Best Fitness Devices to Complement Your Carb Manager Membership

Wearable tech is the hot new trend as we move toward “Internet 3.0” AKA the “Internet of Things” or IoT.

While the jury is still out on whether personal thermostats or smart glasses will go mainstream, fitness trackers and smartwatches appear to be here to stay, with over 50% of American adults using them on a daily basis.

But most fitness trackers don’t give you the whole picture when it comes to your health and diet, offering limited (if any) support for calorie tracking and food logging, and typically no support for macros, fasting, meal planning or other advanced nutrition-based features.

This leaves many dieters switching back and forth between multiple apps, and even making manual calculations to try and tie all of their data together.

Once you connect your fitness device to Carb Manager, the app pulls in your steps and other health data automatically and ties it to your macros and other nutrition data, giving you a holistic view of the factors that impact your weight loss and overall fitness.

In fact, many Carb Manager Premium users who don’t currently own a fitness tracker end up purchasing one specifically to take advantage of our powerful integrations.

And we’ve put together this guide specifically for those Carb Manager users. We’ll explore the top fitness devices currently on the market, with an eye to helping you decide which is the best compliment to YOUR low-carb health journey and for your usage of the Carb Manager app.

Device 1:

Fitbit Charge 3

Fitbit’s Best Overall Device

Tackle your health goals with Fitbit’s best tracker

FitCharge 3: Fitbit’s Best Overall Device

Fitbit’s flagship device is one of the best overall fitness trackers currently on the market. With a large, clear screen, it’s easy to see all of your stats at a quick glance. Not to mention, if you’re taking a walk or jog, the sunshine won’t affect the way you see the screen.

Featuring a lightweight design, it will look and feel better on your wrist than the last-gen model. Some people find the display dull- looking because of the monochrome, but that tradeoff comes with longer battery life versus devices that boast a full color display.

Tracking Features Include:

• Steps*
• Heart Rate
• Blood Oxygen
• Sleep*
• Minutes exercised*
• Calories burned*
• Weight*

...and more

*Metric can be imported to the Carb Manager app

The Fitbit Charge 3 is just about the closest that you can come to a smartwatch in the basic fitness tracker price category, with advanced features that include:

• Auto Pause
• Exercise goals
• SMS messaging
• Call handling
• Social media & email notifications
• Alarm
• Timer
• Weather
• Fitbit Pay

Who should buy the Fitbit Charge 3:

• Carb Manager users who live an active lifestyle and want to import and analyze numerous health metrics in their Carb Manager account.
• Users who want the advanced features that come with a smartwatch without paying a premium price.

Performance:

With a 7-day battery life, you could cruise through a full week of workouts on a single charge, even if you’re using the more advanced features.

Note: Carb Manager supports native integration and sync with all Fitbit devices.

Check out the Fitbit Charge 3 here.

Device 2:

Fitbit Inspire

Budget Option

Low budget, goal-crushing tracker

Fitbit Inspire: Budget Option

The Fitbit Inspire was made to bring motivation and inspiration to your journey, featuring all of the core tracking features you’ll need for success. The latest version of the Fitbit Inspire is basically a no-frills version of the Fitbit Charge 3, with a sturdy design, easy-to-use interface, and support for phone call alerts, text messages, emails and more.

Its lightweight and stylish band allows for a sleek wearing experience, suitable for individuals who don’t like the bulky look of trackers. Many users report that they forget they’re even wearing it.

Tracking Features Include:

• Steps*
• Heart Rate**
• Sleep*
• Minutes exercised*
• Calories burned*

...and more

*Metric can be imported to the Carb Manager app

**Inspire HR version only

Who should buy the Fitbit Inspire:

Carb Manager users who want a basic, lightweight budget tracker to automatically sync steps and activity.

While the Fitbit Inspire may not have all the features or capabilities as other trackers, it packs a punch for the price.

