After a long stretch of slim pickings, 2022 was a huge year for Android smartwatches. The Google Pixel Watch finally launched after what felt like a decade. Samsung released its second-gen Wear OS smartwatches. And Fossil announced its first native Wear OS 3 watch and started updating its myriad Gen 6 devices to the new platform. A couple months into 2023, it looks like that energy will continue throughout this year too.
But this is still a transitional era. Wear OS 3 is a work in progress, and while we’re encouraged by the stronger third-party app options, the market is still fragmented. Some features, like Google Assistant, may not be available yet on certain Wear OS 3 smartwatches — though that one will likely come via an update sometime in the future.
If you’d rather wait until Wear OS settles down a bit, there are platform-agnostic smartwatches and fitness watches you can buy in the meantime. A discounted Wear OS 2 watch may also be a smart choice for first-time buyers unsure about smartwatches in general. If you go this route, however, we implore you to make sure that it’s at minimum a Snapdragon Wear 4100-powered smartwatch. These watches can be upgraded to Wear OS 3 — older watches running on the 3100 chip cannot. In summer 2022, Qualcomm also announced its Snapdragon Wear 5 Plus chip — a 4nm processor that will give a much-needed boost to the next round of Wear OS smartwatches. If you can wait, you might want to hold off until these smartwatches start showing up on shelves.
So long as you keep the aforementioned caveats in mind, Android users have more smartwatch options than ever before. We’ve rounded up our top picks, but if none of these is the right fit, you can always check out our fitness tracker guide.
The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro wears small for a fitness smartwatch. Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge
a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro
If you have a Samsung phone, you’ll get the most mileage out of a Samsung smartwatch. And of the two watches Samsung released in 2022, the $449.99 Galaxy Watch 5 Pro will get you the best overall experience. It’s not a big upgrade from the Galaxy Watch 4, but it’s stylish, lasts longer on a single charge, and adds some neat GPS features. The Pro edges out a win over the regular Galaxy Watch 5, thanks to its battery life. We got up to 65 hours in testing, though if you enable the always-on display, you’ll more likely get around 48 to 50 hours. Still, that’s a notable bump over either the 40mm Galaxy Watch 5 or the Galaxy Watch 4 lineup. Software updates have improved the battery life on these watches, but you’ll still have to charge them daily or every other day. And the Pixel Watch only lasts around 24 hours.
The 45mm Pro wears surprisingly small for a fitness watch of its size, and the bigger sapphire crystal display makes text easier to read. And while it’s too bad Samsung did away with the physical rotating bezel, the Pro’s raised lip makes the touch bezel easier to use than the flat one on the vanilla Watch 5. We also like the deployant clasp, which is both secure and comfortable to wear. If you want cellular connectivity, you can pay $50 extra plus your carrier’s monthly fee for the LTE version. The watch also has dual SIM support (so long as you have a phone that also supports dual SIM.).
Wear OS 3 is snappy on the Pro, and Samsung’s version of Wear OS is intuitive to use and makes better use of the watch’s circular display than Google’s default UI. Samsung also added some neat accessibility features, like color filters and the ability to rebalance audio.
The switch to Wear OS means you’re getting a much more robust third-party app experience than on Tizen-powered Samsung smartwatches, like the Galaxy Watch 3 and the Galaxy Watch Active lineup. You also get more flexibility on services than with any other Wear OS watch. For example, if you want to kick Bixby to the curb in favor of Google Assistant, you can. The same goes for Samsung Pay and Google Wallet. If you want a more in-depth look at how this watch stacks up compared to the Pixel Watch in particular, you can check out our Versus video.
The Galaxy Watch 5 (40mm) is still a good choice if you want to save money and don’t mind charging more frequently. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Samsung Health also delivers a good overall fitness tracking experience, especially since you can enable turn-by-turn navigation for hiking and cycling activities. We weren’t too impressed with nightly SpO2 readings, but Samsung’s overall sleep tracking is good. You also get built-in GPS, body composition analysis, irregular heart rate notifications, fall detection, emergency SOS features, and EKGs.
$449
Samsung’s top-of-the-line flagship smartwatch has EKG readings, body composition analysis, turn-by-turn navigation, and a new body temperature sensor.
We don’t necessarily recommend the Galaxy Watch 5 or 5 Pro if you don’t have a Samsung phone. EKGs require the Samsung Health Monitor app, which is limited to Samsung phones. Also, while you can customize the buttons to launch your digital assistant of choice, the shortcut for contactless payments is hard coded to Samsung Pay — which is also gated to Samsung phones unless you sideload the APK — and requires you to sign up for Samsung’s service. You can work around it, but all Samsung watches work best with other Samsung devices.
The Galaxy Watch 5 is also a solid alternative, both in the 40mm ($279.99) and 44mm ($309.99) sizes. You’ll get worse battery life, it’s not as durable, and there’s no turn-by-turn navigation. However, the extra savings may be a worthwhile tradeoff.
