Google’s Wear OS is one of the most widely used smartwatch operating systems. Its availability extends well beyond Google’s own Pixel Watch. Watches from Samsung, Mobvoi, Casio, and Xiaomi all utilize some version of Wear OS. There are even luxury watches that utilize Google’s smartwatch OS, including TAG Heuer, Kate Spade, and Montblanc. While not all watches use the latest version, Wear OS 4 offers plenty of new features to help it compete with the likes of Apple, Garmin, and Fitbit. The best Wear OS devices are highly capable, and each is impressive in its own way.
Best smartwatches: Expert tested and reviewed
From the newest Apple Watches to Android options, these are the best smartwatches for tracking time and fitness, according to our testing.
In this guide, we’ll be detailing what we believe are the very best watches that run on Wear OS, starting with the capable and stylish Google Pixel Watch 2.
Best Wear OS experience overall
Google Pixel Watch 2
Brilliant all-around functionality with an attractive design
With Fitbit integrated, great health sensors in an absolutely gorgeous watch — and fluid, lightweight software — the Pixel Watch 2 is a brilliant all-rounder. With a bigger size available and a longer battery, it’d be practically perfect.
- Fitbit integration means brilliant health/fitness tracking
- Beautiful design
- Water resistant to high levels
- Wear OS software as it should be: fluid and fast
- Battery life still not amazing
- No wireless charging
There are a few reasons the Pixel Watch 2 makes it to the top of our list of the best Wear OS watches. But the one feature that really stands out after testing it is the Fitbit integration. The way Fitbit translates your physical fitness and performance, digests it, and then presents it in a way that’s really easy to understand makes it one of our favorite fitness and health platforms. You can go digging down into data if you want to, but Fitbit offers a way to understand the data in a way that just makes sense.
Pixel Watch 2: A Fitbit in disguise?
Fitbit isn’t the only good thing about the Pixel Watch 2, but it is the best thing about it.
Like the first-generation model, the design really sets it apart from the rest of the Wear OS market. The way the glass seamlessly curves into the aluminum case is just gorgeous, and the small size means those with smaller wrists can easily wear it. What’s more, the user interface is really clean, lightweight, customizable, and fluid. It gets a lot right.
That’s not to say it’s perfect. We’d still love to see longer battery life and support for wireless charging — which seems an unusual omission — but the rest of its benefits mean we can live with it.
Best Wear OS watch for traditional watch design
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic
Advanced features with a classic watch look
The Watch 6 Classic has all the advanced software and fitness features of the Watch 6, but in a watch made from stainless steel and with a design that’s a lot more similar to a traditional watch than the basic model.
- The classic design looks good
- Rotating bezel means you’re not just limited to the touchscreen
- Lots of advanced fitness abilities
- Durable and water-resistant
- Big, bright display with skinny bezels
- Battery life could be better
- Lots of preloaded Samsung apps/features
- Not the cheapest
Where Samsung’s watches differ from Google’s is that the experience is very heavily skinned and geared towards being tightly integrated with Samsung phones. That means Samsung Health for fitness tracking, Samsung Pay for mobile payments, and Bixby as the default assistant. However, because it’s Wear OS, you can still have Google’s stock options instead.
9:39
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic: You spin me round
With its stainless steel body, classic look and rotating bezel, does it add enough to the experience to make it worth more than the regular Watch 6?
It’s a fully-featured watch that looks like a watch. It also has decent battery life, a great screen, and is designed to take a beating. Plus, that rotating bezel around the display makes it a unique selling point.
Best Wear OS watch for battery life
Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5
Long battery life keeps you off the charger for longer
The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 offers unrivaled battery life thanks to its clever dual-layer display technology. It’s also the fastest option available, thanks to the inclusion of the latest Snapdragon W5+ chip.
- Excellent battery life
- Clever dual-display technology
- The latest Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chip
- No Google Assistant
- Bloated app structure
- Lacking compelling fitness software
The biggest problem with Wear OS smartwatches is that the system is very battery-hungry, so options that will last for more than a day on a charge are few and far between. Mobvoi has solved this problem on the TicWatch Pro 5. It uses an ingenious ultra-low-power always-on display, which is layered over the top of the OLED panel. This gives you the benefits of an all-day display, without the battery drain, and means that this watch can easily go four days between charges with most smart features enabled.
Mobvoi Ticwatch Pro 5: The best Wear OS smartwatch yet?
With the latest Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chip on board, Wear OS 3, and promises of big battery life, the TicWatch Pro 5 certainly looks promising.
If that wasn’t enough, it’s also the first watch to sport Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon W5+ Gen 1 chip, which means it’s one of the fastest and smoothest Wear OS experiences we’ve had to date.
The TicWatch Pro 5 isn’t perfect, though. It’s only available in black and in one (pretty chunky) size, so it won’t be the right watch for everyone. Plus, the fitness tracking platform isn’t as capable or well thought through as Fitbit on the Pixel Watch or Samsung Health on the Galaxy Watch. But for sheer performance and for the money, it’s one of the best models available today.
