The Best Smartwatches in 2024

Smartwatches are the latest rage, thanks to a push originally led by Apple. They increasingly concentrate on fitness as one of their core design tenets, making sure the technology stays relevant as people find new ways to monitor their health. They offer the ability to control music, receive notifications, make and receive calls, communicate with a voice assistant, and make payments, among other things, while also doing their most basic function: keeping time.

Some smartwatches focus on fitness, athletics, and tracking. Others concentrate on functionality that allows a wide range of applications to support them while helping to make tasks more straightforward. Some simply focus on looking as impressive as possible. Premium design features and materials are used to compete directly with luxury watches, which currently make up a sizable piece of the timekeeping market.

Updated on May 21, 2024 by Marc Storch: With the patent infringement case pushed against Apple for the blood oxygen sensor at the end of 2023, the chokehold Apple had on the smartwatch market seemed to be up in the air, but since they have removed that feature, the Series 9 and Ultra are back on the shelves and as popular as ever.

Game Rant’s Picks for the Best Smartwatches in 2024

The Apple Watch Series 9 builds on the success of its predecessors and a very mature WatchOS platform while adding key features such as the double tap gesture and Apple Homepod integration. It also offers carbon-neutral case and band combinations. If you are looking for an excellent all-around smartwatch, it is hard to go wrong with an Apple Watch Series 9, especially if you are already in the Apple ecosystem.

It provides exceptionally tight-knit integration with the Apple ecosystem, as is to be expected when it comes to Apple products, making it an essential smartwatch for iPhone users. All this comes with one of the best and brightest smartwatch displays in the business, at 2000 nits, making the Apple Watch Series 9 truly the smartwatch to beat in 2024.

While the upgrades might not warrant a new watch for most Series 8 users, people with older-generation Apple Watches might still be tempted. Users who must have the latest and greatest Apple Watch can only turn to the Apple Watch Series 9 or its much more expensive sibling, the Apple Watch Ultra 2, to meet their needs.

The Fitbit Charge 6 is a different tier of smartwatch. It isn’t marketed as one for a good reason. It is a competent fitness tracker that does the basics when it comes to telling the time. Unfortunately, when it comes to features like controlling music, the Fitbit Charge 6 only works with YouTube Music and no other app. Besides that, it doubles down on extremely good value and detailed statistics, as well as excellent battery life under the hood. It can also make contactless payments thanks to its NFC connectivity (using Fitbit Pay).

Google acquired Fitbit in 2021 and has since released a few offerings, such as the Sense 2 and Versa 4 smartwatches, as well as the Fitbit Charge 5 and Charge 6. If a Wear OS upgrade is available, it could become a much more capable device altogether. Currently, the Fitbit Charge 6 is a great budget-friendly option for anyone who wants Smartwatch features but doesn’t need all the flashy features of flagship models. Lastly, it is compatible with both Android and iOS adding to its versatility.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch6, which also happens to be the mainstream Android-based smartwatch choice, is also the contender for the best of them. It has a significantly modest battery upgrade from the Watch 5, and even if Samsung is optimistic about its battery life, it should easily power through a day of heavy use. For those who need a larger rotating dial, the more costly Galaxy Watch6 Classic is the way to go.

All in all, the Galaxy Watch6 is a minor upgrade on the already excellent Watch 5. Still, it does add an Irregular Heart Rate notification, a brighter (2000 nits) screen, and a bigger battery life to make the Watch6 a compelling purchase or upgrade for users unsure about splurging on the latest Galaxy Watch. Thanks to Google’s Wear OS, it has better software support and third-party app support than most of its competition and tends to be the face of Android-based smartwatches more often than not.

Garmin is a name that is probably recognized by avid runners or fitness buffs for a good reason. They have an excellent reputation, especially when it comes to tracking health stats. The Garmin Venu 3 is easily one of their most popular smartwatches; it rides the line of a straight-up fitness tracker and a typical smartwatch. The Venu 3 doesn’t exactly scream fitness watch, but it is built robustly enough to be worn regardless of the activity, including pool swimming. Built into the watch, there are many training tools, like an accurate GPS tracker, heart rate monitoring, Garmin trainer workout plans, and much more.

Even though this watch isn’t a complete standalone device like an Apple Watch, it does have onboard storage that can hold up to 650 songs, plus third-party music apps from Spotify and Deezer, so there is no need to have a phone for a run. The super bright 1.4-inch AMOLED display with an optional Always-on mode is sharp and protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. With just a glance, users can gather a whole wealth of information from this watch, like their daily calendar, heart rate, water intake, stress level, and phone notifications, so most of the time, there is no need to pull their phone out of their pocket.

