Got a runner in your Christmas family? These fitness gadgets will keep them on the track.
Jawbone Up
I’m a little biased towards the Jawbone Up. I own one because it’s the only fitness tracking band that doesn’t make you look like a Dalek. It’s trendy, stylish and fun. Sure, it doesn’t have Bluetooth for wireless syncing to your phone, but the style and comfort benefits you get from this over something like a Fitbit or Nike Fuelband are great. Buy this for a style-conscious fitness fanatic.
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FitBit Flex
The Flex takes everything we loved about the original Fitbit One and threw it onto your wrist. Sadly, it doesn’t pack in an altimeter (to show you how many floors you have climbed), but it does have Bluetooth 4.0 so you can wirelessly sync your activity to your phone without having to worry about it.
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Adidas miCoach Smart Watch
If you’d rather a fitness tracker from a company who lives and breathes running, the Adidas miCoach is the one for you. It’s a smart watch from a running company that has been around forever, and features optical heart rate monitoring, storage for music streamed over Bluetooth, and compatibility with a web-based tracking platform to see how you’re training.
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iPod Shuffle
Having to carry something like a music player or even your smartphone while you’re working out really blows, which is why the best feature of Apple’s iPod Shuffle is the clip on the rear that lets you throw it onto your shirt or pants for handsfree music. The price is nice too!
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Sennheiser PMX 680i Sports
After extensive testing, we decided that these Sennheisers are the best headphones for your running life. The 680 Sports series from Sennheiser/Adidas simply give you the most boom for your buck, and by boom I mean bass. These pack some of the heaviest bass I’ve heard on earbuds, and they’re loud, too. I was able to turn the volume down several notches compared to the others. The neckband design means that they didn’t budge even slightly when running or doing jumping jacks. They’re light and they have a built-in mic with start/stop and volume controls. They’re sweat-proof, water-resistant and rinseable. They let in a bit of ambient noise, but because they can go so loud it’s easy to overwhelm it. While it isn’t the cleanest sound, the 14mm drivers have enough bass to give it a full sound. If you’re trying to run to a beat, these are the ones.
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iPhone 5s
If you’re getting them a phone this Christmas, you’re both a generous gift giver and someone I want in my life! If you’re wondering which one you should get for them when it comes to handsfree fitness tracking, the iPhone 5s is probably best. The new M7 chip means that it can monitor your steps and wellbeing from inside the phone, without the need to buy an additional gadget.
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