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Best for iPhone Owners
Apple Watch Series 9
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Best for Samsung Owners
Samsung Galaxy Watch6 and Watch6 Classic
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Best for Android Owners
Google Pixel Watch 2
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Best Fitness Watch
Garmin Vivomove Trend
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A great timepiece doesn’t just display the time of day, it can elevate your outfit and make you feel good. The best smartwatches can do even more, from tracking your workouts and measuring your heart rate to serving up notifications and access to voice assistants. While you’re wearing a connected watch, you can leave your phone in your pocket and use your wrist for simple tasks.
The Apple Watch is our favorite for iPhone owners, but Samsung’s Galaxy Watch6 and Google’s Pixel Watch 2 are great wearables for anyone on Android. We also like several other options—in various styles and with different levels of smarts. Below is a roundup of the best smartwatches we’ve tested. Looking for a fitness or sleep tracker instead? We’ve got plenty more options in our Best Fitness Trackers, Best Fitbits, Best Garmin Watches, and Best Sleep Trackers guides.
Updated April 2024: We’ve added the OnePlus Watch 2, Withings ScanWatch 2, and Casio Calculator Watch.
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Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Best for iPhone Owners
Apple Watch Series 9
The Apple Watch is the best smartwatch money can buy. It has the best operating system, WatchOS, with plenty of apps to help reduce the number of times you need to pull out your phone. The Series 9 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is nearly identical to its predecessor, the Series 8, but has the ability to process Siri requests on the device, making it snappier and more private (unless Siri needs to access the web for the answer). That means you can ask the voice assistant about your health data from the week prior and get results quickly. This is thanks to the S9 chip, which is more efficient and delivers slightly better battery life—you’ll still need to regularly recharge the watch. The most exciting new feature is Double Tap. You can tap two fingers together on your watch hand to accept or reject calls, reply to messages, start or end timers, and more. It’s super handy.
There’s a new second-gen ultra-wideband chipset, which can help you precisely locate your iPhone at greater range. As usual, the health features remain robust. There’s an FDA-cleared electrocardiogram sensor, plus you can measure oxygen saturation in the blood (SpO2)—helpful for athletes training at altitude or anyone with an underlying health condition. However, this feature is no longer available in the US on Apple Watches sold after January 18, 2024, due to a patent dispute. Our Best Apple Watch guide has more details, and check out our Apple Watch Accessories guide for extras.
Comes in 41-mm or 45-mm sizes.
★ A cheaper alternative: The second-gen Apple Watch SE ($220) is likely all you need. It debuted alongside the Series 8 in 2022 and is the model for those who balk at a $400 price and don’t need an electrocardiogram, SpO2, the always-on display, or the skin temperature capabilities. It does have fall detection. Just take Apple’s claims of it being a carbon-neutral product with a grain of salt.
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Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Best for Samsung Owners
Samsung Galaxy Watch6 and Watch6 Classic
The Galaxy Watch6 and Watch6 Classic (7/10, WIRED Recommends) don’t reinvent the wheel, but these round smartwatches are a great option for anyone with an Android smartphone, especially with Samsung owners as a few features like the electrocardiogram and irregular heart rate alerts only work when paired with Samsung phones (the watches don’t work with iPhones at all). Each model has two sizes you can choose from, with the option to spend more on an LTE version for constant connectivity even if your phone isn’t nearby.
I tested the Watch6 Classic in the 47-mm size, and it easily lasted two full days, and a day and a half with the always-on display. It’s dead simple to check notifications, respond to messages, and even control your smart home devices via SmartThings or Google Home. The Classic is the model with the mechanical rotating bezel, which is what you can use to scroll through the Wear OS interface—it’s way more fun to use than most other watches that rely only on a touchscreen. Its health and fitness functions are satisfactory, with nice sleep-tracking data and robust activity-tracking options, and it has excellent auto-start and auto-pause capabilities. However, I did notice some discrepancies in heart rate measurements during select workouts.
Watch6 comes in 40-mm or 44-mm sizes. Watch6 Classic comes in 43-mm or 47-mm sizes.
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Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Best for Android Owners
Google Pixel Watch 2
The original Pixel Watch was missing a lot of features when it launched, but Google slowly added them over a year. That means the Pixel Watch 2 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) pretty much has everything you’d want. There’s auto-start and auto-stop workout detection, fall detection, SpO2 measurements, and even a redesigned Fitbit app that looks much more modern. Google has even added Safety Check this time around, allowing you to share your location with emergency contacts if you don’t respond after a certain time. A Body Response feature also can detect good and bad stress and offer ways to cope, like with a guided breathing session.
