The 12 Best Pedometers of 2020

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Our Top Picks

Best Overall: FitBit Inspire at Amazon

"Its sleek design, goal-setting capabilities, and medium price range make it a great everyday pedometer."

Best Splurge: FitBit Versa 2 at Amazon

"It seamlessly connects to your other devices—like your smartphone and Alexa—something that many pedometers are unable to."

Best Battery Life: iTouch Slim Fitness Tracker at Target

"The water-resistant pedometer wins when it comes to battery life, lasting up to 20 days on a single charge."

Best for Runs: Garmin Vivosmart 4 at Best Buy

"Lets you set timers for activity pushing your running to the next level, and connects to your phone to provide GPS tracking."

Best with App: Fitbit Charge 3 at Amazon

"Use the accompanying app to store personal data, set new fitness goals, and connect with other FitBit users."

Best Affordable: LETSCOM Fitness Tracker Watch at Amazon

"Anyone who is looking for an affordable, comprehensive pedometer can't go wrong with this pick that checks all the boxes."

Best for Cycling: CAT EYE Velo 7 at Amazon

"Easily clips into the front of your bike and tracks your distance, speed, and elapsed time while you're cycling."

Best Waterproof: Fitpolo Fitness Watch at Amazon

"Use the waterproof pedometer to track distance traveled during a rainy run or even to track swimming activity."

Best for Waistband: 3DFitBud Simple Step Counter 3D Pedometer at Amazon

"Use it to track your daily activity by clipping it onto the waistband of whatever pants you’re wearing, or on any pocket."

Best for Walks: iGank Simple Walking Pedometer at Amazon

"An affordable addition to your workout equipment that tracks your steps, as long as it’s on your person."

Tracking your activity level—no matter how much or how little—is something we’ve all grown accustomed to. We know what muscles we’re working when, how often we have rest days, and that yoga will be harder tomorrow if we don’t stretch today. The most basic form of this activity awareness is tracking your steps, something very few of us keep a mental tally of on our own.

As walking is the most common, and arguably beneficial, form of exercise, deciding to keep track of how much distance you cover in a day can greatly impact your health. In order to make this change, you need a pedometer that’ll keep up with you. We've selected the best picks for every need and budget.

Our Top Picks

Best Overall: FitBit Inspire

FitBit’s Inspire pedometer tracks your steps and distance, heart rate, calories burned, active minutes, and sleep status while allowing you to see text and call notifications. It also lets you set silent alarms that wake you up by buzzing on your wrist—a great feature for those who want to avoid waking up a roommate or partner.

With a sleek design, goal-setting capabilities, and complimentary app access all at a medium price range, this is an everyday pedometer that anyone can use, no matter how advanced or novice they are. The battery lasts for up to five days and the device comes with a convenient charging cable.

The best part? You can use the pedometer to record a wide range of workouts, including walks, swimming, and bike rides.

Best Splurge: FitBit Versa 2

FitBit’s Versa 2 is the Cadillac of pedometers. Along with tracking your steps and distance, heart rate, calories, active minutes, floors climbed, hourly activity, and sleep status, it seamlessly connects to your other devices—something that many pedometers are unable to do.

Not only can you connect it to your phone for call and text notifications, but you can also connect it to your Amazon Alexa for updates, to set timers, and to control your other smart home devices with the sound of your voice. Additionally, you can download Spotify or Pandora playlists directly to your watch to listen to on your longer walks. The battery lasts for up to six days.

Best Battery Life: iTouch Slim Fitness Tracker

The iTouch Slim Fitness Tracker allows you to track your steps, stationary minutes, heart rate, calories, and sleep status on its thin, water-resistant model. Its Bluetooth capabilities connect to your phone to receive call and text notifications.

But the best part? The iTouch Slip Fitness Tracker’s rechargeable battery lasts up to 20 days on a single charge. Its sleek design is perfect for anyone looking for a stylish pedometer, and comes in a range of unique colors and designs.

Best for Runs: Garmin Vivosmart 4

Garmin’s Vivosmart 4 activity tracker has an ultra-slim design while still tracking your heart rate, steps, distance, and sleep status. It dives deeper into your sleep status with advanced monitoring of your REM cycle, gauging your blood oxygen levels by its wrist sensor.

It takes the same deep dive with your heart rate, assessing your daily stress level. This device allows you to set timers for your activity, pushing your running to the next level. It also connects to your phone and provides vibration notifications for calls and texts, as well as GPS tracking to help you see your route. The battery lasts up to one week.

Best with App: Fitbit Charge 3

4.7

The Fitbit Charge 3 provides everything (and more) that most people need— it tracks steps, distance covered, heart rate, calories, sleep status, offers call and text alerts, Bluetooth capability, 15 different exercise modes, and it’s water-resistant.

Along with premium features and a full week of battery life, users gain access to FitBit’s app, where all their personal data can be found and compared to set new fitness goals. You can also use the app to connect with other FitBit users and gain personalized guidance that relates directly to your stats.

