The Best Smartwatch for Android Phones



A new wave of Android smartwatches, with better software and a huge range of styles, are due to arrive in mid to late 2017, but if you want something to wear right now, we think the Asus ZenWatch 3 is the most stylish and useful smartwatch for most Android phone owners. It is smaller and lighter than the typical gigantic Android smartwatch, and its three style options give it wider appeal than most of the competition. It lasts a full day on a full charge (and through the night, if you want to track your sleep), and can last most of the day on a 15-minute charge. It’s a newer Android Wear watch, with hardware that supports the latest Android Wear features, and it costs about $100 less than the competition.
Last Updated: May 17, 2017
We’ve added our thoughts on the Huawei Watch 2 to our section about the competition. We’re also keeping an eye on rumors that Asus may discontinue its ZenWatch products (including our current pick, the ZenWatch 3)—though at this point they are just that, rumors.
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Our pick
Affordable, stylish, and competent
Asus ZenWatch 3
It’s the best of what’s around: an affordable, good-looking watch that’s ready for Android Wear 2.0.
INR 39,999.00 from Amazon
At least a half-dozen unique Android Wear devices have been announced for 2017, along with literally hundreds of functionally identical name-brand clones, all of them running the newer, better Android Wear 2.0 operating system. We’ll test some of these watches, but the software and core hardware among them will be much the same, if not identical. For now, we recommend the Asus ZenWatch 3 because it’s an affordable Android Wear watch that will get the Android Wear 2.0 update in the second quarter of 2017, and it has three buttons that will make Wear 2.0 more useful. The ZenWatch 3 doesn’t have a heart-rate monitor, or built-in GPS or LTE hardware for use without a nearby phone, but it does relay notifications to you, can count steps and a few other exercises, and, most of all, can look good on more than one kind of wrist.
Also great
INR 27,590.00 from Amazon
*At the time of publishing, the price was $332.
Best for Samsung phones
Samsung Gear S3
Long battery life, a useful turning bezel, and a decent fitness system make the S3 worth considering for owners of Samsung phones―especially if you want to leave your phone at home.
If you have a Samsung phone and you like a larger watch, Samsung’s Tizen-based Gear S3 watch could be a better option than the ZenWatch 3. Its rotating bezel gets you to notifications and useful information with fewer hassles than Android Wear’s mostly touch-based interface. The battery lasts two to three days, depending on use. And if you have an AT&T or T-Mobile plan and buy an LTE-equipped S3, you can forward phone calls and texts to your watch and truly take a quick trip without your phone. The Gear S3 can work with any Android phone running Android 4.4 or newer, but its reliance on Samsung apps and services makes it the best choice mainly for those already toting a Samsung phone, which has most of those apps preinstalled.
(If you’ve got an iPhone, check out our guide to the best smartwatch for iPhone owners.)

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