Most fitness trackers and smartwatches are designed to wear on the wrist. Using it as an ankle fitness tracker does not accurately track the activities and health metrics.
Related Post: 7 Best Clip-on Fitness Tracker that You Can Wear on Your Dress or Belt
This makes it extremely difficult to find the best fitness tracker for ankle.
To help you choose the right ankle fitness tracker, I have compiled a list of trackers you can use as an ankle pedometer.
5 Best Fitness Tracker for Ankle
Fitbit Inspire 2
Fitbit Inspire 2 is the best fitness tracker that you can wear on your ankle or wrist. Fitbit Inspire 2 can be easily converted into an ankle or clip-on fitness tracker by replacing its straps with a clip or a larger strap for the ankle. Once the clip is attached, you can attach it to your shoelaces or socks easily.
The Fitbit Inspire 2 is a fantastic fitness tracker under $100 that comes with over 20+ activity modes and health tracking features. However, when you use it as an ankle fitness tracker, it tracks only limited activities like steps, cycling, running, distance, etc.
It does not track your heart rate and other health metrics when used as a pedometer. With that said, if you replace the band with DDJOY Band, you can get even more insights into your health data.
Moov Now
Moov Now is the only fitness tracker that is calibrated for both wrist and ankle usage. In the package, you can find a strap for the wrist and also for the ankle.
It tracks your activities accurately as it comes with its Omni Motion sensor that uses three times more sensors than other activity trackers in the market.
It tracks your numerous activities such as distance, cycling, kickboxing, and much more. A real-time audio coach is another excellent feature of this activity tracker. Real-time audio commands help you optimize your performance based on your body metrics, and it enables you to avoid injury associated with overactivity.
Fitbit Inspire HR
Fitbit Inspire is the predecessor to Inspire 2. Both devices have almost the same features and functionalities. It can also keep track of your active zone minutes so that you can easily achieve 150 active goal minutes as recommended by the WHO.
Like Fitbit Inspire HR, you can convert it into an ankle fitness tracker by replacing it with an ankle band that you can buy online. As I mentioned earlier, when you use it as an ankle fitness tracker, it won’t track your health metrics very accurately. But still, it can give you more accurate data when you walk, run or cycle.
Garmin Running Dynamics Pod
It is one of the most advanced fitness trackers for the ankle. But it is not for ordinary people. You need this tracker only if you are a runner or athlete and want to have a closer look into your running metrics such as cadence, stride length, ground contact time and balance, vertical oscillation, etc.
- Cadence: It is the total number of steps per minutes
- Ground contact time balance: It represents the left and right ground contact time while you run
- Stride length: As the name represents, it is the length of your each stride.
- Vertical oscillation: It measures your bounce during each step while running
- Ground Contact time: It is the amount of time that you spend on ground during each step while running.
You can easily attach it to your shoes and start tracking your running metrics after pairing it with a compatible Garmin Smartwatch.
Fitbit Zip
Fitbit Zip is another best fitness tracker for ankle that can track various workouts such as steps, distance, and calories burned. You can pair it with an Android, iOS, or Windows device to upload your data to Fitbit Server.
Like other Fitbit trackers, it also allows you to set goals and also gives you updates about your progress.
Fitbit Zip has a replaceable battery, which can last up to six months based on your usage. So, you do need to worry about frequent battery recharges.
Ankle Fitness Tracker Buying Guide
Buying an ankle fitness tracker is not easy as we do not have many options in the market now. So, you must be very careful while buying a fitness tracker for the ankle.
People tend to buy ankle fitness trackers because they do not want to wear one at the wrist. There may be multiple reasons like distractions, or they maybe want to get a more accurate reading of their activities.
So here are some tips which help you to choose the best fitness tracker for ankle. First of all, you have to think and decide why you need an ankle fitness tracker rather than a wrist-based fitness tracker. If your answer is still yes, then go ahead with the ankle-based fitness tracker.
Display
There is nothing much to do with the display on an ankle fitness tracker. Because you cannot see the display as it is worn on the ankle. Also, apply a screen protector to avoid any scratch or damage to the display.
Design
Design is important. I recommend you buy a lightweight and non-bulky fitness tracker as it will be very comfortable to wear on your ankle. If you choose a bulky fitness tracker, it will interfere with your activities, especially running and walking. You must also make sure that the built quality of the strap is smooth, durable, and comfortable to wear.
Waterproof
A waterproof or splash-proof is an essential feature in any ankle fitness tracker. Because the chances are high to get exposed to water and mud during outdoor activities with an ankle-based activity tracker, all ll the fitness trackers mentioned here are waterproof and splashproof. So, you can enjoy outdoor activities without any worry.
Strap
You should also make sure that the strap is waterproof and durable. Otherwise, it will be damaged easily as it is more prone to water exposure when you wear it on your ankle.
Battery Life
Battery life is an important thing to consider in any electronic gadget. A Fitness Tracker with a hell of a lot of features with a week battery is really garbage. Moov Now 3D Fitness tracker mentioned here has an excellent replacement battery, which lasts for one year!
Finally, you must also remember that you do not desperately look into the heart-rate monitoring of an ankle fitness tracker because it does not track heart rate accurately because of multiple reasons. One is the anatomical position of the ankle.
Secondly, the heart rate sensor may be covered with water and dust during outdoor activities. This will further adversely affect the accuracy of the heart rate monitoring capacity of an ankle-based fitness tracker.
Now let us see some disadvantages of Ankle Fitness Trackers.
- Your fitness tracker may damage easily, especially when you do outdoor activities.
- It cannot track sleeping patterns accurately as we move legs too much during sleep.
- You will not be able to look into the screen easily.
Final Verdict
At this price range, Moov Now is a better choice to track your Physical Activities by wearing on your ankle. No other Fitness Trackers can track your Physical Activities as effectively as Moov Now. The 3D Motion Sensors make it a unique fitness tracker for ankle, among others.
I think this article on the best fitness tracker for ankle was helpful for you in selecting a tracker that you can comfortably wear on your ankle. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, then please feel free to comment below.
