Best for iPhone users

Apple Watch Series 3 Price: £359 from fave.co/2IyirXa

If you’re deeply wed to the Apple ecosystem of devices and software and have money to spare, then the newest Apple Watch is the best fitness tracker you can buy. I’ve been wearing one almost every day since the device debuted last year. While many people focus on the Apple Watch’s apps, notifications, and its potential as an iPhone replacement, I’ve always argued that the

device’s best use case is health-tracking. The waterresistant Series 3 also comes with GPS and swimtracking to its already long list of fitness features.

You can launch the Workout app from a complication on the watch face and choose from 12 workout presets, from swimming or rowing to biking or running. The Activity app graphs your data and shows you how far you have to go to meet your daily goals for exercise, calories burned, and standing. With on-board music storage, you can even sync Apple Music playlists directly to the watch and use a pair of Bluetooth earphones for a truly minimalist workout experience. Activity-sharing in watchOS 3 means I can encourage my friends to achieve their fitness goals, and vice versa.

I mainly use the Apple Watch as a fitness band, but it handles lightweight iPhone features like a champ, too. If I want to map my way to a destination, send a text

message, check my calendar, or even hail an Uber, I can just open the app on my watch. No other fitness tracker compares. But the Series 3 comes with a high price tag for all those features, which is why it’s for iPhone devotees only. Prices for the Series 1 start at £249 and while it lacks GPS and water-resistance, it has all the other fitness features that make the Apple Watch worth buying.

If you want a fitness tracker that can stand in for your iPhone in a pinch, the Apple Watch is the best – and really the only – option.