Best Fitness Tech Gifts Under $200
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.
Consumer Reports has no financial relationship with advertisers on this site.
Need a gift for a tech-obsessed fitness buff? Or does that special someone need a new tech toy to jump-start their fitness resolution in the New Year?
Either way, we've got some good ideas for you that won't slim down your wallet too much.
The fitness tracker, headphones, smartwatch, wireless speaker, and blender featured here all scored well in CR's ratings and are available for under $200.
Be sure to shop around before buying. While Black Friday and Cyber Monday might have come and gone, there's still no shortage of deals out there—you just need to hunt them down.
Go to Consumer Reports' 2018 Holiday Central for updates on deals, expert product reviews, insider tips on shopping, and much more.
Garmin Vivosmart HR
This is one of our top-rated fitness trackers. It checks all the important boxes, earning top marks for heart-rate and step-count accuracy, along with ease of use and water resistance.
Its 1.1-inch LCD display is easy to read in both low and bright light, making it great for outdoor use. The device will track your calories burned and sleep patterns, while also letting you know when you have a new text, email, or other notification.
It's easy to put on, comfortable to wear, and has tracking abilities designed specifically for a handful of different sports, including running, golf, and swimming.
Check our buying guide and ratings for fitness trackers.
Bose SoundSport Wireless
Workouts are a lot easier to get through when you have your favorite tunes playing. For help with that, we recommend this set of headphones. These wireless portable stereo headphones did great in our testing, and they are less expensive than many competitors.
What you get for that money is a sports-oriented wireless Bluetooth set that combines elements of in-ear and earbud earphones. They're some of the best in terms of sound quality, making them a good choice for the more critical listener.
Their isolating design both muffles some external noise and limits the amount of sound that escapes from the ear pieces, which means they're best for those who want some isolation from outside noises, or don't want the sound from the earpieces to disturb others.
Check our buying guide and ratings for headphones.
Fitbit Versa
Fitbit’s new smartwatch clearly has the Apple Watch in its crosshairs. It looks very similar and offers many of the same features, but at a significantly lower price. The basic version costs $200. By contrast, a simple GPS-enabled edition of the Apple Watch Series 3 starts at $329. According to our testers, it’s a worthy competitor, though perhaps a bit short on the premium features found in other smartwatches.
The Versa is great when it comes to counting your steps. But, in our testing, it wasn’t quite as good at tracking your heart rate as other smartwatches were. That’s not to say it was bad at that; it scored a very good in our testing. It’s just that many other watches were excellent in that area.
Check our buying guide and ratings for smartwatches.
Bose Soundlink Micro
If you need a speaker that's not just portable but really invites you to carry it with you, look no further than the Bose Soundlink Micro. Just under 4 inches square, this device can easily strap onto a backpack or bicycle handlebars.
And while it fell short of larger models in our sound-quality testing, our techs found the Micro to be largely enjoyable to listen to. The Micro is ruggedized with a silicon cover in red, blue, or black, resulting in a speaker that's said to exceed IPX 7 water-resistance standards.
Check our buying guide and ratings for wireless and Buetooth speakers.
Ninja Smart Screen DUO with FreshVac CT661V
Looking for a post-workout pick-me-up? Ninja full-sized blenders earn a Very Good rating in predicted brand reliability, according to our member survey, and owner satisfaction is high. The Ninja Smart Screen Duo with Fresh Vac CT661V is a vacuum blender, and impressive performance and brand reliability at an appealing price make it a CR Best Buy. Use this blender in regular mode, which earns an Excellent rating in our icy-drinks tests, meaning your smoothies will be smooth with a consistent texture.
Or you can attach the vacuum pump to the top of the blender when you want to pump oxygen out before blending. Why? In vacuum mode, we found that this blender makes smoothies that were less airy, less foamy, even smoother, with less separation. The blender runs on 1100 watts, and the 9-cup container is plastic. Two 20-ounce plastic cups with lids are included—use them to vacuum out air, blend, then take with you to work or a workout. Note that this blender is 18 inches high, so check clearance space between counter and cabinet. Warranty lasts one year.
Check our buying guide and ratings for blenders.
More from Consumer Reports:
Top pick tires for 2016
Best used cars for $25,000 and less
7 best mattresses for couples
Consumer Reports is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with consumers to create a fairer, safer, and healthier world. CR does not endorse products or services, and does not accept advertising. Copyright © 2018, Consumer Reports, Inc.
