In the year 2014, only 5 million smartwatches were sold worldwide. That number has now skyrocketed to 141 million units. That is an increase of over 28 times within just 4 years. I currently own a fitness tracker and a smartwatch and I wouldn’t even have imagined getting myself these a few years back. To help you decide which smartwatch to buy, we’ve got some of the best in the market right now.
Apple Watch Series 2 Smartwatch 38mm Rose Gold Aluminum Case
Apple came out with their Series 2 smartwatch in 2016, and they’ve also stopped selling the smartwatch after the release of Series 3. But don’t get me wrong, it is still a very capable smartwatch and looks premium. It has got a compass, aluminum chassis with Ion-X glass and a very capable S2 dual-core processor. The tracking capabilities of the Apple Watch is also right up there at the top.
Aeifond Touchscreen Sport Smart Wrist Watch Smartwatch
If you don’t want to splurge on an Apple Watch, you can get something like this. This smartwatch from Aeifond is a Bluetooth device that can double up as an android phone if you stick in your sim card. If you don’t want to put your sim card in, you can simply connect to it via Bluetooth and do the exact same thing. It has got a host of features like sleep monitoring, alarm clock, music player, pedometer, sedentary reminder and a lot more.
Apple Watch Series 3
The design of the Apple Watch Series 3 is almost as same as its predecessor. But within the same size, Apple has a new LTE antenna and an altimeter. The altimeter tracks elevation data when performing outdoor activities. All the hardware inside also has undergone a complete overhaul with a 70% increase in performance, 85% increase in Wi-Fi performance and 50% increase in wireless energy efficiency. With the Apple Watch Series 2, the step count was done through the altimeter in your iPhone, but that is not the case with this one. So you can finally leave your phone if you have the Series 3 smartwatch.
Ticwatch E
The Ticwatch E has won the Good Design Award and I really like the design. It is minimalistic and looks premium. It runs on Watch OS and comes with a lot of possibilities like calling an Uber, customizable watch faces, a music player and more. The Ticwatch E also has interchangeable bands and it is IP67 rated for water and dust resistance. Apart from that, it has got a built-in GPS sensor, heart-rate monitor, accelerometer, and an e-compass. For Android users, the Ticwatch E offers the ability to receive calls, make calls and also reply to message right from the watch itself.
Garmin vívoactive HR GPS Smart Watch
The vivoactive HR is a comprehensive fitness tracker from Garmin and it is also pretty big if you ask me. It has a 24/7 heart rate monitoring feature that gives you continuous results all day and night. Being a fitness tracker, the vivoactive HR has quite a few sports apps built-in for activities like running, biking, golfing and intensity tracking. Coming back to their Elevate Heart Rate technology, it provides an all-round report that is compiled from your burned calories and the intensity of your workouts. The smartwatch also promises a great battery life of about 8 days.
Fitbit Ionic GPS Smart Watch
This is yet another major player in the fitness trackers market. Like the vivoactive HR, the Fitbit Ionic is also pretty big and has a blocky design. It runs on the Fitbit OS and it has a lot of great features like a unique user dashboard, their very own app gallery, your very own Fitbit Coach and their unique PurePulse heart rate for efficient heart rate tracking. It has also got an NFC chip for built-in payment. The sleek unibody case uses aerospace-grade 6000 series aluminum. The only downside is that it has a 4-day battery life, which is way lesser than the vivoactive HR.
Garmin vívoactive 3
Vivoactive 3 is the successor of the vivoactive HR and it does have its own perks. The design is completely different and this one has a round dial. This is the first watch from Garmin that comes with Garmin Pay that allows you to pay just about anywhere you can tap your card to pay. Even though it doesn’t come with the plethora of apps that comes with Watch OS, it does have the major ones like Uber, AccuWeather, etc. The Garmin Chroma Display has great sunlight legibility and has an additional layer of protection with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Battery life is also pretty great at 7 days in the smartwatch mode, but in the GPS mode, it drains out in 13 hours.
Amazfit Bip Smartwatch by Huami
The Amazfit Bip from Huami has striking similarities with the Apple Watch and it is not necessarily a bad thing. The unique selling point of the Amazfit Bip is its long-lasting battery life. It can stay for almost 30 days on a single charge and the charging takes only 2.5 hours. Another big thing that goes for it is its price. For under $100, it has got some great features like an optical heart rate sensor, built-in GPS and an IP68 rating.
Apple Watch Series 3 Hermès
Indulge yourself in a bit of luxury with the Apple Watch Series 3 Hermès. The Double Tour version wraps twice around the wrist and is available in 4 different colors. It has all the amazing features that come with the Apple Watch Series 3, and in addition to that has a special watch face designed in association with Hermès. But coming at a price tag of over $2,000, this watch is not meant for everyone.
Samsung Gear S2 Smartwatch
Lastly, we have the Gear S2 smartwatch from Samsung. I really like their rotating bezel and unique circular interface and I think it’s a very unique feature. It is powered by a 1GHz Exynos dual-core processor and runs on the Tizen OS. It has thousands of third-party apps available and a lot of customizable watch faces. With its AMOLED display, the watch faces look extremely realistic. It supports wireless charging and comes with a wireless charging dock. The watch is also extremely durable with scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass, stainless steel construction and IP68 rating.
