Noor
You’d be doing work in your office, busy in a workout at the gym, or doing random household chores, and you will find yourself glancing at your wrist for no reason. If you come across this problem, we have a solution for you.
Clip-on fitness trackers are getting popular these days, which can be clipped anywhere you want. Of course, not everyone has the habit of looking at their wrist for no reason, if they are wearing a smartwatch/fitness tracker, rather than that, some people just don’t want to burden their writs with straps, hence these trackers come into play.
They are mostly lightweight, which makes it easier to be clipped or hung around the neck, etc. In this article, I’ve listed some of the best clip-on fitness trackers from cheap to expensive price range, and I hope it will help you to choose the perfect one. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
Clip-On Fitness Tracker Buying Guide
Some of the aspects which one should check before going for a clip-on fitness tracker.
Easy to use:
This will be the first and foremost thing if you’re going to buy a tracker of this type. Here, the ease of use requires multiple wearing options, whether it’s clipping to the T-shirt, pants, hanging it around your neck, wearing it as a bracelet, etc. Having these options will make it easy to use anywhere and anytime you want.
Activity tracking:
All-day activity tracking is the must-have feature in a fitness tracker through which you can get insights about your step count, burnt calories, active minutes, and distance traveled during the day. Some tracker has custom goals setting, which will help in achieving certain fitness goals as well.
Sleep monitoring:
Not a must-have feature per se, but it’s always nice to have it pocketed, through which you can see your sleeping patterns, etc.
Connectivity:
Some people consider it a headache to sync the stats and to pair their trackers with smartphones. On the other hand, a lot of people love to keep their stats up to date and want to keep a record of everything. Considering your requirement and personal liking, you can choose the tracker accordingly.
Water-resistant:
Always nice to have some sort of water resistance in your tracker, because gadgets like these are very sensitive to water contact.
Battery life:
Several features are inversely proportional to the battery life in these trackers and depend on the person as well. For your ease, I’ve listed trackers having mediocre too long-lasting battery life.
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Top Clip On Fitness Trackers
- 1. Garmin Vivofit 3
- 2. OZO Fitness CS1
- 3. Realalt 3DTriSport – Affordable
- 4. Fitbit Zip
- 5. Fitbit One
- 6. Fitbit Inspire (Editor’s choice)
- 7. Fitbit Alta
- 8. Bellabeat Leaf Urban – For Women
- 9. 3DFitBud
- Conclusion
- Q: What are the best clip-on fitness trackers?
- Q: Can a fitness tracker be clipped to your pocket?
- Q: Do a Fitbit counts step is placed in your pocket?
- Q: Are clip-on fitness trackers accurate?
- Q: Can a fitness tracker work without a phone?
Top Clip On Fitness Trackers
1. Garmin Vivofit 3
Garmin is considered one of the best brands when it comes to tracking your activities and keeping an eye on your physical fitness. Garmin smartwatches and fitness trackers are mostly equipped with features that you can rely on, while going for an outdoor adventure, etc.
This smart gadget right has a display resolution of 64 x 64 pixels, with transflective memory in pixel (MIP), and is also readable under direct sunlight as well. It comes with straps to hang to your wrist, but with suitable clip holders which is easily available and have a variety of colors and styles, it can be turned into a clip-on fitness tracker.
You can then tuck it in your shirt’s pocket, bra, pants pocket, belt or onto your bag, etc.
Activity tracking: It will be tracking your all-day activities, including step count, burnt calories, etc. Along with this, it comes with an auto-step goal, through which you can customize your goals, and try to achieve them during the day.
Sleep monitoring: It will be monitoring your sleep, and you can always visit the phone app to get all the necessary details.
Easy syncing: After pairing it up with your smartphone, the tracker will upload your stats into the app, so you’d never miss them, and can compare daily results too.
Activity detection: Considering your activities, it will automatically detect and start tracking them, without you having to do it manually.
Water-resistant: It is somewhat water-resistance, which always comes in handy in smart gadgets.
