Best Smartwatch 2018: The best smartwatches for style, fitness and
function
Huawei Watch 2
Pros
- Comfortable and lightweight design
- Android Wear 2.0 is a big improvement
- Plenty of sports sensors
- NFC and Android Pay convenience
Cons
- Small display
- Thick bezels
- Uninspiring design
We’ve had to revise our view on the Huawei Watch 2, predominantly because its price has dropped so drastically since our initial review. It first launched at £329, but is now readily available for around £200, which makes it a great value combination device offering smartwatch features with sports watch capabilities.
The Huawei Watch 2 was one of the first smartwatches to launch with Android Wear 2.0 (now known as Wear OS), so delivers the handy Google Assistant straight to your wrist. Other improvements include more ways to respond to messages from your wrist, including a new on-screen keyboard. Wear OS doesn’t quite rival Apple’s watchOS for app support, but it has a decent stable of apps you’d expect.
The Huawei Watch 2 comes into its own if you’re looking for a smartwatch that can double as a sports watch, thanks to built-in GPS and a heart rate monitor on its rear. Use the 4GB of built-in storage to save your Google Play Music playlists offline and you can pair Bluetooth headphones for a phone-free experience. The Huawei Watch 2 will work with Huawei’s own suite of fitness apps, Google Fit, or other third-party apps such as Strava, offering excellent choice.
Overall, the new lower price makes the Huawei Watch 2 a much better prospect if you’re in the market for a smartwatch, especially if you’re an Android user. While Wear OS smartwatches will work with iPhones, the experience is more limited compared to pairing with Android. For this reason, if you’re an iPhone user for whom money is no problem, then we’d still recommend opting for an Apple Watch.
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Casio Pro Trek Smart WSD-F20
Pros
- Plenty of sensors
- Great hiking features
- Versatile two-layer screen
Cons
- A bit bulky
- Typical Android Wear battery life
- Low-end CPU
This isn’t a smartwatch for everyone, but if you’re outdoor-inclined then it might just be the best choice for you. Casio’s second Android Wear smartwatch is a serious piece of kit that’s been tested against the MIL-STD-810G standard, so you know it’s capable of withstanding some serious wear and tear. It’s also water-resistant to 50m.
It has all the sensors you might want if you’re an avid runner, but it goes so much further. If you’re a hiker, you’ll love the altimeter, air pressure read-outs, the clock showing the sunrise and sunset times, compass and the indicator of the day’s tide levels. You can also download map data for use offline, meaning if you’re the Bear Grylls type then you’ll be well prepared.
Of course, since this watch runs Android Wear 2.0, you can also bolster its capabilities with a raft of apps as well as benefitting from having access to the usual smartphone controls.
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LG Watch Style
Pros
- Attractive and slim design
- Slick Android Wear 2.0 performance
- Bright and sharp display
Cons
- Weak vibration motor
- Average battery life
- No NFC
The LG Watch Style was announced alongside the sportier LG Watch Sport, and both smartwatches were the shining lights to showcase Google’s new Android Wear 2.0 operating system.
While the Watch Style lacks many of the sporty features of the Watch Sport, it’s far sleeker for it; it’s one of the slimmest Android Wear watches available. Pair this with its rotating crown for interacting with Android Wear 2.0 and it makes for one super-attractive smartwatch.
Of course, Android Wear 2.0 brings a raft of improvements, including much better handling of notifications, an on-watch keyboard for responding, and Google’s clever Assistant for interacting. If you don’t need advanced sensors such as GPS for sport, the LG Watch Style is a great choice.
Buy now: LG Watch Style for £229 from Argos
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Samsung Gear Sport
Pros
- Accurate GPS/GLONASS
- Rotating bezel interface is still great
- Spotify offline playback
- Good activity tracking
Cons
- Shortage of Tizen apps
- No Bluetooth HRMs
- S Voice is forgettable
- Limited Samsung Pay support
The Samsung Gear Sport is, as the name implies, a sportier approach to the Samsung Gear S3.
It’s a smaller smartwatch and so will be suitable for a greater number of people compared to its bigger sibling. It shares many of the best elements of Samsung’s other Gear smartwatches, including the excellent rotating bezel that makes navigating intuitive without obscuring the display.
It also has an excellent AMOLED display with vibrant colours. The Gear Sport is water-resistant to 50 metres, which makes it more resilient than the Gear S3 and on a par with recent Apple Watch models.
