The Best Waterproof Fitness Trackers for 2024

Apple's flagship smartwatch, the Series 9, has a WR50 rating, meaning it's water-resistant to 164 feet and suitable for shallow-water activities like swimming in a pool or the ocean close to shore. It's also safe to wear in the shower or a hot tub. Its Workout app offers separate tracking options for Pool and Open Water swimming, as well as a Multisport mode for triathletes. The Series 9 also has an IP6X certification (a spec the more affordable Watch SE can't match), meaning it's totally dustproof and immune to damage from sand if you wear it to the beach.

The Apple Watch Series 9 is an excellent option if you want a smartwatch that tracks swimming and keeps you connected outside the water. It requires an iPhone XS or later running iOS 17 or higher, so it's not an option if you use Android. Note that, unlike the Apple Watch Ultra 2, the Series 9 is not safe for scuba diving, waterskiing, or other activities involving high-velocity water or deep submersion.

Fitbit's most popular fitness tracker, the Charge 6, is water-resistant to 164 feet and safe to wear in the rain or pool. The Exercise app offers a tracking option for swimming, and the device features a Water Lock setting, which prevents the screen from activating when you're in the water. The Water Lock automatically turns on when you start a swim in the Exercise app, or you can enable it at any time via the Quick Settings menu. Additionally, Fitbit's SmartTrack feature automatically recognizes and records certain types of workouts, including swimming.

The Charge 6 is an excellent investment for casual swimmers as well as anyone who wants to improve their health without spending a bundle. Note that Fitbit cautions against regularly wearing the Charge 6 in the shower, as exposure to soaps and conditioners may diminish its water resistance. It's not safe for the hot tub or sauna either. Regular beachgoers and outdoor adventurers should also consider a more rugged device because the Charge 6 doesn't have a dust protection rating.

Like the Apple Watch Ultra, the Polar Grit X has a WR100 rating and is waterproof to 328 feet. It's safe to wear in the pool or open water and offers separate swimming profiles for both. It recognizes different swimming strokes including freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly; can track your underwater heart rate; and records metrics such as pace, distance, strokes, stroke rate, and SWOLF. 

With a rugged build and outdoor-specific features, the Polar Grit X is an excellent choice for swimmers, trail runners, downhill skiers, hikers, and mountain bikers. This multisport GPS watch offers longer battery life than the Apple Watch Ultra 2, with similar durability. Casual pool swimmers can go with something less rugged, but the Grit X is a top option for serious outdoor athletes. 

Just because you’re swimming doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice your sense of fashion. Like a lot of other models on this list, the Garmin Lily 2 has a 5ATM water resistance rating, so you can safely swim with it to a depth of 164 feet. It includes an exercise mode for pool swimming and tracks a variety of other health attributes like sleep, heart rate, and SpO2 when you’re not doing laps. Beyond the useful functionality, what this watch really has going for it is a chic design and a large variety of interchangeable straps.

The Garmin Lily 2 is a top pick for women specifically given its size and swagger, but it’s one of the best fitness trackers out there for anyone with small wrists or a penchant for style. It can’t track open water swimming, but look here to look good while you’re putting in those pool laps.

The Garmin Venu Sq 2 has a 5ATM water-resistance rating, meaning it can withstand pressure at depths of up to 164 feet and is safe to wear in the shower or pool. It offers more than 25 built-in indoor and GPS profiles, including pool swimming, rowing, and SUP. For swimming, it tracks metrics including underwater heart rate, stroke type, and SWOLF. 

The Venu Sq 2 is a top choice if you need a waterproof fitness tracker with long battery life. In testing, it outpaced all the other models on this list by running for around nine days. If you're willing to trade some battery life, you might prefer the Garmin Vivoactive 4 for its traditional round design and more sunlight-friendly display transflective memory-in-pixel (MIP) display. Neither tracks open water swimming though, a feature that is available on the newer Garmin Vivoactive 5.

