In today’s electronic fitness tracker market, consumers have a variety of choices to choose from. Whether a fitness tracker, regular watch, smartwatch, or other fitness tracking device is selected, health metrics can be tracked with superb accuracy. Despite personal preference, there are also some considerations to take into account based on which wrist fitness tracker you choose. With this in mind, can you wear a fitness tracker with a watch at the same time?
Smart watches also happen to be fitness trackers as well, but for a wide range of health data tracking features, you can certainly wear both styles of device at the same time. This could be beneficial since a dedicated fitness tracker may record certain metrics that a traditional watch may not.
If you currently have both a fitness tracker and an analog watch, you may already wear both devices at the same time. But if you are curious as to the benefits of wearing traditional watches with fitness trackers and a dedicated fitness tracker together, this article is for you.
Read on to find out more about this question and how wearing a watch and fitness tracker at the same time can be the perfect solution for all-around health tracking.
Does wearing a watch on the same wrist as my smart watch affect functionality?
The short answer is no, there is nothing at all to indicate that wearing a watch on the same wrist as a smart watch causes any concerns when it comes to functionality.
In fact, it can often be beneficial to give your wrist a break from a smartwatch from time to time.
For example, you could easily wear regular watches along with a specific tracker if you want to take advantage of the stylistic choices that a standard watch brings with it.
Additionally, and most importantly, all the various models in the fitness tracker family, such as slim fitness trackers, can be used next to an analog watch if you simply want to use the fitness tracker to count steps or calories burned.
You can easily take off your regular watch and wear a fitness tracker for more robust physical activity that could damage a traditional watch.
Keep the following points in mind when deciding which of your watches to wear:
- Durability and Design
- Activity Level
- Time Needs or Smart Function Needs
- Safety Concerns
- Fashion Choices
How do you wear a fitness tracker with a watch?
To make matters easier, you can easily wear a fitness tracker and a watch at the same time.
This is a great way to utilize the display watch face of an analog watch on your left wrist, with a dedicated activity tracker underneath it on the same wrist.
You could wear something like a Fitbit Inspire HR at wrist level and wear a standard watch a bit higher above it.
You could also just wear your standard watch and wear a chest strap or chest band that relays recorded health metrics to the smartphone app for the fitness tracker in question.
However you want to wear the devices is completely fine, and alternating to different wrists is also okay with fitness trackers.
If you have a small wrist, we’ve written all about the best fitness trackers for small wrists here.
Alternatives to wrist fitness trackers
We have already discussed a chest strap as one alternative to a wrist fitness tracker, but there are also some other options to consider if you don’t want to wear a wrist fitness tracker.
Adaptable accessories are one burning question that fitness enthusiasts frequently ask about, and here are the alternatives you can consider.
Fitness pendant (Fitbit flex- pendant)
Fitness trackers can actually be optimized to work in a variety of design patterns.
The Fitbit Flex is one such pendant that can track your steps, activity patterns, and even your sleep, all within the convenience of a band that barely resembles a watch at all.
The actual Fitbit is a tiny device that fits inside of the band and acts as a protective console of sorts. If you want to wear a fitness tracker that is almost entirely invisible apart from the thin band that fits snugly across your wrist, this is definitely a good choice for you.
Smart rings
The day that vendors stop producing new innovations of a concept – in this case, fitness trackers, is likely never going to happen. This can be witnessed with the creation of “smart rings“.
These devices are fitness trackers that record accurate heart rate reading metrics and much more, all within the convenience of a snugly fitting ring on your hand.
If you want to avoid watches, these rings are fashionable accessories that are stylish and can match clothing choices much more smoothly.
We often think of rings in terms of fashion or even sentimental value, but these devices can track your fitness level and one of the best features of a ring in this capacity is the optimal sleep recording metrics that can be recorded thanks to the ring fitting much more snugly to your hand unlike a tracker worn on your arm.
Fitness trackers for ankles
Branching out further brings us to fitness trackers that can be worn across your ankle.
These types of trackers can measure your fitness level accurately with the added benefit of being on your ankle which can be out of sight if you are wearing clothes or accessories that cover your ankles.
With this in mind, most activity trackers worn on the ankle can mirror 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, such as the Fitbit Alta, will typically make sure that step counting is included within its feature lineup.
Additionally, 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. When you monitor heart rate across the ankle, the readings may not be as accurate.
This may not always be the case but most heart rate monitors are built into watches or watch-based trackers on your left hand.
FAQs
Is it OK to wear 2 watches?
If you like your accessories to match kind of like your shoes, you may want to ensure that your two watches each have a black strap or some other matching color – black is always best.
Should you wear a smartwatch all day?
When you fasten a tracker like the Fitbit Alta or even a chest strap, these should only be used when you exercise or need them, particularly in the case of a chest strap.
What wrist do you wear a smartwatch on?
Conclusion
In summary, you can certainly wear a watch and a tracker at the same time. Companies are always looking for ways to innovate their next version of a popular design, and you may find that there are also many new devices that can fix the problem of wearing too many devices at once.
Can’t decide which fitness tracker to get? Read our guides now: