The past few years have brought an explosion in fitness technology. Where we used to be limited to basic pedometers and then fitness trackers that were little more than glorified pedometers with a Bluetooth radio, today's fitness devices are tracking our movements in all dimensions, monitoring our vitals, and are even smart enough to dispense advice in real time.
Check out some of our favorites below and feel free to get filled in on some other amazing gadgets with our extensive 2015 Holiday Gift Guide.
There are quite a few wearables out sporting Android Wear — Moto 360, LG Watch Urbane, Huawei Watch, and many more — that are all able to use Google Fit to track your activity without toting your smartphone with you. Whether you're going for a walk, run, or bike ride you can use your voice to tell your smartwatch the activity you're about to dive into for accurate tracking. Google Fit is also compatible with many 3rd party fitness trackers, but doesn't offer automatic syncing just yet. If you're not into the idea of wearing a dedicated fitness tracker, Android Wear on your favorite smartwatch grants easy access to your fitness goals, personal records, and more details using Google Fit while also offering a fully-functional smartwatch.
If the primary goal of your Android Wear watch purchase is fitness, you may also want to consider the extra software that some manufacturers offer on their smartwatches. Motorola, Sony and LG specifically go above and beyond (in addition to) what Google Fit offers, with Moto Body, Sony Lifelog and LG Heath, respectively, adding extra fitness tracking features to their watches. Look into which one offers the best features for your type of activities — it may be worth choosing one specifically for what it offers your workout routine.
Unlike the original Galaxy Gear, the newer Gear S2 doesn't require a Samsung device to use — though you will need a phone with Android 4.4 or higher that has at least 1.5 gigabytes of RAM. This smartwatch is powered by Tizen, and features a 1.2-inch circular display with a 360x360 resolution. Its rotatable bezel makes navigating through apps easier than ever and it comes loaded with S Health to track things like calorie, water, and caffeine intake and utilizes the watch's accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer, and heart rate monitor to track your activity.