Best Android Smartwatches of 2024

For example, the highly rated Samsung Galaxy Watch6 uses Samsung’s version of Android’s Wear OS, so it’s best for people who use a Samsung phone, such as the latest Galaxy S23, S23+, or S23 Ultr. Google’s new Pixel Watch 2 is similarly designed to work optimally with the company’s phones and earbuds, as well as its suite of online services. Other devices, like Fitbit’s smartwatches, don’t use Google’s Wear OS at all but still work well—and likely best—with Android phones.

Increasingly, Android smartwatches are becoming go-to devices for health-related apps and functions that can help you and your doctor keep tabs on your well-being. That’s why CR’s ratings are giving additional weight to a watch’s health-related capabilities. These range from overall wellness metrics like sleep tracking and stress monitoring to cardiac metrics. These can include basic measurements like heart-rate monitoring, as well as electrocardiogram (ECG) readings and performance indicators like heart-rate variability. Any health-related data you get from your watch can be used to begin a discussion with your healthcare provider.

Consumer Reports tests smartwatches in our dedicated labs in Yonkers, N.Y., evaluating them for step count accuracy, ease of use, versatility, the durability of the display, and more. And as with all our lab testing, we purchase all our smartwatches through normal retail channels; no freebies for us.