Top Smartwatches 2023

The Gear S2 arrived on a deserved wave of hype, but for some reason we aren’t overly excited about this new Gear S3 Frontier. The only thing it actually adds is GPS, and at a £100 cost it’ll definitely put some people off. The reduced functionality when not using a Samsung phone is also a turn-off, despite the software being easier and more intuitive than Android Wear. The problem isn’t entirely the S3’s fault, it’s in the inherent limitations of smartwatches. You’ll always need a smartphone to finish the majority of tasks, and added to the fact that this is practically a repackaged Gear S2 means not much new ground has been broken. If you want a smartwatch and can afford to spend £349, this is the one to get. It just isn’t essential.

The Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch has great software and a thoughtful design going for it, but a paltry app selection and finicky voice recognition hold it back.

The Fitbit Versa 4 is less of a smartwatch than some older Fitbits, at least at launch, and can’t challenge the best for fitness tracking accuracy. However, its battery life is sound and this is a good fit for those happy with a buffet of surface-level elements of smartwatches and more hardcore fitness watches.

The LG Watch Urbane is the most luxuriously crafted Android Wear smartwatch yet, but it's a tough sell for the price.

Motorola’s long-awaited smartwatch is finally ready for your wrist

The surprisingly affordable Samsung Galaxy Fit is a sleek, accurate fitness tracker with a lovely display, a simple interface, and long battery life.

The Martian Notifier brings plenty of notifications to a classic wristwatch design, but if you're looking to run apps from your wrist, this isn't the smartwatch for you.

Fossil doesn’t break new ground with its Sport smartwatch. But thankfully, it doesn’t overdo it on bundled apps, charges quickly, and has an intuitive interface. However, it’s too playful in terms of design to be taken seriously against other, better smartwatches. Also, the battery life is far from ideal.

The Polar Ignite 3 is a more likeable fitness watch and almost a great sports watch if it wasn’t for some software niggles that let it down.

The TicWatch GTH Pro is a cheap smartwatch with some potentially innovative health monitoring features. The problem is that with the lack of any sort of regulatory approval or clearance for those features coupled with some general software bugginess, it's a budget health watch that’s tough to trust.