Best Fitbit for men: Top smartwatches and fitness trackers for health and wellbeing
Looking to get yourself fit or buy a gift for your partner? Have a gander at the best Fitbits for men
There’s no denying it: Fitbit has some of the best fitness trackers and smartwatches to help you look and feel fitter and healthier than ever. Whether you’re a long-distance runner looking to track a personal best, a weight-lifting warrior who wants to record his strengthening activities or just an average Joe hoping to improve your baseline fitness, Fitbit has a range of devices that will help track your movements and get fit as a fiddle.
It’s not just about recording your workouts, either: Fitbits can provide health checks on your heart and blood oxygen, tell you about your sleep quality in great detail and even let you pay for your shopping on the high street. Most last up to a week on a single charge, too – longer than a lot of smartwatches out there – making them ideal for round-the-clock monitoring and everyday wear.
Fitbits are essentially unisex devices, but there’s plenty of variation between the many products on offer, so it’s important to get to grips with the entire range before choosing the best model for you. With that in mind, we’ve set out a brief buying guide so you can learn a bit more about why a Fitbit could be for you, the options available and the different price points. Below that, you’ll find our top recommendations.
Best Fitbit: At a glance
- Best Fitbit smartwatch: Fitbit Sense | £220
- Best budget Fitbit tracker: Fitbit Inspire 2 | £50
- Best Fitibt for listening to music: Charge 4 | £150
How to choose the best Fitbit for you
Why should you buy a Fitbit?
If you’re late to the Fitbit train – or the much larger station of smartwatch and exercise-tracking wearables – then you might be wondering what all the fuss is about.
A new Fitbit might not be the magic bullet that solves your exercise-motivation crisis, but it will certainly do its damndest to get you moving. Fitbits let you know if you haven’t taken 250 steps per hour between 9am and 6pm by default, and you can adjust to suit your needs and schedule. This is particularly useful for any office-based workers concerned about their health, since research suggests occupational sitting and a sedentary lifestyle is likely to have a significant risk for high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and other cardiovascular diseases.
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It’s also rewarding to log into the Fitbit app and see that you’ve completed your exercise goals for the week, or likewise where you can improve before the week is done, which can encourage a more regular exercise routine. Elsewhere on the app you’ll find guided exercises, eating advice and even meditation so you can move, eat and sleep better. There’s dedicated sleep cycle reporting too, though that and some of the previously mentioned features are exclusive to Fitbit Premium (which many of the devices have lengthy free trials of as part of your purchase – more on that later).
Smartwatch or fitness tracker?
One of the biggest questions you’ll have to ask yourself when purchasing a Fitbit is whether you want a general watch for every day or just one to prioritise fitness. To be clear from the off, the Fitbits categorised as smartwatches by Fitbit itself are the Fitbit Sense, Fitbit Versa 2 and Fitbit Versa 3. Anything else is labelled as a tracker, though that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of overlap between the two varieties.
For one, all Fitbits have an electronic display that tells you regular watch features such as the time and date alongside your heart rate, step count and more depending on your watch face at the time. They also, as you would expect, all have a range of other fitness and health sensors that Fitbit is known for, with the more expensive and newer models generally packed with a greater number and quality of sensors. For instance, the most advanced Fitbit tracker at the time of writing – the Charge 5 – and the top tier smartwatch – the Fitbit Sense – are almost identical in that respect, bar an additional altimeter found on the Sense, despite the near £100 price gap between the two.
The main difference between Fitbit’s trackers and smartwatches lies in whether you want a microphone and speaker to answer calls without using your phone or use extra apps such as Alexa/Google Assistant, which are only available on smartwatches such as the Sense or the Versa 2/3. Spotify control is also part of the smartwatch line, though you can also get that on the Charge 4 tracker.
Another more obvious difference is in the shape of the wearables themselves, with the Fitbit smartwatches tending to have traditional square displays compared to the more rectangular fitness trackers. The smartwatches also have large colour screens, whereas not all the trackers offer colour or a massive display besides the Charge 5.
