The best Wear OS watch 2023: top ex-Android Wear smartwatches (2023)

FAQs

Is Android Wear and Wear OS same? ›

Wear OS (also known simply as Wear and formerly Android Wear) is a version of Google's Android operating system designed for smartwatches and other wearables.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 5 Classic are the best Wear OS smartwatches you can buy. They're running the latest software, have decent battery life, and offer accurate fitness- and health-tracking features. The Fossil Gen 6 is the best Wear OS watch for customization.

At Google's event in October 2022, Wear OS 3.5 was announced alongside the Pixel Watch, showcasing features from Fit Bit that enables far more fitness features than previously offered.

If your watch has a speaker, you can use your watch to answer incoming calls to your phone. If your watch screen is dim, tap the screen to wake up the watch. Play phone audio on watch. Make sure the switch is in the On position.

Some watches are equipped with a battery power indicator: when the seconds-hand jumps in intervals of several seconds, it is time for the battery to be replaced. Some special lithium-iodine batteries have a theoretical lifespan of up to 10 years.

As of now, if you want a Wear OS smartwatch that monitors blood pressure, you can pick up the Galaxy Watch 5 or Galaxy Watch 4. Note that the feature is only available in select markets and only works with Samsung smartphones.

Longevity: A quartz watch can last the user for 20 – 30 years, as the electronic components of the watch will eventually wear out. A well-maintained mechanical watch will outlive the original purchaser. High-end mechanical watches can be heirloom pieces, passed down from generation to generation.

We recommend that Wear OS apps work independently of a phone so users can complete tasks on a watch without access to an Android or iOS phone. If your watch app requires phone interaction, you must mark your Wear OS app as non-standalone and take steps to ensure that the user has the phone app available.

Can you text on Wear OS? ›

If your watch is paired with your phone, you can use your favorite messaging apps. To see if the messaging app you want to use is on your watch, check your apps menu. If it's not, download the app you want.

You can get apps and games for your Wear OS watch from the Google Play Store. Tip: To use apps from the Play Store, your watch must run Wear OS 2 or newer.

1. Apple Watch Ultra. The Apple Watch Ultra is undoubtedly one of the best smartwatches in the World, and so are its predecessors.

Does my phone need to be nearby to use my Android Wear watch? If your smartwatch is connected to Wi-Fi, and your phone has a Wi-Fi or cellular network connection, your smartphone can be anywhere you like. The Wi-Fi network doesn't have to be the same either.

With a Galaxy Watch Active2, Galaxy Watch3, Galaxy Watch4, or Galaxy Watch4 Classic, you can make calls remotely over Wi-Fi in the event the Bluetooth connection between your phone and the watch disconnects.

You may well get two to five years of use out of a smartwatch, or even more, depending on the manufacturer and model. But, ultimately, longevity needs to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Do any watches last forever? ›

It really depends on the quality of the watch you buy. If you get a genuinely high-quality automatic watch, it can last for hundreds of years. When a watchmaker takes the time to put his heart and soul into creating a watch, it should last long enough for you to hand down to your children.

What's the cost of replacing a watch battery? Most professionals will charge you $6-$19 to replace a standard timepiece battery. However, this will vary depending on the watch type and brand name. Timepieces with water-resistance batteries will cost $40-$65, while chronograph designs will cost $65-$100.

Engineered to keep you informed, HeartGuide is the first clinically-accurate, wearable blood pressure monitor designed in the innovative form of a wristwatch, and is registered with the FDA as a medical device.

HAFURY Blood Pressure Watch – Best Overall

This smartwatch by HAFURY is an ultimate health tracker that not only displays 24-hour heart rate readings but also tracks oxygen level concentration, stress level, sleep time, step count, calories burned, active time, and breathing rate.

Most smartwatches don't need data plans unless they're standalone smartwatches with cellular connectivity capabilities. Even then, a data plan isn't necessarily required for you to use the smartwatch. Smartwatches use Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connection from your phone.

But you can only pair your watch with one phone at a time. You can't pair one watch with multiple phones at the same time. You can switch which phone your watch is paired with but you need to reset your watch to factory settings first. Then you can pair your watch to the new phone.

