The Fitbit Alta HR is the cheapest it has even been in the January sales

Fitness trackers have come a long way since the earliest Fitbit devices that simply counted steps and congratulated you for hitting 10,000 per day. Nowadays, wearables feature GPS, VO2 max estimates and more.
 
But there’s something to be said for a simple, minimalist wearable that gets the basics absolutely right, and the Fitbit Alta HR is the pinnacle of this. It’s thin, stylish and surprisingly feature packed, given the HR stands for “heart rate.”
 
Normally the wearable retails for £129.99, but at the moment Amazon has it for just £79.99 in three colours – which is the cheapest it’s ever been.
 
So what do you get for your money? Well, in design terms this is the sleekest Fitbit around, avoiding the chunky design of the bulkier Charge series while maintaining most of the same feature set. It’ll track your steps, sleep and heart rate, while providing call and text notifications to your wrist too.
 
It does have its drawbacks, of course. Firstly, it doesn’t track the number of stairs climbed, unlike the Charge series, and it also doesn’t offer swim tracking like more recent devices. And while it does automatically detect workouts to sync with the popular Fitbit app, it won’t be the most accurate for runs with no built-in GPS, and no option to piggyback from your phone.
Despite this, it does the basics so well it’s hard not to love it. As Jon wrote in his review: “As an easy, hands-off way to monitor your daily activity and pinpoint how and where you can improve, the combination of the Alta HR and Fitbit app are difficult to beat.

“Fitness fanatics might benefit from pricier fitness wearables with support for more accurate ANT+ or Bluetooth sensors and those looking to specialise in one sport should pick an activity-specific device, but for most mere mortals the Alta HR is a near-perfect compromise.”
 
That sums it up perfectly, and if that sounds appealing, you simply won’t beat Amazon’s £79.99 deal.
 
Buy now from Amazon