Let’s face it if you are a smartwatch lover and if you want Android in your hand with you everywhere even without a phone you are quite limited currently. Low advancement in Smartwatch CPU and battery evolution are keeping Android based smartwatches almost at snail speed on development. Also some brands have diched the Wear OS in the favorer of custom UNIX based OS’s that are more limited as access to applications but do offer a great battery life.
Here is our list of Wear OS based smartwatches in 2023 based and performance, battery life, price, but also features:
- Galaxy Watch 4 LTE 44mm
Yes, even that the Watch 5 launched last year this is our best recommendation as the only thing that the 5th version in the PRO brings over the 4th is a skin temperature sensor that does not work in most countries (planed to work months after lunch, taking into consideration that this was last year). Lets get back to the Galaxy Watch 4, the LTE feature is a neat one if you leave your phone at home even if the battery wont get past 12 hours of use on watch only with a 20min call, 1h of music and some running with GPS on. With the LTE feature off you can get 2 full days with out the charger with sleep tracking, SPO2, heart rate, auto tracking and even some music but with AoD feature off.
Pros:
- 48 hours battery life
- 1.4″ gorgeous round full Amoled screen
- Smooth and lag-free OS and apps usage
- NFC and GPay for when you left your wallet at home (well, not helping very much in Germany, where Cash is the king)
- Virtual rotating bezel
- features like WIFI, GPS, HR, SPO2, EKG, Body Composition
- latest Wear OS 3.5 with a lot of features
- swappable bands
- 16GB ROM for your favorite offline music
- ~200 Euro price tag in May 2023
Cons:
- battery life longer then other Wear OS watches, but still very short.
- Oh boy, Samsung really did a number on Galaxy Watch 4 users with the now well known updates that brick the watches (some where completely replaced, for most the mother board was replaced, and some users got money back). In some countries as some users had only 1 year warranty some shops did not want to repair the watch.
- the rubber bands do look cheap for the price you pay, the good part is that they are replaceable with a quick release mechanism
TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS / LTE
Lunched in October 2021, is still one of the best watches out there, But you cannot have both you have to select from 2 models GPS or LTE versions. The price is near 200 Euro now just as GW4. The unique features like some other Mobvoi watches is the secondary monochrome layer of display for extra ling battery life, up to 45 days. Is one of the most resistant smartwatches on the market with MIL-STD-810G. Unfortunately the long awaited update from WearOS 2 to version 3 still did not come after 1 year of promises as the watch packs the latest smartwatch CPU from QUALCOMM the 4100+.
Pros:
- Durability MIL-STD-810G
- secondary monochrome display
- The GPS works really good
- Big battery up to 72h on smart mode
- accurate fitness sensors and phone app
Cons:
- WearOS 2 (this version is from 2019) – Rummers of WearOS 3 update on Q3 2023
- cannot have both the GPS and LTE in one watch which is a shame, as the watch is really big
- not a watch for most of the wrists, is a big chunk at 47 x 48 x 12.3mm
- old, lunched in 2021
- still a pin charger and not magnetic charger
Fossil Gen 6
It doesn’t pack a lot of features, but it offers a great number of style customization and interchangeable bands. It lacks GPS, LTE and EKG. It offers a power mode saver that allows the watch to extend the life from 1 to 3 days. Is a great choice for woman’s as it packs a great resolution 416×416 round Amoled display at a small size of just 1.3″ in diameter.
Pros:
- Great for Womans hands
- Packs a lot of style and customization with the 20mm bands
- up to 3 days on Fossils power mode saver mode (this will disable most of the function).
- great round display
Cons:
- lack of features GPS, LTE and EKG
- small battery
- manufactured on the same year as the above 2021