Perhaps the most important feature to keep abreast of is GPS. Those wanting to track runs more accurately will want built-in GPS found on advanced trackers such as the Charge 4 and 5 or the Sense and Versa 3 smartwatches. However, if you aren’t too fussed about accuracy, all the models listed here have at least connected GPS (via your phone) should that not be too pressing.
How much do Fitbits cost?
Arguably, all the differences between Fitbit trackers and smartwatches are of lesser importance compared to the overall price. Smartwatches are on the higher end of the scale, with the Sense now costing around £200 and the Versa 2 near to £100. Meanwhile, trackers are a little cheaper on average, with the most expensive being the Charge 5 close to £130 and the most affordable we’d recommend being just £89 (or as low as £60 in deals periods). But if you’ve read through our best smartwatch and best fitness tracker pages, you’ll know that either variety of Fitbit is pretty affordable in the grand scheme of things and offers great value compared to other brand wearables.
You’ll find certain Fitbits come with up to a year’s worth of free Fitbit Premium (usually worth £8/mth) too, which could make a difference to your decision making. That includes a library of on-demand workouts, in both audio and video formats, mindfulness exercises and even recipes to get your kitchen habits in better shape. It’s especially worth it for the advanced sleeping metrics, which show your sleep stages throughout the night to an impressively accurate standard.
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Best Fitbits for men you can buy in 2023
1. Fitbit Charge 5: Best Fitbit overall
Price when reviewed: £100 | Check price at John Lewis
If we had to recommend a Fitbit to the everyday individual, the Charge 5 is our front runner. Its curved, colour AMOLED display is attractive on the wrist and sleek enough that you barely notice you’re wearing it, especially during exercise. When active, you’ll find five fitness tracking modes to choose from – Run (or Treadmill), Bike, Swim, Weights and Interval Workout – which is enough variety for most people. Sync up to the mobile app and you’ll have access to a whole host of more detailed stats, too, such as exceptional sleep cycle tracking.
You’ll get a slightly longer charge (seven days) than Fitbits such as the Versa 3, while still having smartwatch capabilities such as making contactless payments. In terms of a similar suite of athletic and health sensors, the Fitbit Sense is your only (more expensive) alternative, making the Charge 5 our top option for those after a great-value Fitbit.
Read out full length Fitbit Charge 5 review for more details
Key specs – Dimensions (HWD): 36.7 x 22.7 x 11.2mm; GPS: Yes; Music controls: No; Fitbit Premium: Six months free trial
2. Fitbit Sense: Best Fitbit smartwatch
Price when reviewed: £220 | Check price at Fitbit 
The Fitbit with the biggest variety of smartwatch and fitness features is the Sense. Its advantage over a majority fitness tracker such as the Charge 5 is that you can do some nifty, lifestyle-related things. That includes the ability to answer and respond to calls via the built-in microphone and speaker set, or ask Alexa or Google Assistant any daydreamt questions. Add in a range of other apps, including Spotify control should you want to listen to music via the watch, and it’s clear the Sense doesn’t just have fitness on its agenda.
But fitness isn’t forgotten as you’ll still get an improvement on the Charge 5’s features with a more accurate “PurePulse” heart-rate sensor, an additional altimeter and 20 different exercises to track and record. It will set you back a few more pounds, but it’s worth the extra dosh if you value a more holistic smartwatch packed into a wearable more reminiscent of a traditional watch.
Read our full Fitbit Sense review for more details
Key specs – Dimensions (HWD): 40.48 x 40.48 x 12.35mm; GPS: Yes; Music controls: Yes; Fitbit Premium: Six months free trial
3. Fitbit Inspire 2: Best budget Fitbit tracker
Price when reviewed: £50 | Check price at Fitbit 
Nabbing a Fitbit fitness tracker for below £70 is pretty extraordinary in our estimations, so if you’re keeping things economical, the Fitbit Inspire 2 is the go-to purchase.
