The best smartwatches for Android lovers in 2024 - our top 10 list

Samsung has unveiled its latest and most impressive wearable lineup, the Galaxy Watch 6 series, bringing back the beloved physical rotating bezel. The Classic model is making a grand comeback, boasting a larger design compared to its predecessors, with the larger version measuring 47mm and the smaller one at 43mm. The rotating bezel has also been refined to a slimmer profile than seen in previous generations.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 (40mm)

GPS, Bluetooth, Wear OS, Aluminum Case, Sapphire Crystal Display, IP68 Water and Dust Resistance, Always-on Heart Rate Monitoring, ECG, Fall Detection, Infrared Temperature Sensor, Body Composition, Cycle Tracking, Irregular Heart Rate Notification, Advanced Sleep Coaching, Two Colors, Free Fabric Band and $50 Amazon Gift Card Included

$100 off (25%)

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Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 (44mm)

GPS, Bluetooth, 4G LTE, Wear OS, Aluminum Case, Sapphire Crystal Display, IP68 Water and Dust Resistance, Always-on Heart Rate Monitoring, ECG, Fall Detection, Infrared Temperature Sensor, Body Composition, Cycle Tracking, Irregular Heart Rate Notification, Advanced Sleep Coaching, Two Colors, Free Fabric Band and $50 Amazon Gift Card Included

$100 off (21%)

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Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic (43mm)

GPS, Bluetooth, Wear OS, Stainless Steel Case, Rotating Bezel, Sapphire Crystal Display, IP68 Water and Dust Resistance, Always-on Heart Rate Monitoring, ECG, Fall Detection, Infrared Temperature Sensor, Body Composition, Cycle Tracking, Irregular Heart Rate Notification, Advanced Sleep Coaching, Two Colors, Free Fabric Band and $50 Amazon Gift Card Included

$100 off (20%)

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Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic (47mm)

GPS, Bluetooth, 4G LTE, Wear OS, Stainless Steel Case, Rotating Bezel, Sapphire Crystal Display, IP68 Water and Dust Resistance, Always-on Heart Rate Monitoring, ECG, Fall Detection, Infrared Temperature Sensor, Body Composition, Cycle Tracking, Irregular Heart Rate Notification, Advanced Sleep Coaching, Two Colors, Free Fabric Band and $50 Amazon Gift Card Included

$100 off (17%)

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The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic packs significant upgrades, including an improved chipset, a brighter screen, and a larger battery. While maintaining many familiar features, it now runs on the latest version of OneUI Watch over Wear OS. The BioActive sensor array has undergone an upgrade, enabling comprehensive measurements of various body vitals, such as ECG, blood pressure, and body composition. Fitness enthusiasts will appreciate the onboard fitness and sleep tracking, offering more than 100 existing workout options.

For those already in the Galaxy ecosystem, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is undoubtedly the ultimate smartwatch choice. However, even if you're not a part of the Galaxy family, this smartwatch stands as a solid option for every Android user out there. Its versatility and advanced features make it an excellent companion for anyone seeking a top-notch smartwatch experience.

The last year's Galaxy Unpacked event went away with a bang, and brought us a brand-new wearable - the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. The "Pro" part is rather new and signifies the use of some pro-grade materials - such as titanium and sapphire.

This watch comes in one size (45mm), and although it looks quite big, due to its titanium DNA it's not all that heavy (46.5g). Samsung didn't come up with something super revolutionary but rather decided to play it safe and incremental. There are upgrades, of course, and they're all around, just nothing major.

Under the sapphire glass there's a gorgeous 1.4-inch Super AMOLED display with high pixel count (450x450), and on the right side of the titanium frame there are two physical buttons. The watch can take a lot of body vitals with the help of its BioActive sensor, and everything happens rather snappy, courtesy of the dual-core Exynos W920 processor, coupled with 1.5GB of RAM.

Get your Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro here:

Galaxy Watch 5: Get up to $185 instant trade-in credit

Samsung has a similar great offer as the 5 Pro for the vanilla Galaxy Watch 5 as well. You can now get up to $185 with a trade-in.

Trade-in

$309 ⁹⁹

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Galaxy Watch 5 from Best Buy: save with trade-in

Best Buy is giving you the option to get a discount with a trade-in for the Galaxy Watch 5. Of course, the amount of the trade-in discount depends on the device you're swapping in. Details on Best Buy's website.

