Since you are here looking at the best Fitbit for tracking sleep you are probably experiencing difficulty sleeping. The American Sleep Association reports between 50-70 million people have a sleeping disorder of some kind. The good news is there are number of ways to improve your sleep, but first you need to understand how much sleep you are getting.
If you want to improve something, you have to be able to measure and track it first. The Fitbit excels in tracking the three stages of sleep (Light, Deep and REM) with its advanced sensors, algorithms and powerful App.
Fitbit Reviews:
Fitbit Model | Sleep Tracking | Sleep Score | Recommend | Check Price | |
  | Versa 2 | Yes | Yes | Author Top Pick | |
  | Ionic | Yes | Yes | Best For Runners | |
  | Charge 4 | Yes | Yes | Good for Runners | |
  | Versa Lite | Yes | No | ||
  | Charge 3 | Yes | Yes | Best Budget Pick | |
  | HR Inspire | Yes | Yes |
Best Fitbit for Tracking Sleeps Reviews:
All the Fitbit trackers and watches listed above have the ability to track your three stages of sleep described above. Wear any of these listed above to bed and while you sleep precise measurements of your heart rate and motion sensors work behind the scenes to track your sleep. When you wake up in the morning the data will be ready to review via the App on your smart phone or login to the Fitbit website with you computer or tablet.
Each night your body goes through the three stages of sleep based on your heart rate and getting the correct time in each cycle is what allows you to get up feeling refreshed. Deep sleep enables physical healing of our bodies, light sleep strengthens learning and memory while REM sleep helps with creativity and strategic thinking.
You start by setting a sleep goal of how many hours of sleep you want to get each night, the time you wish to go bed and even a silent alarm if you wish the tracker or watch to wake you up. Each morning you can look at your sleep data for the night before or see historical trends over weeks, month and year. Each night the Fitbit will give you a reminder that bedtime is drawing near based on the bedtime you set.
Sleep Score:
I found the sleep score an excellent way to quickly look at the App and see how well I slept. When I first started using the Fitbit to track my sleep I was surprised at how poorly I was sleeping. I decided to start researching what I could do to improve my sleep and made one change at a time and then watched my sleep data and score for a couple of weeks to see any progress being made.
Improving Sleep:
Some of the things I did were simple and resulted in immediate progress like setting a routine, not reading from my phone in bed, playing a white noise at night to keep me from waking up in the middle of the night. I even got huge gains from buying the right quality pillow for my body and sleeping posture. It didn’t take long to improve my sleep and now I awake feeling rested and ready to take on the day and it all started with sleep tracking.
Picking the right sleep tracker for you:
Knowing that five of the listed trackers and smart watches will provide you with excellent sleep data and score I would recommend you make your decision based upon your budget and what other fitness features you would use on a regular basis. Don’t buy the most expensive smart watch because of all the extra bell and whistles if you are not going to use them.
Fitbit Versa 2 – Top Pick for the Techies
The Versa 2 is my top pick for those like me that want all the data this watch provides plus the most important feature of this watch is the size of the screen. Having the larger screen for someone with poor vision like myself makes it easy for me to see the screen without my glasses.
Below is a more complete list of main features but to just mention a few of my favorites are, waterproof, song storage, customizable watch faces, Alexa control, 6 day battery charge, and all the fitness tracking you need. From a look and feel perspective you can change out bands to customize the watch to suit your needs as I like to put the metal band on to give it a more professional look for the office and the silicon bands are nice to wear while working.
These bands take a few seconds to change out and one of features I like the best. Please check out the table below before making a decision and get the tracker or watch that best suits your needs.
Charge 3 – Top Budget Pick
This is an amazing tracker, I wore this model for 18 months, and it performed flawlessly. This is a great device loaded with features. If you are looking to get into sleep and fitness tracking on a lower budget then make this your choice. If you are not sold already please continue to read about the feature rich device.
