The best smartwatch is more than just a way to get smartphone notifications on your wrist. The device has to be everything in one: a fitness tracker, a wallet and even a phone. If you're trying to get back on track, the best smartwatch can help you live your best life.
After spending hundreds of hours testing dozens of smartwatches, our pick for best smartwatch has been the Apple Watch Series 5 with GPS, which has a huge, always-on display, built-in Compass, and all of the advanced health features we loved about the Series 4, including fall detection and a built-in electrical heart rate sensor for taking on-the-go electrocardiograms. The Apple Watch 3 remains a very good value, especially with recent price cuts.
The best smartwatch for Android users is Samsung's Galaxy Watch Active 2. In addition to a sleek, sporty design, the Galaxy Watch Active offers built-in GPS, heart rate sensor, water-resistance, Samsung Pay support, plus advanced heart health features for just more than the first-gen Galaxy Watch Active.
Read on for our other top picks.
The Apple Watch Series 5's always-on display makes a meaningful difference in user experience, especially when working out. Now when you glance at your wrist, you'll always be able to tell the time, with the Apple Watch automatically adjusting to the conditions around you with the help of an ambient light sensor. That always-on display doesn't drain the watch's battery, either, though you'll still want to charge your Apple Watch nightly, as it lacks the multiday battery life that other smartwatches offer.
Apple's latest watch also includes a built-in compass, which comes in handy while hiking or star-gazing, and also makes Maps more useful by showing you which direction you're facing at all times. Series 5 looks identical to Series 4, but the newer model comes in fresh finishes — titanium and ceramic — and offers the same advanced health features we loved in the Series 4. This is the best smartwatch you can buy.
As good as the Apple Watch is, the Galaxy Watch Active 2 can give Apple's smartwatch a run for its money. Samsung's watch works with both Android (and to a lesser extent) iOS smartphones, and features GPS, a heart rate monitor and LTE (for a premium). It also can automatically track your activity and sleep. (It's much better at the former task than the latter.)
The Galaxy Watch Active 2's circular design is visually appealing, whether you get the 40mm or 44mm model. Based on Samsung's Tizen operating system, this Galaxy Watch boasts other useful features as Samsung Pay, onboard music via Spotify and heart health features. That includes a forthcoming ECG feature similar to the one Apple offers in the Apple Watch Series 4 and 5, though Samsung is still awaiting FDA approval before issuing a software update that enables heart rate monitoring.
The Apple Watch Series 3 is a more affordable smartwatch option than the Series 5 for iPhone users. The size options of 38mm and 42mm are smaller than the 40mm and 44mm versions that the Series 5 comes in, bezels are thicker on the older model, and you won't get the newer watch's ability to detect atrial fibrillation with an ECG app.
However, when you compare the Apple Watch Series 5 versus the Series 3, you'll find you don't sacrifice too much for the older version's lower price. You still get a heart rate monitor, GPS, 8GB of storage with offline support for Apple Music playlists. This watch is also water-proof if you like to track your swims, and many of the best software features found in the Apple Watch Series 5 are also found in the Series 3, thanks to the watchOS 6 Apple released last year.
Fitbit's Versa 2 is a refined upgrade from the original Versa that adds built-in Alexa and more advanced sleep-tracking features, especially now that Fitbit has rolled out a software update that enables a feature to monitor blood oxygen saturation levels. (That data's helpful for identifying conditions like sleep apnea.) Throw in multiday battery life, and we think the Versa 2 is the best smartwatch if you're looking for a way to monitor your sleeping habits.
Like its predecessor, the Versa 2 works with both iOS and Android is great value. Fitbit added a Spotify app to the Versa 2, so you can control music playback from your wrist. However, you can't download Spotify playlists to the watch for offline listening. The Versa 2 also lacks onboard GPS.
You don't necessarily have to pay big bucks to get a capable smartwatch with fitness-tracking feature. The ultra-affordable Amazfit Bip costs less than most smartwatches, yet works with iOS and Android and comes with GPS and a heart rate monitor.
Fitness-tracking features are pretty solid, and the Bip's transflective color display is easy on the eyes and doesn't drain the battery. Speaking of battery life, you can expect around 45 days of normal usage — we used the Amazfit Bip for two weeks before the battery dipped below 50%.
Other functionality is limited: You can select only from five different watch faces, and can only view, and not respond to notifications from the watch itself.
Wear OS simply isn't polished enough to measure up against the best smartwatches from Apple and Samsung. But if you insist upon a Wear OS device, Fossil's Gen 5 smartwatch is the one to get, thanks to a stylish, sophisticated look. The Gen 5 also eliminates the most glaring performance lag we saw in past Wear OS watches, thanks to 1GB of RAM, and customizable battery modes also make this smartwatch worth a look.
You're not going to get the fitness and heart health features you'll find on the Apple Watch and the Galaxy Watch Active. And the Gen 5's Spotify app can't store music offline — also a disadvantage. But this smartwatch remains the best that Wear OS has to offer.
