Best Smartwatch for 2025 – CNET

Smartwatches have become essential tools for tracking your health. They can jump-start your fitness journey, monitor your vitals and keep you connected.

With more brands entering the market, from feature-packed flagships to more affordable versions, landing on the right match for your needs is more involved than you’d expect. We’ve done the vetting for you and rounded up the best smartwatches in each category that will pair well with your phone of choice.

Generally, premium models deliver seamless integration and advanced tools, while budget-friendly picks get you the essentials with a few trade-offs. The common denominator: Every watch on this list has been rigorously tested, so you can be confident you’re getting great value no matter which one you choose. Here are our top recommendations for the best smartwatches in 2025.

What is the best smartwatch?

The Apple Watch Series 11 is our favorite overall smartwatch. It combines polished software with a wide variety of health tools and smartphone companion features. Ten years after the original Apple Watch set the stage for the modern smartwatch, the Apple Watch Series 11 adds even more health-tracking features, including notifications about hypertension (high blood pressure) and practical smartwatch tools like better scratch resistance and 5G connectivity. If you’re an iPhone owner, the Series 11 provides the right balance of features for the price.

The Apple Watch Series 11 isn’t perfect. Battery life has improved, but still only lasts about 24 to 29 hours of normal use. Fast charging goes some way to address battery life, but it still means the watch is off your wrist more than you might like. Considering the health and safety tools, from fall detection during the day to sleep apnea notifications at night, you’re likely to want to wear the watch as much as possible. The Apple Watch Series 11 has the right balance of health tracking and everyday usability to make it the best choice.

Read more: I’ve Tested Dozens of Smartwatches, but the Apple Watch Series 10 Beats Them All

Like

• Emergency satellite connectivity
• Dual-band GPS
• Hands-free Gemini voice assistant
• Ultra-fast charging (50% in <15 min)

Don’t like

• Health coach not yet available
• Battery lasts just over 24 hours
• Watch bands are hard to maneuver

The Pixel Watch 4 hits a sweet spot between universally appealing design, seamless Android integration, potentially life-saving safety features and robust health tracking through Fitbit.

Google’s fourth-generation Pixel Watch builds on its already excellent predecessor with longer battery life, a brighter, larger display and two powerful new assistants: Gemini for everyday tasks and queries, and the upcoming Fitbit AI health coach, which promises to turn your health data into actionable guidance.

Like

• 5-day battery life
• Sleek comfortable design
• Customizable shortcut buttons
• Advanced metrics for select sports modes

Don’t like

• One size does not fit all
• Three years of software and security updates
• Lacks menstrual cycle tracking
• ECG is not available in the US or Canada
• Lacks LTE version or iOS compatibility

The $350 OnePlus Watch 3 is a standout smartwatch that outshines other Wear OS contenders with its five-day battery life, sleek design and solid health features. It covers all the essential smartwatch functions while improving on health and fitness tracking by adding more metrics, boosting accuracy, and offering deeper workout analysis. Its one-stop wellness check feature measures blood oxygen levels, sleep quality, cardiovascular health and stress levels.

Like

• Rotating bezel for easier navigation
• Sleek, stainless steel design
• Gemini AI for smarter voice control
• Advanced health sensors
• Customizable crown (action button)

Don’t like

• Starts at $150 more than base model
• Battery life still less than a day and a half
• Only available in one size (47mm)
• No power sharing with Galaxy phones (cable only)

The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic is one of the most elegant-looking smartwatches you can buy, with its polished stainless steel frame, rotating bezel and analog-inspired watch faces that blend timeless style with modern smarts. But it’s more than just good looks. It ships with Gemini AI on board, capable of handling complex tasks and making Bixby (Samsung’s proprietary virtual assistant) feel like a distant memory. Under the hood, it’s packed with new biosensors for advanced health tracking, including a first-of-its-kind skin analysis tool that measures antioxidant levels, an AI-powered running coach and a new heart health metric called Vascular Load. You’ll also get dual-band GPS, a customizable action button and a battery that doesn’t completely disappoint (it outlasts both the smaller Galaxy Watch 8 and the Pixel Watch 3 by a couple of hours).

Like

• Always-on display
• Ultrafast charging: 8 hours of use in just 15 minutes
• Same S10 processor as pricier Series 11 and Ultra 3
• Almost half the price of the flagship Apple Watch
• 5G connectivity on the cellular model

Don’t like

• No blood oxygen tracking or hypertension notifications
• No ECG (electrocardiogram) feature
• Smaller, dimmer display
• Battery life still limited to one full day (and night) of use

The Apple Watch SE 3 is Apple’s most affordable new smartwatch, proving that a lower price doesn’t have to mean sacrificing quality or core features. The always-on display, faster charging and expanded health features put it on par with its higher-end siblings, making it easy to forget this is the entry-level model. 

