As we tick into 2025 you might be thinking about doing Dry January and getting out in the cold for a few runs, or maybe want to fire up that long-dormant gym membership and feel good with some increased exercise. New year, new you!

Having a Fitbit activity tracker to keep a record of your exercise is an easy and relatively affordable way to log your runs, cycles, swims and weight sessions as well as keep an eye on your heart rate, steps and calories burned. You can even wear the slimline trackers at night to record your sleep and get tips on how to get better rest.

We’re big fans of Fitbit at Express.co.uk, but have been a little concerned about the direction of the brand since it was acquired by Google. Business aside, the products and app have gone through a fair few changes in the past couple of years, including the removal of some beloved features including the leaderboard in the app where you could challenge friends and family to step contests.

OK, so this might sound like an obvious one, but make sure your app and tracker are running the most up to date software. If you don’t have automatic app updates on your iPhone or Android phone you might be running an older version of the Fitbit app, which might not have the latest features.

Fitbit recently made the Readiness Score free to use for all Fitbit app and tracker users - previously it was a Fitbit Premium tool, locked behind the £7.99 per month paywall. Updating the app will also push through the latest software updates for your tracker. Since release, the Charge 6 and other newer Fitbits have improved software.

Thanks to recent software updates, several Fitbits can now run a version of the Google Wallet app. This lets you add your payment cards to your wearable so you can make contactless purchases without your phone. Simply head to the Fitbit app on your phone, go to settings, and find where to add a card. Pleasingly, many older trackers support his feature. Here’s the full list:

Versa special edition, Versa 2, Versa 3, Versa 4, Sense, Sense 2, Charge 3 special edition, Charge 4, Charge 5, Charge 6, Fitbit Ace LTE.

If you buy a new Fitbit, the firm will very likely offer you six months of Fitbit Premium for free. This is usually £7.99 per month and unlocks “advanced insights, personalised recommendations based on your recent activity and readiness levels and workout content”, according to Google, which owns Fitbit.

One of the main reasons to try out Premium for free is of course to see if you would like to pay for it into the seventh month, but it also lets you try out things such as video workout guides that you can pick based on your current Readiness Score, so your workout choices match your stamina.

While the free Fitbit experience gives you a sleep score, the insights are much more useful with Premium. You get a monthly personalised analysis and ten tips on how to improve your slumber.

You would be forgiven for thinking the main watch face you get on your Fitbit out of the box is the only one you can have, but you will be pleasantly surprised to find out there are scores to choose from.

Fitbit itself designs many different faces for its Versa, Sense and Charge lines. Simply head into the app and go to your Fitbit’s settings to choose from a variety of different designs that can be as minimalist or text- and data-heavy as you like. We prefer to go with the latter as you can then glance down at your wrist during the day to check your progress towards those all-important fitness goals.

If you really don’t want to miss any chance to record steps, you can add your phone as a tracker to work in tandem with your Fitbit. Go to the part of the Fitbit app where you can add a new device, and there’s an option to add your phone. This will use your phone’s accelerometer to record steps when you’re not wearing your Fitbit - don’t worry, the tech is clever enough not to count them twice, and defaults to your tracker when you’re wearing it.

This is good in case you leave your Fitbit at home accidentally to ensure all your steps are counted that day - just keep your phone on you! It’ll also help plug the gaps where you have to charge your Fitbit but might be pottering about the house picking up steps.

This is a very manual process, but if you want your calories burned during the day to truly make sense, you can use the Fitbit app to log your meals and all food intake. Head to the app and scroll down to the Food section. From there you can tap the + icon and go into Log Food mode. From here you can search for single ingredients, popular meals with estimated calories and more. There’s even a barcode scanner if you want to use your phone camera to scan the barcode of an item you have eaten, saving time.

This tip will vary depending on what type of person you are. If you bought your Fitbit to stay healthy but also to keep an eye on your phone notifications, you can turn these on. You can also pick on a per-app basis so you only see the essentials such as calls and texts, but it can be handy for your wrist to buzz if your phone is elsewhere so you don’t miss anything important.

For us though, we prefer to know we can turn off all notifications. This is how we use our Fitbit - no distractions!

While it’s not technically a notification setting, one thing we do turn on is Reminders to Move. A mainstay of all Fitbits, this feature is programmable but defaults to hourly between 9am and 6pm. When on, your watch will buzz and tell you to get up and walk about at ten to the hour if you haven’t yet walked 250 steps since the hour began.

It’s quite handy if you have a desk job as you will be horrified how long you might have otherwise sat still hunched over your laptop. We’ll take a useful reminder like this over a notification from a distracting app every day of the week.