If you want to discreetly track your health and wellness without a huge screen on your wrist, there are still plentiful options.
Fitness tracking doesn’t mean wearing a big screen on your wrist. Or having to advertise the fact you’re trying to nail your daily step counts. Some wearables can keep tabs on your health more discreetly.
If you’d rather not have a smartwatch or a fitness band on your wrist, but still want to capture your stats, there are alternatives – and from big-name brands such as Xiaomi and Fitbit.
If you’re looking for a wearable that fits that profile, we’ve served up the standout devices you can hide away and still stay on that journey to a fitter, healthier you.
Key considerations
Heart rate data
If you don’t wear a tracker on your wrist, or against your skin, it won’t be able to read heart rate – and that means forgoing many of the key health and wellness features of today’s wearables. So looking for wearables that sit against the skin away from the wrist might be a better option.
Wear it on clothes or somewhere else?
If you’re eyeing up a tracker that can be worn on clothes, pay close attention to the types of clothes it can attach or live on. Some discreet trackers also need dedicated garments. Alternatively, there are “hybrid” wearables, that track heart rate and health metrics but appear like normal “non-smart” watches.
Battery life
If you’re all about discreet tracking, then you won’t want to be charging every day. Luckily, most of the devices on our list are good for around a week of battery life.
Fitbit Inspire 3
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Fitbit Inspire 3 Key specs and features
- Works with Android and iOS
- 5ATM water resistance (50m)
- Up to 10 days of battery life
- 1.55-inch, full-color display
- Connected GPS
The Inspire 3 is a fitness tracker that is primarily worn on the wrist – but you can opt to clip it to clothing with the purchase of an extra accessory.
The clip enables you to secure the Inspire 3 to the waistband of your trousers – or you can also wear it on a belt or bra.
When clipped, you can track steps, estimate calorie data, and monitor sleep.
Because it won’t track heart rate when clipped, you will forgo in-depth features such as the Health Dashboard and advanced sleep metrics. You will have to place it back on the wrist if you care about heart rate tracking, using Fitbit’s Active Zone Minutes feature, or getting the most accurate sleep data.
But you’ll still get a step count, and inactivity alerts, plus it’ll still dish out phone notifications for messages, texts, calls, and calendar appointments.
The Fitbit Inspire 3 offers the best battery life numbers you’ll find on a Fitbit, with 10 days achievable between charges.
It costs a little more than the Mi Band 8 (below), but the excellent Fitbit app makes it worth the extra cost in our opinion. And as it’s a few years old, there are plenty of good deals to be had.
- Read our full Fitbit Inspire 3 review
Xiaomi Mi Band 8
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Xiaomi Mi Band 8 key specs and features:
- 16-day battery life (around 7 days in testing)
- 1.62-inch AMOLED display
- Connected GPS (via smartphone)
- 5ATM/IP68 water resistance
The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 8 goes bigger on alternative wearing options than ever before thanks to its Pebble Mode.
It can be worn via a clip or even a pendant, as shown below from our review period. What’s more, it can be clipped to your shoe to deliver running metrics from the foot, and in our review time, it did a fantastic job of serving up seriously deep running form metrics such as cadence and strike patterns.
Again, it does mean data such as heart rate, stress, and SpO2 monitoring are off-limits until you put it back on your wrist. But information like step counts and distance covered can still be tracked.
The display has been boosted and is larger at 1.64-inch, with a 192 x 490-pixel resolution. And it’s now brighter and can reach 600 nits of brightness.
In our review, found that data accuracy was below the standard of rivals such as Fitbit, and we did have issues with step counts specifically. But if it’s about getting a general look at your activity levels and just making sure you’re getting up and about regularly – it’s probably the best pick here.
Read our full Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 8 review
Whoop Strap 4.0
Free with $30/£30 subscription | Whoop
Whoop Strap 4.0 key specs and features:
- Can be worn inside Whoop garments
- Tracks heart rate, blood oxygen, temperature
- 5-day battery life
- Connected GPS
Discreet wearables tend to be light on metrics – but the opposite is true with the Whoop 4.0. The most advanced option on our list, Whoop collects serious health stats and insight, focused on recovery, strain and sleep and stress. You won’t find any step count data here. The Whoop 4 is focused on your training, sleep, and recovery needs – and is one of the best at doing it.