Battery life: It can last for 1 year, without any charging, and it’s ready to use when you take it out of the package. Despite having sleep monitoring which drains out battery severely, if it can last for 1 year, I’m not sure why won’t go for this.
Key features:
- Color: Black
- Activity tracking
- Sleep monitoring
- Smart notifications
- Sport modes
- Automatic activity detection
- Water-resistant
- Battery life: 1 year
- Easy-to-handle
- Proper syncing with a phone app
- Automatic exercise recognition
- Long-lasting battery life
- No sport modes
2. OZO Fitness CS1
This fitness tracker is the simplest of all. First off, it’s easy to carry, you can wear it around your neck, put in your pocket, bag, and keep it in your hand. Secondly, it’s way too simple to use. The display of it is big enough to be seen under direct sunlight or just having a glance at it making it a perfect choice for seniors and elder people, along with kids and women.
Tracking: It’s a pedometer for starters, which means it will be monitoring your step count whenever you want.
Accurate: Having a pedometer is cool and all, but when it comes to accuracy, most of them don’t go that well. Unlike them, this one right here is quite accurate in tracking your footsteps, even if it’s hanging around your neck, placed in the bag or pocket.
No connectivity required: It can be used anytime, anywhere, without needing to pair up with any smartphone or tablet through Bluetooth/Wi-Fi whatsoever. Just take it out of the package and it will be ready to use in a second or two.
One clear button: There’s a button placed on the backside of it, so that you can clear your steps at the end of the day or whenever you want.
Battery life: For low power consumption, it has the feature of auto-dimming the display so that the battery drainage is as minimum as possible. That said, it has an enormous battery life and can last for more than 1 year. You don’t have to worry about getting it charged for a very long time, which is the headline here.
Key features:
- Colors: 5 colors
- Setup required: No
- Step counter
- 3D Sensor
- Calories intake
- Battery life: 1 year
- Compact design
- Lightweight
- Easy-to-carry
- Large display
- Long-lasting battery life
- Basic features
- No calories/distance measurement
3. Realalt 3DTriSport – Affordable
Looking for a tracker that can keep an eye on your step count, distance traveled, and burnt calories? Well, here’s your answer. It comes in a compact shape with multiple options to carry such as wearing it around your neck, clip to the waist or can be placed inside your bag/pocket. You can also hold it in your hand while running if that seems easy to do so.
Tracking: Your all-day activities will be tracked precisely through it since it uses Tri-Axis sensor technology which promises accuracy in monitoring your daily step count.
Calories: This is not just a pedometer per se and can monitor your burnt calories, and the distance traveled in km/miles.
Memory: It can store the data of the past 30 days so that you can compare your daily results with the previous ones to see if you’re doing better, or are lagging. Also, you can give yourself a daily step challenge to push yourself harder to get in shape and stay physically fit.
Ease of setup: It doesn’t require any smartphone, tablet to pair with to work, along with the constant connection of Bluetooth as well. It’s ready to use when you take it out of the package since charging isn’t required either.
Battery life: It can last for 12 months without any charge, and after that, you will just have to change the battery. So, for 1 year you shouldn’t be worried about getting it charged before going to the walk or running, because it will always be ready to use.
Smart features: Sometimes fitness trackers confuse the random movements of your body as the step count, which affects the accuracy, but it prevents such incidents and keeps the tracking as accurate as possible.
Key features:
- Color: 5
- Step counter
- Distance traveled
- Burnt calories
- Memory: 30 days
- Phone/Bluetooth required: No
- Step Goals
- Battery life: 1 year
- Easy-to-use
- No phone or any accessory required
- Lightweight
- Affordable
- Basic features
- No Sport modes
4. Fitbit Zip
When it comes to fitness or activity tracking, Fitbit is one of the most renowned brands in this genre. They have produced a good number of trackers which cover almost every need of yours. This Fitbit Zip comes in a very precise shape and size, hardly 2-3 inches, with a display where you can see your stats.