Like

• $80 price is much less than most watches
• Works with Android and iOS
• Great battery life (a week with heavy use)
• Accurately tracks a variety of fitness activities
• Temperature and advanced sleep monitoring

Don’t like

• Single sizing option (44mm)
• UI and app are unintuitive
• Some health metrics are hard to interpret
• Voice assistant is unreliable
• Bluetooth range is short (especially on iPhone)

The $80 Amazfit Bip 6 is the most affordable option on this list, and a rare standout in the budget smartwatch category because it delivers on all the basics (and more) without many compromises. The design and interface aren’t as refined as pricier models, but that feels like a fair trade-off considering how much the Bip 6 gets right. It offers accurate fitness tracking with customizable training tools like heart rate zones, plus advanced health features including SpO2 (blood oxygen), temperature and sleep tracking, and high and low heart-rate alerts.

Like

• Two-day battery life
• Ultra fast charging (12% in 15 minutes)
• Satellite connectivity for off-the-grid emergencies
• Bright screen for clear visibility in harsh sunlight

Don’t like

• Only one (49mm) sizing option
• $800 price tag is double that of the Series 11
• Rugged design is less versatile than other models

The Apple Watch Ultra 3 builds on its predecessors with the addition of 5G and satellite connectivity, which gives you an extra layer of protection when you’re off the grid. It also comes with a faster processor, longer battery life, potentially life-saving hypertension notifications, and (to my surprise) a design that isn’t nearly as bulky as I feared, even for sleep.

Factors to consider when buying a smartwatch

Consider last year’s model: Many new smartwatches offer incremental hardware updates over previous models, so you might want to look at the last generation’s smartwatch to save some cash — especially because software updates often bring new features to older models. For example, you could look at something like the Apple Watch Series 9 which is compatible with the latest WatchOS 11 update to get many of the same software features as the newer Series 9. Avoid buying smartwatches that are several years old, as they may start to feel sluggish. 

Buy at the right time of year: Smartwatches usually go on sale during Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so it’s a good idea to look out for discounts around those holidays. Knowing when new devices typically launch can also be helpful. After all, you don’t want to purchase a brand new smartwatch only for it to feel out of date two months later. Samsung, Apple and Google usually release new smartwatches in the late summer and early fall time frame, but you can find more information on typical launch periods here. 

Look at added costs: Some smartwatches are moving toward a subscription model that unlocks certain features of your watch. Google’s Pixel Watch, for example, offers a monthly $10 subscription called Fitbit Premium that offers more in-depth sleep tracking metrics, workout programs and guidance on recovery.

How we test smartwatches and wearables

We test smartwatches in the real world, focusing on key features from fitness tracking to connectivity that you’ll use every day. Starting with the watch itself, we check overall performance and responsiveness. Is there any lag when navigating menus? Is the touchscreen responsive? Do apps launch quickly?

Then we check if it has all the functionality you’d expect for the price. That could be everything from music playback controls to cellular connectivity so you can use the watch away from your phone or an always-on display. All smartwatches need to connect to a phone, so we also assess how easy the companion software is to navigate.

Durability and design

Smartwatches are something you wear on your body, so we assess how comfortable they are to wear. We also know that everyone has a different-sized wrist, so we try to see how it fits and feels on a variety of people. 

Then we look at how it stands up to wear and tear with daily life. Some smartwatches offer increased durability like dust resistance, or water resistance that’s suited for activities like scuba diving and where possible we’ll test this out for ourselves.

Battery life

Battery life will vary depending on how you use a smartwatch, so we test battery life with a few standard tests. We see how long it generally lasts on a single charge with features that represent typical use, like the always-on display, sleep tracking and doing an outdoor workout with GPS.

Fitness and health sensor accuracy

We test the accuracy of smartwatch sensors in a couple of different ways. For example, the heart rate sensor is compared against the readings taken from a chest strap, considered the gold standard in consumer heart rate tracking. We compare readings from the watch against the strap for resting heart rate, and heart rate during a variety of cardio-based activities like running or cycling. We check to see how long it takes to connect to a GPS signal when doing an outdoor workout.

Other health sensors, like a blood oxygen sensor, are compared against a pulse oximeter for spot readings where possible.

Other smartwatches we tested

While no longer sold directly by Apple, the Apple Watch Series 9 is still a strong option if you can find it. Third party retailers often have it in stock with discounts as low as $300. You’ll miss out on the larger, redesigned screen and ultra fast charging of the newer Series 10, but it still has key health features not available on the cheaper SE, like the ECG app, temperature sensing and sleep apnea notifications.

What to look forward to going into 2026

Smartwatches are only getting smarter about health, and I hope that continues; whether it’s better sensors, new metrics, or more personalized coaching, especially as more brands start leaning on AI to make sense of your data. One trend I’d love to see stick around in this year’s launches is better battery life. Smarter software and hardware upgrades like the dual CPU architecture on the OnePlus Watch 3 are finally making multiday wear feel realistic. Meanwhile, the definition of a wearable is expanding fast, with more smart rings making their debuts as well as upgraded earbud options with built-in health sensors that are already nudging into smartwatch territory. They probably won’t replace watches entirely, but they’re definitely raising the bar, and will continue giving the smartwatch category a healthy push forward.