Android Wear was a slow starter in the smartwatch market. Its watches were not up to par with those of Apple, Fitbit, and Samsung, in terms of size, style and specification. A recent rebranding of Wear OS to Wearable OS could change the game.
As a result of the name change, Android watches are now more appealing to Apple and Tinzen users. Meanwhile, high-profile fashion companies have begun producing watches compatible with the platform. Here are the top Android and WearOS watches available today.
The Functional Ones
Samsung Gear S3
Samsung is often seen as the Apple alternative. In terms of phones, it’s a common question: Are you an iPhone fan or Galaxy fan? Similarly, the South Korean tech giant’s is a big enough brand name to compete big hitters like Fitbit and the Apple Watch. While the Samsung Gear S3 doesn’t run on Wear OS itself – instead, using its own Tizen OS – it is compatible and can be paired with most Android phones on an up-to-date OS.
Consequently, the Gear S3 has fewer apps, but is great for music lovers – you can control music playing on your phone from the watch, blare music out of its own tiny speaker, or download offline Spotify playlists for when you want to run and leave your phone behind.
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Casio Pro Trek Smart
Casio has a rep as the go-to brand for a cheap watch – a purely functional timepiece. But it’s a rep that does Casio a discredit – it has plenty of watches in its expansive range that push the envelope in terms of fashion and technology. Assuming you’re not an investment collector, there’s almost certainly something for you, from a standard digital to a multi-purpose chronograph.
The Pro Trek smartwatch is one of only a few outdoor-oriented smartwatches on the market. As you expect, there are features tailored for rough and tumble adventuring – GPS, sensors for measuring altitude and air pressure, an accelerometer, gyrometer, and compass. It’s also sturdy enough to take a better battering than you are.
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Mobvoi Ticwatch E
Mobvoi has built a niche in the smartwatch industry, even though it is not a huge player. It’s a fast-growing brand that specializes in unflashy-but-still-very-decent tech at affordable prices – a welcome addition with so many big name brands charging big prices across the platform. It’s also a great brand if you’re an Android newbie. The Ticwatch E is a nice looking minimalist product that packs in all the features you want – GPS, heart rate monitor, water resistance – and boasts a day’s worth of battery.
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Misfit Vapor
Misfit launched in 2011 and has since become a major player in the fitness watches market. Its innovative features, as well as its premium designs will appeal to the majority of wearers. Misfit is now offering smartwatches. Both the straight-up smart and the hybrid versions are available.
The Vapor is the company’s first fully smartwatch – a handsome effort that does everything you need it to do, with standard features such as GPS, heart rate monitor, calls, texts, and music. It’s also water resistant, if you prefer swimming to running.
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Huawei Watch 2
Chinese tech company Huawei is more known for their laptops and mobile phones. Their watches, however, are aimed at the technically-minded wearer rather than the fashion-conscious. But Huawei made a promise to load up on features to make its smartwatches more than just a novelty – and it’s done just that.
The not-so-imaginatively-named Huawei Watch is a complex gadget, packing in GPS, NFC, a rotating bezel and crown for scrolling, 4GB of storage, a pre-installed workout app, and compatibility to all the standard apps. A wrist-sized computer.
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Garmin Forerunner 935
With almost 30 years’ experience of developing advanced GPS tech for automotive, aviation, and marine industries, Garmin is a natural for the highly competitive sports watch market. It now rivals the fitness tracking of Apple and Fitbit, and specialising in multi-sport watches – especially good for triathletes and serious running.
Among Garmin’s best Android watch is the Forerunner 935, which not only records your run – from speed work to marathon training – but gives back insights on progress, measuring acceleration, cadence, distance, and even air pressure and temperature. It has a battery that lasts for up to 2 weeks.
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The Fashionable Ones
Tag Heuer Connected
The Swiss powerhouse is one of the world’s foremost luxury watch brands, but has a storied history of technical innovation too. The original incarnation of the company – founded in 1860 – pioneered precision timekeeping in sports. It’s still known for technical brilliance, but also robust, reliable watches. Classic models – including the Carrera and Monaco – remain icons of the watchmaking game.
Tag Heuer’s foray into wearable tech has been described as among the best (and priciest!) Wear OS watches are a great example of craftsmanship and a smart package. The second-gen, 45-model is modular in design. This means that every aspect of the device, including the software, can easily be customized.
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Montblanc Summit
Though Montblanc dates back over a century, it’s a relative newcomer to watchmaking. Montblanc began by producing luxury pens before expanding into jewelry, leather products, and watches. Montblanc’s smartwatch is a great addition to Wear OS, even though it costs a lot. The Summit lacks some basic features, such as GPS and NFC, but it’s an attractive, lightweight piece, with customizable watch face and plenty of storage for apps.
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Nixon Mission
You wouldn’t immediately think of Nixon as one of the major players in watchmaking, but the US company isn’t trying to compete with the big boys. Nixon, which was founded in the late 90s, has always done its own thing. It’s a youthful brand, with an emphasis on combining smart and sporty – particularly for surf and snow enthusiasts.