Trade-in

$309 ⁹⁹

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The watch runs Wear OS 3.5 with Samsung's One UI Watch OS 4.5 on top, meaning you have tons of available apps, and many more yet to come (thanks Google). There's a new Trackback GPS function that allows you to trace your steps to your starting position - very useful in case you forget your exact parking spot or want to stop being lost in that stupid forest and get back to civilization.

One of the biggest upgrades is the battery - the cell is now 590mAh and supports 10W wireless charging. The watch comes in two connectivity versions - LTE and Bluetooth, and to top it all off, there's a 5ATM water resistance present. All these might seem like incremental upgrades but taken together, they promote the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro to the top spot of our list. This watch is perfect for Galaxy fans but will work with any android phone.

We all know and love Garmin for its sports smartwatches, but the Vivoactive line is something different, and in the case of the Vivoactive 5, something worth exploring. This smartwatch gives you the best of both worlds - the sports tracking, and the stylish and elegant look of a regular smartwatch.

Furthermore, you're getting a gorgeous 1.2-inch AMOLED touch screen with a resolution of 390 by 390 pixels, and a whopping four-day battery life with the Always-on feature turned on. There's a lot to like about this watch, especially at $299.

There are some drawbacks, such as the older heart-rate sensor that can't take down your ECG but you shouldn't rely on smartwatches for such important metric in the first place. All other bells and whistles are onboard, with sport profiles and auto-tracking, apps and watch faces, contactless payments, and more.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 improved on pretty much everything, and adopted a slightly different naming scheme. The "Classic" was meant to be the direct successor to the vanilla Galaxy Watch 3, while the Galaxy Watch 4 was more of a Galaxy Watch Active 2 successor. The big news here is that the Galaxy Watch 4 series uses Wear OS 3 instead of Tizen, along with a brand-new chipset.

The Galaxy Watch 4 features a classic watch design, elegant and unisex, IP68 water and dust resistance and even MIL-STD-810G shock resistance. Thanks to the Wear OS the watch can seamlessly integrate with popular Google apps and services such as Maps, Calendar, and more. Samsung has upped its game when it comes to fitness as well. The Watch 4 series comes with a built-in Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis sensor that can measure body fat, skeletal muscle, body water, estimate your basal metabolic rate, and more.

The display of the Galaxy Watch 4 is great, not surprisingly. After all, it's a Samsung Super AMOLED panel. The new 1.18GHz Exynos W920 Dual Core chip on board makes the watch run fast and smooth. The LTE connectivity allows you to handle calls and stream stuff when WiFi is not an option, and overall, this is the best Android smartwatch you can buy at the moment. Also, the price is not that high.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 (40mm)

Cellular model w/ $40 instant discount and extra band

$259 ⁹⁹

$299 ⁹⁹

Expired

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic (46mm)

46MM Cellular model of the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.

$429 ⁹⁹

Expired

Made by Google 2023 is now over, and the event brought us the second iteration of the Google Pixel Watch. The first model was plagued by some early first-gen bugs, but Google has polished the experience with the Pixel Watch 2.0. It's the definitive Wear OS journey and a match made in heaven for any Android smartphone out there (but it's best with a Pixel phone, of course).

The Pixel Watch 2 comes with a slew of improvements. It has an aluminum casing now, a brand-new and more powerful chipset, the best heart-rate sensor Google has even made, a temperature sensor, a futuristic-sounding Continuous electrodermal activity (cEDA) sensor, and what's more important, and a feature that has been requested ever since the first model came out, better battery life.

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Google owns Fitbit, of course, so the Pixel Watch 2 comes with extensive list of workouts, sport routines and activities. As a matter of fact, it also comes with 6 months of Fitbit premium subscription, so you can maximize your health and fitness efforts.

The original Fitbit Versa had a brilliant idea: why not attempt a quality style and some cool features at an accessible price? The Fitbit Versa 2 improved on that, and the Versa family immediately became popular among casual fitness aficionados.

The Fitbit Versa 4 brought even more enhancements to the table and maintained the model's steady-pace progression. Two major criticisms have been addressed: users may quickly switch watch faces, and the health measurements in the Versa 4 are substantially better.

The Fitbit Versa 4 does many things well: it has a stylish and lightweight design, it can automatically track exercises, and it also has sleep tracking, heart-rate monitoring, SpO2 readings, GPS, NFC, and many more.  The Versa 4 is water-resistant to 50 meters (5ATM) and has a battery life of one week.

