Five ways wearable tech can help you stay healthy

A smartwatch or fitness tracker can give you easy access to an increasingly wide range of real-time health metrics at the tap of a screen, making charting your fitness journey easier than ever.

You can track your heart rate, blood oxygen levels and even stress levels, along with how long you exercise for and how far you get. 

Smartwatches can make on-the-go life easier too, with features such as contactless payments, and call or message notifications from your phone. 

Fitness trackers don't have as many smart features, but they offer health and fitness tracking at a lower price point. 

These are the key health-tracking features you'll find on fitness gadgets, and how they can make life easier.

Eat well, live better, stay healthy – sign up for our free monthly Food & Health newsletter for all the latest insights delivered straight to your inbox

1. Encouraging you to stay active

Staying active is really important for overall health.

Even 10 minute daily walks can help you build stamina, lose weight and become healthier, according to the NHS. You need to walk 'briskly', though, at a rate of about three miles an hour.

That's where wearables can help. All smartwatches and fitness trackers will count the number of steps you've taken and how far you've travelled. Many also track metrics like pace and speed.

If you enjoy walking, a wearable can help you get the most out of your outings, and, if you don't, it can help to motivate you by giving you a sense of purpose and allowing you to track progress.

Most wearables allow you to set personal targets, meaning you can easily see whether you're meeting them, and get a prompt if you're not on track.

Our tests have shown some wearables aren't that accurate when it comes to tracking your steps around the house, often mistaking any swing of your arm for a step. Even so, they can give you a sense of how active you're being. Small efforts to get moving during the day all add up to have health benefits.

Want to know which wearables aced our accuracy tests? See our guide to the best smartwatches and best fitness trackers.

2. Body monitoring

Wearable tech can help you keep tabs on your vital stats, such as your resting heart rate, to improve fitness metrics over time, and know when to take it easier if needed.

Blood oxygen (SpO2 or pulse oximetry) monitoring

Blood oxygen monitoring measures the oxygen saturation of your blood, and became a widespread extra on fitness gadgets post-Covid.

Smartwatches such as the Apple Watch Series 9, Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and the Garmin Vivoactive 5 can take on-demand readings of your blood oxygen levels and background readings during the day and night. 

These are not medical devices, so shouldn't be relied upon as such, but they can still provide interesting insights. If you're a keen altitude hiker, for example, a wearable that can take on-demand pulse oximetry readings could flag if you're over-exerting yourself. A wearable that can take night-time readings could detect signs of sleep apnoea, which you could then flag with your GP.

We compare wearables that can take on-demand pulse oximetry to a medical pulse oximeter to check accuracy. Some have impressed us, giving us readings in the same ballpark as our medical pulse oximeter, while others struggle.

Best private medical insurance - our experts have analysed big brand policies to uncover the ones you can rely on

Heart-rate monitoring

Monitoring your heart rate can help you make sure you're pushing yourself the right amount during your workouts, and keep track of your overall cardiovascular health.

Most wearables (other than the ultra-cheap ones) offer heart-rate-monitoring now. Some can also take ECG readings.

Heart rate is measured using sensors that measure electrical signals in your heart and check for atrial fibrillation (irregular heart-rate rhythms).They can also alert you if your heart rate goes above or below the normal range.

As with pulse oximetry, though, this shouldn't be relied upon for diagnosis - always seek medical advice if you have reason to be concerned.

Blood pressure monitoring

Some smartwatches allow you to monitor your blood pressure. Either by downloading a companion app such as Qardio onto your smartwatch, which will act like a dashboard for a smart blood pressure monitor, or with a newer smartwatch that takes measurements direct from your wrist. 

The newest Samsung Galaxy smartwatches are the most popular smartwatch on the market with blood pressure monitoring features.

Beware of cheap trackers you might see online from obscure brands claiming to have blood pressure monitoring. Due to the level of tech that would be necessary, these almost certainly can't give you proper readings. Our 2022 investigation also found many had serious security flaws.

If you want a medical device, check our blood pressure monitor reviews.

Stress and emotion monitoring

A growing number of wearables will attempt to measure your stress levels and we're even seeing models that claim to gauge your emotional state.

They measure stats such as your heart rate and your heart rate variability (HRV) - the variation in time between your heartbeats - and assign you a stress score.

Many also offer guided breathing exercises. When you breathe in a more controlled way, you lower your heart rate and increase your HRV. And some will use this information to give you insights as to your readiness for a workout.

