The Best Smartwatches and Fitness Trackers

The sensor set is the whole argument for this watch. You get an ECG app, blood oxygen, skin temperature, high and low heart rate alerts, irregular rhythm notifications, and sleep apnea detection that reviewers singled out as a genuine first for the line. None of it replaces a doctor. But if you want one device that flags something worth asking about, this is the most complete option Apple sells to iPhone owners.

At 9.7mm, it's thin enough that you'll actually sleep in it. That matters more than it sounds. Sleep tracking only works if you keep the watch on overnight, and bulky watches come off at bedtime. The Series 10 case is the slimmest Apple has shipped, and the aluminum version weighs almost nothing. Owners who've upgraded from older Apple Watches consistently mention the comfort before anything else.

Charging is quick enough to slot into your routine. Apple rates it at roughly zero to 80 percent in about half an hour. So you top it off while you shower or make dinner, then wear it to bed. That's the trick to living with an 18-hour watch, and it's the difference between useful sleep data and an empty wrist every morning.

The always-on display is readable from odd angles. Apple widened the viewing angle on this generation, so a glance mid-run or mid-grocery-aisle actually tells you the time. Small thing. But you look at this screen dozens of times a day, and a screen you have to square up to your face gets old fast.

Buying renewed is the sensible way into a flagship. Amazon's renewed listings are inspected, cleaned and tested by qualified suppliers, with no cosmetic flaws visible at arm's length and a battery rated above 80 percent of new capacity. You're getting current-generation health hardware without paying current-generation money.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Renewed means compromises, and you should know them going in. These units aren't Apple certified. The battery has already lived part of its life, the accessories won't be Apple originals, and the box may be plain. Everything works, but a watch you charge nightly is a watch whose battery degradation you'll notice sooner than you would on a new one.

You'll charge it every day, no exceptions. Apple still rates the Series 10 at 18 hours. Add a GPS workout and you're watching the percentage drop. If the idea of another nightly cable annoys you, a Garmin or the Fitbit Charge 6 will suit you far better.

It's iPhone-only, and the aluminum scratches. Pair it with an Android phone and you get essentially nothing. And the anodized aluminum case picks up scuffs from doorframes and gym equipment over time — titanium holds up better, but it costs considerably more.

This is a renewed listing, so instead of a standard Apple warranty it carries a 90-day replacement-or-refund window from the date you receive it.

The Energy Score is the feature you'll actually use. Every morning it reads yesterday's sleep, heart rate variability and activity load, then tells you whether to push or back off. Plenty of watches dump numbers on you. This one turns them into a single call you can act on before coffee, which is roughly what most people want from health tracking.

One sensor stack covers heart rate, blood oxygen and body composition. Samsung's BioActive sensor reads all three from the same spot on your wrist. Body composition is a trend tool, not a lab scale, so watch the direction rather than the digits. The heart rate tracking is the part that matters daily, and Samsung filters out arm movement to clean up readings during a run.

Two days of battery changes how you live with it. At roughly 40 hours, you can skip a night on the charger without stress. Forget it once and the watch is still tracking your sleep. That's a real quality-of-life gap between this and any Apple Watch, and it's the most common thing owners praise.

Wear OS means you're not stuck with Samsung's apps. Google Play access gets you Maps, Wallet, Spotify and whatever running app you already like. Sleep tracking includes moderate-to-severe sleep apnea detection, so the overnight side is close to what Apple offers.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The best features quietly assume you own a Galaxy phone. Blood pressure monitoring and the fullest version of Galaxy AI coaching are Samsung-phone territory, and blood pressure needs periodic recalibration against a real cuff anyway. On a Pixel or a OnePlus you get a very good Wear OS watch — just not the one in the ads.

The 40mm case is small if you're used to a big screen. It suits slimmer wrists nicely. But if you're coming from a 45mm watch, workout data and notifications will feel cramped, and you'll be scrolling more than you'd like.

This US version comes with a one-year manufacturer warranty.

Weekly charging is the reason to choose a band over a watch. Roughly seven days per charge means you plug it in on Sunday and stop thinking about it. Sleep tracking gets far more useful when the device is never off your wrist, and that's the quiet advantage this thing has over every smartwatch here.

Built-in GPS means you can leave the phone at home. Head out for a run or a ride and the Charge 6 maps the route on its own. Google Maps turn-by-turn directions show up on the screen, and Google Wallet handles the coffee afterward. For a band this small, that's a lot of independence.

