Best smartwatch 2019

Smartwatches come in all shapes, sizes and prices, so one is bound to suit you. We've reviewed and ranked the 10 best smartwatches on the market to help you decide which to buy.

Smartwatches are a great way to receive notifications from your phone and track your health, right from your wrist. We've used and reviewed all the of the latest smartwatches for Android and iPhone, and here we've ranked ten of the best.

The Apple Watch Series 5, may seem like the obvious choice for iPhone users, but there are loads of great Wear OS rivals to choose from via Huawei, Motorola and others. Add in hybrid smartwatches from the likes of Withings and Fossil, and you're bound to find something that suits your style and has the features you need.

Looking for other wearable tech? Take a look at our recommendations for smart wallets.  

Your buying guide to the best smartwatches in 2019

Why do you need a smartwatch?

There's an interesting theory that smartwatches are to the smartphone what wristwatches were to the pocket watch. Picture the way the average gentlemen used to have to rummage through his pocket for his watch prior to the 20th century. Now skip forward 100+ years and the average smartphone user still has to dive into his/her pocket to check their phone.

The kicker now is that your smartphone holds far more information than a pocket watch ever did, yet all of which is still locked into your pocket.

Smartwatches aren't for making phone calls, although some can, but instead, they (among other things) provide a quick and easy way to check what notifications are on your smartphone, so you can decide whether it's worth delving into your pocket or searching around your bag to fetch your smartphone or not.

What type of smartwatch should you look for?

There are two types of smartwatch around at the moment: those with a colourful touchscreen, like you'd find on your phone and those which combine a regular analogue watch with smart features.

These are known as hybrid smartwatches - some have the smart bits almost completely hidden, while some give you information via a small integrated display.

While a fully-fledged smartwatch can do a lot more, the juice guzzling screen results in a shorter battery life. Semi-smart watches benefit from longer battery life with some even having separate cells for the watch and smart features.

If you're an Android user then a Wear OS (formerly Android Wear) smartwatch is the obvious choice but it's not necessarily the best for everyone. Google's OS tweaked for wearables also plays nicely with iOS but with cut down functionality so iPhone owners will get more from the Apple Watch. Read more on how to use Android Wear with iPhone.

What makes a good smartwatch?

When testing for the best smartwatch, the important factors to consider are 'how much of your smartphone's functionalities can it perform?', and 'how well does it handle each task?', the final attribute is obviously style - it's still bling after all.