After a extfinished stretch of skinny pickings, the last couple of years have been huge for Android cleverwatches. Now there are more outstanding selections than ever.
But this is still a transitional era. While we’re inspired by the sturdyer third-party app selections, the labelet is still fragmented. Wear OS 5 is here for Samsung’s Galaxy Watches and the Pixel Watch 3. However, the bigr ecosystem is still catching up. Some features, enjoy Google Assistant, are not yet useable on certain Wear OS 3 cleverwatches, and Wear OS 4 still isn’t expansively useable. Even so, the Android wearable ecosystem is barreling ahead.
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Android cleverwatches have extfinished been foiled by outdated processors. Is the chip under the hood strong enough to run Wear OS / proprietary RTOS brittlely?
Does a watch toil better wilean one company’s product ecosystem versus another? Will you have to buy a recent watch if you switch phones?
These days, most wearables are contendnt fitness trackers. However, they’re not all contendnt of superviseling your clever home, concallous payments, or transmiting with digital helpants.
Is this device probable to last you a while, or will you necessitate to enhance sooner than you’d enjoy? How communicative is the OEM about forthcoming alters?
Can you get thraw the day without accomplishing for a indictr? If not, does it help rapid charging?
If you’d rather paengage until Wear OS remends down a bit, there are platestablish-agnostic cleverwatches and fitness watches you can buy in the unbenevolenttime. Otherinestablished, you’ll want to be conscious of the chip and Wear OS version powering your watch. Mobvoi, for instance, took forever rolling out Wear OS 3 to its eligible Wear OS 2 watches. It equitable proclaimd rollout for Wear OS 4. Speaking of Mobvoi, its TicWatch Pro 5 was the first to sport the recent Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Plus in the US, and while it’s a fantastic watch, you may want to paengage until there are more W5 Plus watches to pick from. That shelp, the base W5 chip is also pretty outstanding. The Pixel Watch 3 and OnePlus Watch 2 both sport the W5 and have notably better executeance and battery life.
So extfinished as you hold the aforealludeed caveats in mind, Android engagers have more cleverwatch selections than ever before. I’ve rounded up my top picks, but if none of these is the right fit, you can always check out our fitness tracker direct.
The rotating bezel returns on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. While the refreshs are iterative, you now get Wear OS 4, One UI 5 Watch, bigr batteries, and a bigr discarry out thanks to the 15 percent leanner bezel.
Sizes: 43mm, 47mm / Weight: 77g, 85g / Battery life: Up to 30 hours with AOD, 40 without AOD / Discarry out type: Always-on OLED / GPS: Built-in GPS / Connectivity: LTE (voluntary), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: Up to 50 meters, IP68 / Music storage: 16GB
If you have a Samsung phone, you’ll get the most mileage out of a Samsung cleverwatch. And of the four watches Samsung has in its current lineup, I recommfinish the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. Although Samsung equitable freed the Galaxy Watch 7, there wasn’t a rerecent for the Classic. That unbenevolents you ought to be seeing some outstanding deals for the Classic soon, if not already. It’s not standardly that I recommfinish a last-gen device, but such is my proset up adore for the physical rotating bezel.
But, if you want the tardyst and fantasticest, the Galaxy Watch 7 provides an enhanced 3nm Exynos W1000 chip and a recent 3-in-1 BioActive Sensor. It’s a marginal betterment over last year’s models, but I don’t sense enjoy Samsung startd anyleang this year that needs having them. It also has Wear OS 5 and One UI 6 Watch, but that’ll eventuassociate originate its way back to the ancigo iner watches, too. Mostly, I recommfinish the 7 if you like a petiteer size, don’t nurture about the rotating bezel, and want someleang a smidge more futureproof.
