If your main goal is to improve on fitness, lose weight and build muscles look no further. Swimming is one of the best low-impact and relaxing exercises for all-round wellbeing and fitness. Swimming is especially ideal for those resuming to exercise or looking for a wholesome fitness regimen. In addition to providing a full body workout, the risk of getting an injury is so minimal, which makes it an excellent choice for cross-training. You are truly missing out if you haven’t tried a swim fitness tracker. Today, swimming trackers range from simple fitness tracking smartwatches that record distance, stroke rate and pace to high-tech variants that include recovery scores, heart rate, and oxygen levels. There are a variety of smartwatch options that switch from swimming to other tracking modes depending on your fitness routine.
Table of Contents
- 0.1 5 reasons why you need a smartwatch for swimming
- 0.2 Waterproof vs. Water Resistant Smartwatches
- 1 Best Smartwatches for Swimming:
- 1.1 Fitbit Charge 3
- 1.2 Fitbit Charge 3 Fitness Activity Tracker, Graphite/Black, One Size (S & L Bands Included)
- 1.3 Garmin Vivoactive 3
- 1.4 Smartwatch GARMIN Vivoactive 3 1,2" GPS Waterproof 5 ATM Glonass Black Stainless Steel
- 1.5 Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro
- 1.6 Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro Smartwatch Fitness Band (Large), Liquid Black, SM-R365NZKAXAR - US Version with Warranty
- 1.7 Huawei Band 3 Pro
- 1.8 HUAWEI Band 3 Pro All-in-One Fitness Activity Tracker, 5ATM Water Resistance for Swim, 24/7 Heart Rate Monitor, Built-in GPS, Multi-Sports Mode, Sleep Tracking, Blue, One Size
5 reasons why you need a smartwatch for swimming
- Counting length
With a smartwatch swim tracker, you only have to input the length of the pool, and it will calculate the distance for you by detecting when you turn. Instead of thinking about the lengths you’ve made, you can focus more on your intensity and stroke.
- Track your progress
You can track your progress easily as the swim tracking mode on your smartwatch logs every set and so much more. This information can be useful if you keep a training diary or need to improve your technique.
- Motivation
Depending on the swim tracker, you can sync your smartwatch to other fitness apps and keep up to date with other swimming enthusiasts. This keeps you motivated and accountable while you enjoy support from your peers. Actually, a smartwatch can be helpful if you’re into other activities too, such as running, or biking.
- Analysis
The wall clock at the swimming pool can only provide information on your overall time for the interval. A swim tracker, on the other hand, gives you a comprehensive break down for your pace and time for each length within an interval. This is useful especially if you want to see a difference in your pace while using different techniques.
- Swim technique
Get valuable insights to improve your swimming technique from your swim tracker. Study your distance per stroke and stroke rate using a swimming tracker to understand your swimming efficiency.
Waterproof vs. Water Resistant Smartwatches
When it comes to smartwatches for swimming, the ability for the watch to withstand pressure makes it water resistant. Waterproof smartwatches are equipped for swimming and diving because they can handle more water pressure as compared to water resistant smartwatches. Technically no watch is fully waterproof.
Take your water-based workout to a whole new level using the following swimming trackers:
Best Smartwatches for Swimming:
Fitbit Charge 3
Fitbit Charge 3 Fitness Activity Tracker, Graphite/Black, One Size (S & L Bands Included)
Features
- Better measure calorie burn, understand resting heart rate & more with 24x7 heart rate tracking and a battery life of up to 7 days (varies with use and other factors); charge time (0 to 100%) 2 hours
- Choose from 15 plus exercise modes like run, bike, swim, yoga, circuit training and more, set a goal, and get real time stats during your workouts to see how you can keep getting better
- Automatically record time spent in light, deep and REM sleep stages, see Activity trends, healthy insights, and personalized guidance in one place with Fitbit today. Operating temperature is -10° to 45° Celsius
- Swim proof and water resistant to 50 meters, so you can track swims and wear in the shower; we do not recommend wearing charge 3 in a hot tub or sauna; also connect to Smartphone GPS for real time pace and distance during outdoor runs and rides
- Stay connected to your day with everyday apps for weather and more and get called, text and smartphone app notifications on your wrist; small wristband fits a wrist between 5.5 to 7.1 inches; large wrist band fits a wrist between 7.1 to 8.7 inches
As a swim fitness tracker wearable, the Fitbit Charge 3 offers a wide variety of features that are available on high-end swim trackers. The Charge 3 boasts a week-long battery life, mobile payments through Fitbit Pay, Android notifications support, but what makes it one of the best smartwatches for swimming is its swim proof water resistance.