The Mission is an appropriately gnarly beast – a chunky watch with plenty of weight, built to withstand the waves and slopes. The Mission is a chunky watch with plenty of weight, built to withstand the waves and slopes.
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Diesel On
From Italy’s top producer of jeans and denim to one of the most famous fashion labels in the world, Diesel has been expanding in recent years – new colors and textures, homeware, and even collaborations with AC Millan. Now it joins one of many fashion brands to develop its own smartwatch range, including a hybrid – the On DZT1006, which pairs with the OS for limited smart features – and the Full On Guard, a proper smartwatch with a touchscreen. Features-wise, it’s a standard Wear OS watch, but this is all about the design, with a rugged and masculine look that matches the Diesel image.
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Louis Vuitton Tambor in Horizon
Louis Vuitton may bring to mind expensive luggage or shoes. But a luxury fashion label just isn’t a luxury fashion label these days without a smartwatch. Some of the traditional timepieces from LV can cost up to five figures.
The Tambor Horizon is a continuation of that philosophy. It’s a watch for literal high-flyers, geared towards jet-setting travel instead of wearable tech’s usual go-to of fitness tracking. It ditches GPS and heart-rate monitoring for apps like LV Guide, a digital guide to major cities and My Flight which helps travelers make it on time.
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Movado Connect
Swiss watchmaker has been producing watches since the nineteenth century. It’s not as well known as some of its neighbors, but deserves credit for some very well-made timepieces and design icons – chiefly the Museum Watch, with a single dot on the face in place of the 12. The Museum Watch is a masterstroke in minimalism.
The Movado Connect pays tribute to this design with its iconic dot. It also offers 100 dial variations that can be customized, as well as all the smart features a smartwatch should have: GPS, NFC and Google Fit.
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Hugo Boss Touch
You’d need to have been living under a rock for 20 years to not know what Hugo Boss is (or at the very least, nowhere near the aftershave counter). We all know that it’s essentially good-looking gear aimed at discerning men.
The Touch smartwatch is no exception – a beautiful design that’s ironically timeless. It doesn’t include many fitness features, though this watch is far too attractive to sweat all over at the gym anyway. It’s a fashion item, first and foremost. It does have step tracking and all the usual Wear OS features, and – perhaps most appealing – it’s very affordable compared to competing smartwatches.
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Emporio Armani Connected
Italian fashion houses are among the best-known brands around the globe. Emporio represents the more accessible (by which we mean a bit cheaper) end of the range, aimed at a slightly younger demographic – but it remains a staple and is well loved by popular celebs. David Beckham and Cristiano Cristiano were both the faces (or six-packs) of Emporio Armani.
The Connected is a smartwatch that puts design first, just like other smartwatches from fashion brands. It’s an incredible looking model with scaled back features. It still has access to the Google Play store and – unlike most other smartwatches – has a decent speaker, so you’ll find yourself chatting away to Google Assistant all day.
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Timex IQ + move
Timex has been a mainstay of American watchmaking for over 160 years. It is known as a brand that offers affordable, reliable watches. Timex also offers a variety of styles, from dressy and casual timepieces to sporty and technical watches. It’s no surprise then, that Timex’s hybrid range that also boasts a range of styles and colorways.
The IQ + Move works as a regular watch and fitness tracker. Its step-tracking is more accurate than other fitness brands, and it has reliable trackers to monitor sleep and calories burned.
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Fossil Q Venture
Fossil, an American brand of timeless watches, combines Swiss-inspired design with American vintage craftsmanship. Fossil’s aim with OS Wear watches is to prioritize the quality of the timepieces – it’s all about bringing the technology to sophisticated watchmaking, rather than putting tech ahead of craft.
The Venture is Fossil’s third generation Android watch and – despite the lightweight, compact (not to mention stylish) design – it packs in plenty of features: Google Assistant, Google Fit, notifications from your phone, and some unique games (think the smart-watch version of Snake).
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Skagen Falster
The Danish watchmaker has been around for over 30 years. It is known for its clean, simple designs, and for the classic Scandinavian craftsmanship. Skagen takes pride in its practicality. So much, in fact, that its hybrid range – including the Signatur – looks like regular timepieces, making them perfect for anyone who doesn’t like big techy screens.
Falster is the company’s first smartwatch. It has a sleek design with slick navigation, and an AMOLED screen that looks stunning.
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Michael Kors Grayson Access
Michael Kors, first and foremost, is a fashion label. Its watches are made by fellow US staple Fossil, so it’s no surprise that Michael Kors also puts style ahead of spec. The Grayson is the manly addition to its smart Access range (there’s a ladies’ version called the Sofie).
It’s a dashing looking timepiece. Standard smartwatch features such as GPS, heart rate, and NFC are noticeably absent (no great loss on the fitness side – this isn’t a running watch), but has a speedy interface, plus a rotating crown for scrolling and access to both Google Play and Kors’s own selection of apps.
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