Performance:

In independent testing, both the Inspire and Inspire HR lasted up to a maximum of 5 days on a single charge with continuous 24-hour wear. Exact time between charges can vary depending on the age of the device and usage of advanced features, with a minimum time between charges of about 3.5 days.

Fitbit recommends that you charge your Inspires family device every few days just to ensure no unexpected interruptions in tracking. As a bonus, the lithium-polymer battery offers one of the fastest charging times of any major tracking device, taking just 2 hours to go from

0-100%.

Note: Carb Manager supports native integration and sync with all Fitbit devices.

Find your inspiration with the Fitbit Inspire here.

Device 3:

Fitbit Versa

Best Fitbit Smart Watch

Powerful and personal to help you reach goals

Fitbit Versa: Best Fitbit Smart Watch

With a built-in GPS, generous storage capacity of 300+ songs, and support for the Fitbit app store, the Versa is an affordable alternative to the Apple Watch.

Compared to higher-end smartwatches, the Versa is smaller and more compact, making it less noticeable and clunky for everyday wear. It comes with a well designed and highly responsive touch screen, as well as three buttons that serve as shortcuts for music controls, notifications, exercise start times and alarms.

Tracking Features Include:

• Steps*
• Heart Rate
• Blood Oxygen
• Sleep*
• Minutes exercised*
• Calories burned*
• Weight*
• Distance Traveled
• Floors Climbed
• Female Health

...and more

*Metric can be imported to the Carb Manager app

The Fitbit Versa comes with a wide variety of “smartwatch-style” features, which include:

• Auto-pause during exercise interruptions
• Exercise goals
• SMS messaging
• Call handling
• Social media & email notifications
• Alarm
• Timer
• Weather
• Fitbit Pay
• Community
• Challenges
• Breathing & Meditation
• Fitbit Coach
• App Support

Who should buy the Fitbit Versa:

Carb Manager users who live an active lifestyle and enjoy quantifying every aspect of their health journey, but who aren’t quite ready for the hefty price tag of an Apple Watch.

Performance:

While Fitbit themselves admit that the Versa’s battery life is shorter than some of their more expensive devices in the same category, independent testing has generally shown a battery life of 3-4 days (depending on usage), which is adequate given the array of features and the relatively affordable price point.

Note: Carb Manager supports native integration and sync with all Fitbit devices.

Check out Fitbit’s most loved smart watch here.

Device 4:

Garmin Vivoactive 4/4S

Garmin’s Best Overall Device

Extensive feature set to keep you motivated

Garmin Vivoactive 4/4S: Garmin’s Best Overall Device

Manage every aspect of your health journey with advanced features like Pulse Ox, stress-, respiration-, and energy-level indicators, and more.

Unlike Fitbit, whose core products are basic wrist watch-sized fitness trackers in the $100-$200 range, Garmin’s bread and butter is in full featured multi-sport smart watches.

The Vivoactive 4/4s falls toward the mid-range of Garmin’s lineup. It’s far superior to the Vivomove or Vivosmart devices, but a significant step down from a high end device like the Fenix 6 or the Forerunner 945.

The Vivoactive 4 serves as the base model in this device family, with the 4s offering a larger screen and extended battery life, as well as a “rose gold” color option.

With a solid combination of features and a relatively reasonable price point, the Vivoactive 4/4s trackers is our favorite overall Garmin device.

Tracking Features Include:

• Steps*
• Heart Rate
• Blood Oxygen
• Sleep*
• Minutes exercised*
• Calories burned*
• Weight*
• Distance Traveled
• Floors Climbed
• Stress
• Pulse Ox
• Respiration Hydration Sweat loss
• Menstrual cycle

… and more

*Metric can be imported to the Carb Manager app

The Vivoactive 4/4s also comes with a variety of smartwatch style features including:

• Garmin Pay
• 3.5GB of music storage
• Support for music streaming apps
• Animated workouts for strength training, cardio, yoga, and Pilates
• Coherence, relax, focus, and tranquility breathwork activities
• Garmin coach
• Exercise goals
• SMS messaging
• Call handling
• Social media & email notifications
• Alarm
• Timer
• Weather
• Emergency assistance

… and more

Who should buy a Garmin Vivoactive 4/4s:

Carb Manager users who are also fitness junkies. If you’re just planning to sync calorie and exercise data, this device is probably overkill. But if you’re a multi-sport, outdoor enthusiast who’s looking for a holistic overview of their sports and fitness journey, the Vivoactive is a heavy-hitter for its price point.

