Table of contentsBest smartwatches of 2025 Cherlynn Low for Engadget<\/p>\n Tracks: Sleep, activity, calories, stress | Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Cellular (optional) | GPS: Yes, built in | Water resistant: Yes | Assistant support: Siri | Display: Always-on, wide-angle OLED touchscreen | Weight: 37.8 grams | Battery life: 24 hours<\/p>\n Read our full Apple Watch Series 11 review<\/a><\/p>\n Apple didn\u2019t add too many new features to the Watch Series 11<\/a> that would drastically change your daily experience with it, but it did make one crucial improvement: battery life. The Series 11 lasts longer than its predecessor, meaning you can not only get about one and a half days depending on your use, but also squeeze out more juice in low power mode or for your outdoor runs with GPS enabled.<\/p>\n The Series 11 has basically the same thin and light design as the Series 10, which is comfortable enough to wear out on the streets and between the sheets. Its Sleep Score makes it easier to understand how to improve your rest, while background tools like high blood pressure alerts or blood oxygen measurements help keep tabs on your wellbeing and alert you to anomalies.<\/p>\n Ultimately, for those using an iPhone, there is no better smartwatch. And even without Apple\u2019s walled garden giving it an edge, the Series 11 is still one of the best smartwatches around thanks to its overall package of communications, health and wellness tools.<\/p>\n ProsLonger battery life than last modelThin and light designComprehensive health monitoringNifty new wrist flick gestureThe best smartwatch for iPhone usersConsRelatively priceyThe Watch SE 3 is better for most people$399 at Amazon<\/a> Google \/ Engadget<\/p>\n Tracks: Sleep, activity, calories, stress | Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Cellular (optional) | GPS: Yes, built in | Water resistant: Yes | Assistant support: Google Assistant | Display: Always-on Actua touchscreen | Weight: 31 grams | Battery life: 24 hours<\/p>\n Read our full Google Pixel Watch 3 review<\/a><\/p>\n It only took three iterations, but Google finally got it right with the Pixel Watch 3. It\u2019s the most fully realized Pixel Watch<\/a> yet, and one that any Android fan would get a lot of use out of. The latest model, which now comes in 41mm and 45mm sizes, has a slightly larger circular display that\u2019s brighter than ever and can reach up to a 60Hz refresh rate. It can also drop down to just 1 nit of brightness when you’re wearing it to sleep, which not only makes for a better experience overall, but also contributes to its longer battery life. You\u2019ll get up to 24 hours out of the Pixel Watch 3, which is a big improvement over the previous generation and more in line with competing devices from Apple and Samsung.<\/p>\n The Pixel Watch 3 is also a great activity tracking device, with features like auto workout detection and custom running plans, plus the ability to track metrics like Cardio Load. There\u2019s Fitbit smarts in here, just like in previous Pixel Watches, so you\u2019re covered when it comes to daily workouts, steps, sleep and more. The only downside to this is that if you’re interested in more in-depth coaching, those features are hidden behind the Fitbit Premium paywall.<\/p>\n While Wear OS 5 could use a bit more polish, the integration with the Google Assistant on the Pixel Watch 3 is handy so you can use voice commands to check on things like weather forecasts, calendar alerts, map directions and more. We also appreciate the addition of faster charging on the Pixel Watch 3, so you can go from 0 to 100 in a bit less time than before. That\u2019ll come in handy if you\u2019re really keen on using the watch as a sleep tracker. Overall, the improvements Google made in this edition of the Pixel Watch helped push it over the edge as a worthy competitor to the Apple Watch and a top pick for Android users looking for their next wearable.<\/p>\n $250 at Amazon<\/a> Photo by Valentina Palladino \/ Engadget<\/p>\n Tracks: Sleep, activity, calories, stress, dozens of workouts | Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ANT+ | GPS: Yes, built in | Water resistant: Yes | Assistant support: None | Display: 1.2-inch AMOLED with optional always-on mode | Weight: 39 grams | Battery life: 11 days in smartwatch mode, 19 hours in GPS mode<\/p>\n Garmin is known for its prowess in the world of fitness watches and the Garmin Forerunner 165<\/a> is the watch I tested that I wanted to wear the most when I went out for a run. The expertise of the Forerunner line is in the name, and Garmin truly excels at making comprehensive yet friendly GPS running watches<\/a> in flavors that will suit all kinds of athletes, from beginner to expert. The Forerunner 165 stands out with its lightweight design, bright AMOLED touchscreen, straightforward button controls, accurate built-in GPS and its ability to track workout stats just as well as all-day activity data.