The 6 best smartwatches for Android phone owners in 2024
If you already rely heavily on an Android smartphone, one of the best investments you can make is in an Android-friendly smartwatch. These gadgets go way beyond displaying the time and date: Think communications, productivity, health, fitness and cutting-edge safety features. In many cases, your watch can handle the exact same tasks you often handle on your phone.
The latest smartwatches are not only feature-packed and durable, they're also highly customizable. All have interchangeable watchbands and customizable watch faces. Plus you can typically install a personalized selection of apps -- just like on a smartphone -- to give the watch added functionality.
- Best Android smartwatch overall: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic
- Best budget Android smartwatch: Amazfit Bip 5
- Best Google smartwatch: Google Pixel Watch 2
- Best Android smartwatch for everyday wear: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
- Best Android smartwatch for navigation: Garmin Forerunner 965
- Best Android smartwatch for athletes and adventurers: Coros Vertix S2
Pro Tip: To get the most out of a smartwatch, we highly recommend a model with Bluetooth and cellular capabilities. This allows the watch to wirelessly share data with your phone, but also access the internet, handle phone calls and texts, stream music and provide safety features even when your phone isn't nearby.
What's the best Android-friendly smartwatch?
Our in-house team of tech experts has carefully curated this roundup of the best smartwatches suitable for Android smartphone users. Whatever your needs or budget, as long as you already have an Android phone to pair it with, any of these smartwatches will be the perfect companion device to use with it.
If all you need it a feature-packed fitness tracker, as opposed to a full-featured smartwatch, check out our coverage of the six best fitness trackers of 2024. However, if you're an Apple iPhone user looking for the Apple Watch, our Apple Watch Series 9 buyer's guide will help you choose the best model and configuration. You can also read our full review of the Apple Watch Series 9 and discover the 9 things we love about the Apple Watch Series 9.
Best Android smartwatch overall: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic
Display size options: 40mm, 44mm | Band selection: Yes | Custom watch faces: Yes | Optional apps: Yes | Bluetooth + cellular option: Yes | Fitness features: Yes | Safety features: Yes
Available in two casing sizes, three casing colors and with your choice of more than two dozen watch bands in a variety of colors and styles, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is the perfect companion to any Samsung Galaxy smartphone. However, it works just as well with any Android phone.
Compared to previous Galaxy Watch models, this one has a larger screen, slimmer profile, a more durable crystal glass over the display, an 18% faster processor and now provides up to a 40 hour battery life. In addition to handling a wide range of productivity and communications tasks, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic includes advanced sleep coaching, health monitoring and fitness tracking.
We recommend the slightly more expensive Bluetooth-with-cellular version of the watch, since it will operate almost autonomously from your Android phone, so you can stream audio, make and receive calls, send and receive texts and more, even when your phone isn't nearby. And along with the collection of preinstalled apps, you can download thousands more from the App Store and customize your own watch faces to display exactly the information you want.
Controlling the watch is easy using the rotating bezel and touchscreen. And for your safety, the watch has built-in fall detection. Whichever configuration of the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic you choose, it'll be a versatile and useful tool in all aspects of your life. It's also water resistant (IP68 rated) and very durable.
Best budget Android smartwatch: Amazfit Bip 5
Display size options: 1.9 inches | Band selection: Yes | Custom watch faces: 70 to choose from | Optional apps: Limited | Bluetooth + cellular option: No | Fitness features: Yes | Safety features: No
The Amazfit Bip 5 was recently updated, and for its $80 price, it offers a really good value. This smartwatch is nowhere near as powerful than its more expensive competitors, but it does offer a 1.9-inch color touchscreen display, a bunch of fitness tracking features, and the ability to sync data with popular fitness-oriented smartphone apps (like Strava, Adidas Running, Google Fit and more).
One of the watch's most notable features is its up-to-10-day battery life, which is significantly longer than most competitors. The watch comes preinstalled with 70 customizable watch faces and is Amazon Alexa-ready, assuming your smartphone is as well. When the watch is in close proximity to your phone, you can use it to make and receive calls or send and receive text messages. It can also be used to stream music.
While the watch is fully compatible with Android smartphones, it runs using the Zepp OS 2.0 operating system, which offers a limited library of optional downloadable apps. The watch is water resistant (IP68 rated). It's a decent smartwatch option for budget conscious users.
Best Google smartwatch: Google Pixel Watch 2
Display size options: 41mm | Band selection: Yes | Custom watch faces: Yes | Optional apps: Yes | Bluetooth + cellular option: Yes | Fitness features: Yes | Safety features: Yes
When it comes to Android phones, we're huge fans of the Google Pixel 8 Pro and the newly released, scaled-down and less expensive Pixel 8a phone. These phones are developed by Google, the same company responsible for the Android operating system, so they're able to do things other Android smartphones cannot.
