The 2025 Best Smartwatches: Style, Fitness, Connectivity Smartest, Coolest, Best Looking

Smartwatches have moved beyond a gizmo. They’re your personal trainer, your bank teller, and now even your personal assistant, wrapped around your wrist. In 2025, the competition is more competitive than ever, with Apple, Samsung, Garmin and others really going head to head and competing against all aspects of this cutting edge technology. After putting all the new models through their paces (and charging far too many batteries), here’s my down and dirty winners and losers of the class of 2023 smartwatches.  

Improve equity  

Support climate, health, and equity goals  

Make transit faster and more reliable  

Help the economy by getting people to jobs and workers to employers  

Preserve important places  

Apple Watch Series 10: The iPhone User’s Wingman  

See the Good, the Bad, the Green  

That buttery-smooth OLED display got even brighter (and a bit more impossible to ignore).  

Health Plus app (new with iOS 19), nags you—I mean, coaches you—into healthier habits with AI.  

Remains undisputed champion of Apple-harmony with devices (pay with wrist, ‘Siri, what’s the weather?’ …etc).  

The Ugly  

price tag … Now you’re just paying for the Apple logo.  

Battery life: Unless “improved” can somehow get you through a busy week on one charge.  

Ideal for: Apple devotees who want the entire ecosystem on their wrist.  

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: Android’s Solution to Apple  

Beautiful AMOLED display you’ll be mesmerized by like a campfire.  

Two-day battery life (a bit of a miracle in smartwatch land).  

Health specialties ECG, sleep tracking, rugged Galaxy Watch Ultra edition for butterfingered fell runners  

Wear OS oddities : Some apps lag from time to time.  

Ideal for: People with Android devices who don’t want to charge their watch every day.  

Garmin Forerunner 970, Garmin Epix, Edge 1040. For the Fitness Bigots  

What’s different in 2025:  

11-day battery life (or 19 hours with GPS—plenty for an ultramarathon).  

Dual-frequency GPS goodbye did I run 5 miles or 4.9?" arguments.  

Personalized recovery information so you know when it’s time to take a break (read this one, go-getters).  

Best on a Budget The new Forerunner 570 does 90% of this for a lot less.  

Ideal for: Runners who obsess over the VO₂ max data.  

OnePlus Watch 2R : The Value Viper  

$200 — (and less with Memorial Day sales through May 31).  

10-day battery life – 2,000-nit display (super bright, so it’s readable in direct sunlight)  

Wear OS equals actual apps, not just fancy alerts.  

No echo, no ECG, but wow you’re saving $300.  

Ideal for: Resourceful Android lovers who despise battery recharge.  

Amazfit Bip 6: The “I Don’t Need All That Fancy Stuff” Watch  

These examples as to why it’s here in the first place.  

$150-ish for 10-day battery, notifications and fitness tracking  

Design to make it go round (as squares are so 2020)  

Doesn’t feel premium next to luxury watches.  

Best for: Smartwatch must not equal second mortgage.  

Huawei WATCH 5 : The Futuristic Fashionista  

X-Factor/Weighting Factor:  

Fingertip health monitoring (not quite sure how this one works, but it’s nifty).  

Week-long battery and EXTap for ultra-quick charging.  

Too little to go around outside of Asia.  

Best for: Style snobs who want tech bragging rights  

Suunto Run: The Economical(ish) Runner’s Watch  

What’s new for 2025  

$249 (one-fifth the cost of an Apple Watch).  

12-day battery – military-grade GPS accuracy.  

Not ideal for: Swimmers (5ATM, not suitable for swimming).  

Ideal user: Budget-conscious trail runners.  

Google Pixel Watch 3 – The Android Purist’s Choice  

Improvements to Adopt:  

Brighter OLED – buttery-smooth performance .  

(Maps, Assistant, etc.).  

Battery life. Still a “charge overnight” deal.  

Ideal for: Pixel lovers who are ingrained in Google’s ecosystem of devices.  

How to Choose Your 2025 Smartwatch  

Consider these questions to yourself and your organization:  

1. iPhone or Android phone.  

2. Is the battery life important to me? (Garmin = weeks, Apple = hours.  

3. How much can I afford to pay? ($150 Amazfit vs. $800 Apple Watch.  

Five years later in 2025, smartwatches are some of the most personalized devices on the planet. Fitness junkies won’t want to miss a Garmin, iPhone diehards will love the Series 10, and bargain hunters can’t go wrong with OnePlus or Amazfit.  

Hold out for Amazon’s Great Summer Prime Day Sale!