The Apple Watch Series 8 is the best smartwatch you can buy right now. It is feature-rich, user-friendly, gorgeous, and extremely reliable.
New features in the Series 8 dovetail with watchOS 9 to show real-time heart rate zones and facilitate custom workouts and sleep tracking. Features include car crash detection and automatic contact of emergency services. The Compass app shows the current direction and degree and indicates a permanent marker depicting north at the top of the screen. For those with no sense of direction, a new Backtrack feature helps retrace your steps.
Google Assistant is available and works well and the watch features a full QWERTY keyboard for tap and swipe typing. The software now supports dual-SIM switching for multiple SIMs. While there's easy access to a range of Google apps, there's a paucity of third-party apps available.
Its luxury status is derived from its superior build quality — titanium case, sapphire crystal cover, and ceramic back. Its beauty is enhanced by a rugged exterior that meets MIL-STD 810H standards, IP6X dust resistance, and 100-meter water resistance that's great for diving. Garmin has overhauled its interface with the Quatix 6, with watch faces now providing plenty of information without sacrificing attractiveness, and a handy widget feature that provides data in a scrolling list. This is all displayed on a 1.3-inch screen with a 260 x 260-pixel resolution. It works with both Android and iOS and has plenty of storage space for music.
Why we picked the Withings ScanWatch: Smartwatches tend to look like pieces of tech, mostly because of the touchscreen, but what if you want a smartwatch that looks more like a traditional watch? Well then, you want a hybrid smartwatch, which does away with the touchscreen but still includes smartphone connectivity for notifications and fitness tracking.
Important activity data and notifications from your phone are shown on a small screen on the watch face. It’s bright and easy to read, and controlled using the digital crown on the side of the watch. It’s not as informative as the Apple Watch or Galaxy Watch, but it gives you the essentials in an easy-to-read format. The ScanWatch connects to both Android and iOS phones, and the battery should last 30 days on a single charge.
The watch runs on Google’s Wear OS 3.5, alongside Samsung’s One UI Watch 4.5, and is powered by the Exynos W920 processor, 1.5GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. The interface lets you swipe and tap the screen to access and customize menus and titles. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro’s screen is very sharp and colorful.
Why we picked the Polar Pacer Pro: The Polar Pacer Pro — with its circular plastic case and five-button aluminum bezel — measures 44mm and weighs about 40 grams, including a comfy, adjustable silicon strap. It's as basic looking as can be and maybe a bit too plain for some. But it makes up for that plain exterior with unmatched sports-oriented functionality. The watch tracks all the usual workouts, including running, walking, cycling, and swimming, plus weight training.
Who it's for: This watch is for high-level runners who need a large, accurate device to track their progress. Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar Best smartwatch for marathon runners Fitbit Sense 2 Best smartwatch for Fitbit Read our in-depth review Pros Cons Why you should buy this: This is an attractive and functional smartwatch that can track both fitness and stress levels.Why we picked the Fitbit Sense 2: While Fitbit's claim to fame may have started with measuring steps, today it's known as an advanced smartwatch with all the trimmings.
Why we picked the Apple Watch SE 2: Do not make the mistake of underestimating the Apple Watch SE 2. While it doesn't have the super high-end specs of the Apple Watch 8 or the Ultra, that is its strong point and not a liability. Buyers can get the vast majority of features of the pro-level watch at a significant discount. Apple uses the same S8 processor across all its smartwatches, so you get the same performance even from the SE 2 as the pro-level Apple Watch 8.