The perfect companion to any of the Pixel smartphones is the Pixel Watch 2 smartwatch. Like the Pixel phones, it's less expensive than many competitors, but just as (or more) powerful. The watch comes in eight unisex casing color and watch band configurations. While there's a Wi-Fi (and Bluetooth) only version of the watch, we recommend the LTE (cellular) version so you can use it freely to handle things like streaming music, making and receiving calls, and sending and receiving text messages even when your phone isn't nearby.
Since the watch and the WatchOS operating system were both created by Google, you can expect it to do things that other Android-compatible smartwatches cannot.
The watch has several built in sensors, so it can monitor your heart rate, skin temperature, sleep pattern, blood oxygen level and stress level. It also has all of the features of a Fitbit fitness tracker integrated into the watch. As a productivity tool, the Pixel Watch 2 comes with a bunch of preinstalled apps, like Calendar, Maps, and Gmail, but works with most of Google's other services. And there's a vast selection of optional apps available from the Google Play Store.
This smartwatch extremely customizable. There's also an Emergency SOS feature that allows you to call for help with the press of a button. You won't find a more powerful and customizable smartwatch for use with an Android phone at or around the price point of the Google Pixel Watch 2.
If you're interested in upgrading to one of the latest Google Pixel smartphones to complement this watch, check out our comparison between the new Google Pixel 8a and Google Pixel 8 Pro phones.
Best Android smartwatch for everyday wear: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
Display size options: 40mm, 44mm | Band selection: Yes | Custom watch faces: Yes | Optional apps: Yes | Bluetooth + cellular option: Yes | Fitness features: Yes | Safety features: Yes
If you're already using one of the popular Samsung Galaxy smartphones (or any Android phone for that matter) and you want the power of a Samsung Galaxy smartwatch around your wrist without having to pay for the premium Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, this is a less expensive and slightly scaled-down option.
You can still choose from two casing sizes, three casing colors and more than two dozen watchband options, but the Watch 6 is made from aluminum, while the Watch 6 Classic is made from stainless steel. The Watch 6 also has two buttons and a digital bezel, while the Watch 6 Classic has two buttons and a rotating bezel.
Both the Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic offer advanced sleep coaching, irregular heart rhythm notification, heart rate monitoring, BIA (bioelectrical impedance analysis), skin temperature monitoring and blood oxygen level monitoring. Both versions of the watch offer a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and an optional Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and cellular configuration. However, this version of the watch has a starting price of just $240. Beyond the collection of apps that come preinstalled, it runs all optional apps compatible with WatchOS devices -- and there are many to choose from.
Best Android smartwatch for navigation: Garmin Forerunner 965
Display size options: 1.4 inches | Band selection: Yes | Custom watch faces: Yes | Optional apps: Limited | Bluetooth + cellular option: No | Fitness features: Yes | Safety features: Yes
Garmin is known for its advanced GPS and navigational tools, and much of that knowledge has been embedded into this smartwatch. It features a brilliant AMOLED touchscreen display with traditional button controls and an elegant titanium bezel. What's really impressive about this watch is its up to 23 day battery life (which gets cut to up to 31 hours when the watch is in GPS navigation mode).
At any time, you can access full-color maps, with your location accurately tracked using multi-band GPS and GNSS with SatIQ technology. Built into the watch are a selection of multi-sport apps that share data with an Android smartphone running the Garmin Connect app.
This smartwatch is designed for runners, athletes and outdoor adventurers. Not only will it keep you informed about exactly where you are at any given moment, it'll also collect and track a wide range of health and fitness data, plus serve as a virtual trainer and sleep coach. It displays a personalized daily sleep and fitness report. And to keep you entertained while you're running or working out, you can store your favorite Spotify, Deezer or Amazon Music playlists on the watch and listen to them at anytime.
Best Android smartwatch for athletes and adventurers: Coros Vertix S2
Display size options: 1.5 inches | Band selection: Limited | Custom watch faces: Yes | Optional apps: No | Bluetooth + cellular option: No | Fitness features: yes | Safety features: No
The Coros Vertix S2 is a premium smartwatch for athletes and outdoor adventurers. It's easy to operate, looks really cool and is designed to be used in all weather conditions. Battery life is up to 40 days of regular use, or up to 118 hours when full GPS tracking mode is enabled.
Thanks to its dual-frequency GPS technology and pro-tested algorithms, the Coros Vertix 2S watch ensures precise location data in challenging terrains, like mountains or narrow canyons. It offers a complete on-wrist personal navigation system. Using the watch's built in sensors, you can also receive accurate heart rate tracking for precise training and fitness. Plus, you can monitor your progress, get actionable insights and plan your path to peak performance using the Coros smartphone app.
And when you're not roughing it out there, the watch will monitor your sleep quality and track sleep stages. You also get real-time stress analysis and can receive regular wellness checks that provide health insights like heart rate variability, breathing rate and more.
Whether you're wearing the watch at work, while rock climbing, skiing, running or biking, the Coros Vertix S2 will keep you going on time and keep you informed with critical information from the watch itself and using data it obtains from your Android smartphone.
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