It’s easy to get in shape with one of the best Android smartwatches. They remind you to stay active and monitor your exercises on your journey to a healthier you. I think smartwatches are great gadgets with amazing capabilities, and I’ve tested Samsung, Pixel, and Fitbit models over the years.
Still, I’m not a fan of smartwatches, and I don’t like wearing any watch, no matter how functional it is. I keep track of my health metrics with my smartphone. While a smartwatch is superior when it comes to activity tracking, our phones can also log and track a lot of data. Here are the health metrics I track using only my phone.
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5 Steps and running distance
Using a smartphone to track my activity
The Samsung Health app was one of the first things I set up when I got my Galaxy phone. It has an automatic step counter that works in the background and reliably tracks the number of steps I take each day. The pedometer on a smartwatch that you wear all the time is more accurate, but the readings I get from my phone are good enough. All I need is an estimate of my daily activity to be sure I stay active, and I have my phone with me most of the time.
Exercise tracking is another Samsung Health feature I use. I’m training for my first 5K run, and the app helps me log my times while informing me when I reach my distance target. Since I have my phone with me, I can enjoy a podcast while I exercise. While I don’t get a report as detailed as I would with a smartwatch, knowing my time and distance is sufficient.
You can use Samsung Health on non-Samsung phones, but it’s not the only app that tracks steps and exercises. Explore our list of the best fitness tracking apps to find an alternative that works for you. For instance, Google Pixel users may want to try Google Fit, and if you want to track running, try Strava.
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4 Sleep tracking and snoring detection
Keep a healthy sleep schedule
Going to bed on time regularly is one of the best tips for getting a good night’s sleep. You don’t need a smartwatch for that. Samsung Health is my app of choice because it lets me set a sleep schedule. It reminds me when it’s time to unwind and logs how many hours I spend in bed.
A fitness tracker is better at monitoring sleep than a smartphone. Its sensors log more data to give a comprehensive sleep analysis. My phone is less accurate when determining when I go to bed and get out of bed. Still, it helps me maintain a sleeping schedule, and I don’t have to sleep with a gadget tied to my wrist.
For a brief period, I used my phone to check if I snored at night. I used the SnoreLab app, but some phones have snoring detection built in. The feature is available in the Digital Wellbeing menu on the Google Pixel 7 or newer models.
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3 Monitor stress and anxiety levels
And calm the mind with exercises
Juggling between responsibilities at work and in our personal lives can be taxing on the mind. That’s why I log my mood during stressful periods. At the same time, I write down my experiences in a journal to identify what causes me to stress more than usual.
These habits don’t make stressful situations go away. However, I believe acknowledging their existence helps with dealing with them better.
A quick breathing exercise goes a long way
Studies show that breathing exercises can reduce stress. You will find several in the Samsung Health app designed for various situations, with the option to save your own pattern.
Samsung’s app offers guided meditation to help you focus, clear your mind, or go to bed more easily. I never became a fan as I prefer music to chill out, but I can see how a meditation session could be helpful to others.
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2 Track food and water intake
Logging meals to keep track of calories
I track how much water I drink in a day. My goal is not to track my fluid intake, but to ensure I get enough pure water and rely less on hydration from other drinks, particularly those with added sugar. I mostly do it during the hot summer months. I only need my phone to track my intake, although I wish Samsung would add a widget to make this easier.
Tracking meals and calories is another healthy habit you can develop using a phone alone. I don’t have the discipline to log every meal to count my calories, but I try to track my snacks to avoid eating too much sugar. Fitness enthusiasts and athletes will find the food and calorie-tracking features in diet-tracking apps, like MyFitnessPal and LoseIt, particularly helpful.
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1 Weight tracking
No fancy scale required to track your weight
Source: Withings
I can proudly say that I lost around 16 pounds (8 kilos) in 2024. Was it because I kept track of my weight daily? Probably not, but the journey, results, and the achievement felt more satisfying when I had numbers and trends to indicate I was on the right track. I could have bought a smart scale to help with the data tracking, but I didn’t feel the need to. The Health app on my phone and a simple scale were all I needed.
A smartwatch is a better choice if you need more sophisticated data to track your progress to get in shape. The best Samsung smartwatches can help with their ability to perform a bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA). BIA sends electrical impulses across your body to measure the mass of fat and muscle in it. The data provides a broader picture of your body composition.
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Not ideal, but free and good enough
I miss the unique health and activity-tracking features of a smartwatch. The inactive time alerts made me aware of the unhealthy amount of time I spend sitting down while working, and I wish I could see how many calories I burn with each exercise. Still, a smartphone is sufficient for tracking basic health metrics, as long as you’re willing to log data manually on occasion.
A healthy body goes along with a healthy mind. Your phone could be the right tool to help you stay focused, as the Play Store offers a variety of apps to help you stay focused. Perhaps all it takes to boost your productivity is a simple Pomodoro timer app with a dash of Digital Wellbeing to keep distractions away.
