Best Wear OS watch 2024

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Wear OS watches. As the technology continues to make big strides in terms of features and functionality, there are now options for pretty much every budget and use case imaginable. So, even if you don't know where to start, I've tested some of the best Wear OS watches out there to help you make the right choice. 

Whether you want the latest and greatest or don't mind saving some cash by going for a slightly older model, this guide showcases all of the best Wear OS watches on the market today. 

You can grab one of the following options from the best Wear OS watches list and get the specs you need from a wearable. The cream of the crop includes popular name brands like Google, Samsung, and more. The watch you choose will come down to what's most important to you, but these are all great Wear OS options.

Michael Hicks

Michael Hicks is Android Central's resident smartwatch geek, having reviewed or tested dozens of wearables from Samsung, Google, Apple, Garmin, Fitbit, Coros, Polar, Withings, Amazfit, and others. He spends his free time running or hiking while wearing several watches at once, testing which is most accurate.

At a glance

Best overall

Launched recently, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 doesn't offer many improvements over its predecessor. Our Galaxy Watch 7 reviewer noted that it's largely an iterative update over the Galaxy Watch 6, with many features likely to come from the previous model. However, there's still much to like about Samsung's newest smartwatch.

So, what are these new additions? Well, the newest-generation model has an improved processor, giving it a slight performance and battery life boost over the last-generation smartwatch. You also get new double-pinch and knock-knock gesture shortcuts built into many apps and system tools. These allow you to quickly silence timers, turn off alarms, play/pause music, pause/restart workouts, and dismiss notifications. Although they annoyingly don't work every time. Then there's all the usual good stuff like a truckload of sensors, 10W charging, two size options, and multiple band styles and colors from which to choose. All these goodies make the Galaxy Watch 7 one of the best Android smartwatches you can get in the market today.

However, the Galaxy Watch 7 does have a few shortcomings as well. First, while the gesture features allow you to speed up navigation, they annoyingly don't work every time. Many of the features found on the newest model will be coming to the Galaxy Watch 6, too, making it difficult to recommend if you're upgrading from the 6. But if you're in the market for a first Galaxy Watch purchase, or it's been a while since you upgraded, you can't do much better than this one.

Best design

Google followed up its first two smartwatches with a sequel in the form of the Pixel Watch 3, which looks like a clone yet again. Google choose not to tinker much with the overall design, so the focus lies on the functionality. You can enjoy everything Wear OS 5 offers, making the Pixel Watch 3 more interconnected with Google Pixel tech.

Our Pixel Watch 3 initial review outlines how it improved over its predecessor, keeping the parts that worked and adding or improving on those that didn't. It's very comfortable to wear and you can now choose from two different sizes — something users had been begging for since the original Pixel Watch. This iteration maintains a rounded display which gives it a sleek look we appreciate. Plus, the haptics for notifications are as sublime as ever.

Third-party apps look great on the Google Pixel Watch 3, Fitbit integration is excellent, and performance stays smooth throughout. Using the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chipset is a big reason for ensuring stability that wasn't always there in the original Pixel Watch or the Pixel Watch 2.

The Google Pixel Watch 3 is an excellent choice if you're an athlete excited by the possibility of combining workout building, health tracking, and cardio load. It is also a good choice if you care more about style than durability.

Best premium

Most Wear OS watches will last a day at most with features like continuous heart rate active. But the massive Galaxy Watch 5 Pro lasts around 40-45 hours with all health sensors and sleep tracking active, and it offers speedy charging. The watch has also experienced a massive improvement in health tracking and heart rate data, bringing it more in line with offerings from other contemporary smartwatches. Other CPU, display, and GPS improvements make it an appealing watch for athletes.

As our Galaxy Watch Ultra review explains, the main issue here is that the price may put some people off, especially when the Galaxy Watch 7 is so much cheaper. In a comparison between the Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, we also noted that the vast improvements in CPU, display, health sensors, GPS, and other areas burn through the same 590mAh capacity faster, making it a harder sell to those who still have the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.

The improvements overall are still reason enough to purchase this watch, and the Galaxy Watch Ultra is an objectively better offering than the Galaxy Watch 7. However, the price makes it challenging to recommend outside of a premium pick, and the heaviness of the design may also put people off, depending on personal preference.

Best value

Our TicWatch E3 review lays out all the simple perks of this model. For starters, it has a large and bright 1.3-inch HD display, encompassed by a rather large and bulky bezel that you'll either love or hate, depending on your preferences. Fortunately, the watch is compatible with 20mm interchangeable bands, so swapping it out for a new one is never going to be an issue. It offers IP68 water resistance and is suitable for pool swimming.

Thanks to the Wear 4100 chip and 1GB of RAM, we found "little to no delay in opening apps or loading up the Play Store on the watch. " The battery life lasts 1.5 days even with 24-hour HRM and SpO2 tracking, AOD, and sleep tracking. You can also use Essential mode, which uses tilt-to-wake and still tracks heart rate and sleep and extends your battery life to a full 20 days per charge (in our tests).

