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While we now know that the 10,000 steps a day goal is a myth from a Japanese marketing campaign, there is still undoubtedly a benefit of getting your steps in with a pedometer. They include improving your heart health, reducing body fat, stabilizing your blood sugar, and even boosting cognitive function.
Finding the motivation to get stepping will be much easier with a quality pedometer to measure those steps for you. As the number goes up, you’re sure to feel encouraged when you see the distance you’ve traveled and the amount of calories you’ve burned.
We researched dozens of activity trackers for walking before we picked our top 5 pedometers of 2021. After we walked the walk, we chose the Realalt 3DTrisport Walking 3D Pedometer as the best pedometer of 2021.
If you’re interested in tracking your walks, are working towards achieving a daily step goal, or want some extra encouragement for boosting your overall fitness, the right pedometer for you is on our list. Better yet, we’ve also included a pedometer buying guide, so you’ll know you’re buying a model with the functionality you need.
1. Realalt 3DTrisport Walking 3D Pedometer – Best Overall Pedometer
Uncomplicated and practical, the Realalt 3D Trisport Walking 3D pedometer has everything you need for tracking your number of steps and for a low price. You’ll also learn the distance you’ve travelled in km or miles, how long your walk or run was, and how many calories you burn.
Thanks to Tri-Axis technology, this pedometer can accurately measure your steps when carried in any position. Whether we clipped it on our waist or shoes, kept it in our pocket, or wore it around our neck with the included lanyard, it was accurate in determining our number of steps and the distance travelled.
We liked that you can set daily goals, which really helps with keeping up to motivation to complete your step targets. The pedometer stores 30 days of records before resetting, so you can check your progress over time. You don’t need to worry about the battery cutting out during a workout or a run, as it has a battery life of a year.
The only disappointment we had was that when the pedometer was sitting in our pocket during a short car journey, it logged some extra steps. Plus, while we liked the large display, it does make this pedometer larger than some of the others on the list.
What I Liked
- Long-lasting battery life
- Stores up to 30 days of step records
- User-friendly and easy to set up.
- Multiple ways to wear
What I Didn’t Like
- Can sometimes log steps on short car journeys
- It’s quite large compared to some other pedometers
2. Fitbit Inspire 2 – Best Activity Tracker
Compared to other pedometers on this list, the Fitbit Inspire 2 is on the expensive side, but you do get a lot for your money. Track your steps, calories burned, active minutes, sleep status, and your heart rate around the clock, including heart rate zones, which shows you the intensity of your exertion.
You’re not limited to just tracking your walks or runs with the Fitbit Inspire, you can use it to record a wide range of additional workouts with 20 exercise modes, including cycling and swimming. You can also set up your Fitbit pedometer with text and call notifications, and set alarms.
Even better, with purchase of Fitbit Inspire 2 you get one free year of Fitbit Premium which has some excellent workout suggestions, personalized insights, and step-by-step nutrition programs.
We found that unless we wore it on the perfect spot on our wrist, it vibrated a lot, but a little trial and error sorted that out quickly enough.
What I Liked
- Water resistant to 50m
- It comes with one free year of Fitbit Premium
- Long-lasting battery
- Round-the-clock heart rate tracking
- Complementary app
What I Didn’t Like
- On the expensive site compared to other pedometers
- It buzzes a lot, sometimes with the smallest movement if it’s not in the ideal placement on your wrist.
3. Polar Grit Outdoor Watch – Best Pedometer for Hiking
What we love about the Polar Grit Outdoor Watch is that it can accurately track not just your steps, but also when you’re climbing and descending. This means you can monitor how you perform on the uphill and downhill sections for your hike using your speed, distance, heart rate, and altitude data.
Plus, the built-in GPS helps keep you on the right track with real-time directions and you’ll be reminded to drink and take on fuel on longer hikes. However, although we didn’t have a problem on our hike, some users have expressed concerns over the accuracy of ots GPS tracking
When we were hiking through woodland, we thought the display could have been brighter. But, other than that, it held up through all terrains, even continuing to work well during a spot of wild swimming thanks to water-resistance up to 328 feet.
While the battery life is not as good as some of the other pedometers on this list, you will get up to 40 hours with full GPS and heart rate tracking, or even up to 100 hours with power saving options. It is expensive, but it’s super durable, designed to survive extreme temperatures, high humidity, and falls.
