The Best Smartwatches
These little wearables reduce your reliance on a phone while keeping you connected.
A good watch doesn't just display the time of day—it can elevate your outfit and make you feel good. Smartwatches can do even more, from tracking workouts and measuring heart rate to offering up notifications and access to voice assistants. While you're wearing a connected watch, you can leave your phone in your pocket and just check your wrist for urgent notifications. Here are the best ones we've tested.
Best for iPhone Owners
Apple Watch Series 6
The Apple Watch is the best smartwatch money can buy. It has the best operating system, watchOS, which is slick with plenty of apps to help reduce the number of times you need to pull out your phone. The latest model is the Series 6 (8/10, WIRED Recommends), which features blood oxygen monitoring to measure oxygen saturation in the blood (SpO2)—helpful for athletes training at altitude or if you have an underlying health condition. Coupled with the FDA-cleared electrocardiogram and the wealth of fitness-tracking features, it's a gadget aimed at good health.
It now includes sleep tracking, will remind you to stand up and move during the day, and with the Noise app, you can get alerts when ambient sounds around you are loud enough to damage your hearing. Unfortunately, battery life is still mediocre (you'll need to charge it before bed to track sleep), and it still only works with iPhones. Sorry Android owners.
Comes in 40-mm or 44-mm sizes.
- Cheaper alternative: The Apple Watch SE ($269) is worth a look. It debuted alongside the Series 6 and is the model for those who balk at a $400 price and don't need an electrocardiogram, SpO2, or always-on display. Alternatively, if you can find a Series 5 for a good deal less than the price of the Series 6, go for it. The Series 3 is getting a bit old at this point, but it does the basics and is frequently on sale. Check our Apple Watch guide for more details.
Best for Android Owners
Samsung Galaxy Watch3
If you're an Android owner who wants to buy a smartwatch right now, this is the best pick for you. Really, if you want a Google Wear OS watch, our advice would be to wait until 2022, when the kinks will be ironed out of the new Wear OS 3 update (more on this below). Samsung may be ditching its Tizen operating system for now, but it has promised to support existing Galaxy watches for three years from the date of their launch, which means you can hold on to your excellent Galaxy Watch3 through August 2023.
It goes toe-to-toe with the Apple Watch in several metrics, from SpO2 to an FDA-cleared electrocardiogram. It can automatically track your long walks and a few other workouts, and it has the usual smartwatch tricks; you can respond to or delete notifications from your phone—even answer calls from the watch. It lasts around two days per charge if you turn off the always-on display, but a day and a half otherwise, which is enough to go a full day and track your sleep.
It's attractive, with a fun, mechanical rotating bezel to move throughout the operating system so you don't need to touch the screen with your grubby fingers as much. The only big downside is app support. There's no native mapping app, and you won't find your favorite messaging app in Samsung's store, so it's impossible to start a new conversation from the watch. This is a big reason why Google and Samsung are now collaborating.
Comes in 41-mm and 45-mm sizes.
Best Fitness Watch
Garmin Venu Sq and Sq Music Edition
If you're prioritizing health and fitness, read our Best Fitness Trackers guide. But the Garmin Venu Sq and Venu Sq Music Edition (8/10, WIRED Recommends) are excellent and relatively affordable watches that do more than your average tracker. The Music Edition is best paired if you have a Spotify, Amazon Music, or Deezer subscription, but both deliver accurate fitness-tracking data, with features like blood oxygen monitoring, built-in GPS, and sleep tracking. Better yet, they'll last around five to seven days on a single charge.
You can get basic notification alerts, such as calls, texts, and emails, and if you have an Android phone, you can respond to texts. It also includes Garmin Pay, which will work anywhere contactless payments are accepted. The downside? It's not very intuitive to use, so there's a bit of a learning curve.
Best Hybrid Smartwatch
Skagen Hybrid HR Jorn
I love wearing the Skagen Jorn, which is what matters most when you're wearing a watch. The round design and mechanical hands make it very much like a traditional watch, but I like that I can immediately see my heart rate data, step count, and the weather on the E Ink screen. You can control music playback, and in the companion app, you can choose which apps you'll get notification alerts from. The whole thing lasts well more than a week on a single charge too.
