I’ve tested every one of the most popular running watches there are, so trust me when I say most people can get away with a simple fitness tracker to monitor their health. If you want to know how you slept, how much you moved, and whether that “restful” night was 40 minutes of actual deep sleep and a lot of angrily rolling over, a fitness tracker does it for less money and with fewer buttons.

But “fitness tracker” covers a lot of ground. Some are glorified step counters. Some are basically running watches in a trench coat. Some have no screen at all and charge you monthly to read your own data. I’ve worn most of them, and the expanse between a good fit and a bad one usually has little to do with what’s on the spec sheet.

If you want the data without a gadget that’s overwhelming, bulky, and just plain old annoying? We get it. Below, I’ll walk you through what to look for, what’s worth paying for, and what’s just nerdy excessiveness, so you can pick one and get freaking at it.…