The Fitness and Wellness Tech Worth Splurging On, Even Without a Black Friday Discount
9 pieces of fitness and wellness tech worth paying full price for, and who should skip each one.
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Some wellness tech rarely goes on sale, and some of it isn't worth buying even when it does. So here's a different question: what's worth the money at any price? We looked for products you'll use constantly, that change how you train or live, and that come with a clear understanding of what the splurge actually buys.
Here are nine from the Stridekick Shop, each with a "worth it if" and a "skip it if."
Shop Picks
Best Smart Strength Training
Best Premium Wearables
Best Body Data Tech
Best Air and Environment Tech
Browse the full Stridekick Shop for more.
Best Smart Strength Training
Smart strength machines replace a rack of weights with digital resistance and a coach on a screen. They're a big commitment, so the right one depends on your space and how you like to train.
Best Wall-Mounted Smart Gym: Tonal 2
The Tonal 2 is a wall-mounted digital strength trainer with adjustable cable arms, up to 250 pounds of resistance, a 24-inch touchscreen, and a built-in camera that coaches your form. It runs guided classes and adapts your weight as you lift, and it takes up a footprint of about 7 by 7 feet.
It needs a professional wall installation and an active membership, which requires a 12-month minimum.
Worth it if you'll follow its coached programs and you have the wall space.
Skip it if you don't want a subscription or a wall mount.
Shop the Tonal 2 | HSA/FSA Eligible
Best Way Into Tonal: Tonal 1 Certified Refurbished
The Tonal 1 Certified Refurbished is the original Tonal, with up to 200 pounds of digital resistance and the same coaching library as the newer model. It works with your phone for form feedback, instead of a built-in camera, and it mounts to the wall the same way.
It has the same membership requirement, and refurbished means you should check the warranty.
Worth it if you want the Tonal experience at a lower hardware cost.
Skip it if you want the camera and the extra 50 pounds of resistance.
Shop the Tonal 1 Certified Refurbished | HSA/FSA Eligible
Best Freestanding Smart Gym: Speediance Gym Monster 3
The Speediance Gym Monster 3 is a freestanding digital-resistance gym with dual direct-drive motors that deliver up to 220 pounds of resistance in 1-pound increments (the 3S goes up to 260 pounds). There's no wall mounting, and it comes in Core, Studio, and Station bundles that add an incline bench and a rowing attachment. Speediance's app includes an AI coach.
The subscription is optional, and it's a better fit if you can't or don't want to drill into a wall.
Worth it if you want smart strength training without the mounting or a required membership.
Skip it if you want Tonal's polished camera-based coaching.
Shop the Speediance Gym Monster 3 | HSA/FSA Eligible
Best Premium Wearables
Flagship watches are expensive, and they're the one category here where the right choice depends on your phone and your sport.
Best Smartwatch for iPhone Users: Apple Watch Ultra 3
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is Apple's most rugged watch, with a larger display, up to 42 hours of battery life (about 72 in Low Power Mode), 5G cellular, and satellite connectivity for emergency SOS and messaging. It adds hypertension notifications and a Sleep Score, on top of ECG and blood oxygen readings. Apple includes two years of Emergency SOS via satellite.
Worth it if you use an iPhone and want one watch for training, health, and safety.
Skip it if you use Android, or you want a watch that goes weeks between charges.
Shop the Apple Watch Ultra 3 | HSA/FSA Eligible
Best Ultimate Outdoor Watch: Garmin Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED
The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED has a MicroLED display that Garmin says is the brightest on any smartwatch, up to 4,500 nits, in a 51 mm titanium case. It has up to 10 days of battery in smartwatch mode, a built-in LED flashlight, deep training analytics, and satellite and cellular safety features.
Garmin's emergency satellite service needs an inReach subscription, and the MicroLED model is the priciest Fenix.
Worth it if you're an endurance athlete or outdoor adventurer.
Skip it if the standard AMOLED display is enough for you.
Shop the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED | HSA/FSA Eligible
Best Body Data Tech
Body data tech works best when you use it for trends: how you're changing over weeks and months.
