Although smartwatches have been available for a number of years, their presence in the mainstream market is a fairly recent development. Companies like Samsung, Apple and a few others are working day and night to improve their best smartwatches. This way they know how to make the user experience a lot better every time.
If you are interested in such a gadget, you naturally want to know which ones are simply the best, which ones offer the most value for money, and/or which ones best suit your lifestyle. So which is the best smartwatch – for you? Is it the Apple Watch 7 ? We’re going to look at that now.
#1 Apple Watch Series 7
The best smartwatch of 2022 is Apple Watch Series 7.
Our review score: 9.5
For a smart watch that is intuitive to operate and has an operating system that seamlessly connects to iOS, this is the ideal smartwatch.
You will not find a better sidekick for your iPhone (and even your iPad)!
Diameter: 41mm or 45mm
Operating system: WatchOS
Water resistance: Water-resistant
Screen type: Always-on retina OLED
Compatible with: iOS (and Android)
NFC: Yes
#2 Ticwatch E3
The smartwatch with the biggest value for money in 2022
Our review score: 8.7
If you are looking for an optimal price-quality ratio, then you will come to the Ticwatch E3.
The battery lasts more than a day and a half and you still get access to an impressive number of functions despite the relatively low price.
Diameter: 44 mm
Operating system: Wear OS
Water resistance: Waterproof
Screen type: LCD
Compatible with: iOS and Android
NFC: Yes
The 5 best smartwatches in our opinion
- Apple Watch Series 7 – This is the best all-round smartwatch, especially for iOS users.
- Ticwatch E3 – This smartwatch offers the best value for money.
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 – This is the best smartwatch for Android users.
- Garmin Vivoactive 4L – This smartwatch is best for avid exercisers.
- Apple Watch Series 3 – This is the cheapest Apple Watch on the market.
What is a smart watch?
In particular, many people adopt fitness trackers for smartwatches. Although a fitness tracker is also “smart” in a sense, the functionalities of the best smartwatch extend far beyond a fitness tracker or pedometer.
The purpose of a smartwatch is to (temporarily) replace your smartphone. So the best smartwatch is a small computer that you can use as a smartphone without having to pick up your phone. So it’s basically an extension of your phone, just on a smaller scale.
For example, you cannot answer messages, take notes or answer your phone remotely on a fitness tracker. On some you will receive notifications, but that is often the case.
Review the best smartwatches of 2022
1. Apple Watch Series 7 – the best smartwatch of 2022
Diameter: 41 mm or 45 mm
Operating system: WatchOS
Water resistance: Waterproof
Screen type: OLED
Compatible with: iOS
NFC: Yes
The Apple Watch Series 7 comes very close to smartwatch perfection. In our review, Apple Watch Series 7 is the best smartwatch at the moment. It is a powerful and versatile watch that offers a huge range of functions.
Those looking for a simple smartwatch may find the Series 7’s vast array of fitness and wellness features overly large, but this watch alternates between a fitness tracker, a sports watch and a health device to your heart’s content. This makes it a real crowd pleaser – despite its hefty price tag.
The Apple Watch Series 7 has a large display and advanced health sensors in a stylish package available in two sizes: 41 mm and 45 mm. In addition, this watch has the largest display to date. In the updated design, the edges are 40% narrower than on the Series 6, while the dimensions of the Watch hardly differ.
The new design brings more advantages. For example, the glass on the front is now more shatter – resistant than ever. Also, the buttons throughout the system have been specially redesigned for the larger display.
Despite the larger sizes, the design is still lightweight (yet feels superior) and you can also use all your existing Apple watch bands with this latest generation.
WatchOS 7 was already a significant improvement on WatchOS 6, but WatchOS 8 easily beats WatchOS 7 with more detailed notifications and new watch faces with more so-called “complications”.
These are the little widgets and shortcuts to apps that you can incorporate into your watch face. In addition, the buttons also make interacting with the Apple Watch Series 7 easier.
Like its predecessor (the Series 6) this model has an always-on Retina display. This means you don’t have to turn your wrist just right to make the screen turn on or press a button. Also, the indoor screen is now 70% brighter when your arm is down.
Furthermore, its notable features include the now well-known heart health diagnostic tools that we found essential in our Apple Watch Series 7 review – including the EKG app.