The Garmin Venu 3 boasts 14 days of battery life, which can be boosted to 26 days in Battery Saver mode.

There is a section of wristwatch lovers who are not fond of the complete digital interface of smartwatches. For them, the Withings ScanWatch 2 should check both boxes – classic looks and smart features. It features a stainless steel case protected by Sapphire glass that showcases the classic analog clock with a small OLED screen that shows health metrics, temperature, activity tracking data, and more. This classy look does not take away from the active lifestyle use cases as the Scanmore 2 comes with 5ATM water resistance.

Thanks to the tiny screen, the hybrid smartwatch can deliver 30 days of battery life, putting it among the longest-lasting smartwatches on the market. In terms of health data, the ScanWatch 2 has day and night tracking of temperature, high and low-level heart rate, and blood oxygen level, along with step tracking, and workout mode tracking. The dial on the side of the watch controls the small OLED grayscale display. Additionally, Withings has many customization options for this watch to make it match its users’ style, and the bands can be easily changed.

While the Withings ScanWatch 2 can deliver 30 days of battery life, it does so with a tiny display and limited health tracking. For a massive battery and a full-size complete smartwatch, look no further than the OnePlus Watch 2. It boasts a 100-hour battery life in Smart Mode that can be extended up to 12 days in power saving mode. It does so by integrating two processors and two operating systems; Wear OS and RTOS.

Along with a massive battery, the OnePlus Watch 2 brings a 1.43-inch sharp display with a maximum brightness of 600 nits. While it’s not the brightest among the competition, it makes up with its feature set and fast charging capabilities. It has all the essential health-tracking sensors and statistics, over 100 sports modes, and is also highly durable as suggested by its MIL-STD-810H rating and IP68 water resistance.

Another unique aspect of the OnePlus Watch 2 is the design of the dial. On the right, there is a crown and a button that are pointing up and down respectively, giving the watch a one-of-a-kind look.

How To Choose The Perfect Smartwatch

Compatibility

Compatibility plays a massive role in picking out a smartwatch; without a compatible device, most smartwatches are just dumb plain watches. Most smartwatches work with both Android and iOS, so device compatibility isn’t a huge issue; what plays more of a factor is the app or feature compatibility.

For example, if the watch says it supports NFC or contactless payment, make sure the app used to do this supports the bank or card planned to use it. On smartwatches like the Apple Watch or the Garmin Versa 2, this doesn’t matter because they use Apple Pay and Android Pay, respectively, to make those payments, but on FitBit watches, users have to use the FitBits app to add their card to the watch, and the app does not support every bank out there.

Aesthetics

While not entirely vital to the watch’s performance, the watch’s appearance plays a pretty important role in choosing a smartwatch. Even the most utilitarian of us care about how devices look, especially a device like a watch. Traditional watches are usually worn as fashion accessories and tools, so there is no reason that a smartwatch should be different.

There are many different styles to choose from, so picking out one that best fits the user’s style is well worth it.

Fitness Features

Pretty much every smartwatch can track steps and heart rate, but that is not enough for some people. For example, if the user is a swimmer and wants to track their swims, they should ensure that the watch is waterproof and can track activities like swimming.

GPS tracking is a great fitness feature for runners who want to share their runs with friends or for walkers who like to see where they walked in the day rather than just the number of steps.

Battery Life

Last but not least is the battery life of a watch. For the most part, this comes down to personal preference. For users who don’t mind charging all of their devices every night, a smartwatch with a long battery life will not matter as much. But for those users who want to go a month without worrying about charging their watch, this is an essential thing to pay attention to.

This perfect battery life range can be different for every user, but it is usually better to choose a smartwatch with a longer battery life than a shorter one. Not everyone needs a watch that can last for weeks at a time, but especially for those smartwatches that track sleep habits, having one that can last at least a full day is an excellent goal to shoot for.

FAQ

Q: Are smartwatches worth it?

Smartwatches are totally worth it. Being able to check phone notifications without pulling out your phone is incredibly convenient, and being able to track fitness stats makes it so much better. Plus, with features like AFIB tracking and fall alerts, smartwatches can become a safety device and a convenience.

Q: Do you need a phone if you have a smartwatch?

Pretty much every smartwatch on the market must be connected to a phone to access the complete set of features. Some with 3G/LTE capabilities can operate without a connection to another device.

Q: Is it OK to wear a smartwatch all the time?

Smartwatches can be worn all the time as the radiation emitted by them is not strong enough to cause any harm. They emit less radiation than smartphones.