Garmin Coach is a powerful Premium option that provides training plans for 5k, 10k, and half-marathons; many users report that they’ve used these plans to reach their goals!

Performance:

With a battery life of up to eight days in smartwatch mode and six hours in GPS and music mode, you can go a while without needing to charge the tracker.

Note: Carb Manager supports native integration and sync with all Garmin devices.

To go all in on your health and fitness goals, check out Vivoactive 4s here.

Device 5:

Garmin VivoFit 4

Great Budget Option

A whole lot of activity without charging

Garmin VivoFit 4: Great Budget Option

The VivoFit 4 is Garmin’s answer to Fitbit’s basic fitness trackers. The style is a significant departure from Garmin’s core smart watch style offerings, being more reminiscent of a Fitbit Charge.

The VivoFit 4 lets Garmin fans take advantage of their popular web-based features without committing to a large, expensive smart watch style device.

A few stand out features include: the extended battery life (go a full year without charging); the “Move bar”; Garmin’s popular Move IQ software; and the “toe-to-toe” feature where you can challenge your family and friends to a “step counting contest.”

Tracking Features Include:

• Steps*
• Distance Pace
• Sleep*
• Calories burned*
• Minutes exercised*
• Goals

… and more

*Metric can be imported to the Carb Manager app

Who should buy the Vivofit 4:

Carb Manager users who want a budget-friendly, entry level fitness tracker to sync their basic health data to Carb Manager, but who prefer the Garmin app and web-based offerings to Fitbit.

Performance:

As mentioned above, the battery life is a major selling point for the VivoFit 4, with a full year on a single battery, and no charging required.

Note: Carb Manager supports native integration and sync with all Garmin devices.

To rock your fitness goals continuously without constantly charging the battery, check out the Garmin VivoFit 4 here.

Device 6:

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2

Best Overall From Samsung

Stylish tracker that you will be proud to wear

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2: Best Overall From Samsung

One of the most highly rated smart watches on Amazon, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 was created with both style and performance in mind.

This device was designed as a fitness wearable, but make no mistake: it’s also a full featured smart watch that’s among the best products in its category outside of the Apple Watch line.

Tracking Features Include:

• Steps*
• Distance
• Pace
• Sleep*
• Calories burned*
• Minutes exercised*
• Goals
• Stress Heart rate
• Weight*
• ECG (coming soon)
• Distance Traveled
• Floors Climbed
• Menstrual cycle

..and more

*Metric can be imported to the Carb Manager app

The device has too many possible smart watch style features to list here, and offers the ability to install a variety of name brand apps, like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. With that being said, the Samsung Galaxy store is quite limited compared to the App Store.

Who should buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2:

Carb Manager users who are in the market for a full-featured smart watch, but don’t have an iPhone to pair with an Apple Watch.

Performance:

Battery life for the Galaxy Watch Active 2 is heavily dependent on usage, with about 2 days between charges if you’re using every advanced feature, and 4 days if your usage is more basic.

Note: Carb Manager does not offer native support for Samsung devices at this time. Integration is provided via the Google Health app and a third-party syncing app.

For a stylish tracker that has all the fitness features you need and more, check out the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active.

Device 7:

Samsung Galaxy Fit

Best Budget Option

Premium features; budget price

Samsung Galaxy Fit: Best Budget Option

The Galaxy Fit is Samsung’s version of an entry-level fitness device along the lines of the Garmin Vivofit 4 or the Fitbit Charge 3. Sensors and available metrics are similar to Garmin and Fitbit’s devices in this category, but the Galaxy Fit really stands out with it’s gorgeous .95- inch full-color AMOLED display.

