We wore all three at once for a week — two on one wrist, one on the other, swapped daily so no band got the good side. It looked ridiculous and it is the only way to compare them honestly.
What we were actually testing
Step counts agree within a few per cent on every band made in the last five years. The interesting differences are elsewhere:
- Heart rate under load — where cheap optical sensors fall apart.
- Sleep staging — where every manufacturer claims more precision than the hardware can deliver.
- Battery under real use — with the screen on, notifications on, and the always-on display exactly as most people leave it.
| Band A | Band B | Band C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heart rate, steady | Good | Good | Good |
| Heart rate, intervals | Good | Poor | Fair |
| Sleep vs. reference | ±19 min | ±41 min | ±26 min |
| Battery, as shipped | 6 days | 2 days | 9 days |
| Battery, always-on | 3 days | 1 day | 4 days |
A sleep score you do not trust is worse than no sleep score at all: it makes you doubt a good night.
The one we kept wearing
Band C, and not because it won the most rows. It won the row that decides whether a tracker is on your wrist in month three, which is battery life. The band you charge twice a week is the band you eventually leave in a drawer.
Two numbers that matter, and one that does not
- Resting heart rate over weeks. Slow, boring, genuinely useful.
- Time asleep. Not the stages — the total.
- The daily readiness score. Invented, unfalsifiable, and it will happily tell you that you feel bad on a day you feel fine.
Why not test the phone apps too?
Because the phone in a pocket and a band on a wrist are measuring different things, and comparing them tells you about trouser pockets rather than about sensors. Worth doing — in its own article.
All three bands were bought at retail. None of the manufacturers saw this article before publication.
Band C — the one we kept wearing
It does not win every measurement, and it wins the one that decides whether a tracker survives past month three: it goes a full working week between charges.
The sensor is honest under load, the app stays out of the way, and nothing about it invents a number it cannot measure.
Pros
- Nine days on a charge
- Honest heart rate under load
- No invented “readiness” score
Cons
- Small, low-contrast display
- No offline maps
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Sensor accuracy
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Battery life
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App
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Comfort
Would love the same test with chest straps included as a control.
Finally someone says the readiness score is made up.