Fitbit Charge 3 Fitness Tracker Review

Best Affordable: LETSCOM Fitness Tracker Watch

3.8

Anyone who is looking for an affordable, comprehensive pedometer can't go wrong with LETSCOM's Fitness Tracker, as it checks all the boxes. It tracks your heart rate, calories, steps, distance covered, active minutes, and sleep status.

It also has a GPS tracker, showing you where you went during your bouts of activity. If you decide to install the app on your phone it'll let you receive incoming texts and calls to your wrist. The battery lasts for up to one week and is easily recharged by any USB port.

LETSCOM Fitness Tracker ID115Plus HR Review

Best for Cycling: CAT EYE Velo 7

If you want the ability to track distance while cycling, CAT EYE’s Velo 7 Speedometer easily clips into the front of your bike—a majority of users find installation to take 10 minutes or less.

The device tracks your distance, speed (current, average, and max), and elapsed time—it also senses when you’re stopped at a light and stops tracking your average speed for complete accuracy. The battery lasts up to three years, so you can simply install the device and forget about it.

Best Waterproof: Fitpolo Fitness Watch

The Fitpolo Fitness Watch tracks your steps and distance as well as your heart rate, calories burned, active minutes, and sleep. It’s also waterproof, so you don’t have to worry about a mid-run rain shower ruining it, and you can even use it to track your swimming activity. The watch’s battery lasts up to seven days and can be charged in any USB port.

Best for Waistband: 3DFitBud Simple Step Counter 3D Pedometer

The 3DFitBud Simple Step Counter is another steps-only pedometer. Use it to track your daily activity by clipping it onto the waistband of whatever pants you’re wearing, or on any pocket. It will begin counting your steps once you’ve hit at least 10.

With an extra-large font, you can easily read how many steps you’re at mid-walk, without having to stop and inspect your gadget. The pedometer is set to auto-sleep when it’s not in use and can be reset as often as you like. The device comes with batteries that'll last you up to a year.

Best for Walks: iGank Simple Walking Pedometer

The iGank Simple Walking Pedometer is just that—an affordable addition to your workout equipment that tracks your steps, as long as it’s on your person. You can clip it onto your belt loop, throw it in a backpack, or simply carry the device and it will track how far you go. The pedometer’s battery life lasts up to 12 months. It can be reset each day (or each walk) by pressing the button on the back of the device.

Best Wristband: Xiaomi Mi Band 3

If you love the convenience of a wristband pedometer, the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 is a reasonably-priced device that tracks your steps and a whole lot more. Compared to other wristband devices, it’s simple and minimalist in design and functionality, but it monitors your steps, distances, pace, calories burned, as well as your sleep patterns. You can sync the data via Bluetooth to the app and then check your daily, weekly and monthly activity and sleep patterns, so you can stay on top of your progress and make improvements.

When you’ve been sitting for too long, the Mi Band 3 will gently buzz, so you know it’s time to move. It will also vibrate when your phone receives calls, messages or other notifications, and even shows name/ID when you receive a call. Extremely durable, this device is resistant against water splashes, sweat, cosmetics, and more, so you don’t have to worry about removing it for your daily activities, including showering or washing hands.

Xiaomi Mi Band 3 Review

Best No-Frills: Realalt 3DTriSport Walking 3D Pedometer with Clip and Strap

4.2

If you're looking for a basic step counter, the Realalt 3DTriSport is a great option. The device counts your steps, amount of calories burned, and distance walked. You can set daily goals too, and the large display makes everything easy to read.

The tracker comes with a lanyard, allowing you to wear it around your neck if that's most comfortable for you. Otherwise, you can clip it onto your waist or place it in your pocket. It comes in multiple colors, so you can pick the one that best fits your style.

Realalt 3DTriSport Walking 3D Pedometer Review

Why Trust Verywell Fit

As a previous fitness coach, long-time wellness enthusiast, and current health editor, Lily Moe understands the importance of equipment that is made to help you reach your fitness goals. She also ran the New York City Marathon and relied on a Fitbit Inspire HR to track every step of her training. Most importantly, Lily always looks for research and first-hand reviews when it comes to deciding on a product.

What to Look for in a Pedometer

Information

Pedometers vary in the information they provide. Some simple versions will only measure distance—the number of steps/miles you take as you wear it. As pedometers get more advanced, so does the information you can gain from them. Heart rate and calories are normally found in wrist-watch styles. If your pedometer has an app feature, you may be able to gain additional information through that. Your fitness goals will determine the information you need from your device.

Battery life

Eventually, your pedometer will need to be recharged. The average battery life of a pedometer is four to five days—longer if you don’t keep it on consistently.

Style

Pedometers can be worn a couple of ways—in a lanyard around your neck, clipped onto your waistband, or on your wrist like a watch. The style that suits you best will depend on what you're planning on using your pedometer for and how often you plan to use it. If you are looking for a pedometer to track everyday activity, a wristwatch style is most common.

Accessories and Apps

Many pedometers have the ability to be upgraded in some aspects. You may be able to change out the band of your pedometer to something that’s more your style, or maybe you want to interact with friends over a mutual app. The more advanced your pedometer, the more options you will have.