Best Smartwatches – Buyers’ Guide

Best Smartwatches – Buyers’ Guide

A smartwatch is a digital watch that can be best described as a computer in the form of a wristwatch. As the name itself conveys, it does more than just timekeeping. Whether it’s tracking your daily activities or reminding you of your everyday tasks, smartwatches do it all. If you’re a techie looking for cool new gadgets, getting your hands on a smartwatch will be definitely worth your money. The number of functions your smartwatch can perform varies from watch to watch, but that is exactly the reason we’re here to guide you to pick exactly the smartwatch that you’re looking for.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at what different smartwatches have to offer.

Top Smartwatch

Garmin vívoactive 3

Conventional smartwatches were designed as a fancy accessory for smartphones that did more than just tracking time. Even a task as small as sensing heart rate was a great incentive to buy the watch. However today with the developing technology, every new smartwatch outperforms its previous versions, which puts the purchaser in difficulty of choice, especially if you’re not a techie.

While it depends on your need, we recommend that you buy a standalone smartwatch because it’s not just a smart accessory to your mobile device, but also an independent device that can perform almost all the functions of a mobile phone with increased mobility. This is suitable also because watches unlike smartphones are wearable devices, which makes carrying them easier.

As we talk about mobility, it is important to make sure that your digital watch has a battery that lasts long enough to be of practical use. The battery will vary depending on your use, but a general battery life of 1-2 days (or more) will give you an idea of what to buy.

The most significant thing to look out for in smartwatches is the compatibility with your phone. For instance, most android watches being released in the recent years are compatible with both android and iOS, but no apple watch till date has been designed to connect with android.

Features such as heart rate monitor, GPS, activity tracking, etc. or things like display, size, color, etc. are very personal needs. But you need to keep in mind that increased features mean an elevated price.

Although we tried our best to narrow down your options, it’s important that you narrow down your requirements as well. Because for you, the best smartwatch will be the one that fulfills your needs, which might not necessarily be the top-notch piece in the market.

Best Standalone Smartwatch

Garmin Venu Smartwatch

Traditionally when we talk about smartwatches, the first device that comes to our minds is a digital watch that is incomplete without your smartphone.

However, more was brought into the picture with the introduction of standalone smartwatches. These watches are completely independent and do not require to be connected to smartphones in order to function. Standalone smartwatches are an advancement in smartwatches that further improves the accessory into functioning as a self-standing smart device. The technological build that they work on is their capability to support mobile phone cards or sim cards.

If you’re buying a standalone smartwatch, your primary concern should be sim card compatibility. These smartwatches act as invisible smartphones with increased convenience and mobility. Therefore, your best choice should be a watch that can help send and receive texts, make and receive calls, etc. with ease. The other important feature to look for would be inbuilt Wi-Fi connection. Factors such as storage and battery are secondary concerns.

It is recommended that you buy a watch that not only works independently, but can also be connected to your smartphone when necessary. To ensure this function, checking for the compatibility of the two devices is necessary.

Since this is a more advanced product, you need to keep in mind that it might cost more than a smartphone-dependent smartwatch. Now your requirement of the product will determine whether it’s worth your money or not.

Top Android Smartwatches

Amazfit Bip Smartwatch by Huami

If you look for the best android smartwatches, there’s a great chance that the best watch might not be the one with the maximum number of features. However, we believe that if you’re narrowing down your options on the basis of nothing but features (and not just one specific one), you deserve a smartwatch with as many features as conveniently desired. Only then can the product be really worth your money.

Most sellers, including us, would highly prefer android watches over apple watches. This is not because of any technological gap or lack, since all smartwatches today are in a race to outdo other brands. But the sole reason for this recommendation is the compatibility to other devices. While almost all android watches, even those designed by Samsung, can be easily connected to iOS and windows along with android devices, the apple watches lack this feature. They’re only compatible to iOS alone and this makes them suitable only for people who’re sure they won’t have to deal with any other mobile operating system.

Any android smartwatch that offers you good battery life, doesn’t limit third party apps, is lightweight and durable and doesn’t exceed your budget should be your best option.

Best Hybrid Smartwatches

Withings Steel HR Hybrid Smartwatch

When new products are introduced to the market, the sole purpose is not only to make technological advancements but also give the items such a sleek and voguish design that they’re as appealing in look as practical in use.

For this very reason, hybrid smartwatches were introduced. They’re a fusion between the conventional mechanical watches and latest smartwatches. This means that while they look like traditional stylish watches, they offer some features of smartwatches. You could say, it’s an attempt at removing any modern-tech look that digital watches give.