3. Monitoring your sleep

Getting enough and good quality sleep can have a big impact on your health and state of mind, and is an important cornerstone of good health.

Sleep tracking on wearables can overpromise on the accuracy front, so should be taken with a pinch of salt. It's only ever an estimate based on data it collects as to your movement and heart rate. Our wearables editor found the latest Apple watch thought she was still asleep even after getting up and going on a cycle ride!

But having better oversight of your sleep patterns and how much sleep you are typically getting can nudge you towards better night-time routines.

It can also show you the extent to which activities like exercising late in the day or drinking alcohol just before bed can interfere with your sleep.

Find out more about how wearables track sleep, and get tips on how to sleep better.

4. Introducing you to new activities

Wearables can introduce you to - and keep track of - an increasingly wide range of activities beyond walking and running, including ones you can do for free from your living room, eg while watching a YouTube tutorial. Many can track yoga, pilates and dance, as well as cycling, tennis and other sports.

Companion apps, such as Fitbit Coach, also offer short video workouts which you can follow from your phone or computer. They may cost you extra though.

5. The future of health-tracking

Wearables are becoming increasingly hi-tech when it comes to health, gathering a vast array of physiological data and even aiming to flag underlying health conditions.

We expect smartwatches will increasingly be used in healthcare in the next few years for things such as reminding patients to take medication, as an aid to early diagnosis and for remote patient monitoring.

And it's not just about wristworn wearables: the smart clothing market is growing too.

Swimsuits containing UV detectors can communicate with your phone to warn you if you're over-exposing yourself to the sun. T-shirts can monitor sports players' biometric data, such as cardiac activity and temperature, and smart rings - like the Oura Ring 3 - claim to monitor almost as much as a wrist-based fitness tracker.

For now, wearables can make guesstimates about your health and fitness, based on the data their sensors collect. But do remember they can be inaccurate and they can malfunction.

They can, however, help you stay on track with fitness goals and build up a more rounded and detailed picture of how your body works, so that if you do notice anything irregular you can take it up with your GP.

How to keep your muscles and joints healthy - we look at the science on the best exercise for a healthy lifespan

Health-tracking wearables on test

Apple Watch Series 9

The newest Apple watch offers plenty of health features, including heart-rate monitoring, detection of irregular heart rhythms and pulse oximetry readings. More exclusive features you don't always find on fitness trackers include detection for hard falls and the ability to call an emergency contact for you, and alerts when noises in your surroundings are so loud they might damage your hearing. But it only works with Apple iPhones. 

Read our full Apple Watch Series 9 review for more details on the accuracy of its fitness tracking, or buy it from the retailers below.

Fitbit Inspire 3

With heart-rate monitoring, pulse oximetry and distance detection, this fitness tracker appears to offer a lot for the price. It auto-detects exercise, so you won’t need to remember to set the tracker every time you lace up your shoes. But there’s no built-in GPS, so, if you want a map of your exercise route, you’ll need to take your smartphone out with you. 

Read our Fitbit Inspire 3 review to see its score, or buy it from the retailers below.

Garmin Vivoactive 5

This Garmin has a blood oxygen sensor, heart-rate monitoring and is compatible with plenty of third-party fitness apps, including Apple Health and Strava. New features include a sleep coaching mode and workouts for wheelchair users. But it doesn't have loads of smart features.

Check out our Garmin Vivoactive 5 review to see if it's the one for you or buy it below.

Google Pixel Watch 2

Google's second smartwatch has ECG measurements claiming to detect irregular heart rhythms, and as Google owns Fitbit, it's seamlessly compatible with all Fitbit apps. You'll have to have an Android phone to enable its features though.

See how well its features work in our Google Pixel Watch 2 review and find prices at retailers below.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6

You'll need a Samsung phone to get as many features as possible out of this smartwatch. It has ECG, fall detection and - unlike Apple - blood pressure monitoring. The VO2 max calculation measures your aerobic endurance level, and it offers a lot of sports tracking.

See our full review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 to get our verdict or buy it below.

Xiaomi Smart Band 8

A basic tracker with heart-rate monitoring, pulse oximetry, sleep tracking and waterproofing in shallow water. There's no denying its appealing price, but it doesn't have a built-in GPS and its smart functionality is limited.

Find out if it's a winner or worth avoiding in our Xiaomi Smart Band 8 review and see where to buy it below.

Tips for living well – get our free Food & Health newsletter: shop savvy, eat well, stay healthy