Google Fitbit Charge 6 - Fitness Tracker - Gold/Coral

Why it's worth it

The Charge 6 is a slim band that gives you a clear nightly sleep score, stage breakdown, and a smart alarm that wakes you out of light sleep. It costs a fraction of the premium options and runs most of a week per charge.

It's the easiest first sleep tracker to actually understand. The nightly sleep score rolls duration, stage quality, and restoration into one number from zero to a hundred, with the light, deep, and REM breakdown underneath if you want it. You don't need to know what heart-rate variability is to use it. If you've never tracked your sleep and aren't sure you'll stick with it, start here before spending real money.

A week of battery on a band this thin is a genuinely good trade. Published testing puts real-world life around six and a half to seven days with sleep tracking running the whole time. That covers a full work week with a day to spare, so charging becomes a weekend chore instead of a nightly ritual. You won't lose nights to a dead battery the way you will with a full smartwatch.

From our review of 7 fitness trackers for sleep tracking, by Eleanor Vance, Health & Beauty Editor

What we like

• +It's the easiest first sleep tracker to actually understand
• +A week of battery on a band this thin is a genuinely good trade
• +The smart alarm is the feature people keep using
• +It's a real activity tracker too, not just a bedtime device

What to know

• –The blood-oxygen screening isn't cleared for apnea, and the best analysis expires
• –A slim band has less sensor contact than a ring or a watch case