In 2022, “tracking” stopped being just about step counts and GPS pings. Suddenly, your toothbrush was scoring your brushing technique, your blinds knew
when the sun went down, and your power strip was quietly tattling on energy-hog electronics. Popular Mechanics’ Gadget Awards 2022: Track category
pulled together the most interesting devices in this new wave of smart, data-driven gear and a lot of them are still excellent buys today.

In this guide, we’ll walk through the standout tracking gadgets from those awards, explain what each one actually does for your daily life, and help
you decide which ones are worth bringing into your home. Think of this as the “director’s commentary” to the Gadget Awards: less marketing,
more real-world analysis with a bit of tech-nerd humor sprinkled in.

What “Tracking Gadgets” Really Meant in 2022

When you hear “tracking gadget,” you might picture a little Bluetooth tag living on your keys. But the 2022 Gadget Awards took a much broader view.
The “Track” category covered anything that could monitor, measure, or automate part of your life:

• Fitness and health trackers that log steps, heart rate, sleep stages, and more.
• Home security devices watching doors, windows, and the front porch.
• Smart energy and power management that track which devices are using what, and when.
• Comfort and convenience tools like smart blinds and bulbs that respond to schedules and sensors.

The overall theme: data plus automation. Instead of just passively tracking, these gadgets use tracking data to trigger actions turning off lights,
locking doors, adjusting temperature, or nudging you to get off the couch and close those last activity rings.

Winners of the Popular Mechanics Gadget Awards 2022: Track

Let’s break down the standout gadgets from the “Track” category and why they mattered and what kind of user each one suits best.

1. Fitbit Charge 5 – Best Smartwatch/Fitness Tracker

The Fitbit Charge 5 wasn’t trying to be a tiny phone on your wrist; it was trying to be a really smart, really focused tracker. It packed
advanced sensors like SpO2, ECG, and EDA into a slim band that still looked more like a fitness tracker than a chunky watch.

For most people, the winning combo was:

• Simple swipes and taps to start workouts, check stats, or make payments.
• Deep health metrics synced into the Fitbit app with stress, sleep, and recovery insights.
• Way lower price than premium smartwatches that try to do everything.

You don’t get full-on smartwatch tricks like on-wrist voice assistants or rich texting, but if your top priority is accurate health and activity tracking
without babysitting battery life, the Charge 5 earned its award.

2. Renpho Smart Scale – Best Smart Scale

The Renpho Smart Scale turned the boring “step on, squint at number, sigh” ritual into a long-term data project. Instead of just tracking weight,
it estimates metrics like body fat, muscle mass, bone mass, and water percentage then pipes all of that into its app and, if you want, Apple Health or Google Fit.

Key strengths:

• Trend tracking instead of obsessing over a single weigh-in.
• Easy app sync for keeping all your health data in one place.
• Low maintenance reviewers report months of use between AAA battery changes.

Are the body-composition numbers perfect? No scale in this price range is. But for relative changes over time “Is my plan working?” the Renpho scale does
exactly the job a tracking gadget should do.

3. Eufy P24 – Best Indoor Security Camera

The Eufy P24 showed up to prove you don’t need an expensive subscription to get serious home monitoring. It combines:

• Motion and human detection so you’re not spammed with every curtain flutter.
• Mobile alerts and activity zones to focus only on important areas.
• 360-degree pan and tilt tracking so the camera can follow movement across a room.

Instead of locking all the features behind a cloud paywall, this camera is designed to work well with local storage via microSD. That “no mandatory
subscription” approach is a big reason it stood out against subscription-heavy rivals at the time.

4. Google Nest Doorbell – Best Video Doorbell

Porch pirates, beware. The Nest Video Doorbell focused on smart detection and an actually useful aspect ratio. It emphasizes a tall, vertical field of view,
so you see not just faces but also packages left on the ground.

Standout tracking features:

• Package and person detection with alerts tailored to what’s at your door.
• Cloud recording and subject awareness without requiring a complicated setup.
• Deep integration with the Google Home ecosystem, especially if you own a Nest Hub or other Google devices.

The horizontal field of view isn’t the widest compared with some competitors, but the vertical framing makes practical sense for real-world use cases like
deliveries, kids at the door, or “Who keeps leaving this mysterious box of cookies?” mysteries.