Features
Fitbit Charge 3 is water resistant and swim proof up to 50M. The smartwatch only displays the swim duration while exercising; however, the Fitbit app provides comprehensive details on distance, laps, pace, and calories burnt.
Get texts, calls and calendar alerts as well as smart notifications on your smartwatch. You also get to view the Fitbit Leaderboard on your wrist. Fitbit pay is available on Special Edition models only.
Fitbit Charge 3 comes with continuous heart-rate monitoring, guided breathing exercises, cardio fitness level as well as automatic sleep tracking features. It also has reminders and automatic exercise recognition for inspiring you to continue with your fitness and health goals.
Pros
- Chock-filled with great features Fitbit Charge 3 is user-friendly, it offers a modern and premium feel that is comfortable and lightweight.
- In addition to being water resistant, it also offers accurate tracking. Fitbit Charge 3 has automatic exercise recognition; it has no problem recognizing when you swim.
- Fitbit Charge 3 has an excellent battery life leaving very little to complain about.
Cons
- Fitbit Charge 3 has no in-built GPS, and NFC connectivity is only available on Special Edition models only.
- Fit Charge 3 is not compatible with all Android devices.
- Sometimes the screen is unresponsive.
Garmin Vivoactive 3
Smartwatch GARMIN Vivoactive 3 1,2" GPS Waterproof 5 ATM Glonass Black Stainless Steel
Features
- Computers | Electronics, Electronics | Phones & tablets, Smartwatches
The Garmin Vivoactive 3 is another great smartwatch for swimming, which is perfect for sports enthusiasts who aren’t necessarily focused on the data and deep analysis but are still interested in recording their swimming activities with a lot of customization.
Features
Garmin Pay allows you to purchase and make payments using your smartwatch.
There are over 15 preloaded indoors and GPS sports app including swimming.
Keep an eye on your stress levels and monitor your fitness level with fitness made estimates and VO2 max.
Get and stay connected with automatic uploads to Garmin Connect, Live Track, smart notifications and so much more.
13 hours of battery life on GPS mode and up to 7-day battery life on smartwatch mode.
Vivoactive 3 shows and tracks your time, pace, laps and distance. You can create workouts on the smartwatch or switch to drill mode. The smartwatch is waterproof up to 50M.
Vivoactive 3 has Accelerator, Garmin Elevate wrist-based heart rate and Gyroscope sensors which track swimming and movement.
Pros
- Vivoactive 3 supports all the main stroke types, and the pool swim metrics include stroke rate/count, distance, pace time, calories and the smartwatch also calculates swim efficiency.
- You can easily personalize your smartwatch with free watch faces, widgets, and apps.
- You get to enjoy the excellent and almost full Garmin experience in sports tracking such as structured workout. Everyday tracking is broad, and the data is available on the device or Garmin app.
- Solid and long-lasting battery life.
Cons
- Vivoactive 3 only has a pool swimming profile, which is limiting if you’re interested in open water swimming.
- The shortest pool length you can pick on Vivoactive 3 is 17M; this might be inconvenient if the length of your pool is shorter.
- The heart rate tracker is usually disabled during a swim and you can’t use the touchscreen.
Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro
Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro Smartwatch Fitness Band (Large), Liquid Black, SM-R365NZKAXAR - US Version with Warranty
1 used from $199.95
Features
- Water resistant up to fifty meters, now you can own the pool, run in the rain and recover in the shower
- Power through intervals to the beat of your favorite tracks with music storage on your Gear Fit2 Pro. Bullet Point : 802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz
- Boost every session with fitness apps powered by Under Armour. Count every mile on Map MyRun, and stay on top of your nutrition with MyFitnessPal. Dust and Water resistant : MIL STD 810G and 5ATM
- Get a more accurate view of your performance and all day calorie burn with continuous heart rate monitoring. Battery - Battery Type and Size - 200mAh Li-ion. Typical Usage - Up to 3 days. Low Usage - Up to 5 days
The Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is the ultimate fitness partner that keeps you connected to the world, sync with your favorite fitness apps, plays your music and still manages to stay on top of your stats. And being water proof, it’s one of the best smartwatches for swimmers.
Features
The Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is dust and water resistant up to 50M and can withstand a full swim workout. The Speedo On app is available on the smartwatch.
With music storage on this smartwatch, you can choose to power through your swim workout intervals by listening to your favorite tracks.
Boost your everyday work out sessions using Under Armour fitness apps and stay on top of your nutrition goals with MyFitnessPal.
Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro provides an accurate account of your daily calorie burn, performance as well as continuous heart rate monitoring
Pros
- Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro provides an in-depth nutrition tracking not only on MyFitnessPal but also on Samsung Health and Gear Fit app. You can track your weight, log in your water or caffeine intake and so much more.
- The heart rate monitor doesn’t turn off in the water, unlike many other smartwatches.
- Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro has automatic stroke recognition. It’s fairly accurate and quick to lock-on automatically disabling touchscreen which prevents the smartwatch from misfiring once the screen touches the water.
- Its lightweight design makes it comfortable to wear.
- Samsung Gear Fit2 supports offline Spotify music playback for Premium accounts.
Cons
- Sometimes the smartwatch experiences trouble recognizing different types of strokes and the heart rate measurement can be unreliable at times.
- There are a lot of plugins and apps to download.
- Battery life can be better.
Huawei Band 3 Pro
HUAWEI Band 3 Pro All-in-One Fitness Activity Tracker, 5ATM Water Resistance for Swim, 24/7 Heart Rate Monitor, Built-in GPS, Multi-Sports Mode, Sleep Tracking, Blue, One Size
Features
- AMOLED touch display: color screen and adjustable screen brightness; full screen touch and home button control - built-in GPS tracks workouts without your phone
- 5ATM: 50M water resistance, pool swim and open water with a 6-axis imu sensor, providing stats for stroke style detection, distance, laps, swolf, number of strokes and calories
- Multi-sports mode: indoor/outdoor run, walk, indoor/outdoor cycle, swim, free training and various exercise types - 24/7 heart rate monitor: provides precise real-time heart rate data
- Sleep tracking: true sleep 2.0, developed in collaboration with Harvard medical school’s cdb center, identifies the 6 most common sleep-related issues, and gives suggestions for better sleep
- Camera remote: doubles as a Camera shutter remote for your smartphone - take better selfies, group photos, and shots at distances without carrying an extra Camera shutter remote
Huawei Band 3 Pro is one of the feature-packed affordable activity trackers in the market. The Huawei Band 3 Pro is one of the best smartwatches for swimming you can find at this price range. Which is great if you’re on a budget!
Features
Huawei Band 3 pro has an AMOLED colored touch display that you can easily adjust the screen brightness.
Features a built-in GPS that accurately tracks your workout even without your phone.
Its water resistant up to 50M you can use your smartwatch to track both pool and open water swim workouts. It provides calories, laps, distance, SWOLF, number of strokes and stroke style detection stats.
Has a 24/7 heart motor that provides precise heart rate data in real time. It features a multi-sports mode.
Pros
- Developed in collaboration with CBD center at Harvard Medical school, the Huawei Band 3 Pro sleep tracker, true sleep 2.0 can identify more than five sleep-related issues.
- The smartwatch doubles as a camera shutter remote which you can use to take better shots at a distance, group photos or selfies.
Cons
- The Huawei Band 3 pro features a watch-like clasp which is ineffective. This makes it uncomfortable to wear the smartwatch as it flaps against your wrist or sometimes falls off.
