Should You Ditch Your Fitness Tracker For an Apple Watch?

Priced at $349 and $399, the Apple Sport Watch is pricier than a regular fitness tracker (and even fitness-specific watches like the Fitbit Surge or the TomTom Cardio). It is sweat-proof and water-resistant, but unlike certain sports watches and fitness trackers, you won't be able to track your swim workout or take a shower with it. The watch comes in two face sizes, 48mm and 38mm, and has a rubberized band in different colors.

One of Apple's main fitness features is the Activity app, which shows you in a simple three-ring graphic just how much of the day you've spent exercising, standing, or moving. You goal is to complete each of the rings every day.

Many fitness trackers feature notifications that can alert you if you've been sitting too long, although the Apple Watch, unlike a smaller fitness band, can show you more information easily on its watch face.

The Apple Watch has a heart rate sensor that detects your heart rate during workouts, which is becoming more and more common in fitness watches and trackers (like the Fitbit Surge, Fitbit Charge HR, and TomTom Cardio). It helps for more-accurate calorie burn data as well as knowing how intensely you're working out.

Like other fitness watches, the Apple Watch tracks your stats while you exercise once you tell it what workout you're doing. Via the Workout app, it tracks your stats like time, distance, calories, pace, and speed during cardio workouts.

The Apple Watch makes goal-making easy during a workout: you can set your exercise goal to be distance, calories burned, or time, and then go — the Watch will motivate you to keep going during your workout and also alert you when you've hit your goal. Once you've hit a milestone, you'll get a fun badge that is also stored on your iPhone's app.

Other fitness features of the Apple Watch include weekly progress reports, tracking via the Health app, and integration with other third-party apps, including the robust Nike+ Running app. The Apple Watch also uses GPS and WiFi from your iPhone to track your outdoor running stats accurately (other sports watches also track your GPS through built-in capabilities).

Not that you'd wear your watch to bed (I tried it with the similarly sized Fitbit Surge and wasn't impressed), but if you're looking to replace your fitness tracker with an Apple Watch, it helps to know that the Apple device doesn't include a built-in sleep tracker, which most other fitness trackers do.

Our take: If you're in the market for a fitness tracker or sports watch, there are many fitness trackers that already have the same fitness functionality as the Apple Sport Watch, at a lower price point. But if you're looking for a sleek smartwatch that can also double as your fitness tracker, the Apple Sport Watch's features can definitely help any casual athlete or serious sweater work on their fitness goals.