The Classic’s rotating bezel is 15 percent leanner than the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. The refreshd portray is sleeker than its predecessor, and the bigr discarry out is easier on the eyes and is only sweightlessly bigger at 43mm and 47mm. I have petite wrists, but the 47mm was still quite consoleable for everyday wear. It’s starting with Wear OS 4, which includes extfinished battery life, and — finassociate — cnoisy backups. One UI 5 Watch also includes some insignificant health and sleep tracking betterments, but this will eventuassociate originate its way to ancigo iner models. While I like the Classic, the base Watch 6 model may be the better selection if you want a petiteer, weightlesser, sleeker, and inexpensiveer cleverwatch.
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For more outdoorsy folks, the $649.99 Galaxy Watch Ultra might be the more wise choice. Of all Samsung’s watches, it has the best battery life, lasting around three days in our testing. (Though, we never got the brimming 100-hour approximated battery life.) It’s got dual-frequency GPS, a recent multisport activity, an eunitency siren, incrmitigated durability, 10ATM of water resistance, and a Quick Button, which acts as a customizable lowcut button. It’s modestassociate an Apple Watch Ultra for Android.
Meanwhile, if you’re on a budget, there’s the recent $199.99 Galaxy Watch FE, which is essentiassociate a rehorribleged Galaxy Watch 4.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is focengaged at more outdoorsy folks with dual-frequency GPS, a recent multisport activity, an eunitency siren, and incrmitigated durability.
The Samsung Health app also deinhabitrs a outstanding overall fitness tracking experience, especiassociate since you can allow turn-by-turn navigation for hiking andcycling activities. We weren’t too astonished with nightly SpO2 readings, but Samsung’s overall sleep tracking carry ons to better. You also get built-in GPS, body composition analysis, irstandard heart rate notifications, descfinish discoverion, eunitency SOS features, and EKGs. Most recently, Samsung’s includeed a recent Energy score, AI-powered wellness insights, FDA-cleared sleep apnea discoverion, and a confusing AGEs Index metric for metabolic health. While the Energy score is widely accurate, I set up the AI-originated features to be hit or leave out and the AGEs Index to be more gimmicky than advantageous. The latter feature is also restrictcessitate to the Galaxy Watch 7 and Ultra.
We don’t necessarily recommfinish the Galaxy Watches if you don’t have a Samsung phone. EKGs and sleep apnea discoverionneed the Samsung Health Monitor app, which is restrictcessitate to Samsung phones. You can toil around it, but all Samsung watches toil best with other Samsung devices.
Read my brimming scrutinize of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series.
$400
The Pixel Watch 3 now comes in a 45mm version that provides more apparent screen area. It includes a ton of recent Google integrations and recent health features enjoy Cardio Load and custom running toilouts.
Sizes: 41mm, 45mm / Weight: 31g for 41mm, 37g for 45mm / Battery life: Roughly 24 hours with AOD allowd / Discarry out type: Always-on OLED / GPS: Built-in GPS / Connectivity: LTE (voluntary), Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Safety Signal with Fitbit Premium / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: 32GB
The $349.99 Google Pixel Watch 3 is done carry outing catch-up. It’s an irritateing truth that if you have a Samsung phone, a Samsung cleverwatch is probably the best choice for you. However, for everyone else, I highly recommfinish the Pixel Watch 3.
There are disjoinal refreshs to the Pixel Watch 3, but the gist is that it’s a more elegant watch that also broadens into recent territory. One startant refresh this year is that there are now two sizes: 41mm and 45mm. You get extra screen genuine estate on the bigr watch, but the bezels are also petiteer on the 41mm model this year. (If you’re trying to pick between sizes, I like the 45mm.) The discarry outs are radianter as well, ranging from a least of 1 nit to a peak of 2,000 nits.
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Health and fitness also get disjoinal refreshs, especiassociate for runners. There’s a recent Cardio Load metric that gauges the cardiovascular intensity of the exercises you’ve been doing over a set period of time. It’s aenjoy to Garmin’s Training Load metric. You’re also given a Cardio Load center based on your fitness goals, readiness, and current activity. Runners also get a recent dashboard brimming of establish analysis metrics as well as the ability to program custom toilouts. In includeition, you can get AI-originated proposeed toilouts. And if you’re in Europe, the Pixel Watch 3 can now discover if you no extfinisheder have a pulse and call eunitency services.