Of course, certain corners have been cut in order for the Versa to reach its retail price. There is no LTE or wireless charging, and the app's selection is... restricted. The bezels around the display remain somewhat large, and the quick-release band method can be inconvenient. However, given the price of the product, they are minor limitations. The Fitbit Versa 4 is one of the finest fitness smartwatches for athletes, and it won't break the budget.

The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 ticks many boxes (pun intended). It’s one of the few Android smartwatches equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 4100 processor. Which means that it’s fast. If you want sheer performance, the TicWatch Pro 3 is the way to go.

Granted, this watch doesn’t excel in any particular area, but it offers good all-around performance at a very attractive price. The TicWatch Pro 3 comes with an innovative dual-display system - you have an OLED screen and TN backlit LCD stacked together.

The TicWatch Pro 3 is also a Wear OS device, so you can enjoy all the Google goodness you can think of - Google Assistant, Google Pay, Google Fit, Google Maps, and more. There’s a built-in speaker and microphone, and also a dedicated GPS. Fitness and sleep tracking are also present, and you can get up to 45 days of battery life if you switch to Essential mode.

Last but not least, the price of the TicWatch Pro 3 is pretty sweet, considering all the features and upcoming Google updates. It's one of the cheapest wear os watches out there.

Huawei is having a hard time after the US ban, but the Chinese company has still been able to put out a couple of decent smartwatches. The Huawei Watch Ultimate is one of them and certainly deserves your attention.

The Watch Ultimate excels mainly in the build quality area with super-premium materials such as ceramic (slow-baked at thousands of degrees for days), sapphire glass and Zirconium-based alloy for the body (Liquid Metal). Huawei went out of its way to research and use this material mainly due to its corrosion resistance in the quest to make a real diver's smartwatch.

You get a great AMOLED display, long battery life, and the ever growing Harmony OS ecosystem. On the downside, the watch lacks cellular connectivity and most smart features are still in development.

Ah, Fossil! Even though keeping track of all the Fossil Group-made smartwatches released over the last few years is not an easy feat, the Wear OS-powered devices are actually not very hard to separate from the pack.

The Fossil Gen 5E is one of the best Wear OS smartwatches out there, and also one of the more affordable ones. Granted, it may lack a built-in GPS chip and LTE but it’s still a Google-enabled device.

Features you get if you decide to go the Gen 5E route are heart rate monitoring, a built-in microphone and speaker for making and receiving voice calls on your wrist (with a connected smartphone nearby), Google Pay support, 1GB RAM, 4GB storage, "multi-day" battery life (with certain capabilities switched off), and a high-res Always-On Display.

The Fossil Gen 5E might be a trimmed-down version of the original Gen 5 but it sure doesn’t look like one. The build quality is top-notch and the design is very stylish and sleek. The price will put a smile on your face.

Garmin's Forerunner 945 has a clear target in mind: serious athletes. The latest smartwatch from Garmin has an advanced GPS that's specifically built with runners and triathletes in mind. It offers detailed training data, on-device workouts, and other similar pro-level features. Seriously, the level of detail and the sheer amount of features that Garmin managed to bake in this watch are simply amazing. Here goes.

The Forerunner 945 comes in two variants - there's the vanilla version and an LTE model. Not that impressive, other watches have this features. What others don't have is the Garmin IERCC support feature. This watch can automatically send your name and location to the Garmin IERCC, a 24/7 staffed professional emergency response coordination center. 

You also get daily suggested workouts, a dedicated coach, a sophisticated training app that can measure the effects of your workouts plus the recovery time needed. The VO2 Max reading will show your progress, and there are tons of metrics to lose yourself in and feed your healthy sports obsession. The only downside is the price. If you go for the LTE model, you should expect to cough up north of $600. Of course, you can always get the Forerunner 55 for less than a third of that, and it will give you all the basics. It all depends on how serious you are with your workouts!

The original Amazfit Bip was pretty successful, thanks to its 45-day battery life. But that wasn't the only reason. The Bip offered the core features of every bigger and more expensive smartwatch out there, for practically change money.

The Amazfit Bip U Pro is a worthy successor. It's super lightweight - only 31 grams - and super comfortable to wear. It has a built-in GPS, heart-rate sensor, it can track blood oxygen levels, stress levels, breathing, quality of sleep, and sleeping patterns.