This is easily still the prettiest smartwatch in my eyes, and it’s super comfy on the wrist. It also nails its health and fitness features, from reliable heart rate and sleep-tracking data to an improved workout screen that shows you the most important information at a glance, including heart rate zones. You can take electrocardiograms and monitor for an irregular heart rate too. The battery life is unfortunately just OK—it’ll last about a day—and this watch is also not repairable. If you have issues, you’ll have to get a replacement under the one-year warranty. I also don’t love that it has yet another proprietary charger that is different from the original Pixel Watch charger, though it does juice up the smartwatch quicker.
Comes in a 41-mm size.
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Photograph: Garmin
Best Fitness Watch
Garmin Vivomove Trend
Fitness watches are typically not as sleek or simple to operate as more robust smartwatches, but the Vivomove Trend (8/10, WIRED Recommends) oozes elegance. This is also the first Garmin to include wireless charging, which means you’re now free to ditch your annoying Garmin plug-in charger.
The watch has it all—wireless charging, blood oxygen measurements, sleep tracking, auto-activity tracking, and Garmin’s proprietary and excellent algorithms for measuring your fitness. It’s a little clunky to operate—it’s not anywhere near as feature-rich as the other smartwatches above—but that might be OK if you prioritize battery life as this tracker can last five days on a single charge. Read our Best Fitness Watches guide for more recommendations.
Comes in a 40.4-mm size.
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Photograph: Apple
Best for iPhone Weekend Warriors
Apple Watch Ultra 2
Frequently escaping to the hills every weekend? If your activities often take you to remote areas in rough terrain, then it might be smart to pony up for the expensive, uber-durable, and gigantic Apple Watch Ultra 2 (8/10, WIRED Recommends). A bigger watch means a bigger battery—we got nearly four days with normal use. The Ultra 2 has better mics than the Series 9 to pick up your voice, an 86-decibel siren to alert your position to anyone nearby, and a more precise GPS to better track your hikes (plus help you find your way back with the Backtrack feature). There’s a spare customizable button on the left side called the Action Button, which you can use to trigger an activity of your choosing. It’s made of titanium, and the case rises up to protect the edges of the display, which is also covered with scratch-resistant sapphire crystal.
New in the Ultra 2 is the ability for the screen to hit a crazy bright 3,000 nits, which is a little overkill and really only meant for extreme situations. This smartwatch is faster, with the same new S9 chipset as the Series 9, supports Double Tap, and Siri processes basic interactions much more quickly. You can see topographic maps on the screen, but there’s still no way to view offline maps without an iPhone.
Comes in a 49-mm size.
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Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
The Calculator Watch
Casio CA53W-1CR Calculator Watch
It’s a calculator … on a watch. How much smarter can you get? Seriously, the buttons might be tiny, but you can calculate how much your tip will be when grabbing the bill at the restaurant, and everyone will marvel at your brilliance. This cheapo watch from Casio is a classic—it’s comfy and lightweight—and you can cycle through a few modes, including a stopwatch, an alarm, and a second time zone. There’s a five-year battery life, and the fully automatic calendar goes through the year 2099 (that’s 15 battery changes).
Comes in a 43-mm size.
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Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
Great Battery Life
OnePlus Watch 2
The OnePlus Watch 2 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is great for anyone with an Android phone looking for a Wear OS smartwatch that prioritizes battery life. It can last roughly three days on a single charge, a little more if you enable some power-saving settings. Technically, this watch is powered by two chipsets and two operating systems to enable this feat of battery longevity, but the user experience is very similar to that of the Galaxy Watch6 or Pixel Watch 2, just with OnePlus taking the helm on the health and fitness features. It’s worth noting that this is a large watch, so consider it carefully if you have small wrists.
Health capabilities are lacking—there’s no fall detection or electrocardiogram—but there’s sleep tracking, and it’s generally pretty accurate. Some features, like heart-rate tracking, distance traveled, and steps, have mixed accuracy in our testing, which means you shouldn’t buy this smartwatch if you’re primarily using it for those functions. Otherwise, I was able to control my smart home devices via Google Home, control my music playback, respond to Slack messages, and delete those pesky emails—all without having to take my phone out of my pocket.
Comes in a 46-mm size.
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Photograph: Withings
An Analog-Looking Smartwatch
Withings ScanWatch 2
Withings’ ScanWatch 2 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) can pass for an analog watch. Its health-tracking feature set is comprehensive—you get heart rate monitoring, an electrocardiogram, blood oxygen measurements, and sleep tracking. Battery life is stellar too, as it can live up to 30 days with light use. (Heavier usage will see roughly 22 days before needing a charge.)
The main problem is the tiny display on this watch, which is too small to read some notifications. The GPS is also connected, meaning it requires your phone to be tethered and nearby. There’s an optional Health+ subscription, but we’d advise against it, as it doesn’t offer much utility. The ScanWatch 2, like the Garmin Vivomove Trend, doesn’t have the rich features and apps you’ll find on the likes of an Apple Watch, but if you just want to monitor your health data—and you don’t want your watch to look too techy—this will do the job.