<\/p>\n Starting a run with the Forerunner 165 is as easy as pressing a single button \u2014 the top-right button on the case literally has \u201crun\u201d embossed onto it, and it takes you to the workout profile menu where you can choose the exercise you want to track. Run is the first option, but you have more than 25 profiles to choose from including track run, treadmill, walk, strength, swim and more. When running outside, the GPS took an average of 15-20 seconds to lock onto my location, but you don\u2019t have to wait for it to do so \u2014 press the run button again to begin and the GPS will catch up on its own.<\/p>\n The Forerunner experience has benefited greatly from the continuous improvement of the Garmin Connect mobile app. The previously clunky, confusing app has been well refined so that you can customize its homepage the workout and activity stats you care about the most, including things like Body Battery, Sleep Score, menstrual cycle information and more. It\u2019s easy to dive into your most recently tracked activity and get in the weeds with pace, cadence, training effect (aerobic or anaerobic), power and stamina stats.<\/p>\n Garmin puts the battery life of the Forerunner 165 at 11 days in smartwatch mode, and I found that to be mostly accurate even with a handful of GPS-tracked runs thrown in. The company claims you\u2019ll get up to 19 hours of battery life with continuous GPS use, which should be enough for most runners and athletes competing in long-haul races. You can also get the 165 with music storage built in or not, with the former allowing you to store music locally on the watch so you can listen with a pair of Bluetooth headphones.<\/p>\n The Garmin Forerunner 165 will set you back $250 without music storage, or $300 for the model with music storage built in. That\u2019s on the lower end of the price spectrum for GPS running watches; you could easily spend $500 or more if you\u2019re unsure about what you need and what\u2019s just extra fluff. While Garmin does have a few cheaper devices, the Forerunner 165 strikes the right balance of feature set and price that will appeal to seasoned runners and those who are just diving into a more regimented running routine.<\/p>\n $250 at Garmin<\/a> Amy Skorheim for Engadget<\/p>\n Tracks: Sleep, activity, calories, dozens of workouts, antioxidant levels, vascular load | Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LTE (optional) | GPS: Yes, built in | Water resistant: Yes, 5 ATM + IP68 | Display: Always-on, 3000 nits peak brightness | Battery life: 30+ hours<\/p>\n Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 review<\/a><\/p>\n Samsung completely redesigned its wearable for 2025. The Galaxy Watch 8<\/a> looks cleaner and more sophisticated \u2014 but more importantly, it\u2019s far more comfortable. Another hardware improvement bumps up the battery size, fixing one of the Galaxy Watch 7\u2019s biggest flaws. With that watch, the always-on display tanked the battery, but now you can get a full day and then some while wearing it.<\/p>\n With Wear OS 6, the watch gains a new tiles-based interface that makes navigating quick and easy. It also adds the assistance of Gemini, which can help you control functions and complete tasks on your watch just by saying, \u201cHey Google\u201d (just note that you\u2019ll need a Gemini-compatible phone nearby).<\/p>\n Health and fitness additions include an antioxidant levels metric and vascular load, which may help some people keep better tabs on their health. An AI-fueled running guidance \u201ccoach\u201d takes an assessment of your jogging abilities and tailors a program to help you run further and faster. We think this will probably benefit beginner runners the most \u2014 those accustomed to coaching may not find it as useful.<\/p>\n Of course, this is only a good choice for Samsung phone users. And another drawback is the raised glass screen, which seems destined for damage. But we will note that you can avoid that risk (and score some serious heritage-watch style points) by going with the Classic variant of the watch. \u2014 Amy Skorheim, Senior Reporter<\/p>\n ProsRemarkably comfortable fitTiles interface is snappyNew antioxidant level and vascular load health metrics may help users keep an eye on their healthThe running coach can be inspiring for beginnersGood Gemini integrationImproved battery makes the AOD more viableConsThe raised glass screen can be easily damagedAI-running coach could be more personalizedNotifications are easy to miss$330 at Amazon<\/a>Stylish