Best Smartwatch for 2024 – CNET

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is Apple’s best smartwatch, with a tough titanium construction and an Action button to quickly start workouts or launch apps. It has the brightest screen of any Apple Watch at a maximum of 3,000 nits which makes it incredibly easy to see when adventuring in the great outdoors. For adventurers and athletes, it also has a built-in siren for safety and a dual-band GPS for accurately tracking your route. LTE is also onboard so you can venture out without a phone and still stay connected.

Though it’s designed to be an outdoor watch, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is still a fantastic all-around smartwatch. Inside is the same S9 chip as found on the Apple Watch Series 9 which supports gestures like Double Tap and allows the watch to process Siri commands on-device. This means you can use Siri without being online and later in the year you’ll be able to ask the voice assistant for health data. Like earlier Apple Watches, the Ultra 2 also comes with a blood oxygen sensor, electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) app, fall detection and emergency SOS. The battery also lasts at least twice as long as all other Apple Watch models. It’s only compatible with the iPhone, so if you have an Android phone, you’ll want to look at another option on this list.

The Apple Watch Series 9 might not be as adventure-focused as the Apple Watch Ultra 2, but it still features a dust- and crack-resistant design, a temperature, blood oxygen and ECG sensor and comes in 41 and 45mm sizes. You can also choose a cellular or LTE model that lets you take calls and answer messages from your wrist without your phone, although that does cost extra.

It has the S9 chip to support the Double Tap gesture so you can pinch your thumb and forefinger together to control the watch when you can’t reach it with the other hand. Like the Ultra 2, the Series 9 also has on-device Siri and faster processing times than earlier Apple Watches. Battery life generally lasts 18 hours with typical use, less than many of its competitors.

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 is the best Android watch for most people. Both the Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic have incredibly bright screens that hit a maximum 2,000 nits, so seeing your watch in all lighting conditions is easy. 

All the flagship features you would expect are included: an ECG, blood oxygen, body composition and temperature sensors. Note you do need a Galaxy phone to use the ECG, but all the other features work seamlessly with other Android phones. Like the Apple Watch Series 9, you’ll need to charge the Galaxy Watch 6 every day, especially if you want to track sleep.

Last year’s Galaxy Watch 5 Pro remains in the lineup if you need the best battery life of any Galaxy Watch, lasting up to three days on a charge.

The Pixel Watch 2 is a beautiful-looking Android smartwatch with accurate heart rate tracking and health sensors like an ECG. It fills the gaps with many of the features we wanted in the first Pixel Watch, such as automatic workout detection. If you’re familiar with Fitbit, the Pixel Watch 2 has a similar interface for logging workouts and viewing your health data. For runners, the watch can give you pace guidance and heart rate zone notifications.

Beware that the battery isn’t as strong as some other options on this list, and you will likely find yourself charging this watch every day, especially if you like to do outdoor GPS workouts and track your sleep. It does charge faster than the first Pixel Watch. It’s also still available only in one 41mm size.

Garmin makes plenty of great smartwatches for fitness enthusiasts, but they don’t always have that many smart features. The Venu 2 hybrid smartwatch offers the best of both worlds. You can respond to notifications from the watch with quick replies, use contactless payments with Garmin Pay and store music from apps like Spotify. The bright AMOLED circular screen is easy to see outdoors and the battery lasts for 5 days or more. 

The Venu 2 Plus offers all the same features but includes a speaker and microphone for taking quick calls from your wrist when your phone is in range, or talking to your voice assistant. Garmin has recently announced the Venu 3 which we will review soon and update this list accordingly.

If you’ve never owned an Apple Watch, this is the one to get. The second-gen Apple Watch SE is a cheaper alternative to the Series 9 but has plenty of the same great features including crash detection, heart-rate monitoring and water resistance. It misses out on health sensors like ECG, blood oxygen and temperature sensing like the Series 9, but the most notable difference between the two is that the SE doesn’t have an always-on display or the Double Tap gesture.

The Versa 3 is compatible with both iOS and Android phones and lets you choose between Alexa or Google Assistant as your go-to voice assistant. It doesn’t offer all the apps and smart features as some of its competitors, but it’s a well-rounded smartwatch with plenty of health and fitness features to keep you on track like onboard GPS and live heart rate zone notifications. It has the best sleep tracking feature on this list and even gives you health features including a breakout of your SpO2 and body temperature data overnight (Fitbit Premium users). There’s a newer version, the Fitbit Versa 4, but we haven’t fully reviewed that watch yet so stay tuned.

The second-generation Garmin Epix features a tough titanium construction and a laundry list of features athletes want, including extensive mapping capabilities. It also has a bright AMOLED display which sets it apart from a multitude of other sports watches, including Garmin’s own Fenix line, that often use transflective displays. The Epix 2 also has great battery life considering its size and feature set, lasting almost a week under regular conditions.

It doesn’t have LTE capabilities or an ECG app. Considering this is the most expensive watch on this list at $1,000, that might be a big drawback. Garmin has a newer version of this watch called the Epix Pro, which we haven’t fully reviewed yet.