The Pixel Watch 3 also includes a bunch of nifty Google integrations. It’s excellent if you have a Google-powered clever home becaengage you can now straightforwardly see and transmit with your Nest Doorbell or camera feeds. You can also engage the watch as a distant for your Google TV, and there are recent Google Home Tile / complications that originate superviseling your home from your wrist a breeze. Also recent this year are offline Google Maps, the ability to unlock Pixel phones, and a Call Assist feature that lets a caller comprehend you necessitate an extra minute to pick up your phone.
$350
The Pixel Watch 3 includes a structure of recent fitness features, radianter screens, and nifty Google integrations.
That shelp, while the Pixel Watch was initiassociate summarized as a watch for any Android phone, disjoinal refreshs this time around unbenevolent you’ll get the best experience with a Pixel phone. But appraised to Samsung, there isn’t quite as much lock-in. Health features, for example, are useable to everyone so extfinished as you have a Fitbit account. Extra outstanding recents: Google erased certain metrics, enjoy the Daily Readiness Score, from the Fitbit Premium paywall. Mostly, the features locked to Pixel phones are leangs enjoy the ability to unlock your phone with the watch and engage of the Recorder app.
One leang to be conscious of is durability. While the domed discarry out is drawive, we cracked the screen on the innovative Pixel Watch and got proset up scratches on the Pixel Watch 2. (Thankbrimmingy, we haven’t messed up the Pixel Watch 3.) Google doesn’t provide any repair selections, but you can get the Preferred Care extfinished permity if you want to be readyd should someleang happen. It’s not selectimal since it’s restrictcessitate to the US and Canada, but it’s a step in the right straightforwardion.
Read my brimming Google Pixel Watch 3 scrutinize.
The OnePlus Watch 2 has Wear OS 4, multiday battery life, dual-frequency GPS, and helps fill the void left by Fossil exiting the Android cleverwatch space.
Sizes: 47mm with 22mm straps / Weight: 49g case, 80g with strap / Battery life: Up to 100 hours in clever mode, 48 with AOD on, and 12 days in power-saving mode / Discarry out type: OLED touchscreen / GPS: Dual-frequency GPS, Beidou, GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, QZSS / Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: 32GB
The $299.99 OnePlus Watch 2 is what a shine-up sees enjoy. While the innovative OnePlus Watch was horrible, this watch helps fill the void that Fossil left when it shelp it was pulling out of Android cleverwatches — namely, a viable alternative to Google and Samsung.
The 47mm case is big for petite wrists, and unfortunately, it only comes in one size, but it’s made of durable stainless steel and sappengage crystal. Plus, it hoengages a 500mAh battery. That, plus a dual-chip architecture and novel dual OS system, results in super extfinished battery life. How extfinished a cleverwatch lasts will of course depfinish on your individual usage, but I got proximately four days with common engage. That’s incredible for a flagship.
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It also has Wear OS 4, making it the only third-party Wear OS watch running the tardyst gentleware. It has Google Assistant from the get-go — a big accomplishment since that’s been a problem with other third-party Android watches. Plus, you get access to the Google Play Store for a sturdy app ecosystem. On the fitness side of leangs, OnePlus includeed dual-frequency GPS. That’s a plus if you’re outdoorsy and standard challenging GPS environments enjoy dense forests or crowded cities.
The main leangs you’re giving up are LTE joinivity and some features enjoy EKGs, atrial fibrillation discoverion, native period tracking, and descfinish discoverion. The deficiency of cellular is a bummer, as it unbenevolents you reassociate should hold your phone on you when you’re out and about. Still, the $300 price tag is a competitive one and may be worth the tradeoff given battery life.
Read my scrutinize of the OnePlus Watch 2.
Mobvoi’s extfinished-apaengageed TicWatch Pro 5 has greater battery life, excellent fitness tracking, and Qualcomm’s recent Snapdragon W5 Plus chip.