You’ll notice there’s no screen, so it’s a lot more discreet even on the wrist. But the reason Whoop 4.0 is so powerful as a discreet tracker is the sheer amount of wearing options. It does need to be placed against the skin to work, but it can be worn on the wrist or upper arm, and there’s a bicep strap available. So it can be placed out of sight, and still deliver killer insights.
What’s more, Whoop has a host of Whoop Body garments with slots for the Whoop 4.0 to be placed against the skin, out of sight. You can buy bras/pants with a special slot for the unit, so it can be totally discreet.
We’ve used it extensively over the past two years and love the core wellness metrics that it displays via a daily health dashboard. It compares these against baselines, using a traffic light system. It’s superb at telling you if you’re fatigued or getting sick.
Whoop works via a subscription, rather than an up-front price, and it’s one of the more expensive options here.
It also compiles comprehensive weekly and monthly reports based on your stats, and lifestyle choices.
If you like the look of the Whoop and its approach to tracking and you’re willing to pay up for those garments then there’s a good experience for fitness lovers here.
Read our full Whoop 4.0 review
Oura Ring 3
$299/£299 with £5.99/$6.99 a month subscription | Oura
Oura Ring 3 key specs and features:
- Tracks heart rate, steps, sleep, and temperature
- 100m water resistance
- 4-7 days battery life
- Connected GPS
Smart rings are big news in wearables – and the Oura Ring Gen 3 is the best you can buy right now.
The ring form factor is garnering attention for its discreet way of tracking health, away from the wrist, and way less distracting that smartwatches with their screens.
But for such a discreet device, there is a lot of health-tracking power here. The optical sensor delivers heart rate, body temperature, respiratory rate, and blood oxygen (soon) data to help you better understand when your body is ready to exercise.
There are also sensors here to track steps and enable some of the best sleep tracking you’ll find on a wearable.
Like the Whoop 4.0, you’ll need to pay for the ring and commit to a $5.99/£4.99 subscription. But if you’re not sold on fitness trackers that live on the wrist, but want powerful wellness metrics, this is a top option.
- Read our full Oura Ring 3 review
Ultrahuman Ring Air
Price: $349 / £280 / €325 | Ultrahuman
- Tracks heart rate, temperature, blood oxygen, sleep
- 2.4g
- Comes in black, or really dark black
If your attention was piqued by the Oura Ring, but you balked at the price, enter the Ultrahuman Ring Air.
It’s the company’s second-generation smart ring. It’s lighter and smaller than its predecessor, at just 2.4g, making it more comfortable to wear.
We’ve included it here because smart rings are more discreet alternatives to smartwatches – but the Ultrahuman Ring Air did seriously stand out during our testing time.
The feature set is very similar to Oura. Sleep is the main focus, and there’s a sleep index that takes into account a wide range of data and metrics. We found that sleep tracking was largely reliable, with accuracy that stood up well to Oura and Whoop.
It also puts a focus on recovery – and helping manage circadian rhythms, including managing stimulants and prompting healthy wind-down times. These aren’t hugely advanced in terms of tracking, but interesting additions that sit well alongside the deep insights.
There’s also a recovery score, which also tracks metrics such as resting heart rate, heart rate variability, and body temperature.
These are compared to established baseline scores, and there’s a traffic light system to show if these are outside of your personal norms.
It costs $349 / £280 / €325 without on-going subscriptions, so is a good alternative to Oura in terms of cost.
Read our full review of the Ultrahuman Ring Air.
Hybrid smartwatches
They look like analog watches but are fitness trackers in disguise. If you don’t want to show off your tech, choose a hybrid instead.
You can check out our dedicated hybrid smartwatch guide, but we’ve selected some options below:
Withings ScanWatch Light
The ScanWatch Light is smaller, lighter ScanWatch 2 – and pleasingly cheaper too. And it comes in an even smaller 37mm case, which is given a glow-up compared to the reserved ScanWatch 2.
