9+ Best Smart Watches – Which & How To Pick? [Updated:2024]

I’m sitting in this hipster coffee shop, my smartwatch snug on my wrist, and I’m feeling like I’ve got the whole world strapped on there with me.

It’s not just about checking the time anymore, it’s about reading that text from your crush without being rude or tracking how many calories I burn just lifting my coffee cup (kidding, sorta).

It’s a whole new world with these gadgets, and I’m your guide to the best of the best.

Best Smart Watches

So, if you’re itching to upgrade your wrist tech, or simply wanna dip your toes into the smartwatch universe,

I’ve scoped out the hottest smartwatches you can click “add to cart” on Amazon right now.

And trust me, these beauties do way more than just tell time; they’re like a mini robot butler for your life, only they fit snug around your wrist.

1. Apple Watch Series 9 – The Front-Runner

The new S9 chip is a game-changer, giving you a super bright screen and letting you do stuff without even tapping the display, which is pretty wild. It’s not just about looking good; the apps are all spruced up too, so checking in on your day’s deets is a breeze.

Plus, this watch isn’t just smart; it’s an eco-warrior. Pair it with the latest Sport Loop, and you’re sporting a carbon-neutral accessory that’s part of Apple’s master plan to save our skies. They’ve got a whole story about their green mission over at apple.com/2030, and honestly, it’s pretty inspiring.

Now, onto the cool stuff this watch does. Picture this: you’re out for a run, and you wanna call your buddy or blast some tunes, and your phone’s at home.

No sweat, because this watch has got cellular. You can even set it up for the fam, so everyone’s in the loop, staying fit and safe. And health-wise? It’s like a pocket doctor.

Keep an eye on your blood oxygen, do an ECG whenever you fancy, and if your heart rhythm goes wacky, it’ll give you a heads-up. The sleep tracking is next level, telling you if you’re getting enough of that good REM sleep or if you’re just lying there.

It’s also pretty nifty with temperature sensing, giving you the lowdown on your body, and it even nudges you to take a moment for some zen time.

If you’ve snagged AppleCare+ for your Series 9, you’re in for a treat. Anytime you hit a snag, they’re there to help, day or night, which means no more “uh-oh” moments.

2. Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 – The Android Champ

So, have you seen the SAMSUNG Galaxy Watch 6 in gold? This little gem is all about keeping you moving and grooving to your fitness goals.

It’s got this knack for tracking pretty much any workout you throw at it—whether you’re sprinting like a cheetah or doing laps like a pro swimmer. And it’s not stingy with the details either; it tells you how long you’ve been at it, the distance covered, and all those pesky calories you’ve torched. Plus, it’s got an eye for over 90 different exercises, so you’re pretty much covered whatever your jam is.

Now, let’s talk heart stuff. This watch gets you. It peeks into your health stats, whips up some personalized heart rate zones, and helps you stay in that sweet spot where you’re burning fat or boosting endurance, depending on what you’re after.

And when it’s time to hit the sack, this watch turns into a sleep guru. It’s all about getting you into those solid sleep habits with some nifty sleep coaching—planning your bedtime, keeping tabs on snoring sessions, and breaking down whether you’re in light, deep, or dreamy REM sleep.

Take calls, shoot texts, control tunes, or snap pics with your phone camera, all from your wrist. Plus, the biggest display they’ve ever done means you can see all your stuff clearer and navigate like a boss, all while the durable crystal glass keeps your screen looking snazzy and scratch-free.

And about looks—whatever your vibe is for the day, you can switch up the bands with a simple click and choose from a ton of watch faces to really make it yours. This watch isn’t just smart; it’s a fashion statement that keeps up with your life.

3. Garmin Venu 3 – The Athlete’s Pick

The Garmin Venu 3 is a versatile smartwatch with advanced health and fitness tracking features. It has a bright 1.4″ AMOLED touchscreen display and up to 14 days of battery life. The Venu 3 provides detailed insights into sleep, energy levels, stress, and overall health and wellness.

It comes preloaded with over 30 sports apps with GPS to track numerous activities like running, cycling, swimming, and wheelchair pushes. The watch also has built-in animated workouts, Garmin Coach training plans, and the ability to create custom workouts.

