Best smartwatches for 2020

The best smartwatch is more than just a way to get smartphone notifications on your wrist. The device has to be everything in one: a fitness tracker, a wallet and even a phone. If you’re trying to get back on track after the holidays, the best smartwatch of 2020 can help you live your best life.

After spending hundreds of hours testing dozens of smartwatches, our pick for best smartwatch has been the Apple Watch Series 5 with GPS (starting at $399), which has a huge, always-on display, built-in Compass, and all of the advanced health features we loved about the Series 4, including fall detection and a built-in electrical heart rate sensor for taking on-the-go electrocardiograms. It also runs watchOS 6, which makes the watch even more useful with period-tracking, a tip calculator, audiobook playback, activity trends and more.

However, the $199 Apple Watch 3 is still a very good value, especially with recent price cuts, so be sure to check out our Apple Watch Series 3 vs. Series 5 comparison.

The best smartwatch for Android users is Samsung’s $279 Galaxy Watch Active 2. In addition to a sleek, sporty design, the Galaxy Watch Active offers built-in GPS, heart rate sensor, water-resistance, Samsung Pay support, plus advanced heart health features for just $79 more than the first-gen Galaxy Watch Active.

There are also some compelling smart watches on the horizon. The Withings ScanWatch, for example, will be able to diagnose atrial fibrillation as well as sleep apnea. Plus it lasts 30 days on a charge.

Read on for all of our best smartwatch picks.

7 best smartwatches right now

1. Apple Watch Series 5
2. Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2
3. Apple Watch Series 3
4. Fitbit Versa 2
5. Garmin Vivoactive 4
6. Amazfit Bip
7. Fossil Gen 5

1. Apple Watch Series 5

Sizes: 40mm, 44mm | Battery Life (Rated): 18 hours | GPS: Yes | Swim-Proof: Yes | Heart Rate Monitor: Yes | LTE: Optional | Mobile Payments: Apple Pay | Compatibility: iOS

The Apple Watch Series 5’s always-on display makes a meaningful difference in user experience, especially when working out. The watch also includes a built-in compass, which comes in handy while hiking or star-gazing, and also makes Maps more useful by showing you which direction you’re facing at all times. Series 5 looks identical to Series 4, but the newer model comes in fresh finishes — titanium and ceramic — and offers the same advanced health features we loved in the Series 4. This is the best smartwatch you can buy.   

2. Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2

Sizes: 40mm, 44mm | Battery Life (Rated): 24-60 hours | GPS: Yes | Swim-Proof: Yes

| Heart Rate Monitor: Yes | LTE: Yes | Mobile Payments: Samsung Pay

| Compatibility: Android, iOS (works best with Galaxy phones)

The Galaxy Watch Active 2, which works with both Android (and to a lesser extent) iOS smartphones, has GPS, a heart rate monitor and LTE (for a premium), and can automatically track your activity and sleep. It runs Samsung’s Tizen operating system, so it works with both Android and iOS devices, but there’s a limited number of apps you can install on the watch. It comes in two sizes—40mm and 44mm—and has other such useful features as Samsung Pay, onboard music via Spotify and heart health features, including a forthcoming ECG feature similar to the one Apple offers in the Apple Watch Series 4 and 5.   

3. Apple Watch Series 3

Sizes: 38mm, 42mm | Battery Life (Rated): 18-24 hours | GPS: Yes | Swim-Proof: Yes | Heart Rate Monitor: Yes | LTE: Optional | Mobile Payments: Apple Pay | Compatibility: iOS

Starting at $199, the Apple Watch Series 3 is a more affordable smartwatch option for iPhone users. It’s smaller (38mm, 42mm), but still has a heart rate monitor, GPS, 8GB of storage with offline support for Apple Music playlists, and is waterproof up to 50 meters for swim-tracking. However, it has much thicker bezels than the Series 4, and lacks that model’s ability to detect atrial fibrillation with an ECG app.   

4. Fitbit Versa 2

Sizes: 39mm | Battery Life (Rated): 4 days | GPS: Only when connected to smartphone | Swim-Proof: Yes | Heart Rate Monitor: Yes | LTE: No | Mobile Payments: Optional, Fitbit Pay | Compatibility: iOS, Android

Fitbit’s Versa 2 is a refined upgrade from the original Versa that adds more advanced sleep-tracking features and built-in Alexa. Like its predecessor, the Versa 2 works with both iOS and Android and costs less than $200, which makes it a great value. Fitbit added a Spotify app to the Versa 2, so you can control music playback from your wrist. However, you can’t download Spotify playlists to the watch for offline listening. The Versa 2 also lacks on-board GPS. But overall, it’s a solid smartwatch for people who don’t want to spend more than $200.

5. Garmin Vivoactive 4

Sizes: 40mm, 45mm | Battery Life (Rated): Up to 7 days for Vivoactive 4S, 8 days for Vivoactive 4 | GPS: Yes | Swim-Proof: Yes | Heart Rate Monitor: Yes | LTE: Nol | Mobile Payments: Garmin Pay | Compatibility: iOS, Android

Garmin took the best features of its Vivoactive 3, our favorite smartwatch for fitness, and made them even better with the new $349 Vivoactive 4 and 4S. The watch now comes in two sizes, 40mm and 45mm, to offer a better fit for most people, and includes both Garmin Pay and music storage out of the box (instead of having to pay more for premium features like with the Vivoactive 3). The Vivoactive 4 also offers animated on-screen yoga and Pilates workouts to help you improve your poses. A new pulse ox sensor measures your blood oxygen level and gives you more detailed sleep insights. All of that plus 7-day battery life makes the Vivoactive 4 our favorite smartwatch for fitness buffs.

6. Amazfit Bip

Sizes: One size, with 1.28-inch display | Battery Life (Rated): Up to 45 days | GPS: Yes | Swim-Proof: No | Heart Rate Monitor: Yes | LTE: No | Mobile Payments: No | Compatibility: iOS, Android

This ultra-affordable device costs less than $80, yet works with iOS and Android and comes with GPS and a heart rate monitor. Other functionality is limited: You can select only from five different watch faces, and can only view, and not respond to notifications from the watch itself.

7. Fossil Gen 5

Sizes: 44mm | Battery Life (Rated): 18 hours, but longer with extended battery mode | GPS: Yes | Swim-Proof: Yes | Heart Rate Monitor: Yes | LTE: No | Mobile Payments: Google Pay | Compatibility: Android, iOS

Fossil’s Gen 5 smartwatch eliminates the most glaring performance lag we saw in past Wear OS watches, thanks to 1GB of RAM. The stylish design and customizable battery modes also make this smartwatch worth a look. But Wear OS still lags behind Apple Watch and Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active when it comes to fitness and heart health features. The fact that its Spotify app can’t store music offline is also a disadvantage. But if you want to give Wear OS a try, this is the watch to buy. 

How We Test and Rate Smartwatches

We test every new smartwatch to gauge its design and comfort. If it’s not stylish and comfortable enough to get you from an early morning workout to the office to a night out, you probably won’t wear it every day. Most smartwatches are also fitness trackers, so we put all of its sensors to the test, from step counts to heart rate to GPS (when applicable).

We install apps and use them to see if the device’s app store is robust enough to elevate it to smartwatch status. If the watch has built-in LTE, we test cellular connectivity and call quality to make sure the device can actually stand on its own without a smartphone nearby.

And we measure battery life using everyday scenarios — including workouts, using apps, and getting notifications — to make sure you can get through an entire day without needing to charge up.