While it doesn’t have the bells and whistles of other Fitbits on this list, it stands out from the crowd with a massive ten-day battery life – well above any other models. It does all the fitness tracking you’d expect, including support for Fitbit’s Active Zone Minutes feature and round-the-clock heart-rate monitoring. And better still, the Inspire 2 comes with a whole year of Fitbit Premium to try, allowing you insight to your sleeping habits, workout routines and other personalised statistics via the Fitbit app.
You’ll have to make do without built-in GPS, but since most of us take our phones on a run for music or safety reasons, connected GPS via your phone will suffice to provide accurate tracking data for your runs. Choose the Inspire 2 if you’re a fitness-tracking newbie looking to save some cash.
Read our full Fitbit Inspire review for more details
Key specs – Dimensions (HWD): 37 x 16 x 12.9mm; GPS: Yes (via phone); Music controls: No; Fitbit Premium: One year free trial
4. Fitbit Versa 3: Best-value Fitbit smartwatch
Price when reviewed: £133 | Check price at Amazon
Not to be ignored, the Fitbit Versa 3 is another powerful smartwatch from Fitbit that provides great value for money. It’s pretty similar to the flagship Sense overall – in fact, it has identical dimensions while offering the same features apart from three health sensors, so you aren’t missing a whole lot.
Building on the popular Versa 2, built-in GPS and an improved heart-rate monitor are crucial additions to this more recent model so you can accurately track the 15 exercise modes available. Plus you can do all the smart things you want in your watch such as answer calls, make payments or use a voice assistant via the vibrant display. If the Sense is out of reach, the Versa 3 is the best-value pick available.
Read our full Fitbit Versa 3 review for more details
Key specs – Dimensions (HWD): 40.48 x 40.48 x 12.35mm; GPS: Yes (via phone); Music controls: Yes; Fitbit Premium: Six months free trial
5. Charge 4: Best Fitbit for listening to music
Price when reviewed: £150 | Check price at Boots 
A notable absence from the Charge 5 was Spotify controls. Since music is thought to distract us from fatigue and reduce perceived effort when working out, purchasing a Fitbit that lets you easily control music without distraction could help you put that extra 10% into your exercise regime. And of them all, the Charge 4 is the best Fitbit tracker to let you do that – and for a bargain price compared to the more expensive Fitbit smartwatches listed above.
It’s got a lot of the top features, including waterproofing up to 50m, that earned it a four-star review to become our favourite tracker of the moment. Now a little outdated, you forgo an EDA (electrodermal activity) sensor to measure stress and the ability to take ECG found on the newer Charge 5, but get money back on the price and those precious music controls you’d otherwise have lost.
Read our full Fitbit Charge 4 review for more details
Key specs – Dimensions (HWD): 35.8 x 22.7 x 12.5mm; GPS: Yes (via phone); Music controls: Yes; Fitbit Premium: No
6. Fitbit Luxe: Best Fitbit for style
Price when reviewed: £90 | Check price at John Lewis 
Men who aren’t too bothered about built-in GPS, the latest sensors or additional apps should think about the Fitbit Luxe, a stylish wearable that puts aesthetics front and centre. This model comes in a range of sleek colourways from Orchid to Lunar White that look fantastic on wrist, while there’s even a gold link-bracelet edition if a classier touch is required.
It’s not just about appearances either, as the Fitbit Luxe still does a grand job of recording all your fitness, health and sleep metrics you’re buying it for. But since it doesn’t have the same range of sensors as the Charge 5, at a similar price, we would only recommend this Fitbit if fashion is at the forefront of your mind.
Read our full Fitbit Luxe review for more details
Key specs – Dimensions (HWD): 36.3 x 17.62 x 10.05mm; GPS: Yes (via phone); Music controls: No; Fitbit Premium: Six months free trial
