Best smartwatches of 2020: Apple & Samsung. Whichever you choose, be happy in the knowledge you’re wearing the best smartwatch currently available, and one of the finest Apple products. A new S5 processor powers the Series 5 watch for super-smooth performance and greater efficiency than the Series 4’s S4. We pair them with different phones and try them with different operating systems. The only doubts we have are about the performance analysis and the tiny display. In some cases, the Apple Watch can auto-recognize your workout and start tracking results. And when it detects you're washing your hands, you'll see a countdown appear on your wrist. The screens are bright and sharp enough to give you the latest data on your training session. Copyright ©2020 Designtechnica Corporation. Why you should buy this: It’s the best value Wear OS smartwatch you’ll find, with all the right features at a low price. You can decide what phone notifications you want to receive on your wrist, though there are fewer options if you’re an iPhone owner. In our testing, 12 days of use between charges was the norm. The Garmin Instinct Solar has the unique feature of being able to recharge itself using solar power. The Skagen Falster 3 has it all, and is our favorite smartwatch with WearOS at the moment. One thing to remember is that using GPS will drain the battery in the watch faster than usual. The only notable missing feature is NFC for Google Pay. We just wish it worked with Android. We stress-tested this against pulse oximetry, or pulse ox, readers, essentially the small devices that clip onto your fingers and test blood oxygen or SpO2 in the same fashion. It’s feature-rich, user-friendly, gorgeous, and extremely reliable. Why you should buy this: It’s comfortable, durable, and designed for triathletes in training, so perfect for tracking swimming. Who it’s for: Swimmers, or those who require a water-resistant smartwatch. While many smartwatches are water resistant today, from the Apple Watch Series 5 to the Kate Spade Scallop 2, not all have sapphire crystal over the screen. If you prioritize fitness tracking above smartwatch features, the Fitbit Versa 2 is for you. Just like its predecessor, the Apple Watch Series 5 comes in a choice of 40mm and 44mm case sizes. Despite being cheap, it’s very good value, with a large, bright 1.4-inch screen showing the latest version of Google’s Wear OS, a heart rate sensor on the back, and GPS to track your run. We test smartwatches just like we test smartphones. With the latter, we established a baseline with consumer-facing devices that are designed to just track those metrics (i.e., SpO2 or heart rate). An alternative is the Suunto 7 which is the brand’s first smartwatch to use Google’s WearOS software, yet still packs in all the familiar and desirable Suunto fitness and health tracking. Read our full Kate Spade Scallop 2 hands-on review. Suunto is new to the smartwatch space, and its first offering, the Suunto 7, is a solid first try. Read our full Garmin Forerunner 945 review. The Skagen Falster 3 fixes all the performance and battery issues that plagued the first two Falster smartwatches. It just won't track your blood oxygen periodically overnight. The Watch 3 can track your stress level, measure your blood oxygen level and, thanks to a recent update, perform an ECG to monitor for heartbeat abnormalities. However, fitness and health stats are split up between the Suunto app and Google Fit, which is frankly a big misstep. The addition of Samsung Pay’s mobile payments also takes Samsung’s watches to a new level. The advice we gave for the Series 3 still stands. Our value pick this time around is the $279 midrange Apple Watch SE. There’s even an LTE model for those who don’t want to exercise with a smartphone in their pockets. If your Android phone or iPhone was purchased in the last three or four years, then the answer is almost certainly yes. It can also handle hiking, GPS cardio, and gym cardio, but you’ll have to start sessions manually. Your messages, calls, apps, contacts, favorite photos and more are all accessible. Sleep tracking is on board as well and allows you to set a goal for the number of hours you want to sleep and tracks whether or not you're hitting that goal. We asked ourselves how easy it was to complete routine tasks, like viewing a weather forecast, checking daily agenda or sending a message. With a very user-friendly interface, the Coros Apex doesn’t try to do too much — it’s designed for the triathlete in training and so it primarily tracks running, biking, and swimming. Read more from CNN Underscored's hands-on testing: Like us on Facebook to see similar stories, Texas legal battles over voting could have an impact on election, America's most successful employee-owned companies, Best smartwatches of 2020: Apple & Samsung. You also have the choice of stainless steel or aluminum for the exterior. Fitbit's latest watch has more health-related sensors and features than any watch we've ever tested. You can see the category breakdown below. Do you have any suggestions for us? WearOS is up to date on our review model, and is surprisingly fluid and speedy, something old WearOS models couldn’t always claim. The Apple Watch varies a little. Earlier this year, our top overall pick for the best smartwatch was the Series 5. Battery life is stellar — it can go up to two weeks between charges. One-day battery life and a touchscreen on a watch is still hard to swallow for some people, but that’s why hybrid smartwatches were invented — and battery lives and control mechanisms are constantly getting better. We missed the always-on display the most. Read our full Skagen Falster 3 X By Kygo review. Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active2, available in 44 mm and 40 mm sizes, is the best smartwatch for all Android phones even though it doesn’t run Google’s software. There's a true rotating bezel on the Watch 3 that has a pleasant click and tactile feedback as you rotate it to scroll through an incoming message or to navigate through your installed apps.