Fitbit activity trackers are a great way to monitor your daily steps and make you more aware of how active you are during the day. As well as encouraging you to do more, some models have extra features for more serious running and training.
If you’re interested in getting your child a Fitbit – great! If you have one too you can compare daily steps and movement to ensure your kids get the best possible exercise. The competitive Leaderboard and fun Challenges and Adventures are great motivators for the whole family.
But children don’t necessarily need a Fitbit with all the bells and whistles. Growing wrists and short attention spans may mean you are also hesitant to spend a lot of money on a Fitbit your kids might not use for long.
Then again if they are keen to monitor their activity then this should be encouraged, and there are particular Fitbits that are suitable. And if you also have a Fitbit you can compare your activity to encourage them to keep moving.
Only one, the Fitbit Ace 2, is built especially for children. Children under 13 are not allowed to have personal Fitbit accounts for – as far as we can ascertain – US federal privacy reasons. Now the minimum Fitbit age is 8 years old with the Ace. But plenty of parents register younger kids as 13 to beat this rule, so you can consider all the available Fitbits if you choose – older children (9+) will prefer the more ‘adult’ trackers.
While our four choices are indeed the four cheapest Fitbits, that is not the only reason we’ve picked them. A combination of price, design and features means they are the best Fitbits for kids from the current range. See all Fitbits compared in our comprehensive expert roundup.
Don’t forget to look for the best Fitbit deals, which we keep our eyes open for at all times. You’ll also see the cheapest prices in the roundup below.
Best Fitbit for kids 2020
1. Fitbit Ace 2
Designed specifically for kids
This £69.99 / $69.95 Fitbit is the successor to the first Fitbit to be specifically designed for kids, so is the most obvious choice. It has a simple, tough design and straps specifically for small wrists with a slim display for the time and basic readouts.
Fitbit recommends the Ace 2 or children over the age of eight and tracks steps, active minutes and basic sleep. And while they may not have their own smartphone or tablet yet, you can track their progress on your own device to make sure they’re keeping active. There are Reminders to Move that help you get moving at least once an hour (in the daytime) for 250 steps as a minimum, and even on-screen notifications such as Caller ID.
It also features Bedtime Reminders & Alarms, Timer and Stopwatch.
It’s showerproof and the battery should last for five days, meaning your kids can wear it all through the school week to keep an eye on their exercise (and making sure they go to bed when you turn the light off!).
Fitbit has created two “Views” – one for parents and another for the child. Just like adults, kids can win badges and trophies as they hit their activity goals. These family views are just for Ace.
Fitbit also ensures all the data collected is private and not shared with its servers, keeping info about your kids safely with you and you only.
Read our full Fitbit Ace 2 review
2. Fitbit Inspire
The best Fitbit for beginners
We’d happily recommend the Fitbit Inspire to kids, since it’s affordable, smart-looking and easy to use. And of course it works with Fitbit’s fantastic mobile app.
(The Ace 2 is basically an Inspire, with some features taken out.)
It tracks basic steps, distance, active minutes and calories burned, and offers on-wrist notifications including Caller ID, texts and calendar alerts, plus Reminders to Move.
The Inspire can also be worn as a clip, costing an extra £19.99 or $19.95 for the clip accessory.
If you think your child might use the GPS function there’s the Inspire HR.
Read our full Fitbit Inspire review
3. Fitbit Inspire HR
The best HR Fitbit for beginners
If you fancy the extra benefits of heart-rate monitoring (HR), then the cheapest option is the Inspire HR. It costs £89.99 or $99.95 – a £20/$30 premium on top of the less functional Fitbit Inspire, but still an affordable price tag.
The Inspire HR tracks steps, distance, active minutes and calories burned, plus the heart-rate monitor gives you more advanced sleep measurements than you get with the non-HR Inspire. It also offers on-wrist notifications including Caller ID, texts and calendar alerts, and Reminders to Move.
Like the Ace and Inspire it lacks an altimeter so doesn’t count the floors you climb – if this is important to you, you should turn your gaze on the Fitbit Charge 3. We don’t think it’s the most important fitness metric, so you can save money by letting this stat go.
It also has a proper watch-buckle fastening that we think makes it less likely to fall off and get lost (kids, right?) than the Inspire with its pop-in clasp.
Read our full Fitbit Inspire HR review
4. Fitbit Versa Lite
The best Fitbit smartwatch for kids
The Versa Lite is physically same as the fully fledged Fitbit Versa except for the lack of two buttons on the right edge. Inside, it loses a few features: Wi-Fi, altimeter, Fitbit Coach on-screen workouts and the ability to store music.
But wait! It’s still excellent, and we didn’t miss any of those features. It’s cheaper, lasts for four or five days on a single charge, looks great and has tons of compatible straps and accessories.
The Versa Lite measures Steps, Distance, Calories burned, and Active Minutes, as well as automatic Sleep and Activity Tracking. Of course you get Reminders to Move and on-wrist notifications including Caller ID, texts and calendar alerts.
It uses Fitbit’s wrist-based PurePulse heart-rate monitor, which can be used to improve the efficiency of your exercise, workouts and sleep, as well as monitoring heart health.
This is great value as you get more than just fitness and health tracking with this entry-level smartwatch.
Read our full Fitbit Versa Lite Edition review