For connectivity, the Venu 3 can receive smartphone notifications, allows you to make and take calls, and has Garmin Pay contactless payments when paired with a compatible smartphone.

Additional smart features include wrist-based heart rate monitoring, pulse ox sensor, women’s health tracking, meditation guidance, hydration logging, and more. Safety and incident detection functions can share your location in an emergency.

With its versatile health monitoring, advanced fitness tracking, smartwatch capabilities, and safety features, the Garmin Venu 3 aims to be an all-day on-wrist coach.

It provides a comprehensive overview of your wellness and activity so you can set and achieve your health and fitness goals. The Venu 3 goes beyond basic activity tracking to truly get to know the real you.

4. Amazfit Bip U Pro – The Wallet-Friendly Wonder

The Amazfit Bip U Pro is a fitness smartwatch with a large 1.43” color display and over 60 sports modes. It has built-in GPS and supports 5 satellite positioning systems for accurate outdoor activity tracking.

The Bip U Pro can monitor heart rate, blood oxygen, stress, sleep, and menstrual cycles. It provides detailed health metrics like Vo2 max, recovery time, and training load. For connectivity, the watch shows app notifications, has Alexa built-in, and allows you to make Bluetooth calls directly from your wrist.

With the Zepp app, you can review all your fitness metrics, share data with other apps like Apple Health and Strava, and even get free training plans.

The Bip U Pro watch face is customizable with over 50 options to choose from. It has a lightweight, comfortable design and is water resistant up to 50 meters. The battery life lasts up to 9 days in typical usage.

The Amazfit Bip U Pro aims to provide comprehensive health and fitness tracking in a slim and stylish smartwatch design. With advanced sensors, detailed metrics, customizable displays, and long battery life, this budget-friendly wearable aims to help you monitor and improve your activity, health, and overall wellness.

5. Fitbit Versa 4 – The Health-Conscious Companion

The Fitbit Versa 4 is a fitness smartwatch with a bright AMOLED display, built-in GPS, 24/7 heart rate monitoring, and over 40 exercise modes. It provides advanced health metrics like Daily Readiness Score, sleep stages, stress management tools, and more. The Versa 4 has 6+ days of battery life and is swimproof up to 50 meters.

For smart features, the Versa 4 allows you to receive calls, texts, app notifications directly on your wrist when paired to your phone. You can access Alexa built-in, control Spotify, and use Google Fast Pair. It also has Google Wallet for contactless payments. Additional features include guided breathing sessions, female health tracking, on-screen workouts, and over 10 days battery life in low power mode.

With its slim, lightweight design, the Fitbit Versa 4 aims to be an all-day fitness and health tracker. It combines comprehensive activity, sleep and heart rate tracking with smartwatch capabilities.

The various exercise modes, insightful health metrics, and motivation tools aim to help you reach your wellness goals. With all its sensors and features packed in a compact body, the Versa 4 wants to be your daily wearable companion.

6. TicWatch Pro 5 – The Battery Beast

The TicWatch Pro 5 is a smartwatch featuring the new Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chip for faster performance. It has a dual-layer display with an LCD screen to extend battery life and an AMOLED touchscreen for vibrant colors. The TicWatch Pro 5 can last up to 3 days on a single charge or up to 80 hours using Essential Mode.

This smartwatch has comprehensive health and fitness tracking capabilities including heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen saturation, sleep tracking, stress tracking, skin temperature sensor and more. It is water resistant up to 50 meters, has over 100 sport modes, built-in GPS, compass, barometer, speaker, and microphone.

With Wear OS by Google, the TicWatch Pro 5 allows you to access apps like Google Maps, Google Assistant, and Google Pay. It supports smartphone notifications and lets you take Bluetooth calls directly on the watch.

The rotating crown provides smooth and intuitive navigation. Designed to be a versatile smartwatch, the TicWatch Pro 5 aims to combine long battery life, health metrics, durability, and smart connectivity in a single device.

7. Fossil Gen 6 – The Fashion-Forward Choice

The Fossil Gen 6 is a 44mm smartwatch featuring a stainless steel case and interchangeable silicone band. It has a round 1.28″ always-on AMOLED display with thousands of customizable watch faces.