Activity tracking: It will be tracking your daily step count, number of burnt calories, and distance traveled during the day.
Ease of use: You can put a strap to it and hang it around your neck while running, or keep it in your hand or pocket. It can also be clipped to your pants and t-shirts.
Connectivity: It can be connected to your smartphones, tablets via Bluetooth, so you can sync your stats with them, get your workout summaries, and analyze your fitness routine.
Battery life: You can replace the battery after six months, which means it can last for half a year without any charging. Just keep it with you while going for a run, and your activities will be tracked on their own.
Water-resistant: It is water-resistant to some extent as well, so you can wash your hands while having it on, and it won’t get damaged by slight contact with water. However, you should not use it for swimming or snorkeling.
Custom goals: You can set a definite goal for yourself, so you’d have all the motivation required in your hand. Also, compete with your friends at any time of the day to have a healthy and fun competition.
Key features:
- Colors: 3
- Step count: Yes
- Burnt calories: Yes
- Distance traveled: Yes
- Smartphone connectivity: Yes
- Bluetooth: Yes
- Heart rate monitoring: No
- Custom goals: Yes
- Water-resistance: Yes
- Battery life: 6 months
- Compact design
- Easy-to-wear
- Lightweight
- All-day activity tracking
- No heart rate or sleep monitoring
5. Fitbit One
Coming up in a slim shape and size, this Fitbit fitness tracker has got very good reviews and ratings, which shows how good a tracker it is. It doesn’t weigh much, so it won’t be a burden to you in any way. Also, it can be used in multiple ways including clipping it on your shirt or keeping it in your hand while running.
Activity tracking: It tracks your activities which include step count, burnt calories, active minutes, floors climbed, distance traveled during the day and you can see the detailed insights on the phone app as well.
Sleep monitoring: Wear it around your neck or keep it with you while sleeping, to track your sleeping patterns. When you wake up, you see check you much sleep you got last night and can improve it by changing your sleeping habits and timings.
Silent alarms: To make sure no one else in the room gets disturbed, it comes with the silent alarm, which wakes you up by giving gentle vibration.
Clock/Display: You can see the time and stats on its OLED display, which is easy to read under direct sunlight as well.
Wireless syncing: It can be paired with more than 150+ android, iOS, and tablets, so you can sync your daily activities and can see the detailed stats easily.
Water-resistance: It comes with a water resistance of 10m, which makes it immune to slight splashes per se, but it can be used for swimming, showering, or snorkeling.
Battery life: It can last for 7-10 days with moderate usage, however, the company suggested charging it daily, so you can never miss your running sessions or sleep monitoring ever.
Key features:
- Color: Black
- Activity tracking: Yes
- Active minutes: Yes
- Floors climbed: Yes
- Sleep monitoring: Yes
- Silent alarms: Yes
- Wireless syncing: Yes
- Water-resistance: 10m
- Battery life: 7-10 days
- Lightweight
- Sleep monitoring
- Activity tracking
- Pricey
- Poor battery life
6. Fitbit Inspire (Editor’s choice)
It is a wearable fitness tracker, but the bands of it can be replaced with clips, which will make it a perfect clip-on fitness tracker since you’d enjoy so many perks at an affordable price. This replacement of straps is easy, and the clips can be bought from anywhere, that too in many colors, which will make it easier to wear around your neck or can be clipped to the pockets, etc.
Activity tracking: Your all-day activities will be tracked precisely with it, which includes several step counts, burnt calories, and distance traveled during the day.
Sleep tracking: To check whether you’re getting enough sleep during the night or not, it comes with built-in sleep monitoring, which will analyze your sleeping patterns to give you insights about light, deep, and REM cycles of sleep.
Smart notifications: After pairing it up with your smartphone, it will receive all the notifications of it whether it’s an incoming call, text messages, or emails.
Automatic exercise recognition: It will recognize your different workouts and exercise automatically and you don’t have to manually track them to see your stats.
Sport modes: It can track several sports or exercises including walking, running, swimming, biking, and many more.