smartwatches: Fossil and more Yes, there are still companies out there trying to make \u201cfashionable\u201d hybrid smartwatches. Back when wearables were novel and generally ugly, brands like Fossil<\/a>, Michael Kors<\/a> and Skagen<\/a> found their niche in stylish smartwatches that took cues from analog timepieces. You also have the option to pick up a \u201chybrid\u201d smartwatch from companies like Withings<\/a> and Garmin<\/a> \u2013 these devices look like classic wrist watches but incorporate some limited functionality like activity tracking and heart rate monitoring. They remain good options if you prefer that look, but thankfully, wearables made by Apple, Samsung, Fitbit and others have gotten much more attractive over the past few years.<\/p>\n Ultimately, the only thing you can\u2019t change after you buy a smartwatch is its case design. If you\u2019re not into the Apple Watch\u2019s squared-off corners, all of Samsung\u2019s smartwatches have round cases that look a little more like a traditional watch. Most wearables are offered in a choice of colors and you can pay extra for premium materials like stainless steel for extra durability. Once you decide on a case, your band options are endless \u2013 there are dozens of first- and third-party watch straps available for most major smartwatches, and for both larger and smaller wrists, allowing you to change up your look whenever you please.<\/p>\n Factors to consider before buying a smartwatchCompatibility<\/p>\n Apple Watches only work with iPhones, while Wear OS devices play nice with both iOS and Android phones. Smartwatches made by Samsung, Garmin, Fitbit and others are also compatible with Android and iOS, but you\u2019ll need to install a companion app on your smartphone.<\/p>\n The smartwatch OS will also dictate the type and number of third-party apps you\u2019ll have access to. Many of these aren\u2019t useful, though, making this factor a fairly minor one in the grand scheme of things.<\/p>\n Price<\/p>\n The best smartwatches generally cost between $300 and $400. Compared to budget smartwatches, which cost between $100 and $250, these pricier devices have advanced operating systems, communications, music and fitness features. They also often include perks like onboard GPS tracking, music storage and NFC, AMOLED displays, and long battery life, things that budget devices generally don\u2019t have.<\/p>\n Some companies make specialized fitness watches: Those can easily run north of $500, and we\u2019d only recommend them to serious athletes. Luxury smartwatches from brands like TAG Heuer<\/a> and Hublot can also reach sky-high prices, but we wouldn\u2019t endorse any of them. These devices can cost more than $1,000, and you\u2019re usually paying for little more than a brand name and some needlessly exotic selection of build materials.<\/p>\n Battery life<\/p>\n Battery life remains one of our biggest complaints about smartwatches, but there\u2019s hope as of late. You can expect two full days from Apple Watches and most Wear OS devices. Watches using the Snapdragon Wear 3100 processor support extended battery modes that promise up to five days of battery life on a charge \u2014 if you\u2019re willing to shut off most features aside from, you know, displaying the time. Other models can last five to seven days, but they usually have fewer features and lower-quality displays. Meanwhile, some fitness watches can last weeks on a single charge. If long battery life is a priority for you, it\u2019s worth checking out the watch\u2019s specs beforehand to see what the manufacturer estimates.<\/p>\n Communication<\/p>\n Any smartwatch worth considering delivers call, text and app notifications to your wrist. Call and text alerts are self explanatory, but if those mean a lot to you, consider a watch with LTE. They\u2019re more expensive than their WiFi-only counterparts, but cellular connectivity allows the smartwatch to take and receive phone calls, and do the same with text messages, without your device nearby. As far as app alerts go, getting them delivered to your wrist will let you glance down to the watch face and see if you absolutely need to check your phone right now.<\/p>\n Fitness tracking<\/p>\n Activity tracking is a big reason why people turn to smartwatches. An all-purpose timepiece should function as a fitness tracker, logging your steps, calories and workouts, and most of today\u2019s wearables have a heart rate monitor as well.<\/p>\n Many smartwatches’ fitness features include a built-in GPS, which is useful for tracking distance for runs and bike rides. Swimmers will want something water resistant, and thankfully most all-purpose devices now can withstand at least a dunk in the pool. Some smartwatches from companies like Garmin are more fitness focused<\/a> than others and tend to offer more advanced features like heart-rate-variance tracking, recovery time estimation, onboard maps and more.