What I Liked
- Climb and descent detection
- Durable and water-resistant
- Long-lasting battery
- Numerous fitness measurements
What I Didn’t Like
- Comes with a premium price tag
- Screen could be brighter
4. 3DFitBud – Best Simple Pedometer for Counting Steps
For a simple no-frills pedometer to keep track of your steps, the 3DFitBud is the one for you. There is no set-up required – you simply switch it on and start walking. It will start tracking your steps as soon as you take at least ten steps in a row, and the large display makes it easy to keep track of your steps as you go.
As the device automatically goes into sleep mode after a period of inactivity, the battery life will last you for up to a year. You can reset the pedometer as many times as you like, so you can keep track of your daily progress, as long as you write it down.
Unfortunately, we found that when we wore the pedometer around our neck with the lanyard provided, the step count was a little off. However, when clipped onto the waist, the pedometer was very accurate in tracking the number of steps we took.
What I Liked
- It’s simple and functional
- Easy to read display
- Long battery life
- Cheap when compared with other pedometers
What I Didn’t Like
- Accuracy can depend on where you wear it
- May not be as durable as some other pedometers
5. Lintelek Fitness Tracker – Best Budget Fitness Band
The Lintelek Fitness Tracker is an affordable fitness band that offers a great introduction to activity tracking. Track your number of steps with decent accuracy, or track your heart rate, duration, and number of calories burned during over a dozen different exercises.
Track the distance of your walk or run by connecting the fitness tracker to your phone’s GPS and see a map of your route post-workout, as well as information about your pace.
We found it useful that you can track your progress through the app, although we did have a few issues with syncing the data between the two. By pairing your device with your phone, you can also get notifications for incoming calls and messages.
What I Liked
- Track up to 14 exercises
- Heart rate and sleep monitoring
- Huge variety of colors
- Text, phonecall, and movement reminders
What I Didn’t Like
- The app could be better and may contribute to draining your phone battery
- Some users have found it difficult to set up
What We Looked For in the Best Pedometers
As outdoor types that love nothing more than a long walk along a nature trail, hikes through more challenging terrain, and runs when the weather is fine. Setting targets and bursting through them is a key motivator for us, so we know the importance of accuracy in a pedometer or activity tracker with built-in step counter.
We also know that not everyone wants to track numerous health markers, they just want to know their daily step count. So, for our pedometer reviews, we wanted to make sure we chose devices that ranged from simple step counters to more all-around activity trackers that measure more than steps.
That being said, we still had a set of criteria that each pedometer had to meet before it mae our list:
- Simple to use or set up
- Easy to understand display
- Accurate
- Good value-for-money
- Long battery life
What To Look For in a Good Pedometer
The Realalt 3D Trisport Walking 3D Pedometer is our top pick of pedometer as it met all of our criteria and scored highly in terms of accuracy and battery life. Keep reading to discover what you should be looking for in a pedometer.
Accuracy
Accuracy is probably the most important factor to consider when choosing a pedometer. You’ll want to know that it’s tracking your steps correctly, and you can determine this by clipping on your pedometer and walking 100 steps, counting them in your head. If the pedometer is within 5 steps or so, you can trust in its accuracy.
Battery Life
All the pedometers on this list have long battery lives, and that is essential as you don’t want your device to cut out right in the middle of a workout. The lower tech options tend to have a longer battery life, but they also tend not to be rechargeable, unlike the high tech options. This trade off is worth considering before purchasing.
Extra Features
If you want to monitor other aspects of health, look for a pedometer that has extra features, such as heart-rate monitoring, calorie burn estimates, sleep and stress monitoring, and sport-specific modes.
There may be other features that you’d find useful. For example, if you like to swim, look for a pedometer that is water-resistant. Or if you regularly go hiking, you may benefit from a pedometer that can detect when you’re ascending and descending.
Keep in mind that pedometers with lots of extra features will be more expensive, so make sure you’re not paying for features that you don’t need or want.
Progress Tracker
If you struggle with motivation, you’ll benefit from a pedometer that allows you to set fitness goals and track your progress. Many pedometers can also nudge you towards achieving your daily goals, by reminding you to get up and move after certain periods of inactivity.
Wearing Style
You can wear a pedometer a few ways – clipped to your waistband, carried in your bag or pocket, on a lanyard around your neck, or around your wrist on a band. The style that suits you will depend on your activity levels.
If you want to track your activity all day long, a wristband style pedometer is the best choice, but if you just want to see how many steps you take during your daily walks, a clip-on or lanyard-style pedometer will be fine.
Wrapping Up
A quality pedometer can help you track how far you walk each day and to reach your daily step goals. Our favorite is the Realalt 3D Trisport Walking 3D Pedometer as it gives you an accurate estimation of your step count, as well as telling you the distance you’ve walked and the calories burned.