15 Best Apple Watch Alternatives for Android and iOS Users in 2023

Apple, Featured, Shopping, Tech Gadgets Review, Technology

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The Apple Watch is likely one of the best smartwatches and gadgets on the market. The Apple device will be a good choice for iPhone users in particular. It makes sense since the Apple Watch is designed to work well with other Apple products.

Finding a device like the Apple Watch with a specific app store and third-party apps would be hard. But the Apple Watch isn’t the best smart device and is not perfect. Apple’s gadgets have some problems, like a high price and a battery life that isn’t great. Both of these things can be huge turnoffs on their own.

If you want a smartwatch but don’t want an Apple one, we’ve compiled a list of the best Apple Watch Alternatives you can buy in 2023. Which one should you choose? Find out by reading on!

The 15 Best Apple Watch Alternatives Available Now

The best Apple Watch alternatives are a lot of fun, and you’ll surely find one you like. So let’s look at some products not made by Apple that can help you keep your phone in your pocket while keeping you linked.

1. Fitbit Versa 4

Specifications:

OS: Fitbit OS
Display: 1.58″ AMOLED
Resolution: 336 x 336 pixels
Onboard storage: 4GB
Battery duration: Up to 6 days
Water resistant: Up to 50m

The Fitbit Versa 4 is much cheaper but works the same as the Fitbit Versa 3. Yes, it’s mostly for busy people who don’t have as many high-tech features as the most recent Apple Watches. Still, it’s not too far off in most ways.

Like the Apple Watch, it has a screen that stays on all the time, connects to Wi-Fi, has a GPS built-in, and is water resistant. Many excellent health and fitness features include tracking your swims, sleep, and heart rate, and 40 different workout modes. You can play, stream, and store music using Google Assistant and Alexa. There are a lot of sensors, like an accelerometer, barometer/altimeter, heart rate monitor, gyroscope, ambient light, pulse oximeter, and temperature.

You lose out compared to a current Apple Watch because it only has 4GB of storage, doesn’t track safety, and doesn’t have an ECG. Also, you get a premium membership for six months for free, but after that, you’ll have to pay extra for the most advanced features. On the plus side, the battery can last up to six days, which is better, and the price is very low. Overall, we think this is the best option for the Apple Watch.

2. Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro

Specifications:

OS: Android Wear OS 3.5
Display: 1.4-inch Super AMOLED
Resolution: 450 x 450 pixels
Onboard storage: 16GB
Battery duration: Up to 80 hours
Water resistant: IP68

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is the best Wear OS watch you can buy now. It builds on what its predecessor did well. Samsung seems to have paid more attention to small than significant changes. This means it will probably have many of the same features as the Galaxy Watch 4.

Interestingly, the Pro’s specs seem to show that it’s more of a competitor to the Apple Watch Ultra. But it should also convince people to buy a Series 8.

The 590mAh battery on the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is more significant than the regular Galaxy Watch 5. This makes it last longer than its predecessor, the Series 8 and the Ultra, which has a bigger battery. It also has a body of titanium and glass made of Sapphire, which is more substantial.

In terms of tracking your health, you get a new skin temperature sensor that makes it easier to track your menstrual health. You also get outdoor-specific features like GPX map support and TrackBack for lost walkers.

3. Garmin Venu 2 Plus

Specifications:

OS: GarminOS
Display: 1.3″ AMOLED
Resolution: 416 x 416 pixels
Onboard storage: 7GB
Battery duration: Up to 12 days
Water resistant: 5ATM

The Venu 2 Plus smartwatch is better for people who care about their health. The essential Venu 2 has the same features as the Plus model, but the Plus model also has new smartwatch features. Overall, it has excellent GPS precision, more music storage for people who like to listen to music without being connected to the internet, and excellent background tracking of health and sleep.

Body Batteries and other old Garmin tools are also included. The Plus now works with voice assistants, lets you make calls from your wrist, charges faster, and has an ECG tool that you can use to check on the health of your heart. It also tracks swimming much better than the Apple Watch, and its tools for recovery make it a much better training watch.

But the Venu 2 Plus has some flaws. The battery life of the Venu 2 is better than that of the Apple Watch Series 8, but it is shorter than that of the original Venu 2. Unlike the Galaxy Watch 5, the Venu 2 Plus works well with iPhones, but it doesn’t have some features that only work with Android phones. Unfortunately, it costs much more than the Series 8 because it has many features.

If you have enough money for an Apple Watch Ultra and want a more durable high-end watch, you might want to get the Garmin Epix Gen 2, which focuses more on extreme sports and the outdoors.

