Whether you’re looking to buy a smartwatch to help you stay healthy in the new year or to help you spend less time looking at your phone, there are plenty of options to choose from. The smartwatch market is pretty crowded these days, but a few major players like the Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch, and Fitbit Versa have risen to the forefront with their smart features, fitness capabilities, and general ease of use. Whether you’re buying for the first time or upgrading from an older device, there are some important factors to keep in mind before deciding which smartwatch is right for you. We’ve spent a lot of time researching most of the latest smartwatches on the market, conducting hands-on tests and using them for days on end to come up with our top picks.
What factors should be considered for smart watches?
compatibility
The Apple Watch only works with iPhones, while Wear OS devices work with iOS and Android phones. Smartwatches made by Samsung, Garmin, Fitbit, and others are also compatible with Android and iOS, but you’ll need to install the companion app on your smartphone.
The smartwatch operating system will also dictate the types and number of third-party apps you can access. However, many of these factors are of little use, making this factor rather minor in the grand scheme of things.
price
The best smartwatches typically cost between $300 and $400. These pricier devices feature advanced operating systems, communications, music and fitness features compared to cheaper smartwatches that cost between $100 and $250. They also often include extra features like onboard GPS tracking, music storage, and NFC, which are often not available on budget devices.
Several companies make specialized fitness watches: these can easily cost over $500, and we only recommend them to serious athletes. Luxury smartwatches from brands like TAG Heuer and Hublot can also command sky-high prices, but we wouldn’t endorse any of them. These devices can cost over $1,000, and you usually only need to buy a brand name and some unnecessary exotic building materials.
Battery Life
Battery life remains one of our biggest complaints about smartwatches, but there’s been some hope lately. You can enjoy two full days with Apple Watch and most Wear OS devices. Watches powered by the Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor support extended battery mode, which guarantees up to five days of battery life on a single charge if you’re willing to turn off most functions except telling the time. Snapdragon’s next-generation Wear 4100 and 4100+ processors were announced in 2020, but only a handful of devices (some of which are not yet available) are using them so far. Other models can last five to seven days, but they typically have fewer features and lower-quality displays. Meanwhile, some fitness watches can last for weeks on a single charge.
communicate
Any smartwatch worth considering will send phone calls, text messages, and app notifications to your wrist. Call and text alerts are self-explanatory, but if these mean a lot to you, consider an LTE-enabled watch. They’re more expensive than their WiFi-only counterparts, but cellular connectivity allows the smartwatches to answer calls and process text messages even when the device isn’t nearby. As far as app alerts go, having them sent to your wrist will allow you to glance down at your watch face and see if you really need to check your phone right now.
fitness tracking
Activity tracking is a big reason people turn to smartwatches. While a universal watch is supposed to act as a fitness tracker, recording your steps, calories, and movement, most wearables today also feature heart rate monitors.
Many smartwatch fitness features include built-in GPS, which is useful for tracking running and cycling distance. Swimmers will want something waterproof, and thankfully most general-purpose equipment these days can at least withstand a dunk in the pool. Some smartwatches from companies like Garmin are more fitness-focused than others and tend to offer more advanced features like heart rate differential tracking, recovery time estimates, onboard maps, and more.
Smartwatch health tracking has also advanced over the years. Both Apple and Fitbit devices can estimate blood oxygen levels and measure electrocardiograms. But the cheaper a smartwatch is, the less likely it is to have these advanced health-tracking features. If collecting these health metrics is important to you, you’ll have to pay for the privilege.
music
Not only can your watch track your morning run, it can also play music while you exercise. Many smartwatches allow you to save music locally, so you can connect wireless headphones via Bluetooth and listen to music without having to carry your phone. Those watches that don’t have built-in music storage often have on-watch music controls so you can control playback without having to pull out your phone. If your watch supports LTE, local saving is not required – you will be able to stream music directly from the watch to the paired headphones.
monitor
Most wearable devices come with a touch screen, and we recommend purchasing one with a full-color touch screen. Some flagship products like the Apple Watch feature LTPO displays, which stands for Low Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide. These panels feature faster response times and greater energy efficiency, providing a smoother experience when interacting with touch screens and, in some cases, longer battery life.