Apple's rugged Watch Ultra 2 has a WR100 rating, which means it can withstand depths of up to 328 feet; it offers twice the water resistance of the Series 9 and the Watch SE. Notably, the Ultra 2 is suitable for high-speed water sports like kitesurfing, wakeboarding, and jet skiing. The Ultra 2 also meets the EN13319 international standard for dive computers and gauges; it's safe for recreational scuba diving down to 130 feet. The Ultra 2 further one-ups the Series 9's IP6X dust protection rating with a much stronger MIL-STD 810H certification. It can survive high altitudes, extreme temperatures, freezing/thawing, blowing sand, and other environmental stressors such as vibrations and shocks. Its screen gets even brighter than its predecessor (up to 3,000 nits from 2,000) without sacrificing any battery life and is therefore easier to read in direct sunlight.

With a more rugged build, longer battery life, and improved water resistance compared with its siblings, the Ultra 2 is the best Apple Watch for outdoor adventurers, endurance athletes, and ocean enthusiasts. It's also a nice option for scuba divers thanks to its depth gauge and water temperature sensor, features that also aren't available on the Series 9. Divers should check out the Oceanic+ app ($9.99 per month), which turns the Ultra 2 into a dive computer. For similar durability and longer battery life, check out the Polar Grit X.

The second-generation Watch SE is the smallest and least expensive smartwatch in Apple's lineup. You need to be careful with it around sand because it lacks the IP6X dust-resistance rating of the Series 9, but it's safe to wear while you swim or shower thanks to its WR50 rating.

The Apple Watch SE is a worthy alternative to the Series 9 for monitoring your water activities on a budget. It offers Pool Swim, Open Water Swim, and Multisport (triathlon) tracking options, but beachgoers might prefer the more durable Series 9. Neither is suitable for deep or high-velocity water, however; for that, you need to step up to the Apple Watch Ultra 2. 

The Fitbit Versa 4 is water-resistant to 164 feet, which means you can wear it in the shower or while you swim (even in salt water) without issue. Fitbit advises against bringing it into a hot tub or sauna, however. Like the Charge 6, the Versa 4's Exercise app offers a tracking option for swimming and supports SmartTrack automatic exercise recognition. It also provides helpful heart rate zone alerts to let you know when you reach a target zone during exercise.

The swim-friendly Versa 4 is a compelling alternative to the Apple Watch and Wear OS smartwatches for its affordability and multi-day battery life. Plus, it offers some usability improvements over the Versa 3 including a more tactile mechanical button instead of a haptic one, but that highly rated third-generation model is still available as a now regularly discounted alternative.

The Galaxy Watch 6 features both a 5ATM and IP68 rating, so it's waterproof to depths of 164 feet and can withstand dust, dirt, and sand. It also meets the MIL-STD-810H standard, so it should survive extreme temperatures and other environmental stressors such as vibration and shock. Samsung further says the device can safely stay under 5 feet of water for up to 30 minutes. The Watch 6 series offers more than 90 activity options including swimming, rowing, beach volleyball, aqua aerobics, kayaking, snowshoeing, and water skiing. It also features a Water Lock mode to prevent the screen from activating when you're in the water. Finally, access to the Google Play Store means you can download a wide selection of apps, including Swim.com.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is best for Android users who need a waterproof smartwatch with ample connectivity and health features. It's a nice option for pool and open water swimmers, even if it's not safe for diving or high-velocity water sports. Similar to how the Apple Watch only works with iOS devices, the Galaxy Watch 6 series is exclusive to phones that run Android 10.0 (or newer) and have more than 1.5GB of RAM. For comparison, the Classic model offers the same water- and dust-resistance specs, but includes a rotating bezel.

The Fitbit Ace 3 is a swim-friendly fitness tracker for children. It's water-resistant up to 164 feet and holds up to cannonballs. Outside of the water, it tracks your little one's step count, active minutes, hourly movement, and sleep.

The Ace 3 is ideal for children ages six and up. It offers longer battery life (eight days vs. five), than the second-generation model, but still doesn't have location tracking or apps. For location tracking and a more feature rich experience, check out the Fitbit Ace LTE.