Sedentary reminder: It will give you an alert to move a bit, if you’re sitting for a while, and give you recognition when you achieve your fitness goals.
Water-resistant: It comes with a water resistance of 50m, which makes sure you can jump in the swimming pool, or take a shower while having it on, as it won’t get damaged from such contact with water. It can also track your swimming sessions per se, and give you insights about it as well.
Battery life: It can last for 5 days after a single charge, which is my only concern from this tracker.
If you’re looking for a tracker which can monitor your heart rate and give you details about different heart zones, with the touch of connected GPS through which you can monitor your outdoor activities, you can always go for Fitbit Inspire HR, which is similar in shape and size of this Fitbit.
As the name suggests, the only difference here is the presence of an HR sensor, which is absent here, along with that, Fitbit Inspire HR also has 15+ goal-based sport modes, so if you’re fitness enthusiastic, you should go for it. This might cost three times more money, so you should make your decision considering your use, as if you don’t want these features, you should stick to Fitbit Inspire.
Key features:
- Color: Black
- Sleep monitoring: Yes
- Heart rate monitoring: No
- Sport modes: Yes
- Smart notifications: Yes
- Automatic exercise recognition: Yes
- Sedentary reminder: Yes
- Custom goals: Yes
- Water-resistant: 50m
- Battery life: 5 days
- Stylish design
- Easy to wear
- Can be switched between straps and clips
- Affordable
- Average battery life
7. Fitbit Alta
Just like Fitbit Inspire, it comes with a wristband, but it can be easily detached from it and can be clipped anywhere you want. The OLED display of this tracker is nice and shows the user’s stats. It is quite thin and slim per se, so it won’t become a burden for you at all.
Activity tracking: First off, the activity tracking is promising through which you’d be seeing your step count, distance traveled during the day, active/stationary minutes and burnt calories, etc.
Sleep tracking: Comes with a built-in sleep tracking feature, where it will be tracking your sleeping patterns, so you can see the time you’ve slept. To wake up, use its silent alarms, so no one else in the room gets disturbed by the noise.
Smart notifications: It will be receiving all the notifications of it on your smartphone including your text messages, incoming calls, or from social apps: Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, etc.
Fitbit Coach: It will do the work of a personalized trainer and help you o your workouts through video tutorials and much more.
Stay connected: You can challenge your friends, colleagues, and family to have a healthy competition and can also earn virtual achievement badges, etc.
Battery life: It can last for 5 days after getting it fully charged, but if you’re going to use its features frequently, it might drain out quickly.
Water-resistant: It is immune to sweat, slight splashes, or getting wet during the rain, but it is advised not to submerge deep into the water.
It also has a version that is filled with extra features like heart rate monitoring, through which you can measure your heart rate any time of the day, along with somewhat improved battery life, and that is Fitbit Alta HR. It might cost you more money, if your usage requires these features, then it’s worth it.
Key feature:
- Color: Silver/Black
- Sleep monitoring: Yes
- Heart rate monitoring: Yes
- Smart notifications: Yes
- Standalone: No
- GPS: No
- Activity tracking: Yes
- Water-resistant: Yes
- Battery life: 5 days
- Bright display
- Good tracking features
- Lightweight
- Not expensive
- Battery life needs to be extended
8. Bellabeat Leaf Urban – For Women
By looks of it, you can get an idea that it is meant to be a women’s fitness tracker, but it doesn’t look like one at all. First off, it is made up of wood composite and hypoallergenic stainless steel, which mostly does the work of its appearance, since it doesn’t have an interface or a screen at all, which has its pros and cons.
The main advantage of not having a screen is that it can be treated just like a jewelry piece that a user can wear on her wrist as a bracelet or hang around her neck, completely disguising its nature. That said, it also is a bummer that every time you’ll have to check your step count, burnt calories, etc., one has to open the phone app to do so. So, you can see, it has its perks and flaws.
Syncing: Since it doesn’t have an interface, it won’t work unless you connect it to your smartphone and sync it. It works with android and iOS smartphones.
