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The best waterproof activity trackers for meeting your summer 2024 fitness goals
Apple
A good fitness tracker or smartwatch can take a few drops or splashes. But if you’re serious about your swimming or you tend to sweat excessively, a regular watch may not be able to take the brunt of the moisture it’s exposed to. That’s why you might want to buy a waterproof fitness tracker instead. Knowing that you can’t damage your tracker even when you’re doing laps and exercising gives you that peace of mind (and accuracy) you’ll be looking for.
But it’s not always obvious whether the unit could sink to the bottom of the pool and survive. That’s why we’ve put together some of our favorite picks for you. Whether you want to go all-out with a tracker that can accommodate heavy-duty water activities like the Apple Watch Ultra 2 or you just need something casual like your choice of Fitbit, there’s a pick for everyone here. Now get out there and get wet!
Best waterproof activity trackers for 2024
Best waterproof activity tracker: Apple Watch Series 9
Best Buy
The Apple Watch Series 9 has excellent water resistance, making it a great smartwatch choice for swimmers and just about anyone else who might need to worry about their watch getting wet.
With a WR50 water resistance rating, the Series 9 can be submerged up to 164 feet, meaning it’s safe for swimming in both pools and the ocean, so you can get your swim on safely without taking your watch off. You can also wear it in the shower or hot tub without worrying about damaging it.
For tracking swims, the Series 9 has dedicated Pool and Open Water workout modes. It also has an IP6X certification for total dust protection, so sand won’t damage it at the beach. Its water resistance makes it a versatile smartwatch pick if you want connectivity on land and in the water.
It’s important to note that though the Apple Watch Ultra 2 has it beat in terms of depth of waterproofing, this is the more affordable, all-round best option for most users.
Best waterproof activity tracker for swimming: Fitbit Charge 6
Amazon
The Fitbit Charge 6 fitness tracker has solid water resistance for swimmers and anyone else who’s active.
With a water resistance rating of up to 164 feet, the Charge 6 can handle dips in both pools and open water. It has a dedicated swimming workout mode in its Exercise app and a useful Water Lock feature to prevent accidental screen touches during swims, too. So you’re covered all around if you decide to jump in and practice laps.
The SmartTrack feature also automatically recognizes and logs swim workouts. It isn’t really meant for showering or hot tub use, but this Fitbit does offer plenty of protection for swimming or getting caught out in the rain.
You’ll want to note that this watch doesn’t have any dust or sand protection, so it may not be the best choice for beach activities. But for most swimmers who want a pretty affordable tracker, this is a great choice.
Best premium waterproof activity tracker: Apple Watch Ultra 2
Apple
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 takes water resistance to the extreme, making it the best (and most expensive) of our picks for waterproof activity trackers.
With a WR100 rating, it can be submerged down to 328 feet, which is twice as deep as the Series 9. It meets dive watch standards too, so you can feasibly wear it when scuba diving to 130 feet if you’d like. The screen is large enough to read underwater, thanks to its largest size of the Apple Watch lineup, so you’re getting what you pay for in this instance.
You can also wear the watch at the beach since it does have extreme dust and sand protection. It can even stand freezing temperatures if you happen to be caught out in the cold.
With waterproofing that goes beyond most smartwatches, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is built for anyone who takes swimming or adjacent water-based activities seriously. So you won’t need it if you swim casually or get sweaty when you work out. But if you’re into more demanding workouts it can be a big help.
Best budget waterproof activity tracker: Fitbit Versa 4
Amazon
The Fitbit Versa 4 has solid 164-foot water resistance, so it’s another great option for anyone who spends most of their time in the water. Whether you’ve got diving practice or you accidentally fall into the pool, it’ll come out just fine.
The tracker’s Fitbit app comes with a dedicated swim tracking mode, and its SmartTrack feature can automatically recognize and logs each one of your pool or open water workouts. Of course, it has all the other features you’d want from a smartwatch as well, with a shape similar to that of the Apple Watch.
It may lack some of the more compelling options from some of the more expensive models, but the Fitbit Versa 4 is a competent option for when you need to get into the water and go beyond what a normal smartwatch is capable of doing.
Best waterproof activity tracker for Android users: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
Amazon
While iPhone users are covered with Apple Watches, and Fitbits work with all devices, Android users can look to the very capable Samsung Galaxy Watch 6.
This tracker can handle depths down to 164 feet, making it great for both pool and regular old swimming. It can also withstand dust, dirt, sand, extreme temperatures, vibrations and shocks in case you get too out there during one of your trips out into the world.
It offers plenty of water sport modes like swimming, kayaking, and water aerobics. Plus, it Water Lock feature keeps you from accidentally touching the screen. While it isn’t the most robust in terms of keeping water out in comparison to some of the other watches on the market, it excels at what it does and it’s an affordable option for Android enthusiasts.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill Saturday that would have required new cars to beep at drivers if they exceed the speed limit in an effort to reduce traffic deaths.
California would have become the first to require such systems for all new cars, trucks and buses sold in the state starting in 2030. The bill would have mandated that vehicles beep at drivers when they exceed the speed limit by at least 10 mph.
The European Union has passed similar legislation to encourage drivers to slow down. California’s proposal would have provided exceptions for emergency vehicles, motorcycles and motorized scooters.
In explaining his veto, Newsom said federal law already dictates vehicle safety standards and adding California-specific requirements would create a patchwork of regulations.
The National Highway Traffic Safety “is also actively evaluating intelligent speed assistance systems, and imposing state-level mandates at this time risks disrupting these ongoing federal assessments,” the Democratic governor said.
Opponents, including automotive groups and the state Chamber of Commerce, said such regulations should be decided by the federal government, which earlier this year established new requirements for automatic emergency braking to curb traffic deaths. Republican lawmakers also said the proposal could make cars more expensive and distract drivers.
The legislation would have likely impacted all new car sales in the U.S., since the California market is so large that car manufacturers would likely just make all of their vehicles comply.
California often throws that weight around to influence national and even international policy. The state has set its own emission standards for cars for decades, rules that more than a dozen other states have also adopted. And when California announced it would eventually ban the sale of new gas-powered cars, major automakers soon followed with their own announcement to phase out fossil-fuel vehicles.
Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener, who sponsored the bill, called the veto disappointing and a setback for street safety.
“California should have led on this crisis as Wisconsin did in passing the first seatbelt mandate in 1961,” Wiener said in a statement. “Instead, this veto resigns Californians to a completely unnecessary risk of fatality.”
The speeding alert technology, known as intelligent speed assistance, uses GPS to compare a vehicle’s pace with a dataset of posted limits. If the car is at least 10 mph over, the system emits a single, brief, visual and audio alert.
The proposal would have required the state to maintain a list of posted speed limits, and it’s likely that those would not include local roads or recent changes in speed limits, resulting in conflicts.
The technology has been used in the U.S. and Europe for years. Starting in July, the European Union will require all new cars to have the technology, although drivers would be able to turn it off. At least 18 manufacturers including Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan, have already offered some form of speed limiters on some models sold in America, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration estimates that 10% of all car crashes reported to police in 2021 were related to speeding. This was especially a problem in California, where 35% of traffic fatalities were speeding-related — the second highest in the country, according to a legislative analysis of the proposal.
Last year the NTSB recommended federal regulators require all new cars to alert drivers when they speed. Their recommendation came after a crash in January 2022, when a man with a history of speeding violations ran a red light at more than 100 mph and struck a minivan, killing himself and eight other people.