I spent several weeks with Apple Watch sleep tracking thanks to the WatchOS 8.
This one successfully emphasizes the benefit of setting sleep goals and establishing a bedtime routine.
If you’re the type who likes to close their activity rings, you’ll appreciate the challenge that comes with achieving 7 hours of sleep.
Blood oxygen sensors also measure the oxygen saturation of your blood. As a form of perfusion index, the Apple Watch’s SpO2 monitoring lets users know their blood oxygen concentrations with 15-second on-demand readings, as well as periodic background checks.
Apple says a 95%-100% reading is considered ideal. Lower oxygen levels in the blood are often an indication of underlying health problems, such as sleep apnea. It can also be a symptom of silent hypoxia, a life-threatening condition that can escalate the effects of respiratory disease.
The Apple Watch Series 7 has an S6 dual-core processor , just like the Apple Watch 6. When it comes to performance, the two are almost the same. However, the S6 System-in-Package (SiP) has been replaced by the S7 System-in-Package (SiP) . This results in extensive options for the screen, fall detection and more conveniences.
If you download an app on your iPhone that is also suitable for your Apple Watch, it will automatically be downloaded for that as well (if you set this up in the Watch app).
In addition to keeping the processor, the battery life has unfortunately also remained the same: 18 hours. This means you have to charge the watch regularly.
The device does have an energy-saving mode that switches off everything except the display of the time. The charging system has also been renewed. The Series 7’s battery charges up to 33% faster than its predecessor.
What we like in Apple Watch Series 7:
- The screen is bigger and more crack-resistant than other models.
- The always-on Retina display is even brighter than before.
- It charges faster than previous models.
What we don’t like in Apple Watch Series 7:
- The battery life is still only 18 hours.
- Has the same processor as its predecessor.
- High price
2. Ticwatch E3 – Best buy smartwatch of 2022
Diameter: 44 mm
Operating system: Wear OS
Water resistance: Waterproof
Screen type: LCD
Compatible with: iOS and Android
NFC: Yes
For the perfect price-quality ratio, I recommend the Mobvoi Ticwatch E3. Although it is cheap, you still get a lot of functionality.
There are some changes from the previous model, the Ticwatch E2. First of all, this watch is smaller: 44 mm instead of 47 mm, which means that the screen is also somewhat smaller: 33 mm compared to 35 mm. This also leads to a lower weight: where the E2 weighs 55 grams, the E3 only weighs 39 grams.
In addition, contactless payment with the E2 was not possible, a remarkable thing for a smartwatch. Fortunately, they have changed that. The Ticwatch E3 has NFC , which makes wireless payment possible with this model.
The AMOLED screen has also been replaced by an LCD screen. Although you get more natural colors and a brighter screen with the LCD screen, it also consumes more energy than an AMOLED screen and the colors are less bright. Amoled is therefore often regarded as better.
Also, the screen resolution of the E3 with 360×360 pixels is lower than the E2 with 400×400 pixels. Another disadvantage that can be mentioned is that the battery of the Ticwatch E3 is smaller than its predecessor. This, together with the LCD display, ensures that the battery now lasts about one and a half days, where the battery of its predecessor lasted about 2 days.
E3 does have a new feature that can mitigate this negative change: Essential Mode. This mode switches on automatically when the energy percentage drops below 5 percent – or switch on the mode yourself during preset hours or at night.
The designed battery saver screen only displays the data (time/date, steps, heart rate). This keeps the watch going without interrupting health monitoring.
The Ticwatch E3 has the latest version of Google’s Wear OS , a heart rate sensor on the bottom and GPS to track your route as you run.
The Ticwatch E3 is also waterproof. The E3 has a 5 ATM rating, which means you can use it for a dive to a depth of 50 meters. It also has a good tracking function in the swimming pool.
You probably won’t fall in love with the design of this watch right away. This one isn’t particularly high-end, but I like the look of it when you consider how much you’re paying for it. However, why choose this smartwatch instead of a stylish hybrid watch ?
Simple: it’s the most affordable Wear OS watch available with features you’ll find on watches that cost twice as much.