Best Smart Scale for Body Composition: Hume Body Pod
The Hume Body Pod is a smart scale with handheld sensors that scans your body in about 60 seconds using an 8-electrode, multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance system. It tracks 45 metrics, including body fat, muscle mass, visceral fat, body water, and metabolic age, plus heart rate, and the free app supports up to 24 users.
Hume says its readings correlate closely with DEXA scans, but any bioimpedance scale gives estimates, so watch the trend instead of single readings.
Worth it if you're tracking body composition and want more than weight.
Skip it if daily numbers tend to stress you out.
Shop the Hume Body Pod | HSA/FSA Eligible
Best Hydration Tracker for Endurance Athletes: Nix Hydration Biosensor
The Nix Hydration Biosensor is a stick-on wearable that attaches to your bicep with a single-use sweat patch and analyzes your sweat in real time. It tracks fluid and electrolyte loss and sweat composition during workouts, then gives personalized hydration recommendations in the Nix app, which integrates with Apple Health, Garmin, and TrainingPeaks. Its approach was validated in peer-reviewed studies from San Francisco State University.
It's designed for workouts of 45 minutes or longer, and the patches are single-use, so expect to buy refills.
Worth it if you're a heavy sweater who trains long or in the heat.
Skip it if your workouts are short.
Shop the Nix Hydration Biosensor | HSA/FSA Eligible
Best Air and Environment Tech
Indoor air gets less attention than the gym, but it's where you spend most of your time.
Best Air Purifier for a Bedroom or Living Room: Medify MA-25 Air Purifier
The Medify MA-25 is Medify's most popular mid-sized purifier, with dual H13 HEPA filters that Medify says capture 99.9% of particles down to 0.1 microns. It covers up to 413 square feet in 30 minutes, has three fan speeds that run from about 20 to 49 decibels, and comes in three colors.
The filters last 2,500 hours but need replacing every 3 to 4 months, which is an ongoing cost, and Medify says it carries a lifetime warranty.
Worth it if you want cleaner air in a main room.
Skip it if you only need a small desk purifier (Medify's smaller models are in the Shop).
Shop the Medify MA-25 Air Purifier | HSA/FSA Eligible
Best Smart Humidifier for Dry Air: Levoit Superior 6000S Smart Humidifier
The Levoit Superior 6000S is a smart evaporative humidifier with a 6-gallon tank that runs up to 72 hours on low and covers up to 3,000 square feet, per Levoit. Evaporative technology means no wet mist on furniture; you can fill it from the sink with the included hose, and you can set schedules in the VeSync app or with a voice assistant.
It's large, with a footprint to match, and its wick filters need regular care.
Worth it if you live with dry winter air in a big space.
Skip it if you only need to humidify a small bedroom.
Shop the Levoit Superior 6000S Smart Humidifier | HSA/FSA Eligible
Before You Buy
Check for subscriptions and installation. Several of these come with ongoing costs or setup: Tonal requires a membership (reviewers cite a 12-month minimum) and a professional wall installation, and Nix's sweat patches are single-use. We flag each one below.
Trackers estimate. Body composition scales, smartwatches, and biosensors give useful trends, but they're estimates, not medical-grade measurements. Use them to watch direction over time, and talk to a doctor about anything that worries you.
HSA/FSA funds are for you, not gifts. They can generally only be used for you, your spouse, and your tax dependents. Several picks carry the HSA/FSA badge, and some may need a letter of medical necessity. Prices and offers change, so check each page for current ones.
Which Tech Splurge Should You Make First
Start with the habit you'll actually keep. If you lift and want guided training, the Tonal or the Speediance is the big swing, and the refurbished Tonal is the lower-cost way in. If you want one device for everything, pick the watch that matches your phone and your sport. If numbers motivate you, the Hume and Nix add data, and if your home air is the issue, the Medify and Levoit are the easy upgrades.
Whatever you buy, check the ongoing costs first: memberships, subscriptions, and replacement filters or patches. For the details on HSA/FSA, see HSA vs. FSA: How Do These Things Work? and How to Save an Average of 30% Using Your HSA or FSA With Truemed, and browse everything eligible in the HSA/FSA Shop.