5. Ring Alarm Home Security System – Best Alarm System

The Ring Alarm system is less “single gadget” and more “tracking network” for your home. With contact sensors on doors and windows, motion sensors in strategic
spots, and a central base station, it tracks what’s happening across the entire house.

Why it impressed testers:

• Instant notifications every time a door or window opens.
• Configurable alarms with a loud siren if motion or contact sensors are tripped.
• Power and cellular backup so the system can keep working through outages.

Professional monitoring response times may not be the absolute fastest in the industry, but the overall reliability, simplicity, and failsafes helped it
take the top spot for a mainstream, whole-home tracking solution.

6. SwitchBot Switch – Best Smart Button Pusher

The SwitchBot Switch looks like a little plastic nugget with an arm, but don’t let that fool you it’s one of the most creative “tracking adjacent” gadgets
in the lineup. It doesn’t track data on its own; instead, it listens to automation rules and smart-home events, then physically presses buttons for you.

That means:

• You can “track” time and routines, then trigger a coffee maker to start at 8 a.m.
• When your sleep tracker or phone alarm says you’re awake, lights can flick on via a dumb switch.
• A garage door opener, washer, or older appliance can suddenly join your smart-home automations.

It’s a clever bridge between modern tracking systems and the not-so-smart devices you already own.

7. Oral-B iO Series 7 – Best Toothbrush for Tracking Oral Health

This is the moment we all realized even our teeth were getting performance reviews. The Oral-B iO Series 7 uses a combination of motion sensing,
pressure detection, and position tracking to map where (and how well) you’ve brushed.

Through the companion app, you get:

• Real-time coverage maps so you know which zones you’ve missed.
• Feedback on brushing time and pressure to protect enamel and gums.
• Gamified achievements for those of us who respond really well to gold stars.

It’s not cheap, but if your dentist keeps hinting that “you could do a little better,” this is a gadget that literally tracks every second of effort.

8. Schlage Encode – Best Smart Lock

A smart lock is a tracking gadget with high stakes: it’s logging who comes and goes from your home. The Schlage Encode stood out because it combined
serious physical security with thoughtful tech.

Highlights:

• ANSI Grade 1 rating, the top tier for residential locks.
• Long-life mechanical durability tested for hundreds of thousands of cycles and force impacts.
• App-based control and monitoring without needing a separate hub.

The Encode’s tracking is more about events than constant metrics: who unlocked the door, when, and with which code. Combined with virtual keys and integration
with Alexa and Google Assistant, it gives you a detailed log of comings and goings great for families, guests, or short-term rentals.

9. Kasa Smart HS300 – Best Smart Power Strip

The Kasa HS300 doesn’t look flashy, but it’s one of the most quietly powerful tracking gadgets from the 2022 list. It gives you six individually controlled
outlets and three USB ports, all controllable via app or voice assistant.

The magic is in the data:

• Per-outlet energy monitoring shows you which devices are gobbling power.
• Remote on/off control lets you cut power to idle TVs, monitors, or chargers.
• Automation and schedules help reduce “phantom load” and electric bills.

Used well, this strip becomes a dashboard for your entertainment center, home office, or workshop and a way to track and trim energy waste.

10. Satechi 75W Dual Type-C PD – Best Wall Charger

Tracking isn’t always about sensors and graphs. Sometimes it’s about reliably powering the gadgets that do the tracking. The Satechi 75W charger earned
its award by delivering enough power to fast-charge a laptop, phone, and tablet at the same time, while remaining compact and cool.

Its main strengths:

• Multiple USB-C and USB-A ports with high-wattage output.
• Fast charging for laptops and power-hungry devices.
• Travel-friendly design that’s smaller than many single-device chargers.

If your life is already full of trackers and smart gadgets, a reliable multi-device charger like this is what keeps the whole system running.

11. Withings Sleep Tracking Pad – Best Sleep Tracker

Instead of strapping another gadget to your wrist, the Withings Sleep Tracking Pad hides under your mattress, quietly logging what happens overnight.

It tracks:

• Sleep stages (light, deep, REM) and duration.
• Heart rate and breathing disturbances.
• Trends over weeks and months via the Health Mate app.