The strap is high quality, the battery lasts up to seven days between charges, and the device is water resistant up to 165 feet. On the whole, the Galaxy Fit is possibly the highest quality basic fitness tracker in the sub-$100 category.

Tracking Features Include:

• Steps*
• Distance
• Pace
• Sleep*
• Calories burned*
• Minutes exercised*
• Goals
• Stress Heart rate
• Weight*
• ECG (coming soon)
• Distance Traveled
• Floors Climbed
• Menstrual cycle

..and more

Who should buy the Samsung Galaxy Fit:

Carb Manager users who want to sync their basic fitness data with the app, but are willing to pay a little extra for one of the highest quality sub-$100 fitness trackers in its category.

Performance:

Battery life is a selling point for the Galaxy Fit, with up to 11 days between charges for very light usage, 7-8 days with typical usage, and 5-6 days for heavy usage.

Note: Carb Manager does not offer native support for Samsung devices at this time. Integration is provided via the Google Health app and a third-party syncing app.

To bag a premium device at a budget price, check out the Samsung Galaxy Fit.

Device 8:

Apple Watches

5 generations of best-in-class smartwatch features

Apple Watches

The Apple Watch is generally considered to be the “gold standard” in smart watch technology, and comes with a premium price tag to match. Most analysts consider the Apple Watch 5 (the most recent generation) to be the finest smart watch ever produced.

With that in mind, it shouldn’t be surprising that the latest Apple Watch generations offer just about any fitness feature that you can imagine.

Natively, the Apple Watch tracks steps, calories burned, exercise minutes, heart rate, and includes an EKG monitor and much more.

But of course, you can also choose from thousands of health and exercise focused fitness apps in the App Store to provide coaching, sleep tracking, celebrity-designed exercise programs, and advanced health analysis.

With five generations of Apple Watch now available to choose from, it’s worth highlighting some of the key differentiators between them.

• Apple Watch Series 1 is fast and supports every health feature that Carb Manager can import, but may feel outdated.
• Apple Watch Series 2 improves on the Series 1 by adding GPS, a water resistant shell, and a brighter screen.
• Apple Watch 3 has optional LTE, adds an altimeter, improves the heart rate monitor, and boasts a 70% faster processor.
• Apple Watch 4 adds a larger screen, ECG support, and improvements to its heart rate monitor
• Apple Watch 5 is the current version, boasting an advanced processor and a larger display, along with an always on screen.

Who should buy the Apple Watch:

Carb Manager users who are in the market for a premium smart watch, and want to take advantage of the combined synergy between Apple’s advanced health tracking features and Carb Manager’s all-in-one Keto diet tracking platform.

Performance:

Battery life can be a mixed bag depending on your precise Apple Watch version. The Apple Watch 5 boasts an “always on” display, which leads to some skepticism about battery life. In addition, Apple themselves report just 18 hours on each charge, assuming 4 hours of LTE connection and 14 hours of connection to an iPhone via Bluetooth over the course of a day.

Some independent reviews report at least 36 hours between charges after updating to watchOS 6.1 or later, although we haven’t been able to verify those results.

Note: Carb Manager supports native integration and sync with all Apple devices.

Treat yourself to a premium, best in class wearable with the Apple Watch.

While by no means a requirement to achieve your fitness and weight goals, investing in a fitness device is a great way to gain deeper insight into your overall health. And connecting your fitness device with the Carb Manager app gives you the deepest insights possible.

When Carb Manager has access to your steps, exercise, and calories- burned data, we’re able to sync that information automatically. This saves you the effort of entering the data manually and lets us provide you with the most accurate possible nutrition and weight loss analysis.

Fitness device integrations are available to all Carb Manager Premium members. Click here to upgrade to Premium now.

If you’re already a Premium member and you’re ready to connect your fitness tracker, click here for step-by-step instructions.