Fitness gadgets worth buying this holiday season
Gadgets designed to help people stay active and healthy are becoming more and more popular, and capable of doing some pretty cool things. Gone are the days of trying to keep track of how many calories you’ve eaten or how much exercise you’ve gotten in a day — now, as they say, “there’s an app for that.” Here are some of the best fitness gadgets out there making it easier than ever to get or stay in shape.
Buy this gift for someone into fashion as well as fitness
Releasing on November 6, 2015, the Misfit Shine 2 is the followup to the original Misfit Shine; an extremely popular wrist wearable that was very affordable. Keeping the same round design of the device, the disc can be inserted into a necklace as well as worn on a wrist. The device can also be clipped onto clothing at night to track sleep data.
MSRP: $99 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: n/a
- Pros: Getting lots of great buzz already, just 8mm thick, water resistant to 50 meters includes vibration alerts, 12 tri-color LEDs and capacitive touch for smartphone alerts.
- Cons: Original Misfit Shine users complain of poor app software, no heart rate tracking.
Get this gift for the person who just likes to stay active
The Fitbit Charge Wireless Activity Wristband is similar to the Flex model but includes an actual LED readout screen and an altimeter. The newest offering from the most well-known of the activity tracker brands out there, the Fitbit Charge keeps track of calories eaten/burned, activity and even sleep. You can also step up to teh HR model, if you want heart rate tracking.
MSRP: $130 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $86
- Pros: Fitbit has been around for awhile and they’ve had time to improve upon the Fitbit Flex model. The new readout screen makes it pretty close to smart watch territory.
- Cons: For the price, you could almost get an actual smart watch (like the Pebble) that does more than just fitness /activity tracking.
Buy this gift for the person serious about getting healthy
The Withings WS-50 WiFi Scale is a high-tech scale that measures weight, body fat, composition, heart rate, and even indoor air quality, and also allows you to automatically upload and track your progress (via Bluetooth/Wi-Fi) using the included Health Mate app. The older model (WS-30) has almost all of the same features if you want to save a bit of money.
MSRP: $150 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $120
- Pros: Reviews say it’s super simple and easy to use. It also works with many other fitness apps, such as Fitbit and RunKeeper, to give you a full picture of health. You can easily share your stats with anyone you choose (including your doctor).
- Cons: It’s a lot of money for a scale.
Buy this gift for the kid who spends too much time playing video games
The GeoPalz iBitz Pedometer is a small clip-on activity tracker that syncs with a game/app that requires kids to have to actually exercise and eat well to keep a virtual “pet” alive (sounds kind of like a real-life Tamagotchi — anyone else remember those things??). It also tracks your kids’ steps throughout the day and exchanges them for prizes, awards and online game time.
MSRP: $35 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: $10
- Pros: Pretty clever way of encouraging kids to stay active, especially during the winter months where there’s less chance to play outside. Very inexpensive.
- Cons: Currently only compatible with iOS . Not a lot of reviews out there yet to attest to how well it actually works.
Buy this gift for a casual that’s just trying to lose the holiday weight
There’s a reason Fitbit took two spots on our holiday list, they make awesome fitness trackers! The Fitbit Zip is not a wristband, but rather a tracker that can be clipped onto your clothing or slipped into a pocket. It tracks steps, distance and calories burned; perfect for anyone that wants to shed a few pounds after all those delicious holiday dinners.
MSRP: $60 | Lowest Price on Ben’s:$30
- Pros: Inexpensive price. Syncs automatically to your computer or select Bluetooth 4.0 smartphones or tablets. Comes in multiple colors.
- Cons: Much easier to lose than a standard wristband design. Doesn’t track sleep data.
Buy this gift for the person super serious about running
People who are into running can be, like, really into running. For these people, the Garmin Forerunner 620 GPS Watch w/ HRM-Run monitor1 is as technical a running watch as you’re going to get. This GPS watch, when used with the HRM heart rate monitor, tracks and calculates a ton of things that quite honestly, I’m not familiar with (vertical oscillation, recovery time and VO2 max estimate, to name a few) but I’m sure runners are. If you’re not as concerned with some of those things, you can get an older, less high-tech Garmin Forerunner GPS watch on sale for $100 to $150.
MSRP: $450 | Lowest Price on Ben’s: N/A
- Pros: This model has a touchscreen screen. Designed specifically for serious runners.
- Cons: Aside from the obvious (price), the fact that you have to buy the heartrate monitor separately (the watch on its own is $50 less) is kind of annoying since most of the best features rely on the monitor to work at all.
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Geralyn J
November 30, 2015 at 4:56 pm
I like the The GeoPalz iBitz Pedometer -gets the kids out the door and moving
Cathy Philipps
November 9, 2015 at 2:05 pm
The GeoPalz iBitz Pedometer is wonderful! What a great way to get kids moving!
Marissa
April 15, 2014 at 7:15 am
That GeoPalz is AWESOME!!! If my kids were old enough for that I would totally get it for them! I will have to keep that in mind for the coming years. Thanks for that!