Evolution of fitness trackers and the rise of smartwatches

Activity trackers, or as they’re more commonly known, fitness trackers or fitness bands, are gradually becoming less popular these days, with their market being largely taken over by smartwatches. Considered an evolved version of the classic fitness tracker, smartwatches today offer tracking of activities and health vitals, along with being much more customisable.

While this may feel like just another small step in the overall evolution of consumer of technology through the last decade, one cannot really discount the legacy fitness trackers are leaving behind on their way out. Let’s have a quick look at how they came into being and trace back the steps that led to the modern Mi Bands and Fitbits.

Late 1900s – Early fitness trackers

While fitness trackers may have jumped in popularity after these wearables came to the wrist, the very first activity trackers were actually devices that weren’t even used on the body. Bicycle computers (which are still very popular in the cycling community) can be considered early examples of portable devices that could capture data like distance covered, average speed, and more.

ALSO READ: Smartwatch vs Smart bands: What are the differences?

However, these devices catered to only those who rode bicycles, and there was a need for similar devices aimed at athletes or fitness enthusiasts who preferred other forms of exercise or indulged in other sports.

Finnish company Polar Electro developed the first wireless, wearable ECG (Electrocardiography) heart rate monitor for athletes in 1977 for the Finnish Cross Country Ski team – The PE2000. By 1982, a version of this product would launch as the Sport Tester PE, the world’s first commercially available wearable that could measure your heart rate without wires.

1996 – Integration of GPS

As wearable monitors started growing popular within the outdoor sports community, a big step-up came into play in 1996, when US President Bill Clinton would open GPS (Global Positioning System) to the general public. For devices like mobile phones and wearables, this also meant more accurate location tracking to measure distance covered.

This made it easier for runners, cyclists and other sports enthusiasts to accurately track their covered distances and get better metrics for speed and other derived data pointers.

2007 – Enter Fitbit

In 2007, California-based startup Fitbit entered the wearable space with wireless health monitors and activity trackers. In 2007, Fitbit would release its first fitness tracker – called the Fitbit Classic. This device could be clipped onto clothing, or even worn as a wristband. It was able to track a users’ steps and distance, and even estimate the number of calories they had burned every session.

Coinciding with the launch of the very first iPhone in the same year, the Fitbit Classic was also designed to sync its recorded data. It could connect to a smartphone or a computer to transfer its data over, clearing its own smaller storage unit for more recording.

The company would release a series of fitness trackers in the years to come, including the Fitbit Tracker, Fitbit Ultra and Fitbit One, which would make the design more compact and versatile, while adding new features like an altimeter, digital clock, sleep tracking and Bluetooth connectivity.

10 years later Fitbit would become the fifth-largest wearable technology company in 2019, before being acquired by Google in 2021. The brand’s growing popularity would kickstart a number of other brands to dive into the wearable market and make their own fitness trackers.

2014 – Xiaomi Mi Band series

While Fitbit was joined by other brands in making accessible fitness trackers in many parts of the world, the tech was still quite expensive in markets like India. That would change when Xiaomi would launch the first Mi Band. An affordable fitness tracker that gave buyers most of the important features at a fraction of the price. Needless to say, the Mi Band was a quick hit.

Compared to the Fitbit trackers for instance, the Mi Band series would offer users a pedometer, heart rate tracker and other features at less than half the price, while also being able to connect to any smartphone, including Xiaomi’s own devices.

With later versions, Xiaomi would add more features. The Mi Band 3 would add a display to the series, while the Mi Band 4 would add colours to the display.

2019 – Smartwatches begin growing popular

Fitness trackers would hit their peak in the late 2010s, with many more brands like Samsung also entering the space with the Galaxy Fit series. However, as these fitness trackers could do more and more, the small screens and compact bodies were starting to feel like a bottleneck.

Due to limited screen-space, not only were fitness trackers unable to show multiple metrics together, but they were also unable to feature a more advanced operating system, something that was made possible by the Apple Watch series, which had kicked off a few years ago in 2015, and had started growing in popularity.

By the year 2020, the massive potential of bringing larger screens to affordable fitness trackers was realised and brands like Amazfit, BoAt, Fire-Boltt and Noise stared launching budget smartwatches, which included all the features of fitness trackers with a basic operating system and a watch-like dial.

With all the additional functionality at a relatively small increase in price, smartwatches were much more usable even for those who weren’t exactly fitness enthusiasts, while the large screens also facilitated notifications from a paired smartphone. Users who just wanted a new watch were attracted to the idea of having one that could tell the time, but also display notifications, control music playback and even make calls.

As a result, smartwatches began completely eclipsing fitness trackers. As per a 2023 IDC report, smartwatches made up nearly 32 per cent of all wearables shipped (including audio products or hearables). On the other hand, fitness bands and trackers were only at about 6.4 per cent and are expected to decline to under five per cent in 2027.

The way forward

While you can still find the occasional fitness tracker in the market today, it is safe to assume that even people who currently use a fitness tracker today may strongly consider a smartwatch as their next wearable. This shouldn’t exactly be surprising given the value smartwatches offer in nearly the same price.

Yes, fitness trackers are more compact and less distracting, but is that what the customer really wants? That’s a questions wearable brands likely pondered over for the past few years, before choosing to take the smartwatch-first approach.

ALSO READ: How to choose which fitness watch features are for you

The demand for a display-free, minimal fitness tracker is also likely to be fulfilled by fitness tracking rings like the BoAt Smart Ring and Noise Luna Ring, which offer the benefits of a tracker without taking up the space of a watch on your wrist, allowing analogue-lovers to still rock their Seikos, HMTs and Omegas wherever they go.

Looking back, one can always set aside the pessimistic eye, and see fitness trackers for what they actually are – a great steppingstone in the right direction that made smartwatches possible, similar to what feature-phones were to today’s smartphones!