It certainly doesn’t offer the most complete fitness experience like an activity tracker does, but for casual users this is an interesting option that offers built-in GPS, an accurate heart rate monitor and sleep tracking.
In principle, it has all the fitness functions you would expect from a smartwatch, although these sometimes seem a bit less refined than, for example, on the more expensive Garmin Forerunner or Apple Watch.
A big advantage of the Ticwatch E3 is the new processor. The watch is powered by the new Wear 4100 processor. This ensures the optimal performance of the watch without stuttering or jamming, which was sometimes the case with its predecessor.
It is therefore not nearly as fast as the high-end models, but since you are looking for a cheaper watch to mainly look at notifications, you will probably not run into problems with this smartwatch.
It is therefore not nearly as fast as the high-end models, but since you are looking for a cheaper watch to mainly look at notifications, you will probably not run into problems with this smartwatch.
What we like in the Ticwatch E3
- With this smartwatch you will find a great price-quality ratio.
- The main functions you expect from a smartwatch are included.
- Has an NFC chip so you can pay contactless
- Runs smoother than the previous model with the new processor
What we don’t like in the Ticwatch E3:
- This model has a less good screen than its predecessor.
- The battery of the E3 lasts less than that of the E2.
3. Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 – the best smartwatch for Android
Diameter: 40 mm or 44 mm
Operating system: Wear OS
Water resistance: Waterproof
Screen type: Super AMOLED
Compatible with: iOS and Android
NFC: Yes
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is manageable and accurate enough as a running watch, and has more than enough functions and options to update the Apple Watch.
This makes it a good choice for consumers looking for a smartwatch to run with and into the office, especially Android users outside the iOS ecosystem. It works with iOS, but it’s better to choose an older Apple Watch if you have an iPhone and don’t want to pay the top price right away.
The Galaxy Watch 4 features a simple design with a sleek, armor aluminum metal frame. It offers a high-quality appearance and functionalities for your workouts and daily tasks. You can choose from different straps to make the watch completely your own.
You can also make the dials completely your own. Choose between analog or digital watch faces with different backgrounds, fonts and colors and, for example, brighten up your watch face with animated figures with AR emojis.
The watch has two buttons on the side. One of these is the ‘back’ button and the second you can set yourself. The second button is automatically set to call up Samsung’s smart assistant Bixby, but you can adjust the default options for this via the settings. This way you can set a shortcut to a frequently used app.
While not a huge difference, the Galaxy Watch 4’s Super AMOLED display has a slightly higher resolution (396×396) than its predecessor (360×360).
The screen has also remained the same. You can scroll through your content via the small edges of the model. This makes the navigation process very easy. You have to activate this option yourself in the settings.
The Watch 4 smartwatches run on a new processor from Samsung: The Exynos W920 dual-core chipset. This makes the whole feel a lot faster and apps also start up faster. With a clock speed of 1.18 GHz, the Watch 4 is faster than Samsung’s previous smartwatches.
It has more than enough power to cycle through the interface with ease. The Galaxy Watch 4 has 16 GB of storage, which is a huge difference from previous models.
This means that after loading the operating system and the basic apps, you still have more than 12 GB left. Check it out!
The Galaxy Watch 4 is equipped with Wear OS from Samsung. It is the first smartwatch with Wear OS from Samsung and offers access to numerous apps and functions. You have a wide choice of different types of apps, from music streaming apps to a huge library of health and fitness apps.
The watch includes many training modes that all work well. Track your activity and fitness scores on your watch and phone. Count the number of steps, see how many calories you burn and determine your route with GPS. Galaxy Watch 4 tracks all your physical activity and supports over 90 exercises for accurate reporting of your workouts
The Watch 4 also has many other options. For example, the Watch 4 introduces the Samsung BioActive Sensor. Measure your blood pressure and make an EKG (electrocardiogram), which reads the electrical activity and rhythm of your heart. I’ve seen this feature on the Apple Watch 4 and 5 before, and it’s also used to detect atrial fibrillation.
And as you might expect, the Watch 4 has a sleep tracker. With this, the watch keeps track of the different phases of your sleep and analyzes the data holistically. Improved measurement options allow you to monitor your blood oxygen levels and snoring patterns.