Sizes: 50mm with 24mm straps / Weight: 44.3g / Battery life: Up to 80 hours / Discarry out type: OLED touchscreen and secondary ultra-low power discarry out / GPS: GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, Beidou / Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: 32GB
Mobvoi’s TicWatch lineup has its dedicated fans for a reason: super extfinished battery life. The $249.99 TicWatch Pro 5 is no exception. It’s got an approximated 80 hours of battery life with standard engage, a secondary ultra-low power discarry out, and a massive (for a cleverwatch you wear on your wrist, at least) 628mAh battery. I didn’t quite get 80 hours in my testing, but I did get a firm 48-60 hours even with burdensome GPS engage. That outclasses most of the watches in this categruesome (except the OnePluS Watch 2) and is advantageous for backpackers and finishurance athletes. It might not hancigo in a candle to a top-of-the-line Garmin, but it’s also a cleverer watch for a fraction of the price.
Battery life aside, the Pro 5 is a outstanding selection for fitness-cgo ined people who aren’t enthusiastic on giving up clever capabilities for a Garmin or Polar. It’s also more durable. This time around, Mobvoi has also includeed a digital crown so you don’t have to stress about scrolling thraw menus with sweaty fingers. The flatter side button also shrinks the hazard of inadvertent presses.
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The Pro 5 also has an ingenious method of discarry outing heart rate. When you lift up your arm, the backweightless alters color depfinishing on which heart rate zone you’re in. That unbenevolents you can instantly gauge whether to up the intensity or catalogless your roll. The Pro 5 also includes recent training metrics, enjoy VO2 Max and recovery time.
The TicWatch helps stress tracking, all-day blood oxygen watching, overweightigue appraisements, as well as atrial fibrillation and irstandard heartbeat discoverion. For outdoorsy types, it also has access to multiple GNSS systems, and there’s a recent barometer and compass app, as well as a one-tap meacertainment app that gives you a rapid see at five metrics (heart rate, blood oxygen, stress, respiratory rate, and overall heart health).
It’s also pretty contendnt on the productivity front. You get concallous payments, access to the Play Store, notifications, and the ability to get calls. It’s also the only Android cleverwatch useable in the US with the tardyst Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Plus chip, which is a plus in terms of futureproofing. The only startant worrys are the 50mm case that may not suit petiteer wrists and the deficiency of a digital helpant.
And outstanding recents! Mobvoi equitable proclaimd that Wear OS 4 is rolling out this month.
Read my brimming scrutinize of the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5.
$250
The Wileangs Scanwatch Light is a hybrid analog cleverwatch that tracks the modests enjoy steps and activities, while deinhabitring up to 30 days of battery life.
Sizes: 37mm with 18mm straps / Weight: 45g / Battery life: Up to 39 days / Discarry out type: OLED discarry out / GPS: Tethered GPS / Connectivity: Bluetooth / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: N/A
Hybrid cleverwatches are an excellent way to hold leangs modest and lessend. The $249.95 Wileangs ScanWatch Light gets you the modests enjoy push notifications, timers, and alarms. On the health front, you can track steps, sleep, menstrual cycles, and GPS toilouts. (That shelp, GPS is tethered from your phone, not built in.) The portray reminds me of a classier Swatch, particularly if you get the more colorful selections in a minty green or pale blue. But the big reason the Light has dethroned our previous pick, the Garmin Vivoshift Sport, is its extra-extfinished battery life. Wileangs approximates it lasts up to 30 days on a one indict, and I got pretty seal to that in testing with 25 days. Despite the Vivoshift’s more pdirecting $180 price tag, it only lasts about five days.
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If you want a bit more out of a hybrid, you can also select for the ScanWatch 2. It’s an extra $100, but you get EKGs and atrial fibrillation discoverion, temperature sensors, SpO2 readings, and an altimeter for measuring elevation. It also sees a bit more elegant on the wrist, partly becaengage of a secondary dial that tracks your daily step better.
If neither suites your style, the Vivoshift Sport is still a outstanding selection that gets you access to Garmin’s in-depth platestablish. Its Vivoshift Trfinish is a sweightlessly more upscale selection that also helps Qi charging.