4. Fitbit Sense

Specifications:

OS: Fitbit OS
Display: 1.58″ AMOLED
Resolution: 336 x 336 pixels
Onboard storage: 4GB
Battery duration: Up to 6 days
Water resistant: Up to 50m

Fitbit is known for fitness (the name gives it away), but Fitbit Sense is more about health than fitness. Here you’ll find an ECG, a stress sensor, a skin temperature sensor, and tools for better mental health, like sleep tracking, heart rate zones, skin temperature readings, and meditation.

Even so, fitness is not forgotten. This watch can track and record 20 exercises, giving you much information about your workouts to review later. (You need a paid subscription to use many of these functions.) Aside from that, the battery can last up to six days, it has GPS built-in, and you can use Alexa or Google Assistant to control it with your voice.

5. Amazfit GTS 2 Mini

Specifications:

OS: Amazfit OS
Display: 1.55″ AMOLED
Resolution: 354 x 306 pixels
Onboard storage: 3GB
Battery duration: Up to 14 days
Water resistant: 5ATM

Want an Apple Watch option that costs less than $100 or £100? The Amazfit GTS 2 Mini is a good option. Even though it is cheap, it has a beautiful 1.55-inch AMOLED touchscreen with 450 nits of light that is always on. And because the 2.5D glass cover has four rounded sides, the product doesn’t have a clear edge on the front. This gives it a cool, “bezel-less” look.

There are also a lot of great features, like keeping track of your heart rate, blood-oxygen saturation, sleep, stress level, and periods. You can use Alexa to control it with your voice, and it has 68+ sports modes and a Pomodoro tracker to help you get things done. The 220 mAh battery lasts for 14 days on a single charge.

Don’t get us wrong, though. There aren’t many smart features here. For example, there’s no music player or a way to pay, and there aren’t many apps. But for how cheap it is, it does a lot.

6. Garmin Venu Sq 2

Specifications:

OS: GarminOS
Display: 1.41 Inches
Resolution: 320 x 360 pixels AMOLED
Onboard storage: 4 GB
Battery duration: Up to 12 days
Water resistant: 5 ATM

The Garmin Venu Sq 2 looks like it was made to compete with the Apple Watch SE. It has a square AMOLED screen that is easy to read and makes it stand out from the other devices on the market that are round. It also has a great battery lasting up to 11 days on a single charge.

Its real ace in the hole is the health-tracking kit it comes with. The Venu Sq 2 has a built-in GPS, a more accurate heart rate monitor, and valuable sleep tracking. It also has Garmin’s Stress Tracking, Body Battery, and Health Snapshot features.

You’ll have to give up a few smart features to get these perks. Worse, you must pay extra for the Music version to play on board.

7. Google Pixel Watch

Specifications:

OS: Android
Display: 1.2-inch
Resolution: 450 x 450 pixels
Onboard storage: 32GB
Battery duration: Up to 24 hours
Water resistant: 5 ATM

The Pixel Watch is round and small. Its finish is stainless steel, which makes it our top choice for style. It’s simple and easy to use, and you can use Google apps like Maps, Wallet, and YouTube Music. We love that it works well with Fitbit and gives you much information about your health, sleep, and workouts. You can use the paid tier for free for six months, but keep an eye out for the email that tells you the service is about to end.

You must pay £79.99 for a yearly membership if you miss it. We know from a bad experience so that you can trust us. Even though the battery life on Google’s smartwatch isn’t great (one full day), and the bezels around the screen are significant, we like that it has crash recognition, an ECG app, and GPS. This is the best choice if you have a Pixel phone because it pairs quickly and has a “Find My Device” mode. However, we’ve also found that it works well with other Android phones.

8. Fossil Gen 6 Smartwatch

Specifications:

OS: Wear OS 2
Display: 1.28-inch OLED
Onboard storage: 8GB
Battery duration: 24 hours
Water resistant: 3ATM

Fossil’s smartwatches mix the flexibility of Google’s WearOS with the style of traditional watches, which isn’t always the case when talking about wearable computing.

The Gen 6 models are water-resistant and can make NFC payments with GPay. They also have built-in GPS and the usual tools for tracking your heart rate and fitness. It’s a good choice if you want a tracker that doesn’t make it evident that you’re not just wearing a regular watch.

9. HUAWEI Band 6

Specifications:

OS: Android
Display: 1.47 Inches AMOLED
Resolution: 194 x 368 pixels
Battery duration: Up to 14 Days
Water resistant: 5 ATM

If the price is the main reason you want to find an option for the Apple Watch SE, the HUAWEI Band 6 is your best bet. It’s more of a fitness tracker than a smartwatch, but it has a big screen, a battery that lasts 10 days, and a crazy number of workout-tracking modes. It is smaller than the Apple Watch SE but feels great on the wrist. At this price, checking the blood oxygen level is also a plus.

There are some ways in which the HUAWEI Band 6 isn’t as good as the SE. It doesn’t have GPS built-in, so you must bring your phone when you run. During workouts, its heart rate monitor also leaves much to be desired. The companion app from HUAWEI is also minimal for people who like to send their fitness info to other places. It’s a good choice if you’re on a tight price.