Activity tracking: It tracks your steps, distance traveled, and burnt calories during the day, which you can see in the phone app.
Sleep tracking: It can track your sleeping patterns and will let you know how your sleep is getting. Again, you will have to check the phone app to get all the details about sleep tracking.
Reproductive health: It will give you tips regarding your healthy lifestyle, and keep your stats up to date.
Menstrual cycle: Women can use this feature to get further information about their menstrual cycles. Also, it has guided breathing sessions, in case you’re stressed out or having mood swings, it has got your back.
Battery life: No need to worry about getting it charged since it can last for 6 months, which is insane. Just keep it with you while exercising or going for a walk, and it will track your activities easily.
Water-resistant: Comes with a water-resistant which can withstand slight intrusion of water while hand washing or during rainy days. Do not use it for swimming, showering, or snorkeling/diving.
Key features:
- Color: Urban Gray/Rose Gold
- Sleep monitoring: Yes
- Activity tracking: Yes
- Health tips: Yes
- Menstrual cycle updates: Yes
- Screen: No
- Water-resistant: Yes
- Battery life: 6 months
- Stylish
- Can be disguised as jewelry
- Sleep tracking
- Easy-to-wear
- No screen/Interface
9. 3DFitBud
It comes with an extra-large display, which is clear and easy to read, especially for older people. There’s no pairing of smartphone/tablet is required here, and it will work on its own. You can clear your steps through the button, and bingo, you’re ready to go again. Considering its price, it might be the simplest tracker to begin with, which is exactly what some people want.
Ease of use: It can be held in hands, placed in pockets/Bags, or clipped to your shirt, etc.
Step counting: It will be tracking your step count, and displaying it on the screen. You can see your stats by having a glance at them, and If you want to erase them, there’s a reset button there, which will do the job.
Accuracy: It is equipped with 3D Tri-Axis Sensor technology, which ensures accuracy in measuring your steps.
Battery life: You won’t be needing to get it charged for almost a year, and that’s long its battery can last. You can take it out of the package and it’d be ready to use and will go the distance for you.
Key features:
- Color: 4
- Multiple wearing options: Yes
- Sleep monitoring: No
- Step count: Yes
- Burnt calories: No
- Sensor: 3D-Tri Axis sensor
- Battery life: 1 year
- Easy-to-use
- Easy-to-wear
- Cheap
- Doesn’t measure burnt calories/distance traveled during the day
Conclusion
The Fitness trackers mentioned above are some of the best in the game right now, but if I have to go with just one, I’d choose Fitbit Inspire, and here’s why.
First off, I love its design and compactness, it looks quite easy in handling. Secondly, the main reason for going with it is its features. It will cost you less than 50 bucks, but it’d be worth it because you’d be getting the perks of Sleep tracking, smart notifications, sports modes, and many more.
For me, this looks like a fair deal. However, you might have to spend mere 6,7 extra bucks on the clip, but that’s nothing as compared to the features it contains.
FAQS
Q: What are the best clip-on fitness trackers?
Ans: Given below are some of the best clips on fitness trackers.
- Fitbit Zip
- Fitbit One
- Fitbit Inspire
- Fitbit Alta
- Bellabeat Leaf Urban
- Realalt 3DTriSport
Q: Can a fitness tracker be clipped to your pocket?
Ans: Yes, it can be clipped to your pocket, bra, or pants with the help of clips.
Q: Do a Fitbit counts step is placed in your pocket?
Ans: In most cases, yes, they do. But that depends on your movement as well, sometimes it might count your random movement of the leg as a step, which might affect the accuracy of it.
Q: Are clip-on fitness trackers accurate?
Ans: Nothing in this world is perfect, however, if you find something closer to accurate, you keep it, that’s the case with fitness trackers as well.
Q: Can a fitness tracker work without a phone?
Ans: It depends on the tracker. Sometimes, they do need to pair up with a smartphone to work, while the total opposite in many cases too.
