When deciding on your workout, how to wear fitness tracker models is inevitably an important decision. Watches can sometimes irritate the skin of the wrist, and waist fitness trackers can easily slip down, but ankle fitness trackers seek to solve these concerns.
An ankle fitness tracker, like most fitness trackers, keeps track of important fitness and health statistics that come with physical exercise. The accessibility of wearing this type of fitness tracker on your ankle provides a bit more comfort and less weight on the arms and wrists.
Are you currently wondering if there are any benefits to wearing ankle fitness trackers? Perhaps you are curious if there are any differences when wearing a fitness tracker on the wrist, waist, or ankle. If so, this guide is for you.
We will discuss the pros and cons of the best ankle fitness tracker models in addition to frequently asked questions. Also in this guide are comprehensive reviews of the best fitness trackers in ankle band form including:
| IMAGE | PRODUCT | |
|---|---|---|
Top Pick  | Garmin Vivofit 4 Activity Tracker
| VIEW ON AMAZON |
 | Fitbit Alta HR
| VIEW ON AMAZON |
 | Fitbit Inspire HR Fitness Tracker
| VIEW ON AMAZON |
 | Fitbit Flex 2
| VIEW ON AMAZON |
 | Garmin Vivofit 2
| VIEW ON AMAZON |
Most Affordable Fitness Tracker for Ankle  | AmazFit Band 5 Fitness Tracker
| VIEW ON AMAZON |
Read on to find out more.
Pros and cons of wearing ankle fitness trackers
Pros:
- Comfortable fit
- An ankle band can record more accurate workout performance with accurate data and longer battery life
- An ankle band is less likely to irritate the skin or slip off during high intensity interval training
Cons:
- Ankle bands as activity trackers may wear out quicker due to more intensity pressing against the tracker in vigorous running and walking activities
- The display and readability may be smaller and less innovative than a smartwatch
Best ankle fitness trackers 2022
Garmin Vivofit 4 Activity Tracker (Top Pick)
Our top pick comes from Garmin and this ankle fitness tracker brings you activity tracking and the freedom to keep moving without taking a break to recharge.
With its 1+ year battery life, Vivofit 4 is perfect to wear 24/7, so you’re always tracking your activity, automatically classifying it with Move IQ and so much more.
This ankle fitness tracker periodically syncs to Garmin Connect, where you can save, plan and share your activities, get involved in social challenges and more.
The convenient Garmin Move IQ feature automatically detects activity and classifies activity type on Garmin Connect.
Like the classic Garmin foot pod, this activity tracker follows your progress 24/7 and lets you ditch the charging cord, thanks to the superb battery life.
It’s also safe for the pool or the shower, and its always-on color display is bright and easy to see, even in the sunlight.
Simply strap this Garmin fitness tracker for ankle wearability to either ankle (you choose), and enjoy customizing the screen with color themes, watch faces and text phrases or by swapping out the band for a different one.
Accessory bands are also available in various colors and styles for this fitness tracker.
With the Vivofit 4, there are several new tools designed to make life a little more convenient when running.
You can use the weather widget for a quick, illustrated look at what the day is going to bring.
Additionally, you can set an alarm in the app that will go off on your device, or even set a countdown timer right from your wrist to remind you when it’s time to turn off the oven.
If you have misplaced your phone, the Vivofit 4 can also even help you with that, too.
Pros:
- Features always on customizable color display and 1 plus year battery life with no charging necessary
- Safe for swimming and showering
- Tracks steps, distance and calories burned, monitors sleep and provides a personalized daily step goal
- Periodically syncs to Garmin Connect, where you can save, plan and share your activities, get involved in social challenges and more
- Garmin Move IQ feature automatically detects activity and classifies activity type on Garmin Connect
- Smartphone compatibility for iPhone and Android
- Width is 0.75 inch and thickness is 0.37 inch
Cons:
- The device may stop pairing well after months of continued use
Fitbit Alta HR
Keeping track of your heartbeat, daily steps and more is important, and with this versatile Fitbit Alta HR fitness tracker, you can rest assured with this guarantee.
This sophisticated fitness tracker sits on your wrist, where it reminds you to stay active and automatically logs your workout routine via SmartTrack technology.
You can connect this large black Fitbit Alta HR fitness wristband to your smart device to monitor your daily habits or, you can strap it across your ankle if you prefer.
This ankle fitness tracker comes with all day activity tracking with continuous heart rate monitoring.
