Smartwatches and fitness trackers buying guide

The right smartwatch depends far more on your phone than on the watch's spec sheet.

1. Check phone compatibility first; some watches work fully only with iPhone or only with Android.
2. Battery ranges from one day to several weeks; decide whether nightly charging is acceptable, especially for sleep tracking.
3. Built-in GPS matters if you run or cycle without your phone; otherwise a watch that borrows your phone's GPS is cheaper.
4. Heart-rate and blood-oxygen readings from budget watches are estimates for trends, not medical measurements.
5. Standard strap widths (such as 20 or 22 mm) let you swap bands cheaply; proprietary connectors do not.

Common mistake: Paying for health sensors you will never look at instead of battery life you will notice every day.