Best Smartwatches of 2024 That Will Keep You Connected

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The best smartwatches can do nearly everything your phone does—loaded with health, fitness, communications, and safety features that your beloved Seiko, Citizen, or Casio were never designed to compete with. This makes adding a great smartwatch to your timepiece collection one of the most useful pieces of tech you can own.  

We reviewed the top smartwatches on the market as part of our 2024 Watch Guide. After months of testing, we found Apple Watch Series 10 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic were the best of the bunch, depending on which smartphone ecosystem you live in. Majority of our list comprises watches under $500, but you’ll also find some watches under $200.

Best Smartwatches at a Glance

• Best Smartwatch Overall, for Apple Users: Apple Watch Series 10

• Best Smartwatch Overall, for Android Users: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic

• Best Classic Style Smartwatch: Withings ScanWatch Horizon

• Best Fitness Smartwatch: Suunto Race S

Best Smartwatches of 2024

Best Smartwatch Overall, for Apple Users: Apple Watch Series 10

If you’re an iPhone user looking for a smartwatch, you’re all but committed to an Apple watch. Yes, there are other iOS smartwatches, but it’s the seamlessness of the Apple experience across devices and platforms that has earned it a majority of the smartphone market in the US. If you value the ability to communicate via the watch, use Siri, track fitness efforts and health markers, and control other devices in the Apple ecosystem, you’ll have the best experience with an iPhone. Likewise, if you have an Android phone, there’s no good reason to buy an Apple Watch, as you’ll miss out on most of those conveniences, even if many features work.

The Series 10 Apple Watch isn’t a massive upgrade from the Series 9, but it comes with a larger and thinner display and improved underwater capability. Otherwise, the best details are still there in the form of accurate GPS, more usable maps than anyone besides Garmin, solid health and fitness tracking, and the aforementioned Apple world synergy. The biggest drawback is still battery life, as you’ll need to charge the watch daily even with fairly light usage. This isn’t unique to Apple as many smartwatches hog battery, but will be an annoyance to those used to analog or sport watches that last weeks if not years under their own power.

If you don’t need to have the latest and greatest, you can save by looking at previous versions of the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch Series 9 in particular isn’t much of a downgrade and might save you around $100, though you’ll want to weigh the savings against the value of future-proofing via the newer hardware of the Series 10.

• SIZE: 42, 46mm
• WEIGHT: 29.3 to 41.7 grams
• STRAP: Silicone/flouroelastomer, stainless steel, textile

Best Smartwatch Overall, for Android Users: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic uses Google’s latest Wear OS update and brings back the beloved rotating bezel control that lets you easily scroll menus instead of fiddling with small buttons as on most smart watches. This latest edition of their flagship watch has a bigger battery, but that gain is negated if not overcome by a bigger, brighter screen. The battery runtime still beats most Apple watches, but if you’re prone to forgetting to juice up, previous versions or other models might be worth a look. Because you get the latest WearOS, you’ll get access to tons of third-party apps via the Google Play Store, a flexibility you don’t get with Apple Watches.

• SIZE: 43mm
• WEIGHT: 33 grams
• STRAP: Hybrid Leather, Sport, Extreme Sport, Fabric

Best Hybrid Smartwatch: Withings ScanWatch Horizon

The explosion of smartwatches over the past decade has made watches once again mandatory equipment but with the focus squarely on tech, style seems to be all but forgotten in favor of features. Legacy watch brands like Citizen and Montblanc have dipped their toes into smartwatches, but not successfully and the fashion-focused entries from Apple and Garmin won’t appeal to most men. The dive watch-inspired ScanWatch Horizon from Withings delivers a hybrid option that actually looks like a classic men’s watch and delivers basic health and fitness tracking.