The HUAWEI Band 7 is younger, but it’s mostly just a tiny improvement on the Band 6. We still think that the second choice is the better deal.

10. TicWatch Pro 3

Specifications:

OS: WearOS
Display: 1.4″ AMOLED
Resolution: 454 x 454 pixels
Onboard storage: 8GB
Battery duration: Up to 45 days
Water resistant: IP68

The most important thing about the TicWatch Pro 3 is its 577mAh battery, lasting up to 45 days in Essential Mode. It also has a Snapdragon Wear 4100 processor, making everything run quickly and easily. It has a 454 x 454 resolution on its 1.4-inch retina AMOLED + FSTN screen. It costs less than an Apple Watch 6 or a Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 but has more advanced features like a heart rate monitor and blood oxygen SpO2 sensors.

You can use it to keep track of your heart rate, stress, steps, sleep, and progress in 10+ workouts. It is waterproof to IP68 standards and can be used in a pool. On the other hand, you can’t charge it wirelessly, and the GPS isn’t very reliable.

11. Samsung Galaxy Watch 3

Specifications:

OS: Tizen OS
Display: 1.2″ or 1.4″ AMOLED
Resolution: 360 x 360 pixels
Onboard storage: 8GB
Battery duration: Up to 3 days
Water resistant: 5ATM and IP68

Samsung Galaxy Watches are a good choice if you don’t care about exercise and want a smartwatch. But the Samsung Galaxy 4, which is the most recent model, doesn’t work with iOS. So, if you want one that works with your iPhone, the slightly older Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is your best bet.

The essential features are IP68 water resistance, fall recognition, wireless charging, an ECG, and a blood pressure monitor. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 also has a gyroscope, barometer, environmental light sensor, and accelerometer. Even though the first two watches on our list have more advanced tracking features, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 still has many health and fitness features. On the other hand, the battery only lasts for two to three days, which isn’t very good.

We’d recommend one of the first two models on our list if exercise is your top priority. At the same time, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is a better choice for couch potatoes who want other advanced smartwatch features.

12. Withings ScanWatch

Specifications:

OS: N/A
Display: 0.54″ inch PMOLED
Resolution: 116 x 80 pixels
Onboard storage: Unknown
Battery duration: Up to 30 days
Water resistant: Waterproof up to 50m

If the main thing you don’t like about smartwatches is that they don’t look as good as a classic wristwatch, the Withings ScanWatch is a great way to get the best of both worlds.

It has a traditional watch face with actual hands, but it also has a round OLED screen that lights up when you want to see things like your steps or heart rate or if you get a message.

The design isn’t perfect. It doesn’t feel like a computer on your wrist, and the small screen isn’t big enough to show real-time information as you run. But if you want to track your moves without doing anything and get a gentle buzz when your phone needs your attention, this is a stylish way to do it, and the battery will last up to 30 days.

13. Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2

Specifications:

OS: Tizen OS
Display: 1.2″ Super AMOLED
Resolution: 360 x 360 pixels
Onboard storage: 4GB
Battery duration: Up to 2 days
Water resistant: Up to 50m

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 is similar to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, which we listed above, but it is cheaper, thinner, lighter, and better for working out. It comes in two sizes, 40mm, and 44mm, and you can choose between a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi version and a more expensive one that lets you connect to your phone’s cellular network.

On the other hand, the battery only lasts 24 to 60 hours, based on how you use it, and the Watch 3 has more advanced features, like checking your blood pressure. But if you’re on a tight budget, the lower price may make up for those trade-offs, and all in all, this is still an excellent choice for the Apple Watch.

14. Garmin Lily

Specifications:

OS: Garmin OS
Display: 1-inch TFT LCD
Resolution: 240 x 201 pixels
Onboard storage: N/A
Battery duration: Up to 5 days
Water resistant: Up to 50 meters

The Garmin Lily is the best smartwatch for people who care about fashion. With thin decorative glass and different ways to set it up, you’ll stand out from the crowd and still get all the benefits of smart technology. This smartwatch comes in a classic or a sports style, with different colors, metal, and band choices, like leather and silicone, so you can find the right combination to help you get in shape.

Aside from the way it looks, it also has all the latest fitness trackers and apps to keep you healthy and busy, whether you go to the gym every day, run a lot, or just like to keep an eye on your health every day. It can track your heart rate, energy, hydration, sleep, and stress levels. It also has more useful tools for women, like a menstrual cycle and pregnancy tracker.

People who like to stay fit can keep track of their behavior in different sports and exercises, like yoga, Pilates, cardio, mindful breathing, and other things. It tells you how many steps you’ve taken, how many calories you’ve burned, how hard you worked for each minute, and much more.