It drops the advanced health features, so ECG, SpO2 and temperature tracking are all cut. So it suits those looking for a general overview of health, which we feel is the bigger cross-section of people looking at discreet wearables.
It’s more a fitness tracker than a health watch, without those key health sensors – so it’s better suited to those who want to keep tabs on step count and general heart health.
But the ScanWatch Light still features heart rate and sleep tracking – both delivering decent accuracy. It’s not best in class – choose Whoop or Oura for that – but certainly offers a good overview of time in bed, and whether you’re getting enough rest. You will have to wear the watch to bed, however, which we realize isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
Read our full ScanWatch 2 Light review
Withings ScanWatch 2
It still features the same small monochrome OLED screen on the dial, for basic stats and notification alerts – and comes in 38mm and 42mm sizes.
> ScanWatch 2 vs. ScanWatch Light
The ScanWatch 2 is a good health tracker, with largely accurate heart rate from our testing, and solid – if not world class – sleep tracking. And it has ECG too, for the tracking of Afib, and will monitor for signs of sleep apnea, too.
It’s also a capable tracker of workouts too – and no slouch when it comes to your yoga class or spin session. It will also tap into your phone’s GPS for run tracking, which won’t be as accurate as proper built-in GPS but does a job.
As a health hybrid, it’s the best out there.
Read our full Withings ScanWatch 2 review
Garmin Vivomove series
Garmin Vivomove series key specs and features
- Works with Android and iOS
- Connected GPS
- View notifications
- Tracks runs, swims, and cycles
- Up to 5 days of battery life
- Step and sleep tracking
- Heart rate and SpO2 monitoring
- 5ATM water-resistant rating
There are multiple models in Garmin’s Vivomove series collection including the Vivomove Sport (pictured above) and sleeker, pricier versions like the Vivomove Luxe. All share the same features and approach to delivering those smarts in a form factor that hides away those connected features.
You get a mix of physical hands and a hidden digital display that only comes into sight when you want to check data on it. That data includes blood oxygen data, heart rate, sleep, and sports tracking metrics when you use the supported connected GPS.
You can also view notifications, calendar appointments, weather updates, and make contactless payments with Garmin Pay to make sure you get a good mix of smartwatch features here as well.
Whether you pick up the cheaper Vivomove models or go for the Style or Luxe versions, you’ll get surprisingly normal-looking watches with some very useful fitness, health, and smartwatch skills.
Read our Garmin Vivomove Sport review / Garmin Vivomove 3 review
Withings ScanWatch Horizon
Withings ScanWatch Horizon key specs and features
- Works with Android and iOS
- Connected GPS
- View notifications
- Tracks running, swimming, and cycling
- Up to 30 days of battery life
- Step and sleep tracking
- ECG sensor for detecting Atrial Fibrillation
- Heart rate and SpO2 monitoring
- 5ATM water-resistant rating
The Withings ScanWatch is another hybrid smartwatch that looks like a beautiful watch but doesn’t scrimp on the smarts.
There are cheaper versions of the Scanwatch, but the Horizon offers high-grade case materials with the option of metal and rubber straps to swap from formal to fitness-friendly looks.
Great looks aside, the Horizon hosts a small AMOLED screen, which can display information such as notifications, heart rate, and activity tracking stats, and can track sleep if you want to keep it on in bed.
Withings also includes an ECG sensor, which is designed to deliver a level of heart rate measurement accuracy that can help detect signs of arrhythmia. There’s additionally room for a SpO2 sensor to monitor blood oxygen levels and it can also be used to monitor breathing disturbances during sleep.
It’s also capable of tracking exercises like runs and swims, with connected GPS support available to improve outdoor tracking accuracy. Throw in a lengthy 30-day battery life and the Horizon gives you a smartwatch that feels and looks like a high-grade watch that doesn’t easily give away its onboard smarts.
- Read our Withings ScanWatch Horizon review