The Pixel Watch has some first-gen growing pains but is a good pick if you don’t have a Samsung phone. Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
The $349.99 Google Pixel Watch is a gorgeous smartwatch, but it is a first-gen device with some notable growing pains. The Galaxy Watch 5 lineup will get you a more polished experience, but the Pixel Watch is the better choice for Android users who aren’t on a Samsung smartphone.
That’s because of ecosystems. Some features of Samsung’s watches only work with Samsung phones. The Pixel Watch doesn’t care what Android phone you have; you’ll get the same experience regardless. Broadly speaking, it’s also always going to have the latest updates to Google services like Google Maps, Google Wallet, YouTube Music, and Google Assistant because, well, it’s Google’s smartwatch. Speaking of which, buying the Pixel Watch will also get you a six-month trial of Fitbit Premium and a three-month trial of YouTube Music.
The Pixel Watch doesn’t care what Android phone you have
While it uses a last-gen Samsung chip, the Pixel Watch has snappy performance, thanks to 2GB of RAM and a co-processor that helps optimize battery life. Its redesigned Wear OS 3 interface is also easy to use, and trust us: you won’t be bothered much by the bezels. While thick, they’re not that noticeable, thanks to the dark backgrounds and watch faces.
If you’re a long-time Fitbit user, this is the smartwatch you’ve been waiting for — not the Fitbit Sense 2 or Versa 4. Not only does it have Fitbit integration, but you’ve also got the option of cellular connectivity for $50 more, better third-party apps than Wear OS 2 watches, and Google Assistant. (Google Assistant is missing from Fitbit’s Sense 2 and Versa 4. Google Maps isn’t available yet on those devices either.) The Pixel Watch lacks some staple health features — irregular heart rhythm notifications, automatic workout tracking, and nightly SpO2 percentages are the big omissions — but the bulk of Fitbit’s health platform is there. The Pixel Watch also supports EKG readings, has built-in GPS, and allows you to download offline playlists from YouTube Music.
$349
Google’s first in-house smartwatch has a beautiful domed display and native Fitbit integration for health tracking. It comes with six months of Fitbit Premium and three months of YouTube Music.
One thing to be mindful of is durability. While the domed display is beautiful, we cracked one of our review units in a week. (The others were fine, however!) You also won’t get the best battery life at 24 hours — less if you use the always-on display — but it is fairly standard for this category. It’s also got a proprietary strap mechanism, though we’re beginning to see third-party straps hit the market. These tradeoffs are a big reason why this first-gen device isn’t our overall pick. However, it’s still a promising device that’s a good choice for first adopters.
The Fossil Gen 6 is a smart option if you want to hedge your bets and save some moolah. Photo by Dieter Bohn / The Verge
You could argue that by putting out a horde of Wear OS watches year after year, Fossil has singlehandedly kept Wear OS afloat during its darkest days. On the bright side, that commitment to the platform means the $299 Gen 6 is one of the safest buys in the world of Android smartwatches. Not only is Fossil in it for the long haul, but it’s also taken customer feedback into consideration for future designs.
The Fossil Gen 6 is, out of the box, a Wear OS 2 watch running on a Snapdragon Wear 4100 chip. That’s a big reason why you can find it on sale pretty often, usually for around $220-$230. It’s a modest discount, but this is a smarter pick than a 3100-powered Wear OS watch, like the Gen 5 and Gen 5E, even if you find them for much less. But if you do want Wear OS 3, there’s good news. Fossil began rolling out upgrades last October to all of its designer-branded smartwatches, like the Skagen Falster Gen 6 and the Michael Kors Gen 6.
$275
The Fossil Gen 6 is a capable Wear OS smartwatch with a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus chip. It is eligible for the upgrade to Wear OS 3 and has several revamped health features.
The Gen 6 watches have Alexa compatibility, contactless payments via Google Wallet, and access to the Google Play store for third-party apps like Strava and Spotify. There’s no timeline just yet for Google Assistant if you upgrade to Wear OS 3, and it’s been removed from Wear OS 2.
The company also recently released its $299 Gen 6 Wellness Edition. As a result, it’s also beefed up available health features across the Gen 6 devices. That includes SpO2 readings, VO2 Max, automatic workout tracking, heart rate zones, continuous heart rate monitoring outside of workouts, and improved sleep tracking. The Wellness Edition comes with Wear OS 3 out of the box, which is a tad more convenient, and the elevated design is quite fetching. However, if you don’t mind the extra step of upgrading, picking up any Gen 6 watch on sale isn’t a bad way to save some extra moolah. Especially since the Wellness Edition has many of the same flaws as the regular Gen 6 anyway.
The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS is a better option than Fossil for fitness. Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge
a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS
Like the Fossil Gen 6, the $299.99 Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS is a Wear OS 2 watch running on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4100 chip. That means it’s eligible for an upgrade to Wear OS 3, though Mobvoi hasn’t begun rolling that out just yet. Still, the TicWatch lineup has its devoted fans for a reason. Mobvoi’s watches are a great alternative to the Fossil Gen 6, and this one, in particular, is good for fitness-focused people who aren’t keen on giving up smart capabilities for a Garmin or Polar. It’s also more durable. While it lacks a sapphire crystal display, you do get military-grade durability, which is stronger than smartwatches without it.