<\/p>\n Health tracking on smartwatches has also seen advances over the years. Both Apple and Fitbit devices can estimate blood oxygen levels and measure ECGs. But the more affordable the smartwatch, the less likely it is that it has these kinds of advanced health tracking features; if collecting those kinds of wellness metrics is important to you, you\u2019ll have to pay for the privilege.<\/p>\n Music<\/p>\n Your watch can not only track your morning runs but also play music while you\u2019re exercising. Many smartwatches let you save your music locally, so you can connect wireless earbuds via Bluetooth and listen to tunes without bringing your phone. Those that don\u2019t have onboard storage for music usually have on-watch music controls, so you can control playback without whipping out your phone. And if your watch has LTE, local saving isn\u2019t required \u2014 you\u2019ll be able to stream music directly from the watch to your paired earbuds.<\/p>\n Displays<\/p>\n Most wearables have touchscreens and we recommend getting one that has a full-color touchscreen. Some flagships like the Apple Watch have LTPO displays, which stands for low-temperature polycrystalline oxide. These panels have faster response times and are more power efficient, resulting in a smoother experience when one interacts with the touchscreen and, in some cases, longer battery lives.<\/p>\n You won\u2019t see significant gains with the latter, though, because the extra battery essentially gets used up when these devices have always-on displays, as most flagship wearables do today. Some smartwatches have this feature on by default while others let you enable it via tweaked settings. This smart feature allows you to glance down at your watch to check the time, health stats or any other information you\u2019ve set it to show on its watchface without lifting your wrist. This will no doubt affect your device\u2019s battery life, but thankfully most always-on modes dim the display\u2019s brightness so it\u2019s not running at its peak unnecessarily. Cheaper devices won\u2019t have this feature; instead, their touchscreens will automatically turn off to conserve battery life and you\u2019ll have to intentionally check your watch to turn on the display again.<\/p>\n NFC<\/p>\n Many new smartwatches have NFC, letting you pay for things without your wallet using contactless payments. After saving your credit or debit card information, you can hold your smartwatch up to an NFC reader to pay for a cup of coffee on your way home from a run. Keep in mind that different watches use different payment systems: Apple Watches use Apple Pay, Wear OS devices use Google Pay, Samsung devices use Samsung Pay and so forth.<\/p>\n Apple Pay is one of the most popular NFC payment systems, with support for multiple banks and credit cards<\/a> in 72 different countries, while Samsung and Google Pay work in fewer regions. It\u2019s also important to note that both NFC payment support varies by device as well for both Samsung and Google\u2019s systems.<\/p>\n Other smartwatches our experts testedApple Watch Ultra 3<\/p>\n The Apple Watch Ultra 3<\/a> is probably overkill for most people, but it has a ton of extra features like extra waterproofing to track diving, an even more accurate GPS and the biggest battery of any Apple Watch to date. Apple designed it for the most rugged among us, but for your average person, it likely has more features than they’d ever need. If you\u2019re particularly clumsy, however, its high level of durability could be a great reason to consider the Apple Watch Ultra 3.<\/p>\n Apple Watch SE 3<\/p>\n The Apple Watch SE 3<\/a> is less feature-rich than the flagship model, but it will probably suffice for most people. We actually regard the Watch SE as the best smartwatch option for first-time buyers, or people on stricter budgets. The gap has narrowed between the SE 3 and Apple’s main flagship smartwatch, too, so you won’t have to make as many compromises.<\/p>\n Garmin Forerunner 745<\/p>\n Garmin watches in general can be great options for the most active among us. The Garmin Forerunner 745 is an excellent GPS running watch<\/a> for serious athletes or those who prize battery life above all else. When we tested it, we found it to provide accurate distance tracking, a killer 16-hour battery life with GPS turned on (up to seven days without it) and support for onboard music storage and Garmin Pay.<\/p>\n Amazfit Bip 6<\/p>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/92d65910-9316-11f0-a9fc-6a6be7423fb7.jpeg\")
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