Hybrid watches basically don’t function on their own, they are to be connected to your smartphones through Bluetooth, etc. The most they can do is alert you through a vibration of a notification on your phone, or give you a sign regarding the app that notifies. It does track basic activities such as breathing, running or walking, etc., but because this is all they are designed for, they don’t really need a touch screen. It’s usually the lack of touch screens that gives them their traditional wristwatch appearance.

They do require charging, obviously, but because of the very limited number of features, they have the best battery lives in comparison to all other smartwatches. They can easily go days without draining much.

Best Sports Smartwatch

Garmin Vívoactive 4

Sports smartwatches can be best described as fitness tracking smartwatches. These smartwatches – known as activity bands commonly – are more popular. This is because people who buy fitness trackers are genuinely in need of devices to track their regular physical activities. On contrary, people who need smartwatches for other reasons can do very well without this smart device and it doesn’t exactly qualify as a need.

Yes, most smart watches today have inbuilt features of fitness trackers. But if you’re on a budget, your best option is to go for sports smartwatches. This is because with lesser features, they’re slightly cheaper than fancy smartwatches.

Obviously if we start listing the best sports smartwatches, they would be the ones with features other than health tracking. But if your need is specific, then to put your money to accurate use, we recommend that you buy fitness bands, that offer nothing else.

Such sports smartwatches are designed to be very durable and tough, as well as thin and lightweight. This is to make them easier to wear while your body is on the run for exhaustion.

As the main purpose is that of fitness bands, they track your activities, from simple running to complex exercises. They monitor your heart rates, sleep cycles, etc. too.

When buying any watch, make sure its compatible with all the devices you could potentially have to connect it with. On average, most fitness bands have a battery life of 6-7 days, since their use is limited.

Sports smartwatches including additional features like sleep trackers and exercises for breathing and meditation will definitely qualify as the best fitness smartwatches for you.

Best Active Smartwatch

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active

Active smartwatches are a modified version of fitness trackers. It’s rational to say that they’re somewhat a fusion of hybrid smartwatches and conventional activity smartwatches. They’re designed to look similar to traditional watches, while providing benefits of fitness watches. They don’t exactly fulfil the requirements of being hybrid smartwatches, as they don’t offer a wide set of smart features, and also do have touchscreens.

A considerably good fitness band is the one that monitors your heart beat, as well as keeps a track of most of your activities. These generally include walking, running, cycling and swimming, along with their speeds and distances. Since swimming is one of these activities, most quality active smartwatches are waterproof too.

They’re compatible with both android and iOS, have a good battery life due to minimum set of features, and are a perfect product for fitness freaks looking for smartwatches to track their workout activity.

Best Watch Battery

Garmin vívoactive HR GPS Smart Watch

Logically speaking, it is easy to conclusively say that smartwatches with rich features tend to have lower battery lives. This is a valid reason because rationally speaking, the more functions that any smart device performs, the more will its battery drain.

Now normally, good battery smartwatches have a life of around 7 days. Now either these are watches with lesser number of features, for example it’s normally fitness bands that really last up to 6-7 days. Or if more developed smartwatches claim that their battery life is 7 days, they will always give an additional assistance detail that will ask you to disable certain battery draining features, such as constant heart rate or GPS tracking, to actually maintain a good battery life.

So basically, if you’re bringing into use all the features that smartwatches are offering, your battery will last about 1-2 – or at maximum – 3 days. This is actually a pretty good battery life because with regards to battery, smartwatches are very similar to smartphones.

To make your watch’s battery is not a significant issue for you, you can try looking for smartwatch options that include wireless charges. This way charger portability won’t be a problem.

Best ECG Smartwatch

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active2

Although the two terms are often confused with each other, ECG is very different from heart rate. Heart rate just measures the beats of heart per minute, whereas electrocardiography (ECG) keeps a track of heart’s general health wellness through different perimeters, including cardiac contractions. It’s actually through ECG that we can estimate heart rates.

It is to be noted, however, that almost every smartwatch is equipped with heart rate trackers, but ECG measuring smartwatches are a new addition to the market of smart devices.

If your cardiac health is your top concern, then ECG sensors in smartwatches are a great item for you. ECG is basically normally measured to make sure that atrial fibrillations are timely identified, as this is the leading cause of strokes.

How accurate and reliable these sensors are, can only be identified from watch to watch. But generally, they are considered to be a good handy device to inform yourself of any declining heart health. It is believed that they’re almost always accurate in older people, but might create problems in younger people, as they rarely have atrial fibrillations.

Best Women’s Smartwatch

Fossil Gen 5 Julianna

Certainly, when you’re looking for a smartwatch, the appearance of the watch might not be your first priority. For this reason, most smartwatches are gender neutral. But for some people, the smartwatch is not only attractive because of its features or because it’s a very convenient smart accessory to carry, but also for it’s very voguish look.