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Photograph: Casio
Best Barely Smart Watch
Casio ProTrek PRW-61
I had this Casio on my wrist for more than a month and used one of its handful of functions every single day, something I can’t say for many smartwatches. I used the stopwatch to track my rest intervals between sets at the gym. I set my world time to New Delhi, India, the time zone my sister is in. I’ve used the compass to navigate when I emerge from the subway in New York City and can’t get my bearings, and I’ve learned to read the barometer—mostly just to see how cool it is to predict the weather without having to ask a voice assistant.
I love how this watch looks. It’s rugged and outdoorsy, but still relatively classy. Even better, it’s incredibly comfortable to wear. Seriously, I never took it off in the month I tested it. It’s been fine in the shower and through workouts. I love that it’s made of biomass plastics from regenerative resources, such as castor seeds and corn. Don’t let that worry you about durability; I’ve been through a move, dinging it on various walls, got paint on it, and yet it looks pristine. The dial is easy to read—the indices glow or you can press a button right below the case to light ’em all up for nighttime visibility. And you never need to recharge it. Casio’s Tough Solar tech means it recharges itself via sunlight.
Comes in a 47.4-mm size.
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Photograph: Casio
Honorable Mentions
Other Watches We Sorta Like
The number of smartwatches on the market is staggering. I’ve tested models from Tag Heuer, Citizen, Montblanc, and many other fashion brands, but most of them are simply too expensive for what you get. Here are a few options I like.
Apple Watch Series 8 for $329: If you can find the 2022 Apple Watch Series 8 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) for a good deal less than the Series 9 (under $300), you should snag it. It’s nearly identical to the latest model, especially the health features. Save your cash!
Samsung Galaxy Watch5 for $229 and Watch5 Pro for $380: The 2022 Galaxy Watch5 and Watch5 Pro (7/10, WIRED Recommends) are still great, just make sure you pay less than the price of the new Galaxy Watch6 models. They match the Apple Watch’s accuracy in several health and fitness metrics, from SpO2, sleep, and heart-rate tracking to electrocardiogram measurements (though the latter is exclusive to Samsung phones). The Watch5 Pro is larger and has a battery that lasts roughly two full days, whereas the Watch5 lasts around a day and a morning. The Pro also adds GPX, meaning you can download hiking routes to the watch. They have sapphire crystals protecting the screen, but the Watch5 Pro’s crystal is even more durable, and it has a stronger titanium case versus the standard Watch5’s aluminum.
Casio G-Shock Move DW-H5600 for $299: Want a G-Shock with a heart rate monitor? The DW-H5600’s measurements lined up well with the Apple Watch, but if you’re serious about tracking your health, I think you’re better off buying something from our Best Fitness Trackers guide. The buttons are a bit tough to press, and there aren’t a ton of workouts you can track (running, walking, gym workouts). You can sift through a good amount of data in the app, though I was left wanting more, and battery life lasted me roughly three days with continuous monitoring. It can recharge via solar, but you will need to use the bulky charging clip every few days. I still enjoyed wearing it, even if I didn’t find it as useful as our above picks. You can use it to track different time zones, your movements via the GPS during a workout, and even sleep.
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Photograph: Montblanc
Avoid These Smartwatches
No Thanks
Not every smartwatch is a winner. Here are a few ones we’ve tried that aren’t worth the dough.
Fossil Gen 6 Wellness for $199: This Fossil watch (4/10, WIRED Review) is just too laggy for how much it costs. It’s not optimized well, so it’s frustrating to use; its fitness app is a little too bare-bones. I also ran into an annoying bug where some features kept turning on and off. The battery life is also lackluster. The company is also officially exiting the smartwatch business, so it’s best to stay away.
Montblanc Summit 3 for $1,270: This is a beautiful (and large) smartwatch, and it runs Wear OS 3, but that doesn’t mean it’s worth the high price. There’s no speaker, no Google Assistant, and the fitness features feel half-baked. It just doesn’t offer all that much other than a pretty face.
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Photograph: Natalya Trofimchuk/Getty Images
Swap Your Straps
Fresh Band
You don’t need to stick with the strap you get in the box! Nearly every smartwatch these days has straps that can easily be swapped out. Apple Watches and Google’s Pixel Watch have a proprietary strap system, but analog watch straps will work for others, making your options nearly endless. All you need to do is figure out the strap size of your smartwatch. You can usually find this on the back of the strap itself (you’ll see “20 mm” or just “22”), or you can check the manual or the website you purchased the watch from. It’s an easy way to further match your timepiece to your look.
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Photograph: UMIDIGI
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 popped up is Yamay, but a quick visit to the company’s Twitter page showed that it offered “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.