You get more than your share of features on the health and fitness side of things. The Mobvoi TicWatch E3 offers onboard GPS, activity tracking, heart-rate monitoring, sleep tracking, and more. There are a few extra perks, such as Google Assistant and Google Pay. These are all fantastic additions, but the short battery life is a drawback. This is not unheard of for Wear OS watches, though. If you can live with that and the chunky bezel, this is an incredible value that's hard to beat.

Best battery life

The OnePlus Watch 2 isn't without its challenges, as we noted in our review, but the upside is considerable for this good-looking Wear OS watch. Its dual-chip design is unique in that it delivers the power and versatility of Wear OS with the efficiency that comes with RTOS, an older interface that focuses on background tasks. There's only one size and no LTE variant, but there's no doubt the Watch 2 will look good on any wrist.

While the entire software layout feels generally intuitive — especially given how nicely Wear OS and RTOS integrate — it's odd that OnePlus would choose not to incorporate the digital crown more into navigating things onscreen. It may have a large AMOLED display, but the crown is conveniently positioned to scroll up and down as well. Notifications come through smoothly except when they don't make it to the watch. These are fixable points via software updates, so hopefully, OnePlus will work out the kinks and improve what an already solid smartwatch is.

Battery life is outstanding for Wear OS, lasting at least a full day longer than competitors before you need to recharge at about four days. All that despite the various activity tracking features available and the third-party app access afforded by the Play Store. With 32GB of internal storage, there's plenty of room to install apps and save music playlists directly to the Watch 2.

Best last-gen

The Galaxy Watch 6 is still a great Wear OS watch, and if you were looking for something less pricey than the Galaxy Watch 7 or the extremely expensive Ultra, this one might be for you. Now that they're frequently on sale for much less than their launch prices, the Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic are worth buying if you want to save money without compromising quality.

In our Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 review, we praised the performance, design, health features, and fast charging but had a complicated view that it didn't change too much from the Galaxy Watch 5. Having said that, this watch does come with a marginally better SoC, which gives it a slight performance boost over the previous-generation smartwatch. You also get slightly bigger displays, even though the case is now a bit thinner.

The battery life isn't entirely bad, getting you a day's worth of use from a full charge. However, for heavy users, it falls short of expectations. For example, GPS-tracked activities can drain almost 25 percent of the smartwatch's battery, while sleep-tracking takes up 20 to 30 percent. You'll probably need to juice up this thing multiple times daily if you're a heavy user. Fortunately, the charging speed on both the Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic is blazing fast.

A significant upside is that the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic kept the rotating bezel that Samsung popularized with the older models — something the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro design abandoned. If you want the best parts of some older model watches in one affordable package, the Galaxy Watch 6 is the one you want.

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Honorable mentions

So there you have it, my top favorite smartwatches that utilize Wear OS software. Of course, there are plenty of other options if none of the above work for you. This section is devoted to great Wear OS options that didn't quite make the cut but still deserve a look. From a stylish Skagen wearable to a versatile Fossil, here are my honorable mentions.  

How to choose

As you can see, Wear OS covers some ground in the wearable market. While it might be slightly different from the Wear OS experience you're used to, the latest and greatest Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is the best option simply because it offers just about everything from an assortment of health sensors to Google Assistant support, all in an excellent design. Since Google backs it, it will be helpful for Samsung to get new software updates just as quickly as Google's smartwatch.

Speaking of which, you can pick the Pixel Watch 3 instead, which we'd suggest if you want something more stylish or care about Fitbit integration. But with the new model, you have two sizes to choose from.

Ultimately, run through the health, wellness, and notification features that are most important to you. With WearOS, you might want to be able to leverage features like Google Assistant, Google Maps, Google Wallet, and more, so see how (and if) these work on the watch as well. Battery life is also a key consideration: if you are active and tend to use the watch a lot to track workouts as well as run apps and more, you'll want a smartwatch that can last beyond a day per charge or that at least recharges quickly when it needs a boost.

Finally, consider the phone you own. While the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is the best overall option, it works best and unlocks all its features with a Samsung Galaxy phone. If you own a phone from another brand, you might want to consider another model on this list. If you own a OnePlus phone like the OnePlus 12, you'll find that the OnePlus Watch 2 is the perfect companion.

How we test

As one of the first sites to ever review Android smartwatches, we take our testing procedures very seriously when it comes to wearables. Smartwatch expert and senior editor Michael Hicks tests and reviews each watch in the same way we approach smartphones: through a blend of hands-on research, controlled tests, and benchmark programs. 

Rather than taking manufacturer claims at face value, Michael throws on chest and arm straps and hits the street to verify heart rate tracking, pedometer consistency, and GPS accuracy. It also means that you'll occasionally see him running 20-mile races wearing four smartwatches at a time. 

Sure, our intensive testing methods may take time, and we aren't always the first site to get reviews out for the latest devices, but that's because we care about accuracy and instilling confidence in our readers, not just clicks. In other words, if we're recommending a device, you can rest easy knowing that we've spent hours making 100% sure that it's worth your hard-earned money. 

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