$230
This Wear OS smartwatch packs a Snapdragon Wear 4100 chip and offers alerts for irregular heart rate, sleep tracking, and built-in GPS.
The TicWatch supports stress tracking, all-day blood oxygen monitoring, fatigue assessments, as well as atrial fibrillation and irregular heartbeat detection. For outdoorsy types, it also has access to GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS, and Beidou. Plus, you get 72 hours of battery life. It might not hold a candle to a top-of-the-line Garmin, but it’s also a smarter watch for a fraction of the price.
This sporty hybrid is a good platform agnostic smartwatch. Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge
If all you want is simple fitness tracking and notifications in a more subtle device, the $179.99 Garmin Vivomove Sport is a great, affordable option. It looks like a Swatch, complete with real analog hands, but has a hidden OLED for notifications. Basically, if you don’t want people to know you’ve got a smartwatch on, a hybrid smartwatch is the way to go. Plus, it’s compatible with both iOS and Android if you want to reserve the option to switch between both ecosystems.
$150
The Garmin Vivomove Sport is an affordable, stylish hybrid-analog tracker. It’s not as beefy as Garmin’s other trackers and is well suited for casual activity.
You are giving up certain smart features, like contactless payments, digital assistants, and built-in GPS. The hidden display can deliver the basics, like notifications, the time, and basic health stats. However, what it lacks in smarts, it makes up for with battery life. You get an estimated five days on a single charge. On the fitness front, it’s an accurate tracker despite its lack of built-in GPS. As for health tracking, you get access to a ton of in-depth data from Garmin’s platform.
Alternatively, you can opt for the next step up with the $269.99 Vivomove Trend. While the Sport is the perfect price for a hybrid, there are a few scenarios where shelling out a little extra for the Trend makes sense. For starters, the hidden LCD display fills the entire watch face. (The Sport only displays information on the bottom half of the screen.) That’s easier to read entire notifications. Plus, it’s more legible as you benefit from larger fonts. The Trend also has a dressier look thanks to the stainless steel bezel, making it better suited for business meetings or formal events. Lastly, the Trend supports Qi charging. If you’ve already got Qi chargers, that means less clutter on your nightstand.
The Venu 2 Plus is Garmin’s “smartest” device. Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge
Garmin is best known for making rugged GPS watches that have excellent fitness features but aren’t so smart otherwise. But the $449.99 Venu 2 Plus caters to people who want top-notch fitness tracking without sacrificing productivity features.
It’s got a colorful and vibrant always-on OLED display and a whopping nine days of estimated battery life. It’s also added a microphone and speaker, meaning it’s one of the few Garmin smartwatches that will let you make and take calls from the wrist (as long as it’s in Bluetooth range of your phone; it doesn’t have cellular connectivity). It also has a clever workaround for digital assistants — it uses Bluetooth to work with whatever assistant is already on your phone. You’d think more fitness trackers would do this, but they don’t. It worked well in testing, though digital assistants aren’t always the smartest at understanding commands.
$450
This Garmin smartwatch has an OLED touch screen and the ability to take and make calls and use your phone’s voice assistant.
The Venu 2 Plus doesn’t have the best third-party app ecosystem, but it has Spotify, Deezer, and Amazon Music for offline playback. Android users can also send quick responses for texts, and the watch works with either iOS or Android for folks who want to keep their options open. As for health features, Garmin recently announced the Venu 2 Plus has an FDA-cleared EKG app to detect atrial fibrillation. Otherwise, you get built-in GPS, continuous heart rate monitoring, all of the advanced coaching features in the Garmin Connect app, and Garmin’s famous in-depth health data. This isn’t the most hardcore Garmin that money can buy, but it’s definitely the smartest. The price is a bit high compared to most smartwatches, but by Garmin standards, it’s middle-of-the-pack.
The Amazfit GTR 4 is a budget option that punches above its weight. Photo by Victoria Song / The Verge
Amazfit’s made a name for itself making budget wearables that punch far above their weight. I’ve been consistently impressed by the GTR line of smartwatches over the years, and the $199.99 GTR 4 is no exception.
Not only does it have a classic look, but you also get 14 days of battery life and a color, always-on OLED display. New to the GTR 4 is dual-band GPS — a feature that Apple and Garmin only recently introduced to their higher-end smartwatches. Or, if you like to plan your own trail runs or hikes, you can import your own GPS routes, too. It tracks 150 sports and features all-day continuous heart rate monitoring. You can also monitor stress, sleep, and SpO2 levels. For smart features, you can take calls on the wrist, and it has two digital assistants: Alexa and a proprietary offline assistant. The device also syncs with Strava and Adidas Running.
$200
The Amazfit GTR 4 is a platform-agnostic smartwatch that delivers a lot of bang for your buck. It has dual-band GPS, is Alexa-compatible, and 14 days of battery life.
The GTR 4 isn’t the best smartwatch around. Flagship watches can do everything the GTR 4 can do but in a sleeker, more polished 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 frequently find Amazfit devices on sale. The icing on the cake is it works just as well on Android as it does on iOS.