An FDA-cleared ECG app in a band is unusual. Most trackers at this end of the market stop at optical heart rate. This one can screen for atrial fibrillation and read your heart rate off compatible gym equipment, which fixes the classic problem of wrist sensors losing the plot during weights.

It's comfortable in a way chunky watches aren't. The slim band disappears under a sleeve and doesn't dig in when you sleep on your side. If you've bounced off smartwatches because they felt like wearing a wall clock, start here.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The screen is small, and that limits what you can do. Maps are cramped, workout data comes a couple of fields at a time, and reading a long notification is a chore. It's a tracker with a display, not a wrist computer.

The best analytics sit behind a subscription. Six months of Fitbit Premium comes in the box. After that, detailed sleep breakdowns and long-term trend data need a paid plan, so factor that in before you commit to Fitbit's ecosystem.

There's no on-device music storage. You can control what's playing on your phone, but you can't leave the phone behind and still have a soundtrack. Runners who train to music will find that annoying.

Nothing else here comes close on battery. Garmin rates the Fenix 8 for weeks in smartwatch mode, not hours. On a thru-hike or a week away from outlets, that's the difference between a watch and a bracelet. It also means overnight health tracking never competes with your charging schedule.

Multi-band GPS holds its line where cheap GPS wanders. Under tree cover, in canyons, between tall buildings — that's where single-band watches drift and inflate your distance. Reviewers who log routes for a living rate Garmin's multi-band tracking as the most accurate you can buy in a consumer watch, and this is the best version Garmin has shipped.

The extras aren't gimmicks if you're actually outside. There's a real LED flashlight with variable brightness for alpine starts and dark trail runs. It's dive-rated and tested to US military standards. Dynamic round-trip routing builds you a loop of the distance you want from wherever you're standing. Garmin Pay and onboard music round it out.

Body Battery makes the training data legible. Garmin tracks your energy 24/7 and shows it as one climbing-and-draining number. Sport-specific strength workouts, multisport profiles and detailed recovery metrics sit underneath. You don't have to be a coach to read it, but there's plenty there if you are.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It's big, heavy and unmistakably a sports watch. The 47mm case reads as an instrument on the wrist, not jewelry. Under a dress shirt it's conspicuous, and smaller wrists will feel every gram of it.

The smart features trail Apple and Samsung. Third-party apps, voice assistants and streaming all work better on the other platforms. Garmin's menus also have a genuine learning curve — expect a week of hunting through nested settings before it clicks.

This particular listing is a bundle. Along with the watch you get an adapter, a cleaning cloth, a power bank and a set of wireless earbuds from a third party. The watch is the real product here; treat the rest as packaging, and don't judge the bundle accessories by Garmin's standards.

The safety features are the reason to buy this for someone you love. It detects a hard fall or a severe car crash and can connect the wearer to emergency services automatically, then notify their emergency contacts. Check In can tell a family member they got home. For an older parent or a new driver, that's worth more than any training metric.

It kept the always-on display, which used to be a flagship-only perk. You can read the time without flicking your wrist. That sounds trivial until you're carrying groceries or holding a toddler, and it's the single biggest usability gap the older SE models had.

The overnight health tools are more complete than you'd expect. You get a daily sleep score, sleep apnea notifications, temperature sensing that feeds the Vitals app and retrospective ovulation estimates, plus high, low and irregular heart rate alerts. That's a real health picture from Apple's entry model.

Charging is fast, which papers over the 18-hour battery. Apple rates it at up to eight hours of use from a 15-minute top-up, roughly twice as fast as the previous SE. Fifteen minutes while you get dressed is enough to carry you through a night of sleep tracking.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Apple doesn't list an ECG app or a blood oxygen sensor for this model. If cardiac screening is the reason you're buying a watch at all, that's the line that should push you up to the Series 10. Heart rate alerts still catch a lot, but they aren't the same thing.

The 40mm case is small and the chip is a generation behind. It suits younger and smaller wrists well. On a larger wrist it looks undersized, and app launches are a beat slower than on the Series 10.

It's iPhone-only, same as every Apple Watch. This GPS model also leans on your iPhone or Wi-Fi for connectivity, so it isn't the one to buy for someone who wants to leave their phone behind.