Best Fitness Tracker for Seniors

Reviewed by health expert Sally Russell, MN, CMSRN, CNE

The Apple Watch 6  is a heart monitor, calorie and step counter, sleep tracker, time-teller, and loved-ones-caller—all in one wrist-sized device. If you can measure it, Apple Watch 6 can probably track it. And while the Apple Watch will take a bite out of your wallet, its features are pretty sweet.

This device is part smartwatch and part fitness tracker. If you want a simple way to track your health or help a loved one do the same, it’s a versatile and high-tech choice.

While these aren’t the only fitness trackers we looked at, these are our favorites. We’ve also included standalone heart monitors that didn’t make it into the ranking—take a peek to see if they meet your needs.

Our favorite senior-friendly feature is its automatic fall detection, a feature typically found in medical alert systems. We didn’t see this feature in any other fitness tracker or heart monitor we researched.

If you fall at home or while out on a walk and can’t get up, the Apple Watch 6 will notice and call one of your emergency contacts. You can speak to the contact directly from the watch to get help.

Unfortunately, all these cool features don’t come cheap. The Apple Watch 6 is expensive, and its price can climb over $400. It's one of the most expensive heart monitors on our list and runs out its battery in 18 hours. That said, it’s a pretty cool gadget with tons of health-focused apps and features.

Learn more in our Apple Watch review.

The Angel Watch holds its own against other fitness trackers by monitoring a slew of health data and vital signs:

Learn more in our full Angel Watch review. 

The Wyze Smart Watch has a large text screen with simple icons and controls and not too many extras to get in the way of health tracking. Like the big brands, it tracks your heart rate, calories, and steps, and sleep patterns to give you a clear picture of your total state of health.

If you have Wyze cameras, smart locks, or Wyze Home Monitoring you can use your watch to control your home remotely. You can program your watch with up to 10 shortcuts to easily do things like turn off the lights, turn on cameras or unlock the door.

As far as messaging goes, it’s more of a pager than anything. You’ll get alerts that you’ve received messages like texts or emails to your phone, but you won’t be able to respond. If you can’t get to your phone, this may be an issue.

The Fitbit Sense doesn’t have an emergency call button or fall detection like our top two choices, but it’s still feature-rich. Like the Apple Watch, you can connect it to your phone. So you can call your spouse with the grocery list while you’re out on a walk.

Its built-in Alexa or Google voice assistant can also connect to your home devices, set timers, and walk you through workouts when you download activities and skills.

You can even connect Fitbit Pay to your debit card and pay for things by tapping the watch (and impress the grandkids at the same time).

The Fitbit Sense has a six-day battery life, but we recommend charging it every couple of days to keep it going.

The MGMove is great for people who want an easy-to-use step counter that doubles as an emergency button. Although the messaging app costs an extra fee per month, we highly recommend it, especially if you don't take your phone with you on walks. 

Learn more about the MGMove in our full Medical Guardian review. 

If you want a standalone heart monitor, you don’t need to wade through piles of activity and fitness trackers to find one. We chose a few of our favorite heart monitors designed with medical monitoring in mind.

Heart health and fitness is crucial to living a long healthy life. Even if you’re over 65, it’s never too late to take the steps towards improving your heart. Heart monitors come with fitness trackers that count your steps along with your heartbeat or as medical-grade EKG or ECG monitors.

If you’re currently experiencing heart problems or have heart disease, consult your doctor before starting any new habits.

Your heart rate is an indicator of your overall fitness and cardiovascular health. As we age, our chances of heart attack, stroke, coronary disease, and heart failure increase.² So we picked fitness trackers and heart monitors with features that make tracking heart rate easy (and even fun) for seniors.

Qualities like large displays, messaging, comfortable or interchangeable bands, and expanded health-tracking capabilities were all at the top of our list.

We also browsed through consumer reviewers and expert opinions. Accurate readings, pricing, consumer interest, and smart tech capabilities were other qualities we put under the magnifying glass. To find out more about how we select our best picks, take a look at our methodology.

• Best Blood Pressure Monitors
• Best Safety Wearables for Seniors
• Best Safety Devices for Seniors
• Best Medical Alert Watches
• Best Medical Alert Systems for Fall Detection

1. Harvard Health Publishing, “Do You Really Need to Take 10,000 Steps a Day for Better Health?” November 2019. Accessed Jan 17, 2024. 
2. American Heart Association, “All About Heart Rate (Pulse),” July 2015. Accessed Jan 17, 2024. 
3. Markus MacGill, Medical News Today, “What Should My Heart Rate Be?” January 2021. Accessed Jan 17, 2024.