And as icing on the cake, the Galaxy Watch 4 is Samsung’s first smartwatch to map your body composition . For example, the watch maps body water, fat percentage and skeletal muscles. This makes it all that little bit easier to achieve your goals.
A small drawback that I would like to mention is the battery life. It has gone back a bit. For example, the original Galaxy Watch lasted four days and the Active 2 easily lasts full days, where the Watch 4 lasts a maximum of 40 hours. But hey, it’s more than the Apple Watch… 👀
What we like in Samsung Galaxy Watch 4:
- The fitness tracking functions work properly and streamline your fitness process.
- The Watch 4 introduces countless options.
- The watch has more than enough storage memory.
- The touch bezel and buttons make operation of this model even more efficient.
What we don’t like in Samsung Galaxy Watch 4:
- Battery life is shorter than previous models.
- The screen has hardly improved.
4. Garmin Vivoactive 4L – the best smartwatch for the avid athlete
Diameter: 45.1 mm
Operating system: Wear OS
Water resistance: Waterproof
Screen type: MIP
Compatible with: iOS and Android
NFC: Yes
I switched to the Vivoactive 4L from the Forerunner 645 Music. It’s the watch used to track running from week to week.
The Vivoactive 4L is significantly larger, but you can always go for the 4S for a smaller model with identical features. The display doesn’t look too impressive to those who haven’t owned a Garmin or similar watch before.
Garmin uses transflective MIP (Memory in Pixel) screens, which means they reflect light so that the image becomes brighter when the sun is out.
This is the opposite of the popular LCD and OLED screens. These need to increase their brightness to compete with sunlight instead of being “fed” by it.
This screen therefore consumes very little power when it is not lit and displays the content 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, until the battery is empty.
Speaking of the battery, it lasts for four days and a few hours, including two hours of GPS use during two runs and another hour of heart rate readings for a cycling session. This makes the Garmin Vivoactive 4 an excellent fitness tracker. Switching from the Forerunner 645 Music will also give you a few more stats to explore. I will come back to this in a moment.
However, the missing part may be more important to some of you. This is called Performance Condition, a stat that rates how well you’re doing compared to your baseline every time you engage in physical activity.
For example, when I go mountain biking with a Forerunner when I’m not feeling too fit, you can be sure that the Performance Condition will pick up on this, leading to the unfavorable numbers that come with it.
Garmin could have easily added this stat to the Vivoactive, because it doesn’t rely on a special sensor. So very sorry.
The heart rate monitor works well most of the time, but it’s often a little slower updating heart rate findings during the first few minutes of tracking – though this isn’t too annoying.
More importantly, the Vivoactive 4 allows you to track more than twenty types of exercises. You add others via a Connect IQ download. Some only offer different views, but some are more in-depth.
For example, the Vivoactive 4 has wave tracking complete with data for specific courses. The watch also serves as a coach through Garmin’s Workouts. These tell you the exercises to do and are most useful for fitness workouts.
In addition, Pulse OX measures the oxygen saturation in your blood. Many of you may not find the results of your oxygen levels that interesting.
If you are in reasonably good health, you are likely to see consistent results above 95% and pay little attention to Pulse OX. If these are significantly lower, it’s time to see your doctor.
Finally, Body Battery is an additional data field that you may find useful. This will give you a graph of your body’s fuel reserves. Sleep complements these. Exercise and general stress wear you out.
This relies heavily on heart rate variability, so it’s a little more interesting than something that simply and quickly generates the graph based on your exercise habits.
What we like in the Garmin Vivoactive 4L:
- This smartwatch offers a very comprehensive fitness tracking experience.
- The battery life is also fine thanks to the technology of the screen.
What we don’t like in the Garmin Vivoactive 4L:
- Performance Condition is omitted while no separate sensor is needed.
- The screen is not necessarily anything to write home about.
5. Apple Watch Series 3 – the cheapest Apple Watch on the market
Diameter: 38 mm
Operating system: WatchOS
Water resistance : Waterproof
Screen type: OLED
Compatible with: iOS
NFC: Yes
While the Series 7 is the best Apple Watch you can buy right now, the Series 3 is not only still a very solid smartwatch, it’s also very affordable.
If you think 38mm is a bit on the small side, don’t panic: the Series 3 also comes in a 42mm variant, which costs just a little more.