Charge 4:
The Charge 4 is basically the same as the Charge 3 with a couple of additional features. The first is the ability to see you real-time pace and distance without a smart phone and then get a map of your route in the Fitbit App. This feature is handy if you are a runner and don’t carry a phone while you run. The Charge 4 also has Active Zone Minutes enabling you to feel the device buzz when you reach your target heart rate zones during exercise and celebrate when you earn extra minutes outside of workouts.
This tracker also controls your music, browsing recent playlist and podcasts from your wrist. This only works with your phone nearby, and requires a Spotify Premium subscription required and not available in all countries. The sleep mode mutes the Smartphone notifications and stops your screen from turning on at night. The last main difference is the ability to use your credit and debit cards to make secure purchases anywhere that accepts tap-and-pay (see participating banks at Fitbit website)
Inspire HR
I will cut to the chase on this review the Fitbit Inspire is almost identical in features to the Charge 3 and slightly smaller in size. The main difference is the Inspire HR does not count floors and the battery life is only 5 days unlike the Charge 3 battery will last 7 days. Since the price drop recently of the Charge 3 they are almost the same price (check out links above for current prices). With that said I would recommend the Charge 3 over the Inspire without hesitation.
Versa Lite:
Okay you are reading these reviews for a sleep tracking and this one doesn’t give you the sleep score so that alone would knock this smart watch off my list as I feel the sleep score to be a great feature. It is missing some of the features of the Versa 2. I recommend if you want a smart watch pay the extra for the Versa 2 and get the sleep score and other features you will not be disappointed.
Ionic
Again you are here for the sleep tracking reviews and this Ionic is the high end Fitbit smart watch and is very similar to the Versa 2 in features. The biggest difference being the Ionic has built in GPS for real time pace and distance without the need of your smart phone. You would have to be an avid runner or just like the sleek style that this stylish smart watch offers. Please click here for the top 3 models features side by side comparison.
Exercise Features:
Features | Versa 2 | Charge 3 | Ionic |
TexReal-Time Pace & Distance Using Built-In GPS | Yes | ||
Personalized Reminders | Yes | Yes | Yes |
SmartTrack™ Automatic Exercise Recognition | Yes | Yes | Yes |
20+ Goal-Based Exercise Modes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Swimproof | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Real-Time Pace & Distance Using Phone GPS | Yes | Yes | Yes |
On-Screen Workouts | Yes | Yes | |
Reminders to Move | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Workout Intensity Map | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Heart Rate Zones | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Smart Features:
Features | Versa 2 | Charge 3 | Ionic |
Syncs Wirelessly | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Always-On Display Mode | Yes | ||
Amazon Alexa Built-In | Yes | ||
Store & Play Music | Yes | Yes | |
Tap-and-Pay | Yes | Yes | |
6+ Day Battery Life | Yes | ||
Up to 7-Day Battery Life | Yes | ||
Up to 5-Day Battery Life | Yes | ||
Smartphone Notifications | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Connect with Wireless Headphones | Yes | Yes | |
Spotify - Connect & Control | Yes | ||
App Dashboard | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Sleep Mode - Screen off at night | Yes | ||
Do Not Disturb Mode | Yes | Yes | |
On-Wrist Stats | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Apps | Yes |
Design Style Features:
Features | Versa 2 | Charge 3 | Ionic |
Greyscale Touchscreen | Yes | ||
Hi-Res Color Touchscreen | Yes | Yes | |
Accessories | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Customizable Clock Face | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Health Features:
Features | Versa 2 | Charge 3 | Ionic |
Cardio Fitness Score | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Sleep Tracking with Light, Deep, REM | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Female Health Tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Guided Breathing Sessions | Yes | Yes | Yes |
All-Day Activity Tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Sleep Score | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Sleep Tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Resting Heart Rate | Yes | Yes | Yes |
All-Day Calorie Burn | Yes | Yes | Yes |