Sure, you can swap your Rolex for a Garmin every time you work out, but that’s easier said than done and the shift to round-the-clock tracking of health markers means it hurts your data collection every time you take the smartwatch off. The Horizon doesn’t do everything modern health and fitness smartwatches do. Notably, there’s no on-board GPS, so if you want to track your route for runs or rides, you’re doing so with your phone. The basics are there though, such as heart rate monitor, step counter, sleep tracking, and altimeter, though no answering phone calls or reading the news. You aren’t getting legacy watch brand cachet, but for those that want a good-looking, well-made watch, the stainless steel case and band paired with durable sapphire glass actually look the part unlike pretty much every other silicone-banded black smartwatch lookalike.

• SIZE: 41, 45mm
• WEIGHT: 31 to 37 grams
• STRAP: Fluoroelastomer

Best Outdoor Smartwatch: Suunto Race S

Athletes and fitness enthusiasts looking to track their adventures and workouts are often let down by the lack of accuracy and sport-specificity in generic smartwatches and turn to the more fitness-focused watches from brands such as Garmin, Suunto, Polar, and Coros. While all make competent entries in the space, Suunto’s new Race S provides the best value in the space with a slim, data-collecting health and fitness powerhouse at a reasonable price.

If your idea of a smartwatch includes being able to take calls and answer emails on your wrist, the Race S isn’t for you. You can get notifications of incoming calls and messages when the watch is paired with your phone and respond with preset responses a la “I’ll get back to you shortly.” But this is a fitness and health watch first, and prioritizes longer battery life with more detail and control for quantifying your training and recovery over connectivity. There are more fully featured options out there such as Garmin’s excellent Fenix 8 which has more robust mapping and features such as voice control, but you’ll pay more than triple the MSRP.

• SIZE: 45, 49mm
• WEIGHT: 60 grams
• STRAP: Silicone

More Smartwatches We Love

Best Budget Apple Smartwatch: Apple Watch SE (2nd Gen)

Because Apple doesn’t license its wearable OS to other manufacturers, your options for finding a cheaper Apple watch are limited to sales and previous models. The Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen is still up to date, and you can pick one up for less than half the cost of the Ultra without that drastic of a downgrade in experience. If you’re new to the smartwatch category, it can be tough to stomach spending over a certain amount for a watch. But the SE makes that a bit more palatable. It’s also a great watch to hand down to kids when you’re ready for an upgrade.

• SIZE: 44mm
• WEIGHT: 32.9 grams
• STRAP: Fabric, silicone

Best Budget Android Smartwatch: Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 has the same rotating bezel navigation we love in the Galaxy Watch 6. The screen isn’t quite as big and bright as the 6—and it won’t be quite as future-proof–but the battery life is comparable and it shares almost all the same functionality. Given that you can get a Watch 4 Classic for around $100 (a quarter or less of the cost of most of the latest Samsung and Apple smartwatches), it’s a no-brainer way to dip your toes into the smartwatch category before splurging.

• SIZE: 46mm
• WEIGHT: 52 grams
• STRAP: Silicone

Best Fitbit Smartwatch: Google Pixel 3

The acquisition of fitness tracking powerhouse Fitbit by Google in 2019 has led to a slow but predictable absorption of Fitbit-branded devices into the Google brand and now the Fitbit site redirects to Google where the latest Google smartwatch, the Pixel 3, is featured. With older Fitbit devices reportedly receiving little to no support, it’s likely time for Fitbit diehards to move to the Pixel products (or elsewhere). To be fair, the Pixel 3 incorporates most of what you got from Fitbit, including 6 months of Fitbit Premium and its health and fitness features.

The improved sport and health tracking still feeds into the Fitbit app and with the free trial subscription to Fitbit Premium, you can get the Fitbit Coach which can prescribe workouts for you. That said, like most fitness watches and apps, it’s geared primarily toward runners and gets clunky with other sports and activities. The quirks of this ecosystem limit who will benefit from this more robust Google/Fitbit offering, making it primarily a fit for Android users and existing Fitbit enthusiasts.