The Series 3 has the iconic design that we are used to from Apple, but at 11.4 mm it is slightly thicker than the chassis of the current Apple Watches.
In comparison, the Apple Watch Series 7 is almost a whole millimeter thinner at just 10.7 mm. The Series 3 is also slightly heavier, weighing in at 52.8 grams versus the Series 7’s 51.5 grams. Still, these aren’t huge differences and the average user probably won’t even notice.
It has a 41.9 mm OLED screen, which is a feast for the eyes thanks to the astonishingly rich colors and deep blacks. The 38mm edition has a resolution of 272 x 340 pixels. This means that while the screen isn’t as sharp as that of the latest Series 7 watch, it still has enough pixels to display everything clearly.
While the feature set on the Series 3 watch is much better than previous versions, the battery life is still unimpressive.
Apple estimates the Series 3 will last about 18 hours on a single charge. If you don’t use GPS, you’ll probably get close to two days with moderate use.
If you use the GPS while exercising, you can count on a battery life of about five hours. For long-term GPS tracking you need a good GPS tracker.
Speaking of GPS: if you have children who are just starting to walk to school alone, or are undertaking other independent adventures that come with growing up, a GPS watch for children is very useful. Although the Apple Watch is not fragile, it is not necessarily smart to use it as a children’s watch, especially considering the price you pay for it.
Setting up the Apple Watch Series 3 is incredibly easy, provided you have an iPhone 6S (or later) with iOS 13 (or later). Turn on bluetooth, open the app, scan the face of the Apple Watch with your iPhone’s camera, and you’re almost done.
Your iPhone will then ask for a few details, including your Apple ID, whether you want to wear the Apple Watch on your left or right wrist, which apps you want to install on your smartwatch, and whether you want to set a password.
Thanks to cellular connectivity, the Series 3 lets you answer calls and messages, talk to Siri, and open maps without needing a phone nearby. You can also stream songs directly via Apple Music, without having to connect the smartwatch to your iPhone. That is super handy when running, for example.
However, mobile connectivity is not the only plus. The Series 3 adds a few other specs, such as a barometric altimeter to keep track of altitude and stairs climbed. Apple is also expanding other fitness features with watchOS updates. This also makes it a suitable outdoor watch .
In addition to smart activity guidance, a revamped Workout app, swim tracking, and GymKit compatibility, the new watchOS also adds advanced heart rate monitoring. You can now view your heart rate directly on the front of the watch and not only track your resting heart rate, but also during recovery. Those are nice and useful additions.
Of the major built-in apps, the Workout app has changed the most since its predecessors. Not only do you now track high-intensity interval workouts (HITT), but you can also easily start a new activity by swiping right and pressing the plus button to record your desired activity.
The smart activity guidance is useful for anyone looking for concrete and actionable memories. For example, you simply set a reminder to walk for 30 minutes by the end of the day and meet your exercise goals.
What we like in Apple Watch Series 3:
- The price of this Apple Watch is affordable.
- Expanded fitness features with watchOS 4
- It has built-in GPS.
What we don’t like in Apple Watch Series 3:
- This is no longer the newest smartwatch by Apple.
Smartwatch buying guide – how to choose the best smartwatch yourself
The above list is just a sampling of a wealth of smartwatches. There are countless other brands that produce various smartwatches, such as Huawei, LG, Fitbit, and so on.
Brands nowadays also focus on certain target groups. So you have the smartwatch for women, sports watches for women or a specific smartwatch for children.
Read below what to keep in mind when exploring all of these options.
Compatibility with your smartphone
Google’s Wear OS smartwatch operating system runs on watches from LG, Huawei and others and works with smartphones running Android 6.0 and later, from within the Wear app. Google makes it easy to check if your smartphone is compatible: just go to g.co/WearCheck from your smartphone browser.
Some Wear OS watches also work with the iPhone from iOS 13.0, but many functions (such as adding apps and connecting the watch directly to WiFi) are not available when the watch is paired with iOS devices.
It comes as no surprise that the Apple Watch only works with the iPhone. The preinstalled Apple Watch app for iPhone also includes the watchOS App Store. There you can install the watch versions of your favorite iOS apps or find new ones.
