It’s springtime! Bring on the warmer weather, chirping birds, flower blooms, lighter layers, and the fabulously stylish wearable fitness trackers that look more and more like cool jewels. Why should you be stepping into the sunny skies with some boring rubbery band hanging off your wrist?
Plus, Mother’s Day will be here in a wink. And no one deserves cool tech accessories more than mama, right? (Just nod, people.) I’ve pulled together 5 of the most dazzling wearable fitness trackers to keep stepping — literally — in style.
Related: Wearable tech that helps you put your phone away
Ringly Aries Collection
We were already on board with Ringly‘s smart cocktail ring that debuted a few years back. But now the smart jewelry company has launched new bracelets called the Aries Collection (top) that have us once again sitting up and taking notice.
Much like the ring, the new bracelets pair with your smartphone via Bluetooth to send customized notifications through vibration and subtle lights so you don’t miss calls, texts or alerts from your favorite apps like Uber, WhatsApp and Snapchat. (For all of your moms who are on Snapchat, right?) It’s all very discreet and chic. But what’s new is that they’ve added a step-tracking feature.
The gold plated bracelets come in two different styles and are crafted with hand-cut semi precious stones, making each piece completely unique — and pretty darn fab. Unfortunately this one requires an IOU for Mother’s Day — ship dates are still a few weeks off. ($195 on pre-order; shipping this summer)
Misfit Ray
We still think very highly the original Misfit Shine: pretty, sleek, smart, and easy to slip around your neck. But the new Misfit Ray is bringing something slim, cool and modular to rock on your wrist. The anodised aluminium tube casing is small and light, not chunky in the least which makes it a very stylish wearable fitness tracker.
Like the Shine, the Ray tracks steps, calories and sleep with a silent alarm for wake-ups. Plus, it works off of two replaceable button cell batteries which should give you six months of battery life. This nixes the USB-charge-up hassle — a nice plus. ($99.99 for the sport band available now, with the leather version on pre-order for $120)
Related: 7 of the coolest new wearable fitness trackers from CES
Fitbit Alta
I’ve been a happy Fitbit Flex devotee for the last three years. My one gripe though is how often the band breaks. I have a drawer filled with my Island of MisFitbit Toys. However, the company is top-notch when it comes to customer service, and is quick to replace broken bands. That’s one of the things that caught my attention with the brand new Fitbit Alta: it’s a whole different mechanism. To switch out the bands, all you do is push and slide a quick-release.
Making the stylish, new bands super swappable was a smart move. Who wouldn’t be tempted to have more than one band on hand — especially with leather and metal luxe options along with the updated “classic” version available?
This upgraded, fashion-forward design presents the Alta as the slimmer, better-looking cousin to the Fitbit Charge. Also new are the “move” alerts, week-long batter life and being able to see phone, text and calendar notifications from your smartphone. Add this to Fitbit’s already immense popularity in the fitness tracker game, and I think you’ve got a sure winner here. ($129.95 with Classic band, with additional $59.95 for the leather band and $99.95 for metal bracelet)
Mira Bracelet
I’ve had my eye on this little number ever since reading the Cool Mom Tech’s fashion tech trend report early last year. Finally nabbed one after highlighting it on my Christmas Wish List then handing to my husband. (Hey, you do what you gotta do, right?) If you think the Mira Bracelet looks fly in the picture, you’ll be kind of giddy slipping the sleek, open design stunner over your wrist in real life. Clearly, it looks nothing like your typical fitness tracker, but totally puts in the work of one.
The sleek device tracks your steps, activity level, calorie burn, distance, and elevation all through the free companion app (which is pretty much de rigueur when it comes to fitness trackers), plus it offers up optional personalized motivational messages called “boosts.” Also cool is that you can snap the little, black tracker out of the bracelet and clip it onto a jacket or belt or slip it into your pocket, all while still keeping track of your activity level on the QT. ($169 for bracelet and tracker, $99 for bracelet alone)
WiseWear
It must be said first that these stylish wearable tech bracelets are not for everyone; they price in the high-$200-300 range. It’s definitely high-end, high fashion, high-tech. But they are still so very cool, and could be the perfect splurge gift for any special mom, wife, girlfriend or grandma in your life.
The line of luxury bracelets are similar to other wearables with the activity tracking and smartphone vibrating notifications, true, but unlike the others, I love that WiseWear has a hidden distress messaging feature. So, if you’re wearing one and suddenly find yourself in an urgent situation, a double-tap to the touch panel on your bracelet will immediately notify emergency contacts via text message and share your GPS location with them. Pretty neat, and could make the higher price tag seem worth it to some.
The bracelets are plated in 18K gold or palladium and are water and tarnish resistant. Which is good, because you’ll want to wear this one for a long time.(start at $295)