There are smart notifications on board, Alexa integration, 60+ workout modes, 5ATM water resistance, the list goes on and on. You get to choose from 50 watch faces, and even though the battery life is far from the record-setting Bip, the U Pro can still give you 9 solid days of autonomy. You can forgive all minor and major shortcomings of this device when you get to know its price.

We've always thought that when testing devices for our reviews we should dig deep, be fair and unbiased. We are testing the screen of the smartwatch in detail. We measure how bright it gets, is it easy to read in direct sunlight, is it color accurate, is its resolution enough. We test the performance of each smartwatch by comparing it to its rivals and taking into consideration how much time it takes to execute different tasks. 

User interface is also very important, we always note when a device isn't as smooth as we would like it to be or has any other software hiccups. Battery life is a very important area when it comes to smartwatches, that's why we test it extensively too, most commonly by using the device for longer periods of time and compare our findings with the data we've previously gathered when reviewing its rivals.

Here you have to take in account two major factors: what phone you've got, and what type of person are you. The first factor is very important. For example, if you use a Samsung phone buying a smartwatch from the same brand is a safe bet. Compatibility is very important, and you'll often get the most when you choose a smartwatch that is recommended for your phone by the manufacturer. When it comes to smartwatches from a different brand, you have to make sure these are supported by your phone. There's no point if buying an expensive smartwatch if half of its features aren't available on your smartphone because it is the wrong brand or has the wrong user interface.

The second factor, what type of person you are, will determine what type of smartwatch you should get. For example, if you're on a budget and want the smartwatch with the best value, you'll look for an affordable device that has many of its much more expensive alternatives' features. If budget isn't a problem, you should take a look at your lifestyle. If you're planning on using a smartwatch mostly as a fitness companion you should choose the one that is the most activity-oriented. 

If you're looking for a watch that can replace your phone when you want to disconnect from the vast world that is the internet, you should pick a device that has wide compatibility with your phone and carrier, and one that supports 4G or 5G networks via eSIM. Here are some factors to consider when choosing a smartwatch:

If sport is an important part of your life, then obviously you'll benefit of a smartwatch that can track sport activities and do it well. The type and accuracy of the onboard sensors also matters, you want to get one with a pulse OX sensor, able to take your oxygen saturation during exercises and cross reference it with other measurements. The VO2MAX reading, for example, is very important to people who are runners.

Smartwatches for the health-conscience

Modern smartwatches can now track a very wide array of vitals, including oxygen saturation, ECG, they can also sense irregularities in the heart rate, sleep apnea and other potentially dangerous conditions. If taking care of your health is your primary target, you should focus on smartwatches that can measure the most vitals, and those that have FDA certification (or similar certificates from well-known and trusted institutions). Some smartwatches can even take your blood pressure, and there are concepts that also try to take blood sugar measurements non-invasively.

Smartwatches for phone calls

Of course, one of the primary objectives of any smartwatch, pretending to be smart, is to offset some of the work your smartphone is doing. If you want to make phone calls straight from your watch, you should look for models with that capabilities, either through LTE connectivity or via a speaker and microphone (serving as a sort of a Bluetooth headset).

Battery life

Another key factor when choosing the best Android watch - longevity. If you don't want to take of your android smartwatch every day to charge it, there are models that can go for days, even weeks on a single charge.

Bear in mind that battery life is often inversely proportional to how smart a watch really is. The more features and functions one has, the less battery life you can get out of it.

Are there any Android smartwatches that are compatible with Apple phones?

Actually, yes. Most smartwatch brands are compatible with both Android and iOS phones, these include smartwatches from Garmin, Fitbit, Fossil, and many more. The only exceptions being late Galaxy Watch devices and the Google Pixel watch.

Technically speaking some of these watches could pair with an iPhone but they will have very limited functionality. It all depends on whether the developers have made a dedicated iOS version of the app, able to communicate with iOS (generally speaking - wear OS watches do tend to have troubles communicating with iOS).

That concludes our current compilation of the best smartwatches available in 2024. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 has already showed its hand, surpassing its predecessor and challenging the Apple Watch. However, the dynamic nature of the market means new models are emerging rapidly. The Huawei Watch Ultimate, though on the pricier side, has secured its place on our list, featuring sci-fi-sounding Liquid Metal construction. 

Lastly, the Pixel Watch's second iteration deserves attention, emphasizing Google's commitment to creating a comprehensive ecosystem. Stay tuned for further updates soon!