Additionally, you can track calories burn, heart rate, gauge workout intensity and get a picture of your overall health without an uncomfortable chest strap or a tight wrist when used as an ankle fitness tracker.
There is also sleep tracking with sleep stages that automatically tracks how long you sleep, shows your time spent in light, deep and REM sleep, and has a silent alarm to help you wake more peacefully.
The design is a clear, bright OLED tap display that gives you instant access to stats, the time and smartphone notifications.
A handy auto exercise recognition SmartTrack technology feature automatically detects and logs workouts to the Fitbit dashboard, so you get credit without ever pushing a button.
You can also monitor your goals and interact with friends with this ankle fitness tracker.
You can set goals, track your progress, connect with friends and share your milestones, get personalized fitness coaching and more with a special Fitbit app that syncs to the Alta HR.
Pros:
- Get the power of continuous heart rate in Fitbit’s slimmest design yet-all day, during workouts and beyond with the best ankle fitness tracker in the Fitbit line
- With heart rate, you can better measure calorie burn, and use zones (fat burn, cardio, and peak) to find the right workout intensity for your goals
- See how working out more can improve your health by comparing your resting heart rate trends to your activity
- With sleep stages powered by purpose heart rate, automatically track your time spent in light, deep and REM sleep and take steps toward a better night’s rest
- Automatically track your steps, distance, calories burned and active minutes with up to 7 days of battery life when used as a tracking device
Cons:
- Icons are too small on display
- Tracking accuracy not as accurate as other fitness trackers
Fitbit Inspire HR Fitness Tracker
The Fitbit Inspire HR is a friendly heart rate and fitness tracker for every day that helps you build healthy habits.
This encouraging companion motivates you to reach your weight and fitness goals and even enjoy the journey with 24/7 heart rate, workout features, calorie burn tracking, goal celebrations, sleep stages and up to 5 days of battery life.
A great thing about this Fitbit fitness tracker is that you can utilize 24/7 heart rate to more accurately track calorie burn, resting heart rate and heart rate zones during workouts.
In addition to being able to track all day activity, including steps, distance, hourly activity, active minutes and calories burned, you can also automatically track sleep, plus due to the heart rate feature, get more insights into your light, deep and REM sleep stages.
Pros:
- Enjoy up to 5 days of battery for daily progress without constant charging; varies with use and other factors
- Maximum operating altitude is 8,535 m
- Automatically and conveniently record workouts like walks, swimming and bike rides in a snap with smart track
- Syncing range up to 6 meters
- Radio transceiver of Bluetooth wireless data capture 4.0
- Automatically syncs to 200+ android, iOS and windows 10 devices so you can see your progress in the app
- See your real-time pace and distance by connecting to your phone’s GPS, then get a map of your route in the Fitbit app
Cons:
- Battery life is weaker than most fitness trackers
Fitbit Flex 2
The Fitbit Flex 2 is a slim, swim-proof fitness wristband or optional ankle fitness tracker that’s ready to go wherever life takes you.
The ultra-thin, removable tracker hides in bands, bangles and pendants, so you can wear it in a way that’s all your own.
Automatic all-day activity and sleep tracking show you how your entire day adds up, and SmartTrack automatic exercise recognition records your exercises for you.
The discreet progress display uses color-coded LED lights to keep you connected to calls, texts and reminders to move.
Plus you don’t have to worry about getting it wet— whether you’re swimming in the pool or running in the rain.
It’s the next generation model of Fitbit’s most iconic tracker, the original Flex.
This ankle fitness tracker is no fuss, all fun, and fit for every type of use. Track steps, distance, calories burned and active minutes.
A convenient LED display lights up to show progress toward your daily goals.
Pros:
- Ultra-thin, removable tracker hides in bands, pendants and bangles
- Swim proof for tracking, swimming, life proof for wear in the ocean, shower, pool and beyond
- SmartTrack automatically recognizes select workouts and records them to your Fitbit app
- Automatically track how long and how well you sleep, and set a silent alarm to wake with a small vibration
Cons:
- Prolonged rubbing and pressure may irritate the skin
- Most ankle fitness trackers have great accuracy, but this model shows a great deal of inaccuracy in ankle fitness tracker reviews
Garmin VivoFit 2
Garmin consistently excels at creating fitness trackers, and you can easily get up and get moving with the Vivofit 2 activity tracker, which is one of the best ankle fitness tracker models.
With 1 year battery life and backlit, night-readable display you can see how many steps you’ve taken, distance travelled, calories, heart rate, time and more.
