fitness Tracker and Activity Monitor
Polar is a brand that is fast making a name for itself in the fitness community by offering great features along with reasonable prices.
Base colors are black, white, pink, and yellow, but you can buy aftermarket bands in any color.
Waterproof
The A300 is designed to be worn at all times, including swimming and diving. It is rated waterproof to 30 meters deep, or 98 feet. That’s a waterproof rating that can handle even most scuba diving situations! For all of you swimmers, this is the activity monitor you’ve been searching for.
Features
The A300 does it all. It counts your distance traveled, calories burned, and how many steps you take per day. It tracks how much sleep you get, and the quality of it. It has alerts to let you know if you’ve been still too long,
if you have a text message, missed calls, social media alerts, and it will wake you up in the morning by vibrating and beeping. All day long the A300 keeps you connected without having to use your phone.
Polar Flow App
Polar developed its own app for use with Polar devices. The app is called Polar Flow, and it is compatible with iOS devices 8.0 and later, or Android 4.3 and newer.
The Polar Flow app is one of the best fitness apps available, with advanced features like route mapping, data analytics, and goal progress. You can also share your info with others via social media. Guidance is also available if you have any fitness related questions concerning your goals.
One feature that’s not found in less-expensive activity monitors is heart rate data. The Polar A300 is capable of recording this important information with the additional purchase of the H7 heart rate sensor.
5. Garmin vivofit Fitness Band Black Bundle
Most people wonder why there isn’t an affordable activity monitor that includes heart rate data, which can be extremely important for training correctly and achieving goals.
At last, here it is! The Garmin vivofit bundle comes in black only, but you can always buy different colored bands if you want to.
Heart Rate
When you purchase the vivofit bundle, you get the fitness band and Garmin’s chest strap heart rate monitor. Heart rate data allows the vivofit to more accurately calculate calories burned and optimal heart rates during training. While you probably won’t want to wear the chest strap all day, you definitely want to wear it whether you’re walking or lifting weights.
Performance
Just because the vivofit displays the time doesn’t mean it’s only a watch. Once you sync it with your smartphone or tablet, it becomes an important tool for your health.
It tracks your steps each day, distance walked, calories burned based on your metabolic rate, and it monitors the quality of your rest while you sleep.
Gamin’s move bar is a visual reminder to get up and get active every so often when you’re inactive for too long. This fitness band is also water resistant, so you can wear it in the shower. The vivofit has all the features people want, and more.
Garmin Connect
Sync your fitness band to your mobile device with the Garmin Connect app. Join online challenges or compete with your friends to determine a winner. Garmin Connect is a free online community of like-minded individuals offering experience and hope throughout their journey.
View a complete picture of your progress, or gain motivation when you need it. What’s even better, you can incorporate MyFitnessPal into your overall program to track your diet as well.
If you want an activity monitor with all the features including a heart rate monitor, you won’t find a better value than this bundle from Garmin.
Final Verdict
If you’ve been looking for a good quality activity monitor at a reasonable price, all five of these products will work very well. However, I always like to choose a winner when I do reviews.
For the best activity monitor, I name the Garmin vivofit Fitness Band Black Bundle as the overall winner. It has all of the features people expect, including water resistance and syncing data to your mobile device.
In addition, it comes with a chest strap heart rate monitor you can use when you exercise for far more accurate information. Quality construction and too many features to mention make the vivofit fitness band a great value for your money.