You won’t see a significant gain in the latter, though, because the extra battery is essentially drained when these devices have always-on displays, like most flagship wearables today. Some smartwatches enable this feature by default, while others allow you to enable it by adjusting settings. This smart feature lets you glance down at your watch to see the time, health, or any other information you’ve set to display on your watch face without having to lift your wrist. This will undoubtedly impact the device’s battery life, but thankfully most always-on modes dim the display’s brightness so it doesn’t run at peak levels unnecessarily. Cheaper devices won’t have this feature; instead, their touchscreens automatically turn off to save battery life, and you have to intentionally check the watch to turn the display back on.
near field communication
Many smartwatches have NFC capabilities, allowing you to pay using contactless payments without carrying a wallet. After storing your credit or debit card information, you can pay for a cup of coffee by holding your smart watch close to an NFC reader on your way home from a run. Keep in mind that different watches use different payment systems: Apple watches use Apple Pay, Wear OS devices use Google Pay, Samsung devices use Samsung Pay, and so on.
Apple Pay is one of the most popular NFC payment systems, supporting multiple banks and credit cards in 72 different countries, while Samsung and Google Pay have smaller support areas. It should also be noted that support for NFC payments in Samsung and Google systems also varies from device to device.
Fashion smart watches: Fossil and others
Yes, there are still companies trying to make “fashionable” smartwatches. When wearables were new and generally ugly, brands like Fossil, Michael Kors and Skagen found their niche in stylish smartwatches that took inspiration from analog watches. You also have the option of buying a “hybrid” smartwatch from companies like Withings and Garmin – devices that look like classic watches but include some limited functionality, such as activity tracking and heart rate monitoring. They’re still a good choice if you like the look, but thankfully wearables from Apple, Samsung, Fitbit, and others have become more and more attractive over the past few years.
Ultimately, the only thing you can’t change after purchasing a smartwatch is its case design. If you don’t like the square corners of the Apple Watch, all Samsung smartwatches have rounded cases that look more like traditional watches. Most wearables are available in a variety of colors, and you can pay extra for premium materials like stainless steel. Once you’ve decided on a watch case, your strap options are endless—there are dozens of first- and third-party straps available for most major smartwatches, and to fit both larger and smaller wrists, allowing you to You can change your look at any time.
Other smartwatches our experts have tested
Apple Watch Ultra 2
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 may be overkill for most people, but it has a lot of extra features, like extra water resistance for tracking dives, more accurate GPS, and the largest battery ever in an Apple Watch. Apple designed it for the sturdiest among us, but for the average person, it probably has more features than they need.
Apple Watch SE
The Apple Watch SE isn’t as feature-rich as the flagship model, but it’s probably enough for most people. In fact, we think the Watch SE is the best smartwatch option for first-time buyers or those on a budget. You’ll get all the core features of the Apple Watch, plus fall and collision detection, noise monitoring, and SOS, but you’ll have to use more advanced hardware features like an always-on display, blood oxygen sensor, and electrocardiogram monitor and skin temperature sensor.
Google Pixel Watch 2
Google has made a number of noteworthy improvements in the Pixel Watch 2. Unlike the first generation of smartwatches, the Pixel Watch 2 is actually a serious contender with the likes of the Apple Watch and Samsung Galaxy Watch. In our review, we praised its excellent heart rate measurement and health insights, plus it has stress management tools that are better than similar features offered by competitors. However, software quirks and confusing data presentation keep it from earning a spot on our top list.
Garmin Forerunner 745
The Garmin Forerunner 745 is an excellent GPS running watch for serious athletes or those who value battery life. When we tested it, we found that it offered accurate distance tracking, up to 16 hours of battery life with GPS on (up to 7 days without GPS), and support for onboard music storage and Garmin Pay.
This article was originally published on Engadget: https://www.engadget.com/best-smartwatches-153013118.html?src=rss
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