Best fitness tracker for paddling - find out the key features & what it measures

How do you find the best fitness tracker for paddling?

There are many fitness trackers that are suitable to measure and monitor your paddling.

Some are stand alone fitness tracker devices, but many link to a smartphone to download and store routes and data.

Key metrics for the best fitness tracker for paddling

A smartwatch - ideal for fitness tracking when paddling

There are several key metrics that could be measured using your fitness tracker:

Distance covered - this is tracked using the GPS signal and is measured in miles or kilometres.
Time started - this is the start time of the paddling.
Time ended - this is the end time of the paddling.
Time taken - this is simply the end time of the paddling taken away from the start time of the paddling and is measured in days, hours, minutes and seconds.
Route taken - this can be a simple set of directions or a full blown map of the paddling route taken depending on the sophistication of the device. It's best to get as much route detail as possible if this is an important measurement for you. This data can also be uploaded to external apps such as Strava or shared with other people so they can follow your paddling route.
Altitude - this is your height from sea level at any given time during your paddling. Might be zero for some paddling trips!
Heart rate - this is your heart rate at any given time during your paddling.
Blood pressure - this is a sample taken at some point during your paddling. This can be taken automatically or manually depending on your needs.
Calories burned - this is an estimate of the number of calories burned from the paddling.
Time - simply the time at any given point during your paddling.
Date - the day, month and year.

Key functions for the best fitness tracker for paddling

To ensure you get the best fitness tracker for paddling, these are the key functions you should look for:

Waterproof - your fitness tracker should be IP rated as water proof - ideally to 5 metres or more for paddling. It is going to get wet and needs to be protected to avoid damage. The strap should not be fabric or you'll have to wash and dry this after each paddling trip to avoid it going mouldy and smelling.

Robust strap - Paddling does put a strain on your arms and wrists. Your fitness tracker should have a strap that can cope with this. A strong strap with a locked mechanism (where the strap is held using additional loops) is the best way.

Scratch resistant display - the glass on the display should resist scratches and being dropped. Many fitness trackers for paddling have Gorilla glass (manufactured by Corning) which is a chemically strengthed glass and is very tough!

Simple user interface - the way you interact with the device (which buttons you have to press to access functions etc) can be complex or simple depending on the user interface. Having one that gives simple access to the common functions is easier to use. Important if you need to do this while paddling!

Quick charging - when the battery is low, you need to be able to charge your fitness tracker for paddling quickly. Some have charge times of an hour or so which is great and means you can be back at full charge in no time!

Long battery life - the battery life is heavily affected by which functions you are using and how it connects to a smartphone. Battery life can be as low as a day and upwards of a week for some fitness trackers. It's best to try and find one with the longest battery life.

High quality display - reading the display in direct sunlight or dimly lit conditions can be tricky. A bright and clear display will help with this. Many fitness trackers are back lit so you can see the display in the dark.

Connects to smartphone - using a special app, the fitness tracker can connect to your smartphone. This allows it to transfer data and back it up to the cloud. It can also give more complex analysis of the data and display graphs and long term statistics.

Budget for your best fitness tracker for paddling

Fitness trackers for paddling vary enormously in price depending on functions, brand and quality.

Well known makes like Garmin and Fitbit might be more expensive. Cheaper alternatives are lower in price, but perhaps at the sacrifice of quality and performance.

However, there is definately a fitness tracker for paddling that suits your budget and needs.

Spend time looking at them and checking out the functions of each. Many websites show reviews and feedback stars for the fitness trackers so you can see what other people think of them too.

Always rely on this and avoid fitness trackers with low reviews or feedback stars.

What Dave wears - the best fitness tracker for paddling?

Dave wears the OUKITEL Smart Watch Model BT10

Dave has gone through several fitness trackers for paddling.

He started out with the Garmin Vivoactive 3. This was a very good watch (although expensive). After a couple of years, the battery life suffered and would only just last a day. It did hold up well with paddling though and is waterproof and robust.

The smartphone app was useful and downloaded the data quickly from the watch.

He then tried a cheap (£10!) smartwatch from an unbranded supplier. Actually it was pretty good and did most of what was needed. However, on the first paddling trip, it let in water and broke - despite claiming to be waterproof.

You get what you pay for!

So, after much searching around and checking reviews, Dave currently wears the OUKITEL Smart Watch Model BT10 - a great budget fitness tracker for paddling.

This was £37.99 (as at August 2024) and represented excellent value for money for the functions it has. The battery life, for basic functions, is over a week and it connects easily to a smartphone. It doesn't seem to store long term data (as far as Dave can work out!), but is great to hold a few days worth.

The display is clear and bright and it is waterproof (tested in the shower and while paddling).

Here's the link if you want to check it out:

OUKITEL Smart Watch

Whatever you end up purchasing, I hope it turns out to be the best fitness tracker for paddling - for you!

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