One particularly clever angle: tying sleep tracking into smart-home actions. Using automation, you can dim lights, lower temperature, or trigger routines
when you get into bed, turning that passive tracking into real comfort upgrades.

12. Sunsa Wand – Best Smart Blind Operator

The Sunsa Wand is a retrofit solution that gives old-school blinds a brain. You replace the existing wand with a Sunsa unit, connect it to Wi-Fi,
and suddenly you’ve got:

• Scheduled open/close times for wake-up and wind-down routines.
• Light and temperature-based automation to keep rooms cooler or brighter.
• Remote control when you’re away from home.

Together with sleep and energy trackers, smart blinds become another lever for comfort and efficiency and a surprisingly satisfying daily quality-of-life upgrade.

13. Sengled Multicolor A19 – Best Smart Bulb

Sengled’s multicolor A19 bulb is less about hardcore tracking and more about reacting intelligently to other data in your home. The bulbs connect through
a hub, which keeps Wi-Fi congestion low while still giving you full app and voice control.

Practical benefits:

• Color and brightness control for mood, productivity, and sleep hygiene.
• Scenes and schedules linked to sunrise, sunset, or routines.
• Integration with smart displays for easy control with a tap or voice command.

Pair smart bulbs with motion sensors, sleep trackers, or security systems and your lighting becomes part of an automated, data-driven home instead of just
“lights on/lights off.”

14. Roborock S7 MaxV – Best Robot Vacuum

Robot vacuums are basically mobile tracking machines on wheels. The Roborock S7 MaxV uses advanced navigation combining LiDAR and visual SLAM
to map out rooms, avoid obstacles, and remember where it has cleaned.

Why it impressed so many reviewers:

• Highly accurate mapping visible in the app as detailed floor plans.
• Object recognition and avoidance for things like cables, shoes, and pet messes.
• Fast, efficient cleaning routes instead of random bump-and-turn wandering.

Add in its mopping capabilities and docking options, and you get a gadget that not only tracks where it’s been it learns how to be better about it over time.

How to Choose the Best Tracking Gadget for You

With so many smart tracking devices to pick from, it’s tempting to just buy whatever won an award and hope for the best. But you’ll be happier if you
match the gadget to your real-world priorities:

• Start with your biggest pain point. Is it safety (doorbells, alarms, cameras), health (fitness bands, scales, sleep pads), or convenience
  (robot vacuums, smart blinds, power strips)?
• Consider ecosystem. If you’re heavily invested in Google Home, Alexa, or Apple’s ecosystem, look for trackers that integrate cleanly so
  automations are easier to build.
• Check ongoing costs. Some gadgets work great without subscriptions; others hide their best features behind monthly fees.
• Privacy and data handling matter. For anything that tracks your movements, sensors inside your home, or personal health data,
  read the privacy and encryption practices carefully.
• Think about future expansion. Buying a smart lock or power strip that plays nicely with a wide range of platforms makes it easier to build
  a bigger smart ecosystem later.

The best tracking gadget is the one that quietly solves a real problem in your life, then stays out of the way not the one with the flashiest app screenshots.

Privacy and the Dark Side of Tracking

One important reality check: not all tracking gadgets are created equal when it comes to privacy and safety. Security researchers have pointed out that some
Bluetooth trackers and smart devices broadcast unencrypted data, making it possible for bad actors to track people or map their routines if they know what
they’re doing.

When you evaluate tracking gadgets especially anything that can follow your location or watch over your home look for:

• Encrypted communication between devices, hubs, and servers.
• Rotating identifiers so a device can’t easily be matched to you over long periods.
• Clear, transparent privacy policies around data collection and retention.
• Anti-stalking and safety features on any location-tracking tags or apps.

The Popular Mechanics winners tend to come from established brands with reputations to protect, but even then, it’s smart to keep firmware updated,
turn off features you don’t use, and periodically review what’s connected to your network.

Are the 2022 Winners Still Worth It Today?

Tech moves fast, but a lot of the 2022 Gadget Awards Track winners still hold up because they nailed fundamentals rather than gimmicks:

• Solid hardware with good build quality and tested durability.
• Useful, actionable tracking instead of novelty metrics.
• Strong ecosystems that have only expanded since 2022.

