The 10 Best Smartwatches in 2027

We'd buy this over the Series 12 if you run far, hike or just want to stop charging every day. Battery is the real gain: about two days of heavy use and close to 18.5 hours of GPS in DC Rainmaker's estimate. Owners on the MacRumors forums mostly back that up, with some near half charge after 50 hours, though a couple see little change from older Ultras. Say you leave Friday night for a weekend hike: you'll probably reach Sunday without a charger if you keep the always-on display off. Heart rate is strong but not flawless, since readings can grey out and leave gaps, which all three runners at The Run Testers saw. If you already own an Ultra 3, we side with staying put unless battery is your one complaint. Serious runners will find better GPS and maps from Garmin and Suunto. Skip it if you have small wrists or use Android.

This is our pick if you train often and hate chargers. It averaged 9 to 10 days with workouts, GPS and sleep tracking in Android Authority's use, and heart rate stayed within a few beats of a Polar H10. Say you leave for a long weekend of runs and forget the cable: you can stop worrying about it. GPS holds up too, with no visible difference from Garmin's Fenix 8 Pro on DC Rainmaker's runs and rides. The downside is everything around the training data. There are no onboard maps and no LTE, and apps and assistants trail Apple and Wear OS. Owners on Garmin's forum keep reporting earbuds that drop or stutter mid-workout, so we'd think twice if you run to music from your wrist. We also think Garmin asks a lot here. If you don't need the metal case and ECG, its cheaper Vivoactive 6 covers many core features.

This is the Apple Watch we think most iPhone owners should buy, especially if you're coming from a Series 9 or older. The heart rate sensor is the reason. It averaged 0.18% off a Polar H10 chest strap over seven runs in Expert Reviews' comparison. It doesn't beat the best rivals, and DC Rainmaker saw gaps of up to about 20 seconds, but most people won't notice. Battery is the catch. Macworld's 40 to 51 hours are possible, yet we'd plan around DC Rainmaker's day to day and a half, because running flat mid-workout is worse than charging early. Say you wake up at 20% with a run planned: half an hour on the charger reached only 58% and 72% in Macworld's runs. Some owners on the MacRumors forums report skin irritation, others report none, and nobody has proved a cause. Skip it if you own a Series 10 or 11.

We'd buy this if you own almost any Android phone and want a watch that feels finished. It's light, the domed screen looks great, and on-device Gemini now handles timers, workouts and music without your phone nearby. Charging is what sets it apart day to day. Say you notice 3% left just before a run: a few minutes on the charger reached about 20% at Engadget, enough for a 45-minute workout. Expect 32 hours to two days between charges, and plan on the low end if you wear it to bed. One real warning: owners on Reddit report a drain bug cutting run time in half on Pixel Watches, this one included. Check that a fix has shipped before you buy. We wouldn't pay extra for Google's GPS claim, which is still mostly unproven. Skip it if you own a Pixel Watch 4, since the hardware is nearly the same and many new features are coming to it.

This is our pick if you're on Android and you hike, dive or train for endurance events. The 800mAh battery fixes the original's biggest weakness, and two days or more between charges is realistic. Say you're on an exposed trail at noon: the 5,000-nit screen is the one you'll want to be reading. It's also 12% thinner than the first version, so it's easier to live with, but it's still big on small wrists. We side with Expert Reviews on who needs it: most people will be just as happy with the cheaper Galaxy Watch 9, if they can accept its battery. Charging is slow, at 1.5 to 2 hours for a full charge. There's also a bug to know about. Owners on Samsung's forum report the step counter stopping after a day or two, or after a reboot, with no fix as of late October. Skip it if daily steps matter most to you.

Buy this if you want Wear OS and the battery is what you care about. About three days with the always-on display on and four to five with it off is a rare result on this platform, and OnePlus's own claims held up at Android Authority. Say you go away for a long weekend and leave the charger at home: you'll likely be fine. We don't agree that it's the Wear OS watch for most people, though. Heart rate lagged a Polar H10 in intervals, GPS routes sometimes wandered off the road, and at 81g with a 47mm case it's a lot of watch. There's also a durability worry. Owners on Reddit and OnePlus's forum report watches dying within about a month, then being told it's water damage they dispute. Check the return terms before you buy. OnePlus has since released a Watch 4, so compare it first. Skip it if you have small wrists or an iPhone.

This is the watch we'd hand someone who wants GPS and a long battery without spending much, on Android or iPhone. Expect about 10 days per charge with the screen not always on and just under a week with it on, based on Tech Advisor's use. Say you're new to wearables and don't want one more thing to charge at night: this is the easy answer. Heart rate is solid for the cost and GPS is decent, though it won't match a sports watch. The weak spot is the smartwatch side, and we take that seriously. Over a week at Engadget it tracked 2.4 fewer miles a day than an Apple Watch, missed every workout it should have detected and kept showing deleted notifications. So press start yourself and treat it as a tracker with a nice screen, not a phone on your wrist. Built-in text replies work only on Android. Skip it if you want polished software or payments.

We'd buy this only if you own a Galaxy phone, because ECG and sleep apnea detection aren't officially available on Pixel or OnePlus phones. It's a comfortable watch, 8.6mm thin and 34g, and Notebookcheck's 4.3 bpm average gap against a Polar H10 on a ride is respectable. The problem is battery. Plan on 30 to 35 hours from the 44mm with the always-on display off, and owners on Samsung's forum report 24 hours or less on some watches. One owner got back to 30 to 40 hours after a forced reboot, so try that first. Say you get home at 20% and want sleep data: a quick top-up won't save you, since early charging adds only about 1% a minute. Android Authority's watch sometimes drained overnight and lost the night's data. If you can find last year's model cheaper, we think it's worth a look, because the 44mm battery barely moved.

Buy this if you have an iPhone, want notifications, workouts and sleep scores, and don't want to pay for the rest. It covers most of what you'll do on a watch each day, and it runs on the same S10 chip as the Series 11. Heart rate is good for the money, within 1.24% of other devices on Expert Reviews' runs, with the odd gap. Battery is the deal you're making. Apple rates it at 18 hours, and we think that's weak. Say you track sleep: you'll need about an hour on the charger before bed or after waking, though 15 minutes over breakfast gives about eight hours of use. You also give up ECG, blood oxygen readings, hypertension alerts and precise Find My, and the screen is smaller and dimmer. If you run or cycle seriously, or you want those health tools, spend more on the Series 12.

Buy this only if you want something that looks like a classic watch and quietly tracks your health. It takes an ECG in 30 seconds and can flag atrial fibrillation, and its sleep tracking is the part we like most. Say you wear one watch to work and to dinner and never want a glowing screen: this fits, and you can plan on a charge every 7 to 10 days, not the 30 Withings claims. It's a poor pick for serious training. There's no GPS, workout data is basic, and heart rate covered only about a third of a 35-minute swim at Tech Advisor. Coach calls it the best hybrid around and Tech Advisor calls it too limited for most people. We think both are right. Full insights need a Withings+ subscription after a trial, and the cheaper ScanWatch Light covers most of this. It's also a 2023 watch.