Best Fitness Tracker for Kayaking

by David Wright | Last updated July 18th, 2019

It is always nice to take a break from your daily activities and relax or engage in different ones for fun. One of the best ways to enjoy this is to take a trip elsewhere and engage in water-related activities for leisure. Kayaking, for instance, is one of the ways that lets you relax during low-key exercising.

This sport has gained popularity in recent years as it is a great way to exercise and spend your afternoon. If you have a passion for the kayaking sport, then you should consider having a fitness tracker for your activity. The fitness tracker guarantees safety as it can find your way back, and also track time and your fitness progress.

Below are the best fitness trackers for kayaking available on the market today.

Quick Navigation

> Garmin Fenix 5
> Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro
> Polar M400
> Garmin Vivoactive HR
> MorePro
> Buyer’s Guide

1. Garmin Fenix 5 – Best Premium Fitness Tracker for Kayaking

Garmin Fenix 5 is a premium unit exhibiting superior features that make it stand out from the rest. It’s a multisport unit that uses advanced technology and is designed for all outdoor adventures.

First, it uses a wrist-based Elevate technology to track your heart rate unlike those that require a chest strap to do so. It also features an activity tracker that keep count of the steps, calories burned, and distance covered throughout the day. The smartwatch has an outdoor design that includes GPS and GLONASS satellite reception, and also 3-axis compass featuring a barometric altimeter and a gyroscope.

The Fenix 5 comes ready for any outdoor adventure. That is because of the jagged design with a stainless-steel construction on the back case, bezel, and buttons. Also, it is waterproof up to 100 meters, making it perfect for kayaking.

The tracker comes with a 1.2-inch screen display that is wide enough to take readings in the outdoors. There is a performance widget that will display your workout status. You get smart notifications, and your progress can be uploaded automatically to the online fitness family.

Pros and Cons

2. Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro – Best multisport tracker

For anyone looking to get the most out of their outdoor activities, the Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is another great option. The unit presents a water-resistant design that provides protection at depths up to 50 meters. This feature makes it perfect for use in water-based sports like kayaking, canoeing, swimming, and more.

Built for the outdoor activities, this unit features a heart rate sensor that continuously tracks your performance and calories burned throughout the day. What’s more, the fitness tracker incorporates a GPS tracker to map your location and prevents you from getting lost in the water.

The Gear Fit2 Pro also includes plenty of features that motivate your fitness experience. You can get a lot from the Under Armour apps like MapMyRun and MyFitnessPalm.

MapMyRun enables you to count the distance, and MyFitnessPalm monitors your nutrition to aid in reaching your goals. In addition, you can receive messages and respond to calls via Bluetooth connectivity.

The best part about the Fit2 Pro is the battery, which lasts for days on a single charge. The fitness tracker pairs with Android and iOS devices and features a standalone music player to enjoy your favorite tracks on the move.

Pros and Cons

3. Polar M400

If you are a sports fanatic who enjoys passing time kayaking, then the Polar M400 sports watch is a great addition. That is because it features a waterproof design that lets you use it for swimming and other water-related activities without taking it off.

The waterproof distance is up to 30 meters underwater. It incorporates the advanced technology that combines with H7 Heart rate sensor to enable you to exercise at optimal heart rate zones. This fitness tracker for paddling and kayaking tracks your time, counts your steps and distance as well as the calories burned in every activity.

The M400 features a beautiful design with 128 x 128-pixel resolution display. It provides black and white screen display that lets you view the readings clearly in the outdoors. Also, it has a thickness of 11.5mm and weighs about 56 grams.

There is a Micro-USB port at the back for charging, and the kit includes a charging cable with an output of 500mA at 5V. The fitness tracker contains a GPS tracker that maps your location and tracks your distance. What’s more, it knows the specific activity you are engaging in to provide a relevant information.

Pros and Cons

4. Garmin Vivoactive HR

Garmin makes yet another appearance on this entry with the Vivoactive HR smartwatch. It presents a sleek design with a plethora of features that have effective performance in water-related outdoor activities.

The Vivoactive HR is the high quality waterproof smartwatch that is suitable for kayaking, canoeing, boating, and swimming. The unit features a high-resolution colored touchscreen interface for better viewing of the readings. It also includes a GPS sensor that tracks your movement and maps your location.

The tracker presents an impressive battery life that lasts up to 13 hours using GPS and 8 days in smartwatch mode. It works every single time to provide accurate readings on your heart rate while kayaking or swimming. In addition, the watch collaborates with other smart devices to deliver notifications straight to your wrist.

The fitness tracker uses the Bluetooth compatibility for effortless connectivity.

Pros and Cons

5. MorePro – Best affordable model

Combining performance and affordability, MorePro fitness band is one of the best available waterproof trackers for kayaking and snorkeling. With a 0.96-inch color screen, the unit presents a high definition display that allows you to do readings with ease. Also, the bracelet comes in a vibrant color that looks beautiful for any occasion.

With its dynamic heart rate monitor, the MorePro tracks your pulse and uploads real-time analysis of heartbeats to an app. In addition, it features a sleep monitor for deep and light sleep.

The MorePro is suitable for use in water-related activities. It incorporates a USB plug for easy charging to provide up to 7 days of battery life. This unit is compatible with both Android and iOS devices that support Bluetooth 4.0 technology.

Its key functions include step count, count-down, multi-display, calorie count, mileage, running mode, stopwatch, reminder, sleep monitoring, phone tracking, and more.

Pros and Cons

Buying Guide

Plenty of companies are coming up with different versions of waterproof fitness trackers for kayaking and other water-based sports. That’s why it becomes quite difficult to make the right buying decision. Below you can find a quick buying guide featuring things you need to consider when purchasing a kayak fitness tracker.

Waterproofing

The main aspect of a kayak fitness tracker is its waterproofing attribute. That determines how deep you can expose the unit without damaging its performance. Often, the waterproof quality is indicated by an IP rating whereby, the higher the denominations, the better chances it has of surviving water exposure.

Also, the atmospheric pressure (ATM) of a fitness tracking unit matters a lot. The tracker should be able to endure more pressure and depth. For example, 1 ATM means it is waterproof up to 10 meters or 31 feet under water.

Battery life and charging

Fitness trackers require capacious batteries to function as they are mostly made for outdoor use. The battery life varies with different fitness trackers. Some of them last a week or more on a single charge with heavy loading, whereas others last only a few hours.

The trackers use different charging types, which include micro USB and USB type C. MicroUSB charging is a lot faster than type C charging.

Generally, most units achieve full charge under a few hours because they don’t have large battery capacities.

In-built features

A heart rate monitor in a fitness tracker is a great addition for your workouts. This aids in determining how much stress you are applying to the heart.

Another incredible feature is GPS tracker. While paddling in the water, sometimes you can lose your direction. Therefore, having a fitness tracker with a GPS will help you know your location and find the right way to go.

Kayaking For Health and Fitness

Conclusion

Any serious sports enthusiast understands how vital a fitness tracker is to their workouts. And if you are planning on having a good time at sea kayaking, then a fitness tracker with the right features is ideal. A waterproof fitness tracker has durable performance and can survive the harshest of conditions.

Now you should be able to make the correct buying decision. If you still have any questions, feel free to ask in the comment below.

Related Guides