Bands on the run

ACCURATE GPS, HEART-RATE MONITORS, COLOUR TOUCHSCREENS. ACTIVITY TRACKERS HAVE REALLY STEPPED UP IN 2017...

BACK IN THE MISTS OF SPORTS-TECH TIME, THERE WAS A SIMPLE DIVISION. TWO TRIBES. THEY DID THE SAME THING BUT IN A DIFFERENT WAY. AND WHAT THEY WORE ON THEIR WRISTS WAS THE GIVEAWAY SIGN.

There were the Chris McCormack- and Pete wanna bes who wore GPS sports watches. And there were those who merely wanted to go down a waist size, who wore activity trackers. The former needed exhaustive data for distance, heart rate (HR), pace and so on. The latter cared more for calories burned and steps counted. The uber-sophisticated GPS sports watches boasted (chest-strap) heart-rate monitors and GPS tracking. The trackers were little more than pedometers, really. But now all that’s changed…

Activity-tracker design, hardware and software have progressed quickly and impressively; premium-end trackers are now so sophisticated, they offer many of the things sports watches do – GPS, pace and various data-carpeted sports modes. But on top of these features, you get performance enhancers that most of those watches don’t offer, such as wrist-based heart-rate monitoring, smart notifications and colour touchscreens.

We’re at the point where you have to ask yourself if you need to pay an extra $300 for a sportswatch, when activity trackers can do so much.

We’ve taken the best three premium trackers and given them a workout. These’ll suit anyone in the middle of the fitness spectrum – ie those who aren’t running to and from work every day, but who are interested in their health. And who like a bit of premium tech…