A good smartwatch can add some serious convenience to your daily routine. If you are already using an Android smartphone, then it makes sense to get an Android smartwatch as well. The Apple Watch remains one of the most popular choices, but if you have an Android phone, you won’t be able to take full advantage of the features. That’s why Android users should get a watch designed for your preferred operating system.
Whether you use your smartwatch for its fitness tracking features, or as a less distracting alternative to your phone, a smartwatch is a convenient way to stay connected and get information at a glance. And if you’re in the market for an Android smartwatch, there are plenty of worthy contenders for just about any budget that offer key features like activity tracking, a heart rate sensor, Samsung Pay, and more. In addition, there are many different styles of Android smartwatches to choose from to suit your personal taste.
If you are looking for the best Android smartwatch, see our recommendations below. You’ll notice that we don’t recommend many watches running Wear OS because Google and Samsung brought the OS back, but every Android smartwatch listed here is a wearable with great features that pair seamlessly with your Android phone or device. We’ll update our picks for the best Android smartwatch on the market periodically as we review new products.
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Google’s first Pixel Watch wants to go head-to-head with the Apple Watch. It mostly succeeds thanks to a sleek, curved design and a suite of health sensors including an ECG app and blood oxygen tracking. It has a host of fitness tracking features, analytics through the Fitbit app, and accurate heart rate tracking.
Beware, however, that the battery isn’t as powerful as the other options on this list, and you’ll likely find yourself charging this watch every day, especially if you like to do GPS exercises outdoors and track your sleep. It is also available in a size of 41 mm only.
Read our Google Pixel Watch review.
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Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro are two of the best Wear OS watches that you can get right now. They have longer lasting batteries than last year’s Galaxy Watch 4 models and plenty of great fitness tracking features. Google apps are available including YouTube Music, Google Assistant, and Google Maps, with many of the apps accessible through the Play Store. You need a Galaxy phone to use the ECG, but all other features work seamlessly with other Android phones.
But the new temperature sensor isn’t yet active, and both watches miss out on the classic circular bezel, which is one of the hallmarks of Samsung Galaxy Watch and Gear watches from years past.
Read our Galaxy Watch 5 review.
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The Galaxy Watch 4 is the first smartwatch to run the new Google Wear platform, co-designed by Samsung and Google. Although it has now been replaced by the Galaxy Watch 5, you can still buy the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, which is the version with the physical rotating bezel. There’s an ECG and heart rate tracker on board, but Samsung is trying to set itself apart from other watches with a new impedance-based electrical sensor that can tell you more about your body composition. Battery life isn’t as strong as other watches on the list.
Read our Galaxy Watch 4 review.
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The Versa 3 smartwatch is compatible with both iOS and Android phones and lets you choose between Alexa or Google Assistant as your preferred voice assistant. It doesn’t offer all the smart apps and features that some of its competitors do, 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 monitor notifications. An Android user can use this wearable to receive notifications of calls, texts, and calendar events. If your Android phone is nearby, you can use the Fitbit Versa to send a quick reply. It’s the best sleep-tracking smartwatch on this list, and it also gives you an overnight hack of SpO2 and body temperature data (for Fitbit Premium users). Battery life is also better than most: I got about four full days (and nights) of use with the screen always on.
There is also a newer model of this smartwatch, the Fitbit Versa 4, which we will be testing and evaluating soon.
Read our review of the Fitbit Versa 3.
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Garmin makes a lot of great smartwatches for fitness enthusiasts, but they don’t always have as many smart features. The Venu 2 Hybrid smartwatch offers the best of both worlds. Respond to notifications from the watch with quick replies, use contactless payments with Garmin Pay, and store music from apps like Spotify. The bright circular AMOLED screen is easy to see outside and the battery lasts 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.
Read our review of the Garmin Venu 2.
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If you’re looking for a fitness-focused Android watch without a lot of distractions, that works with both Android and iOS, the Garmin Venu Sq is the watch to get. It has built-in GPS, plenty of workout options to choose from, and plenty of fitness tracking data about your workout like heart rate zones and running dynamics in the mobile app.
This Android smartwatch also doubles as a health tracker with high and low heart rate alerts, comprehensive sleep analysis and SpO2 tracking. It measures blood oxygen levels on demand, or automatically throughout the day and night just like the Apple Watch Series 7, but for half the price. But you are giving up design. The watch has a plastic frame, and the watch face display isn’t quite as large or vibrant as some of the other watches on the list. There is also a newer version of this watch, the Venu Sq 2, with a longer battery life, but it is much more expensive.
Read our Garmin Venu Sq review.
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If you’re looking for an Android-compatible watch that feels more like a diving watch, check out the Withings ScanWatch Horizon. It has regular clock hands and a small circular screen that displays notifications swiped across like a bar. But the focus is mostly on health tracking features like monitoring your sleep, heart rate, and workouts. There’s also an EKG on board, and the battery can last two weeks or more.
Read our Withings ScanWatch Horizon review.
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