Best basic Wear OS watch for Samsung users
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
Plenty of features in a durable, comfortable package
Galaxy Watch 6 is Samsung’s latest smartwatch, offering a larger screen and faster processor than its predecessors. It’s also more durable and comfortable to wear.
- Comfortable and lightweight
- Affordable price
- Tonnes of useful fitness features
- Bloated software
- Design is a bit plain
If you’re a Samsung phone user, few smartwatches will offer the companion experience for your phone, like the latest Galaxy Watch. It’s designed to tie in perfectly with your Samsung, including access to any of the Samsung account features. Of those, Samsung Health is the driver of the experience and offers a huge number of fitness and health features.
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Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: More of the same
With its larger screen, more durable build, enhanced fitness features and faster processing, is this finally the perfect Wear OS watch?
You get in-depth sleep insights and coaching, plus advanced health metrics like the body composition tool that can tell you how much of your mass is skeletal muscle, fat, or water. Add that to accurate heart rate during workouts, advanced running insight, and the usual selection of SpO2, stress, and ECG sensors, and you get pretty much all you could ask for in a watch.
It’s not a massive improvement on the Galaxy Watch 5, but the more durable Sapphire Crystal on the screen, the larger display, and the smoother performance are all welcome upgrades. If you get the basic model, you won’t have to pay all that much for it either.
Best Wear OS watch feature set
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro
An ideal balance of features and value
The top-of-the-line Galaxy Watch offers great battery life, build quality, and a rich feature list.
- Good battery life
- Great-looking, durable design
- Strong feature set and lots of fitness tracking options
- It’s a little expensive
- Only works with Android phones
The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro strikes the right balance between features, performance, and value. You’ll easily get two to three days of battery from the watch, if not more, and it has all the sensors for fitness tracking that you need.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro: Stepping up
Samsung has released two versions of the Galaxy Watch 5 – a regular model and this, the Pro, aimed at a more adventurous type.
That includes an accurate multi-band GPS system and a very accurate heart rate sensor that works well — even for HIIT sessions. Plus, you get all the proper smartwatch stuff, like offline music, contactless payments and interactive notifications, downloadable apps, and messages.
With its durable titanium case, raised bezel, and sapphire crystal display, it can take a beating, too. All this in a device that — while not cheap — is not hideously expensive either. The only real downside is that Samsung only offers it in one size and two different case colors. Other than that, it’s great. There’s a reason Samsung kept it in its product portfolio after launching the Galaxy Watch 6.
The bottom line: The best Wear OS smartwatch
As each Wear OS smartwatch offers a different range of features and designs, the best option depends on your needs and wants. Many of the watches above offer a good mix of features, looks, and price, though each has its own strengths and weaknesses. For example, if battery life is most important to you, the TicWatch Pro 5 is the way to go, while performance and advanced fitness tracking features are better on the Google Pixel Watch 2. At the end of the day, you’ll need to decide what is most important to you on a day-to-day basis and select based on that.
Google Pixel Watch 2
Editor’s Choice
With Fitbit integrated, great health sensors in an absolutely gorgeous watch — and fluid, lightweight software — the Pixel Watch 2 is a brilliant all-rounder. With a bigger size available and a longer battery, it’d be practically perfect.
How we chose the best Wear OS smartwatches
Pocket-lint has been reviewing smartwatches as a company for two decades, exposing us to most smartwatches on the market, including Wear OS devices. In fact, we’ve reviewed every watch on this list. When selecting the watches here, we prioritized overall performance, battery life, and fitness features. We also aimed to select watches at different price points to suit the needs of more individuals.
FAQ
Q: Wear OS v Apple Watch – which is best?
Historically, the Apple Watch has far outperformed the capabilities of Wear OS. However, with the arrival of Wear OS 4, that gap is closing. That’s especially true with the arrival of the Pixel Watch 2. Likewise, the latest Samsung watches are, as we’ve said, a great example of what the platform is capable of.
For a full ranking of devices from across different ecosystems, check out our complete best smartwatch guide.
Q: How much do you need to spend on a Wear OS smartwatch?
Price is always a very important factor, which is why our list features a varied range. However, this is made pretty simple, too, by the fact that Wear OS smartwatches are, in our view, very reasonably priced compared to rival models from Apple.
The truth is, unlike with Apple Watch devices, spending more doesn’t necessarily grant you a better Wear OS experience. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is an outstanding watch, but it also doesn’t break the bank. The Tag Heuer Connected, meanwhile, is more basic on the software front but costs a four-figure sum.
As we’ve outlined, it’s more important to pick a watch that’s future-proofed and fits your lifestyle.
Q: Does your smartwatch need Wear OS 4?
Google announced Wear OS 4 in the summer of 2023. The latest version of Google’s smartwatch operating system improved battery life and general performance for some watch models. Additionally, new versions of Gmail and Google Calendar were introduced, as was the ability to make custom watchfaces. Beyond performance upgrades, the updates were minimal.
Not all watches received the Wear OS 4 upgrade, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t buy a watch with a lower OS version. It comes down to which features are most important to you. Wear OS 3 did bring much more substantial upgrades, so we would recommend a watch with at least Wear OS 3.
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