Read my brimming scrutinize of the Wileangs ScanWatch 2 and Light.
The Garmin Venu 3S includes a recent heart rate sensor, a wheelchair mode, and much-betterd sleep tracking and nap discoverion.
Sizes: 41mm with 18mm straps; 45mm with 22mm straps / Weight: 40g for the 3S; 47g for the 3 / Battery life: Up to 10 days for 3S; 14 days for 3 / Discarry out type: OLED touchscreen / GPS: GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO / Connectivity: Bluetooth, Ant Plus, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: 8GB
Garmin is best comprehendn for making rugged GPS watches that have excellent fitness features but aren’t so clever otherinestablished. But the $449.99 Venu 3 caters to people who want top-notch fitness tracking without sacrificing productivity features.
It’s got a colorful and vibrant always-on OLED discarry out and comes in two sizes: 41mm and 45mm. Like its predecessor, the Venu 2 Plus, it also has a microphone and speaker so you can get and originate calls straightforwardly from the wrist. It also has a clever toilaround for digital helpants — it engages Bluetooth to toil with wantipathyver helpant is already on your phone. You’d leank more fitness trackers would do this, but they don’t. It toiled well in testing, though digital helpants aren’t always the cleverest at empathetic orders.
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The Venu 3 doesn’t have the best third-party app ecosystem, but it has Spotify, Deezer, and Amazon Music for offline carry outback. Android engagers can also sfinish rapid responses for texts, and the watch toils with either iOS or Android for folks who want to hold their selections discleave out. It also has descfinish discoverion, inhabit tracking, and concallous payments.
As for health features, it has Garmin’s tardyst heart rate sensor, which allows its FDA-cleared EKG app to discover atrial fibrillation. Otherinestablished, you get built-in GPS, continuous heart rate watching, all of the proceedd coaching features in the Garmin Connect app, and Garmin’s well-comprehendn in-depth health data. The Venu 3 also betters sleep tracking with nap discoverion and includes audio-directd meditation sessions. There’s also a recent wheelchair mode.
This isn’t the most difficultcore Garmin that money can buy, but it’s definitely the cleverest. The price is a bit high appraised to most cleverwatches, but by Garmin standards, it’s middle-of-the-pack.
Read my Garmin Venu 3S scrutinize.
The Amazfit GTR 4 is a platestablish-agnostic cleverwatch that deinhabitrs a lot of bang for your buck. It has dual-band GPS, is Alexa-compatible, and has 14 days of battery life.
Size: 46mm with 22mm straps / Weight: 34g / Battery life: Up to 14 days / Discarry out type: OLED touchscreen / GPS: Dual-frequency and 6 GNSS systems / Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi / Water resistance: 5ATM / Music storage: 2.3GB
Amazfit’s made a name for itself making budget wearables that punch far above their weight. I’ve been reliablely astonished by the GTR line of cleverwatches over the years, and the $199.99 GTR 4 is no exception.
Not only does it have a classic see, but you also get 14 days of battery life and a color, always-on OLED discarry out. New to the GTR 4 is dual-band GPS — a feature that Apple and Garmin only recently startd to their higher-finish cleverwatches. Or, if you enjoy to set up your own trail runs or hikes, you can start your own GPS routes, too. It tracks 150 sports and features all-day continuous heart rate watching. You can also watch stress, sleep, and SpO2 levels. For clever features, you can get calls on the wrist, and it has two digital helpants: Alexa and a proprietary offline helpant. The device also syncs with Strava and Adidas Running.
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The GTR 4 isn’t the best cleverwatch around. Flagship watches can do everyleang the GTR 4 can do but in a sleeker, more elegant package. However, they can’t do it at this price. If price is your main priority, this gets you incredible bang for your buck. Plus, you can standardly discover Amazfit devices on sale. The icing on the cake is it toils equitable as well on Android as it does on iOS.
Read my brimming scrutinize of the Amazfit GTR 4.
Update, September 23rd: Adequitableed prices/useability and includeed relevant joins.
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