As you’d expect, it has GPS and GLONASS alongside a heart rate monitor to bolster its fitness credentials. Other features include offline Spotify support, which is great for anyone who wants music without having to carry along their phone. Tizen is currently the only watch operating system to offer offline Spotify, too. Unfortunately, Tizen app support is otherwise lacking compared to rivals.
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Samsung Gear S2
Pros
- Bright, sharp display
- Rotating bezel is the best wearable feature yet
Cons
- Tizen is limiting
- Expensive for what you get
- Poor, slow voice search
Now that the Samsung Gear S3 has been released, the older Gear S2 is much cheaper. In many respects, we still prefer it over the much chunkier Gear S3, even if it does lack many of the sensors that will appeal to outdoor adventurers.
The Gear S2’s 1.2-inch circular screen has a 360 × 360 resolution and uses AMOLED tech, making it one of the sharpest and most vibrant displays available on a smartwatch. The rotating bezel is also one of our favourite methods of interacting with a smartwatch, as it means your fingers don’t obstruct the display.
Add to this solid two-day battery life and the Gear S2 becomes one of the best smartwatches around, at least from a hardware perspective.
Its only drawback is its use of Samsung’s own Tizen OS. Tizen is a custom OS that’s based on Linux. On paper it’s pretty good, letting you pair the Gear S2 with any Android smartphone, not just Samsung Galaxy phones. But it’s nowhere near as developed as Wear OS, which itself isn’t perfect. There aren’t nearly as many apps available as the Wear OS app store, but the core functionality is at least present from what is available.
Buy now: Samsung Gear S2 for £237 from Amazon
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Polar M600
Pros
- Comfortable to run with
- Accurate GPS and HRM
- Water-resistant
- Wear OS
Cons
- Silicone strap picks up lint and fluff
- Poor-quality display
- Charging is slightly fiddly
If you’re looking for a sports running watch that serves double duty as an Android Wear-powered smartwatch, take a serious look at the Polar M600. While it isn’t the most stylish-looking wearable around – it looks like a sports watch – it will happily stand up to some serious workouts thanks to its rugged IPX8 water-resistance rating.
With GPS to track your distance and pace and a heart rate monitor, it ticks all the boxes for serious runners looking to improve their performance. All of the data pulls into Polar’s Flow app, so you can keep tabs on your exercise routine.
Android Wear is the icing on the cake, meaning there’s a good selection of apps and smartwatch functionality. The great news is that the Polar M600 is among the list of confirmed smartwatches receiving the Android Wear 2.0 update, too, so you won’t feel left behind.
Buy now: Polar M600 for £217 from Amazon
Those are our top picks of the best smartwatches. If you want to know more about smartwatches and what to look out for when buying one then read on.
Best smartwatches – Which operating system?
Currently, there are three big smartwatch operating systems: watchOS from Apple, Wear OS from Google and Tizen from Samsung. Fitbit is a relative newcomer to the smartwatch space and has its own Fitbit OS, but so far none of its smartwatches have made this list. A big reason for this is the lack of app support.
That’s what you’ll want to consider when picking your smartwatch. Right now, watchOS is by far the best supported for apps, followed by Wear OS, then Tizen lagging behind.
Best smartwatches – What to look for?
Aside from the operating system, it’s worth considering how you intend to use your smartwatch. Many smartwatches now double as fitness trackers and sports watches, so if this is important to you then you’ll want a smartwatch with built-in GPS and a heart rate sensor. Often, these watches are much bigger as a result.
Water-resistance is ideally something you’ll have. Even if you’re not a swimmer, it’s nice to not have to take your smartwatch off to shower.
Battery life is the other big consideration. Many smartwatches have improved considerably in this regard, with most now offering at least two days’ stamina. That’s the minimum we’d recommend. In the early days, many smartwatches would struggle to even make it through a single day.
| BEST OVERALL: Apple Watch Series 3 | BEST VALUE: Huawei Watch 2 |
| The Apple Watch Series 3 is the best combination of smartwatch smarts alongside sports and fitness tracking. The original Apple Watch struggled to find a purpose without the latter, so the Series 3 proves to be the evolution Apple needed to make its device appealing. | The Huawei Watch 2 has dropped in price considerably since we first reviewed it. For that reason, we consider it great value for its feature set. Like the Apple Watch Series 3, it combines smartwatch convenience with a raft of sports functions. Unfortunately, Wear OS itself isn’t as fully formed as watchOS. |
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