The first time you set up Wear OS on your watch, you'll be guided to sign into a Google Account. You'll get notifications, share contacts, and sync apps from this account, unless you change it later.

Wear OS mirrors your smartphone notifications, so for something like Gmail, you can still see and read a new Gmail message if it arrives in your notifications, and you can send a reply.

The Wear Internet Browser is compatible with all Wear OS (Android Wear) smart watches.

Talk to Alexa at any time using the Wear OS version of the app. Simply tap the big button or use the Wear OS tile to instantly give Alexa a voice command.

Can you download games on Wear OS? ›

You can get apps and games for your Wear OS watch from the Google Play Store. Tip: To use apps from the Play Store, your watch must run Wear OS 2 or newer. Learn how to check your watch version.

You can download a variety of apps from the Google Play Store on your watch. Some apps work with a matching app on the phone that's connected to your watch. Tip: Make sure that your watch is connected to Wi-Fi or on LTE to search and download apps.

The Galaxy Watch 5 is the best Android smartwatch for most people, offering long battery life, good performance and plenty of fitness tracking capabilities. The Apple Watch SE gets you the modern Apple Watch design and everyday usability for a good price.

Wear OS works with phones running Android 6.0+ (excluding Go edition) or iOS 13.0+. Supported features may vary between platforms and countries. Visit g.co/WearCheck on your Android phone or iPhone® to see if it's compatible. Wear OS for iOS is available for iPhone 5S+ and later.

The future of smart wearable technology is mostly linked with interconnectivity among devices and the ability to sync data between wearables and mobile phones. Energy harvesting is another big domain, and it pertains to converting body heat, movement or solar energy into power.

2022 Apple Watch SE (40mm, GPS)

The new Watch SE is the way to go for people who want to futureproof their hardware without breaking the bank (so long as you're okay forgoing a larger display). You're getting the same processor as the Series 8 and Ultra, plus Crash Detection.

To use your smartwatch, first connect your watch to your phone with the Wear OS app. Watches that run Wear OS 3 are not compatible with the Wear OS app.

OnePlus ups animations and motion to really make it feel as though OxygenOS is far and away the fastest version of Android. The introduction of 90Hz refresh rate displays ups the ante further still.

Android 13 is the latest version of Android, and it was released on August 15, 2022. It arrived first on Google Pixel phones, but was quickly rolled out to Samsung Galaxy devices as well.

What is the most popular Android OS version? ›

You can download a variety of apps from the Google Play Store on your watch. Some apps work with a matching app on the phone that's connected to your watch. Tip: Make sure your watch is connected to Wi-Fi or on LTE to search and download apps.

Search for apps

You can also search for specific apps on play.google.com/store. Tip: Not all apps available for Android phones are also available for Wear OS watches. If you don't have the option to install the app on your watch, it's probably not compatible with Wear OS.

Note: Your phone must run Android 11 (API level 30) or higher and have the Google Play Store installed to use the Wear OS emulator pairing assistant. Also, make sure your Wear emulators run API level 28 or higher to use the latest assistant features.

All Samsung smartphones and tablets use the Android operating system, a mobile operating system designed by Google. Android typically receives a major update once a year, bringing new features and improvements to all compatible devices.

Listen to music using your watch connected to a Bluetooth accessory, like headphones. Download music directly to your watch so you can listen without an internet connection. Stream music directly from your watch so you can listen without a paired device nearby.

Natively, Wear OS will only show notifications for Facebook Messenger messages. You then have to check the message on your phone. Install the Wear OS, though, and a whole bunch of options will be presented to you — you can answer a message (even with voice typing), like it, or react to it with emoticons.

Android is an open-source platform, so it has more applications and games than a windows operating system. Android OS comes with Google PlayStore, which has more than 2.2 million applications and games that work with different Android versions. Windows Store does not even offer you millions of apps.

It all comes down to what you want out of your software. Android is more customizable and has more features and complex options, while iOS is more straightforward, easy to use and has a higher level of security. Most apps are available on either operating system, but more Android apps are available than iOS apps.

Android 12 is our most personal OS ever, featuring dynamic color capabilities that can transform your experience based on your wallpaper and responsive motion that responds to your touch. Even the widgets have been given a facelift, with your favorite people always available right there on your home screen.