Newer versions and competitors have emerged especially in areas like fitness trackers, sleep tech, and robot vacuums but if you find these particular
models at a good price, they can still be smart buys. Just double-check current app support, firmware updates, and compatibility with your phone or
smart-home platform before you click “Add to Cart.”

Real-World Experiences with the Best Tracking Gadgets (Extra Insights)

Official awards are great, but how do these tracking gadgets feel in everyday life? Let’s talk about what it’s actually like to live with them,
based on common user experiences and long-term testing patterns.

Imagine a typical weekday morning in a home filled with a few of these 2022 winners. The blinds crack open not because someone sprang out of bed,
but because a Sunsa Wand quietly turned them at your scheduled wake-up time. At the same time, a Sengled bulb brings the room from warm dim to bright white,
simulating sunrise even if it’s gray and rainy outside.

You roll out of bed, and the Withings Sleep Pad has already logged how long you slept, how restless you were, and how your heart rate changed overnight.
When you check the app, you see that your sleep score dipped on nights when you stayed up late scrolling. It’s one thing to know that in theory;
it’s another to see it visualized in a timeline that correlates sleep stages with bed and wake times.

In the bathroom, the Oral-B iO gently nags you in the best way possible. The first few times you use it, you realize you’ve been rushing certain zones
and pressing too hard on others. After a couple of weeks, the coverage maps start to look more even, and your brushing score climbs.
For many users, that feedback loop is exactly what’s needed to turn “I guess I brush okay” into a real habit upgrade.

Stepping onto the Renpho Smart Scale, you get more than a single discouraging or encouraging number. You see trends over weeks.
Maybe the scale shows that your weight has been mostly flat, but muscle mass has ticked up a little while body fat has ticked down.
Combined with the Fitbit Charge 5’s activity and heart-rate tracking, you can start matching workouts, steps, and recovery days
with changes in body composition. That perspective helps many people avoid the “I gained two pounds, everything is ruined” spiral,
and instead focus on long-term direction.

Meanwhile, the rest of the house is doing its own quiet tracking. The Kasa HS300 monitors your media center and home office.
After a month of data, you realize your gaming console and TV are sipping power all night long. You set a schedule so they shut off at midnight
and pop back on in the evening no crawling behind furniture required. Over time, those small changes add up on your electric bill.

The Roborock S7 MaxV spends its afternoons mapping and cleaning. At first, the novelty is watching it successfully avoid socks and power strips.
Over time, the map becomes a useful tool: you can tell it to hit only certain rooms, avoid areas where kids are building a Lego empire,
or focus on the high-traffic kitchen zone after dinner. It’s a kind of tracking you don’t think about until you go back to a dumb vacuum
and realize how much effort it used to take to keep floors clean.

Security wise, the Ring Alarm, Eufy P24, and Nest Doorbell create layered awareness. You know when your kids get home because the front door sensor triggers,
the lock logs an unlock event, and the doorbell catches a quick clip. If a guest arrives while you’re out, you can talk through the Nest Doorbell,
watch them walk to the porch on the Eufy camera, and remotely unlock the door with the Schlage Encode. It’s convenient, but more importantly,
it’s a kind of situational awareness that used to require expensive, professionally installed systems.

None of this means everything is perfect. You’ll still run into app updates that move buttons, Wi-Fi hiccups, or the occasional robot vacuum
that decides a shoe is a worthy opponent. But the big picture is that these 2022 tracking gadgets change how your home feels:
less like a collection of isolated devices and more like a network that quietly adapts to your routines.

The most common feedback from people who adopt a few of these gadgets is simple: after a month or two, you forget they’re there until something breaks
or you visit a less connected home. Then you suddenly miss doors that lock themselves, lights that seem to anticipate your mood,
and a toothbrush that cheers you on for doing what your dentist always asked.

The Bottom Line: Let the Gadgets Do the Watching

The “Best Tracking Gadgets” from the Popular Mechanics Gadget Awards 2022 weren’t about flashy gimmicks. They were about practical tracking:
turning raw data on health, energy, security, and comfort into subtle improvements to daily life.

If you choose gear that fits your ecosystem, respects your privacy, and targets a real problem whether that’s sleepless nights, mysterious power bills,
or who’s at the door you’ll get the full benefit of these devices. The best tracking gadgets don’t shout for attention. They quietly watch,
learn, and help you live a little smarter.

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