This smartwatch is powered by Wear OS by Google and the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 4100+ platform. Key features include heart rate tracking, SP02 monitoring, sleep tracking, built-in GPS, Alexa voice assistant, speaker, microphone, and Google Pay.

The Fossil Gen 6 allows you to receive smartphone notifications, app alerts, calls, and texts directly on your wrist. You can access Google Assistant, control music playback, and monitor fitness metrics through the pre-installed apps.

Additional smart features include automatic time zone syncing, multiple timezone display, and customizable buttons. This watch is swim-proof with 3ATM water resistance.

With its classic watch design and smart connectivity, the Fossil Gen 6 aims to be a stylish, versatile smartwatch option. It combines health and fitness tracking with convenient smart features like contactless payments, voice assistance, music controls, and notifications to help you stay on top of your day. The interchangeable bands allow you to customize your look.

8. Suunto 9 – The Adventurer’s Dream

The Suunto 9 Peak is a multisport GPS watch designed for training, racing, and outdoor adventures. It has a thin, lightweight titanium case and sapphire crystal lens. Key features include built-in GPS with multiple systems, wrist-based heart rate, compass, barometer, altitude tracking, and over 80 sport modes. The Suunto 9 Peak offers up to 40 hours of battery life in GPS mode and can fully recharge in 1 hour.

This watch provides advanced training metrics like training load, recovery time, VO2 max, and fitness level. You can analyze your performance with heatmaps, pace graphs, and altitude graphs. It connects to external sensors for running power and cycling data. The Suunto 9 Peak is waterproof up to 100m and constructed to military standards for durability.

With its comprehensive activity tracking, onboard maps, and extended battery life, the Suunto 9 Peak aims to be an ultra performance GPS watch for athletes and adventurers.

The slim titanium case provides a lightweight but rugged design. Along with its array of sensors and training features, it strives to help serious sports enthusiasts push their limits while exploring the outdoors.

9. Garmin Forerunner 255 – The Athlete’s Powerhouse

The Garmin Forerunner 255 is a GPS running smartwatch with a 46mm size and a 1.3″ color display. It provides advanced training features like suggested daily workouts, training status to prevent overtraining, and a Race Widget to plan your strategy. The Forerunner 255 offers built-in sports apps, Garmin Coach training plans, wrist-based heart rate, and over 30 activity profiles including running, cycling, swimming, and more.

This watch tracks advanced running dynamics like stride length, ground contact time, cadence, and vertical oscillation when paired with accessories like the HRM-Pro chest strap or Running Dynamics Pod.

It also provides overnight sleep tracking, all-day stress tracking, body battery energy monitoring, women’s health features, and blood oxygen saturation. The Forerunner 255 has up to 30 hours of battery life in GPS mode and 14 days in smartwatch mode.

Designed for runners, the Garmin Forerunner 255 combines daily activity tracking with detailed running metrics and performance monitoring tools.

The training features, coaching plans, and advanced dynamics aim to help you train smarter, while the health stats provide a complete overview of your body’s status. With its slim profile and smartwatch capabilities, the Forerunner 255 strives to be an all-purpose GPS watch.

10. Polar Ignite 3 – The Precision Trainer

The Polar Ignite 3 is a fitness tracking smartwatch with a 1.28″ AMOLED color touchscreen display. It has built-in GPS for accurate activity tracking and provides real-time coaching through the Polar Flow mobile app.

The Ignite 3 offers advanced wrist-based heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking with Nightly Recharge recovery analysis, FitSpark daily training guide, and weather widgets.

This watch automatically tracks steps, calories, and activities 24/7. It is waterproof up to 30 meters and has over 20 sport profiles like running, cycling, swimming, and yoga.

The Ignite 3 provides up to 5 days of battery life in watch mode or 30 hours in training mode with continuous heart rate monitoring. Additional features include music controls, phone notifications, do not disturb mode, and interchangeable wristbands.

With its slim and lightweight 35g design, the Polar Ignite 3 aims to be an everyday smartwatch for active lifestyles. It combines 24/7 activity tracking with training features, sleep analysis, on-demand coaching, and heart rate monitoring to help users reach their fitness goals. The AMOLED display provides sharp and vivid visuals in a compact wearable device.