The Watch App Store includes everything from games to fitness apps to extensions to your most used productivity apps so you can get notifications from Slack or take notes from your smartwatch.
The display
Almost all smartwatches available now use a colorful LCD or AMOLED display that allows you to view photos, apps and other content in richer colors and usually brighter.
The trade-off for this is that your battery will drain faster (particularly when using an LCD screen), although smartwatch makers continue to improve the energy efficiency of the smartwatches.
Color displays use so much power that many watches often turn off their displays while in sleep mode. This way you can’t quickly check what time it is without waking the device. LCD screens are also usually thicker than OLED screens.
The interface: touchscreen or not?
At first glance, opting for a touchscreen on your smartwatch seems like a no-brainer. Still, it can sometimes be difficult to touch items on a smaller touchscreen, and some of the touch-based interfaces are not intuitive.
Wear OS handles this problem well by using so-called card notfications that you can easily remove with one swipe, but a lot of swipe is needed to reach other programs and options within apps. With the latest update you can switch between cards with a simple wrist movement.
Not all Wear OS smartwatches use touchscreen, however. For example, some models only have a number of buttons with which you also operate the device.
Many manufacturers today opt for a combo approach. So does Apple for their Apple Watch with a touchscreen and a digital scroll and side button on the right. With the scroll button you can quickly zoom in on content or scroll. This screen also uses Force Touch that recognizes the difference between a tap and a long press of the button.
Design, personalization and wearing comfort
The best smartwatch offers a wide range of bands and/or the option to replace them with a third-party option. This is important if you want to personalize the look of your watch.
Most smartwatches today offer many customization options for purchase. For example, you choose the color and material of the band, as well as the color, finish and size of the watch case of, for example, the Galaxy Watch and the Apple Watch.
Google has not yet released official figures, but Wear OS has at least thousands of apps that are optimized for this operating system. You install apps directly on your watch itself, instead of having to download them on your smartphone first. Wear OS also has many of the same programs as WatchOS, including Uber and WhatsApp.
Other proprietary systems, notably Samsung’s Tizen, have a shortage of apps compared to the above systems. This platform currently offers about 1400 apps.
Notifications and alerts
Any good smartwatch will alert you to incoming calls, emails and texts with a quick vibration to your wrist that helps you discreetly check if it’s worth picking up right away. However, you should also look into social network integration for notifications from sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Make sure you can quickly check all your latest notifications, even if you miss them when they first come in. For example, with the Apple Watch, you swipe down from the top of the screen to see the notification center, while with Wear OS, you swipe up from the bottom to see your latest messages.
The best smartwatch offers more customization options. For example, with the Apple Watch you can adjust the notification settings on the Apple Watch app for iOS. You can choose to transfer the notifications from your iPhone identically to the Apple Watch, or to customize them.
Currently, these are the best smartwatches in our opinion:
- Apple Watch Series 7
- Ticwatch E3
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 4
- Garmin Vivoactive 4L
- Apple Watch Series 3
Frequently asked questions about smartwatches
What is the best smartwatch?
– While one is better than the other in certain areas, there are different smartwatches for different types of people. For example, you can want the total package of the Apple Watch, or the Ticwatch E3 so that you don’t have to worry about whether you can still pay your rent afterwards!
How do you connect a smartwatch to your phone?
– You do this via the Bluetooth connection. You open your settings in your smartphone and navigate to the Bluetooth menu. After turning on your Bluetooth and activating pairing mode on your smartwatch – this process varies by model – your smartwatch should be in the list of available devices. Tap on its name and you’ll be connected!
How expensive is a smartwatch?
– Prices vary. In general, the prices are between $100 for older models and up to $1,600 for the truly high-end models. However, the price of available smartwatches is between €200 and €600.
Conclusion
The answer to the question “what is the best smartwatch?” is not nearly as unambiguous as you might have thought, but variety is the spice of life! In any case, there are plenty of options to choose from and something for everyone.
As an Apple fan, are you going for an Apple Watch, or for a Wear OS model? And do you go for the best price-quality ratio, or are you on the hunt for luxury?
Do you also think the Apple Watch Series 7 is the best smartwatch, like our opinion? Or do you have any suggestions that belong in our top 5? Let us know. Thank you for reading!