If a smartwatch is not your fundamental need right now, rather a want, then you might be looking to buy it for its modish appearance. In that very case, you should definitely look up gender specific watches. For instance, if you’re a female, you will be able to find a great variety of women’s smartwatches that are particularly designed to please the eyes, as well as be of good technological use.

When looking for women’s smartwatches, you need to make sure that you look for the overall best product. This is because too many watches designed for women specifically lack the features that a tech-lover finds. A lot of these smartwatches are very basic despite being released in the market recently, and are usually only good for their slim designs, timeless designs, or fashion.

But if you want to put your money to good use and want to buy the best item in the market, you need to make sure that the smartwatch you’re purchasing doesn’t only look trendy on your wrist, but also gives best versatility in terms of technology.

Best New Smartwatch

Withings Steel HR

Smartwatches have been in use for over a decade now. They were considerably popular during all their generations but right now is the high-time for their sales. As they have gained a very huge demand in the current technological market, every smartwatch designing brand continuously makes efforts to improve their watches – not only to outperform their rival brands but also to outperform their own previous versions. Along with these old brands, even some new brands are trying to introduce their smartwatches due to the popularity they enjoy today.

If you want to buy any latest smartwatch, your most probable goal is to enjoy maximum features that it can offer you. If you’re not aware of these features, don’t worry, we have you covered.

Today, most new smartwatches have a durable, as well as fashionable design. They are highly compatible with most used operating systems, and offer connectivity with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LTE, NFC, etc. Some of them are dependent, while the other include slots for sim cards and are standalone watches. Most of them have good storage spaces, if not, you can always go for the ones that have slots for memory cards. Smartwatches easily support calls and texts, and even allow third party apps to function on them. A good battery life and a wireless charger will assure you that the particular watch you are viewing is the right choice for you to purchase.

Best Luxury Smartwatch

Samsung Galaxy Watch smartwatch

It’s obvious that if we’re speaking of luxury smartwatches, the main and most important question is raised about the price of these watches. As the name says for itself, these are the priciest smartwatches in the market, and the concern rising with them is whether they’re worth the amount or not.

With the high prices they come in, they do offer a wide set of features that justify their cost. And if you’re measuring its worth in terms of need, then it’s evident that luxury smartwatches are a want rather than a necessity. And honestly, if you’re obsessed with the latest technology like us, it’s a pretty rational reason to make your purchase.

The trick is just to make sure that you’re not making a hasty decision! Since price isn’t your prioritized concern, you should look into the features of luxury watches. Most definitely, all of them will have a very good set of features for the price they come in, so you might again be stuck between your options. In this case, it’s best to go with the option that pleases your eye the most.

This is because there is no certain class of watches that identify as luxury watches, just the most high-quality, stylish watches with premium prices are referred to as luxury smartwatches. If someone is willing to buy a smartwatch with a price as high as normal luxury watches, they should care about design and chic of the watches as much as they do regarding the features.

Best Selling Smartwatch

Fitbit Versa 2 Smartwatch

If you haven’t been able to reach a conclusion regarding which smartwatch suits you the best, there’s nothing to worry about. With the varieties available in today’s age, even a techie can get confused between the wide options present.

One way to make the process easier for you is to check the popularity of watches in the market, and make your choice from among the best-selling items. It is through great amounts of research that people purchase smart devices and therefore best-selling products enjoy this place for very valid reasons.

The smartwatches that currently stand superior to others are even Alexa enabled. They come with a similar set of features that include heart rate monitoring, hourly activity tracking, sleep tracking, calories burn count, ECG sensing, GPS tracking, inbuilt compass, etc. Other modifications include call and text notifications, calendar and weather updates.

Surely, the best-selling smartwatches provide a long battery life, are durable, tough, yet modish, and are waterproof.

Conclusion

Smartwatches are nothing but a fancy accessory to your mobile devices. However, with their increased use and popularity, everyone almost feels like it’s their need. And fairly speaking, since technology is supposed to create ease among masses, smartwatches have become our necessities. They were brought out to perform functions of smartphones with much greater convenience and they have succeeded in doing so, becoming better and better with every new generation.

They’re available in such a huge variety that whether you’re on a budget or are looking for the costliest product to give your wrist a trendy wearable, you will be able to find the right kind of smartwatch to fulfill each need of yours. You won’t have to struggle looking for smartwatches whether you need it with specific features or unlimited adaptations.

Of course, you know what’s best for you. But we’ve composed this guide to ease your pain of looking for the right product, and purchasing the right item.

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