It even reminds you to stay active throughout your day with its move bar with audible alert that lets you know when you’ve been idle for an hour or longer.
Vivofit 2 follows your progress 24/7 and shows your steps, calories, distance and time of day with an easy-to-read, backlit display.
Set the sleep mode when you go to bed and it will even monitor your rest.
This ankle fitness tracker automatically and wirelessly syncs with Garmin’s free online fitness community, at Garmin Connect.
There you can see all your activities including total sleep hours as well as periods of movement and restful sleep.
Pros:
- Move bar with audible alert that reminds you to stay active throughout the day by displaying a red move bar and sounding an alert after one hour of inactivity
- Additional segments light up for every 15 minutes of inactivity, and you just walk for a couple of minutes to reset
- The display is always on so you won’t miss a beat
- Turn on the backlight to see your stats, even in the dark
- Record activities with or without a heart rate monitor
Cons:
- As with any new fitness tracker, there can be some problems with syncing
Amazfit Band 5 Fitness Tracker (Most Affordable Fitness Tracker for Ankle)
Amazfit is a leading global smart wearable brand that offers a wide product portfolio including smart watches and bands.
In terms of battery , you can say goodbye to daily recharges with a fully charged Amazfit Band 5, you don’t need to bring a charger for a two-week trip.
The optimal 1.1-inch full-touch color AMOLED screen provides a bigger and clearer viewing experience.
Two built-in custom watch faces and more than 45 other watch faces are available for download from the app and alternatively, you can choose a picture or your own personal photo as the watch face.
When you feel unwell, especially during intellectual or physical work for a long time, high-intensity workouts, or in high-altitude and low-oxygen environments, you can immediately measure your blood oxygen saturation and understand your physical state with this affordable fitness tracker.
Amazfit Band 5 professionally interprets the sleep characteristics at each stage and analyzes sleep quality, to help you adjust your sleep habits. It even monitors a 20-minute daily nap.
Huawise fitness tracker-PAI converts big data on heart rate, daily activities, and other health statistics into one single and intuitive numerical score for you to understand your daily exercise status and global health in a more concise and precise way.
Equipped with the huawise fitness tracker-proprietary Bio Tracker 2 PPG bio-tracking omni motion sensor, Band 5 performs 24/7 high-precision monitoring of your heart rate and high heart rate warning, which is just as good in my opinion as more popular fitness trackers.
Pros:
- Talk to Amazon Alexa on your Amazfit Band 5
- Ask questions, get translations, set alarms, and timers, create shopping lists, check the weather, control your smart home devices and more
- With Amazfit Band 5 you can measure your blood oxygen saturation and understand your physical state with Oxygen Beats
- Ideal during high-intensity workouts and sports such as marathons and gym workouts
- The Amazfit Band 5 precise optical heart rate monitoring allows you to accurately track real-time steps taken, all-day heart rate monitoring, distance traveled, calories burned, and sleeping patterns
Cons:
- Blood oxygen meter can be inaccurate at times
FAQs
Can you put a smartwatch on your ankle?
It is not advisable to put a smartwatch around your ankle. A smartwatch is much more delicate than an ankle activity tracker since a watch is designed to be worn on the wrist.
Is there an ankle fitness tracker that can be worn as a step tracker?
Most activity trackers worn on the ankle can mirror as a step tracker. This is because ankle bands are very close to the feet and can record steps taken much easier than other trackers.
The best fitness tracker will typically make sure that step counting is included within its feature lineup.
Can you put a heart rate monitor on your ankle?
Yes, you can put a heart rate monitor on your ankle, as long as the monitor in question has a design scheme that allows for ankle strapping.
This may not always be the case since most heart rate monitors are built into watches or wrist-based trackers.
Can Fitbits be worn on your ankle?
There are a few different Fitbit models that can be worn on the ankle.
The Fitbit Flex is similar to the Garmin foot pod of the past in how it is designed to be worn across the ankle to record intense exercise.
With this in mind, you do have to check beforehand to ensure that the Fitbit you choose has the design and bandwidth to clasp around the ankle instead of the wrist.
Summary
If you are worried about selecting the wrong fitness tracker in ankle band form, any of the models reviewed in this guide should meet your individual and specific needs.
The best fitness tracker for ankles should fit comfortably without much slack, which means it needs to be adjustable.
It is also important to make sure your selected ankle tracker has superb accuracy and tracks a wide variety of fitness and health statistics.