You can use it to track workouts, but I wouldn't rely on it, as activity tracking isn't very accurate (though resting heart rate matched up with results from other smartwatches). E Ink screens just aren't suited for this. It can also monitor sleep, but I didn't find it too helpful. The Jorn tries to do too much, and the interface is clunky, but it's a good watch if you like the look and want very simple health data alongside notification alerts.
Best Barely Smart Watch
Casio PRT-B50
Casio's PRT-B50, from its Pro Trek line, doesn't have the bells and whistles of the other watches on this list, but it's smart in its own ways. (And its battery lasts 2 years!)
You can't see notifications, but the PRT-B50 tracks steps and can automatically adjust the time to wherever you are in the world. The compass is handy not just for when you're on the trail, but also when you need to get your bearings in dense cities like New York. Also, using the GPS on your phone, it offers up altitude readings, and it can use latitude and longitude information to note what time the sun rises and sets. If it helps, you can also check the temperature and barometric pressure too. To top it all off, you can place virtual markers that are viewable through the map in the companion app, and it's easy to make your way back to them using the watch. All this data can be viewed through the small but easy-to-read digital screen on the watch face.
Comes in a 50.8-mm size.
Honorable Mentions
Other Watches We Sorta Like
The number of smartwatches on the market is staggering. We've tested models from Tag Heuer, Citizen, Montblanc, Diesel, and so many other fashion brands, but many of them are simply too expensive for what you get. (Not to mention they're Wear OS watches that won't get the update to the new version; more on this below). Here are a few options we like but don't recommend as highly.
- Fossil Gen 5E (Men's 44 mm) and (Women's 42 mm): This Fossil watch has been discounted to $169 several times, so try to pick it up for that price. It's perfectly fine for checking and responding to notifications and tracking basic fitness metrics like steps, heart rate, and distance traveled. You can answer calls with the built-in speaker and mic, and you can make contactless payments with Google Pay. Fossil says it will continue to get updates and new features, but it won't get the upgrade to Wear OS 3.
- Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 for $300: The TicWatch Pro 3 is the first Wear OS smartwatch with Qualcomm's Wear 4100 processor and one of the only ones that will be upgradable to Wear OS 3. Performance is smooth, and there's a unique dual-layer screen system. On top is a low-power display for always-on functionality, so you can glance at it at any moment and see the time. Below is an AMOLED panel for smartwatch functions. This helps with battery life—it'll last almost two full days on a single charge, and that includes sleep tracking. It's a big watch, so it's not for everyone.
You Should Wait for Wear OS 3
Don't Buy a Wear OS Watch … Yet
In May, Google announced it would be releasing a new version of its wearable operating system, which is used by a bevy of tech and fashion brands, including Mobvoi and the Fossil Group. It's called Wear OS 3, and it's being codeveloped by Google, Samsung, and Fitbit (the latter is now Google-owned). This new version is expected to deliver better performance, longer battery life, and more third- and first-party apps, as well as robust health and fitness features.
The first Wear OS 3 smartwatch will come from Samsung, and it will likely launch in August. Unfortunately, that means Samsung's current smartwatches, like the Galaxy Watch3 above, will not get the update, since they run another operating system. Google has also shared that only a few smartwatches are eligible to upgrade to Wear OS 3: Mobvoi’s TicWatch Pro 3 (GPS and LTE) and the TicWatch E3. This implies that the new version requires Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 4100 chip, as those are the only smartwatches on the market utilizing it. Smartwatches from the Fossil Group launching later this year will also have the option to upgrade, which means they'll be running on the same chip too.
Unfortunately, things are bleak even if you do have the option to upgrade. Google says the upgrade won't be available until the middle of 2022, and it will require a factory reset. Worse yet, you won't enjoy the full breadth of features in Wear OS 3, as the platform is built for a completely new chipset. (Google did not specify exactly whose chips it's built for.) So, for now, you should hold off until new smartwatches launch with the new version.
Buyers Beware
Know What You Buy
Search Amazon for "smartwatches" and you'll be greeted with a long list of devices from brands you've probably never heard of. One brand that frequently pops up is Yamay, but a quick visit to the company's Twitter page shows that it's offering "full refunds" for people who post reviews. Look at the 1-star reviews and you'll see complaints of the watch malfunctioning after a few weeks of use.
This is a warning not to buy the first thing you see, even if it's cheap and has plenty of positive reviews on Amazon. Research the company and look for other reputable websites that have reviewed the products before you make your decision.
Original article appeared on WIRED | Author Julian Chokkattu