• SIZE: 41, 45mm
• WEIGHT: 31 to 37 grams
• STRAP: Fluoroelastomer

Best Adventure Smartwatch: Garmin Fenix 8

The Fenix series is Garmin’s flagship adventure smartwatch product and the September 2024 release of the Fenix 8 will feel like a vital upgrade to some and skippable to others. I’m mostly in the former camp as a spearfisherman/freediver who always wished for basic underwater functionality (besides water resistance) and thus values the new dive modes. The other big addition is a microphone/speaker combo that allows for voice commands, voice assistant interactions, and phone calls.

What’s held over is all the health and fitness tracking that makes this one of the most fully featured (and expensive) adventure sport watches, which is also how I felt about the excellent predecessor Fenix 7x Pro Sapphire Solar. Speaking of solar, Garmin has improved the solar charging which was previously functional but didn’t exactly stop you from having to charge the watch at all. Heavy use modes will still outstrip the watch’s ability to recharge, but this is a tangible improvement that required more than just the regular software updates. The solar editions of the Fenix 8 aren’t more expensive than the non-solar, so as someone who hates having yet another device in need of charging, I’m not sure why you wouldn’t go solar and get as many as 27 additional hours of battery life from a charge.

The voice command and phone call functionality is another major hardware update, but it has limitations. You still need to be carrying your phone to use Siri or Google Assistant, to play music on the speaker, or take calls. And the need to physically press a button to activate the assistant hurts the functionality and often is not that much more convenient than just pressing the required buttons for your voice command. Still, things like recording voice notes and hearing if a text message needs a reply helps the watch keep your phone put away and you doing whatever it is you’re doing.

Unless you’re a diver, upgrading from the previous Fenix models probably isn’t worth the cost, but for folks new to Garmin or that haven’t upgraded in several editions, there’s a ton to love here to justify paying a premium for the latest model. If you’re on the fence and would rather save several hundred dollars, many of the Fenix 7 models can be had for significantly less.

• CASE: Titanium
• SIZE: 43, 47, 51mm
• WEIGHT: 60 to 102 grams
• STRAP: Silicone

What You Should Look for in a Smartwatch

Operating System

Google, Samsung, and Apple are all big players in this space and the best smartwatch for you may come down to which tech ecosystem you’re already committed to. While a Google Pixel watch may work with an iPhone, the integration and learning curve will be better if you stick to the brand you’re already with. (If you like the Apple Watch, you have to have an iPhone for most features.) If you value fitness and tracking features over app support and phone integration, fitness smartwatch heavyweights Garmin and Suunto make several worthy options.

Cellular Connection

Some smartwatches (most of the Apple and Samsung offerings) have the ability to access wireless data networks without tethering to your phone. Most fitness-first watches from brands such as Suunto and Garmin do not, meaning you’ll either need to keep your phone on you for messaging and other connected apps and download maps for offline use. Having a data connection for your phone makes it much more capable but it also drains the battery faster and almost always requires an additional line of data on your wireless plan, which usually costs around $10 per month.

Smartwatch Size and Weight

Most smartwatches are fairly light, balancing the scales around 30 grams. More robust adventure watches such as the Garmin Fenix 8 we recommend, however, can be more than double that average. While a few dozen grams might not seem like much on paper, we can promise you’ll notice the size and weight difference if you’re used to a slimline watch such as a Google Pixel or Apple Watch SE.

Lightweight watches are comfortable for everyday wear, but the biggest reason to go bigger and deal with the weight penalty is screen size. Reading maps and messages on your phone is just more effective and enjoyable with a large, bright screen. Bigger watches also tend to pack bigger, longer-lasting batteries, so you may be willing to trade weight for fewer charging hassles.

Why You Should Trust Me

I never used to wear a watch, but modern smartwatches made me appreciate using my smartphone less for telling time, quickly answering messages, and tracking workouts. Since then, I’ve tested many of the major releases from brands like Garmin, Google, Suunto, Apple, Samsung, and Casio. The Garmin Fenix 7x Sapphire Solar is my current go-to, but I also cycle in the Suunto Race S and better-looking analog watches for certain outings. Though I’m historically an Android phone user, I work on Macs and keep an iPhone as well for testing apps and peripherals in the other major smartphone ecosystem.

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