This watch also has a LiveTrack feature that lets your family and friends know your location in real time. The battery can last up to five days, so you can always feel safe when you go out. The Garmin Lily is a great choice to stay fit while looking good.

15. Fitbit Versa 3

Specifications:

OS: Fitbit OS
Display: 1.58-inch AMOLED
Resolution: 336 x 336 pixels
Onboard storage: 4GB
Battery duration: Up to 6 days
Water resistant: 50M water resistant

The Fitbit Versa 3 takes the Fitbit Versa 2 as a model and makes it better. It finally has GPS built in and still has that beautiful screen that always stays on. We also found that its heart rate monitor was more accurate than before, which makes it a better choice for people who like to work out.

Even though there aren’t as many apps for Fitbit OS as for Wear OS or Apple Watch devices on this list, the Fitbit Versa 3 is still a good choice if you want a fitness-focused watch that you can also wear as a fashion accessory. Alexa and Google Assistant are built in, and the battery lasts six days, which is excellent, but you must turn off the always-on display.

How to Choose the Best Apple Watch Alternative?

Choosing the best Apple Watch alternative depends on your needs and preferences, such as budget, feature requirements, compatibility, and design preferences. Below are some steps to guide you in choosing the best Apple Watch alternative:

Display

Most monitor screens are between 1.2 and 2 inches, but the bigger question is whether the panel is LCD or AMOLED. AMOLED screens are used in high-end smartwatches because they are brighter and make the watch thinner. The trade-off is that the battery life is shorter than on a smartwatch with an LCD screen.

Touchscreen capabilities are also necessary. It makes using the smartwatch much easier because you don’t have to use motions. In addition to a touchscreen, some smartwatches have knobs or actual buttons.

Operating System

The apps you can use on your new watch will depend on its running system. This directly affects its features and how easy it is to use. Most apps will work with an Android smartwatch, but you should also ensure your smartphone works with your smartwatch.

Battery Life

Most trackers say their batteries will last for days, but looking at how well they work in real life is essential before making a choice. Smartwatches that don’t have a display tend to last longer on a single charge.

Storage

You can keep more apps, photos, music, and other files on your smartwatch if it has more built-in storage. There are smartwatches with anywhere from 3GB to 8GB of built-in storage, but it depends on how much space you need.

Water Resistance

This is one of the most important things to look for in a smartwatch. A smartwatch that can be dunked in water without breaking is excellent for people who want to use their device outside the house or office.

Fitness Features

This is especially important if you want to use your smartwatch to track your health. Some watches have GPS devices that follow the distance you walk or run and your heart rate while running. They may also be able to do other things, like keep track of the calories you burn while working out or the amount of oxygen in your blood while you sleep.

Final Words

Smartwatches do more than tell the time. They have many features that can help make your life better. Some are even starting to add features that can help you keep track of your health so that you can notice any changes and make doctor’s visits as needed. Just make sure you consider all the factors before buying your new smart gadget.

We hope this list of options for the Apple Watch has helped you find some wearables to think about. Please let us know in the comments if you have any additions to this list.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Apple Watch Alternatives

Check out some commonly asked questions here on Apple Watch alternatives.

Can I use an Apple Watch with other Apple devices?

The Apple Watch will only work with an iPhone, but you can use Apple Fitness Plus on your iPad or Apple TV along with your watch.

Do Android watches work with iPhones?

The software on most of the smartwatches on our list is made for the Android operating system, which doesn’t work well with Apple iPhones. The Amazfit GTS4 is the only exception. It has an operating system called Zepp, and its app can be used on iOS and Android phones.

Older Galaxy watches could connect to iPhones via Bluetooth or the Galaxy Watch iOS app (here’s the complete list). However, that has changed in recent years because its version of WearOS needs connected phones to have Google Mobile Services (GMS), which Apple phones don’t have. The same is true for the Google Pixel Watch, which is only made to work with Android phones. Fitbit products, on the other hand, do work with iOS phones.

Is an Apple Watch essential?

No! The Apple Watch is a great thing to wear but costs as much as a luxury item. When you add in the short battery life, you might want a cheaper smartwatch that can go for a long time without being charged. We will say, though, that the Apple Watch is hard to beat if you want an app shop with many third-party apps.

What is a good substitute for an Apple Watch?

If you want a good all-around option, the Garmin Venu 2 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 are good choices. Fitbit watches like the Sense, and Versa 3 are some of the best ways to track your health and activities. When it comes to looks, Moto smartwatches are great, and the Xiaomi bands are great cheap options for the Apple Watch.

Is there a smartwatch better than Apple?

Yes, it is true in some ways! Finding a smartwatch with a worse battery than Apple’s would be hard. Fitbit’s products usually have more health-tracking features than the Apple Watch, and the Garmin Venu 2 has excellent features that are mostly on par with Apple’s.