Club Benefits
It may not surprise you to hear that the best Samsung smartwatches work best when paired with a Samsung phone. If you're a Galaxy user, you get access to all of the brand's health and wellbeing features, but you can technically use Samsung watches with any Android phone, if you don't mind losing some of those perks.
Maybe it's because you like the classic design that's more like a traditional watch than something like the Apple Watch. Or maybe you're happy with core smartwatch features like calls, texts, and notifications. Though, in that case, you might prefer one of the best Android smartwatches instead.
When Samsung debuted its latest watches last year, one of the headline announcements was the support for Google's Gemini AI app. But I don't think you should buy a watch for this alone, as (like all AI apps) it's not actually that useful. Focus on what you want the watch to do or track; other features should take a backseat.
The best Samsung watch available right now
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Best Samsung watch overall
If you're looking for the best Samsung watch right now, the Galaxy Watch 8 is it. It's got the top brightness of the range (matched only by the Galaxy Watch Ultra), around a day and half between charges and the most health and wellbeing features.
There's the standard Galaxy Watch 8, and the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic. The software is the same, but the Classic version only comes in 46mm (vs. 40 or 44mm) and has a rotating bezel for interacting with the display and various menus.
If I had to pick one of the three Watch 8 editions as the best Samsung watch, it'd be the Classic. It's a bit more of a acquired taste with the larger size and bezel, but I mainly put it above the other two because it hit more than 40 hours of battery in our testing.
Considering that we found the standard versions achieved around 30 hours, it's a massive step up. The display and battery aside, all three are the same watch in pretty much every way, from sensors through to software and health analysis.
The past few years have seen Samsung AI-ify its Health app, so the data your watch records — like heart rate, workouts, steps and sleep and ECG — is fed into the app's analysis tools to create actionable insights, in a similar way to the Galaxy Ring.
But unlike the smart ring, the Watch 8 has a display, so you can see these reports directly on your wrist without relying on your phone all the time (arguably one of the strongest reasons to buy a smartwatch in the first place).
The Watch 8 has a few exclusive features, like the new Running Coach, and a post-launch update enabled blood pressure recordings on the Galaxy Watch 4 and newer. Plus, it can monitor for sleep apnea and atrial fibrillation (AFib).
- Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 review
Best budget Samsung watch
Most annual tech upgrades are incremental; they add a smattering of features, improve the hardware a bit and often increase the price. So if you want to keep costs down, then the older Galaxy Watch 7 might be the best Samsung watch for you.
And if I'm being honest, it's not really much of a compromise — it's basically the same watch as the Galaxy Watch 8 in a different form. The Galaxy 7 has the more traditional circular display, which we actually found makes it more comfortable to wear.
And although it launched with Wear OS 5 (the Android smartwatch platform), it got upgraded to Wear OS 6, so has pretty much the same software as the Watch 8, and access to Gemini (though I don't count that as a win).
The main difference between the two watches, other than the rectangular design of the Watch 8, is that you can't get the AI-powered Running Coach, the display is 33% less bright on the Watch 7 and the Vascular Load metric is locked to the Watch 8.
Looking at it through that lens, it's almost too easy to recommend the Watch 7 at the moment, given that it's close to half the price of the Watch 8. The main area I wish was better was battery life, which we found generally maxed out at a day between charges.
That's about in line with the best Apple Watches, but seems a bit low considering that the Watch 8 managed to achieve almost 50% more just a year later. If you're comfortable with a daily charging routine, the Watch 7 feels like a steal at its new price.
- Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 review
Best Samsung watch for battery life
If you like your battery life long and watch face big, then the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is going to be the best Samsung watch for you. It's basically the Samsung version of the Apple Watch Ultra 3; a larger display than the standard watch, improved battery life, and a water temperature sensor.
So while in most product ranges, the most expensive model (as this one is) often means its the best overall, that's not quite true here; unless you really need the larger display, extra battery life or ability to go deep sea diving (thanks to its 10ATM rating), you'd probably be better off with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8.
Not that I think this isn't a fantastic Samsung watch, because it definitely is. But it's made for a specific use case, so unless you find yourself in that demographic, you can save money on a different model. Though if you are set on the Ultra, the experience of actually wearing it sets it apart from the others too.
It has a titanium body (instead of the standard aluminum), which is more durable if you're going to be adventuring outdoors. But it also makes it heavier; at 60g, it's pretty much double the weight of the Galaxy Watch 7, so it may take some getting used to if you're upgrading from a standard size smartwatch.
It's a tough watch to recommend with my whole chest, though. It was released alongside the Galaxy Watch 7, and was a lot brighter than that watch. But then a year later, Samsung let the Watch 8 out into the world with the same 3,000 nits of brightness.
Plus, in most cases, if you're an outdoorsy type that needs improved battery life, durability and precision GPS, you'd be better off with one of the best Garmin watches. But if you're a Samsung user through and through, and need an adventure watch that plays well with the brand's phones and apps, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is for you.
- Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra review
Also consider
How we test the best Samsung watches
To help you decide between all of the best Samsung smartwatches, we wear them for several weeks to test out all the wearables' health and fitness tracking features and to see how the battery fares over an extended period.
Once strapped to our wrists, we see how well the watches fit, and how easy the displays are to navigate and read, especially in sunlight. Depending on its capabilities, we also test the watches' sensors, such as GPS and heart rate monitors.
As sleep tracking is a key feature on many of the brand's watches, we also wear them overnight to see if it's actually comfortable to wear in bed (and if it squishes into your face and leaves a watch-shaped outline on your face in the morning).
Since we also test the best Android smartwatches, we compare the performance against competitor models to see how consistent the Samsung watches are, within the brand's range and compared to the competition.
We play around with settings, install apps, and set up Samsung Pay for contactless payments to check everything works as it should and that these features are more convenient (or at least not more of a hassle) than just getting your phone out to complete a task.
The connection to your phone needs to be consistent and reliable, so we pair the watches with Samsung phones and other Android devices, checking to see whether the experience is comparable or if Samsung optimizes for its own devices.
How to choose the best Samsung watch for you
In most cases, the best Samsung watch will be the latest model. Generally, Samsung keeps its lineup pretty tight with a flagship device and a premium model. The latest iteration of the Galaxy Watch will have the latest features and generally the best performance.
But that doesn't mean you don't have other options to consider. If you're considering the Galaxy Watch 8, the Galaxy Watch 7 has similar features across the board. You miss out on some new health tools, like the Vascular Load and Antioxidant Index, but it does support Google's Gemini AI assistant.
That's not your only consideration, though. There's also the Galaxy Watch Ultra — a larger, longer-lasting version of the Galaxy Watch 7. It has the same sensors and the same features but double the battery life (48 hours), a larger display, and a titanium case design.
It's also a lot more expensive, so you need to balance your budget against how much you value these additions. And, generally, we don't recommend going more than a generation back on any Samsung watch, as it won't be supported for much longer, but may cost almost the same as the more recent models.
That's why we'd also never suggest picking up a Samsung Gear 2, the first Samsung watch we reviewed in 2014, unless you're looking for an experiment to see if you can get it working with modern phones.
Like most other tech firms, Samsung gives its watches an annual refresh, often in late July. So if you're looking to pick up the most feature-packed model in the summer, I'd wait until we get confirmation of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9. And even if you're not worried about the most recent watch, once the new model is out, the older ones drop in price, making it a great time to pick up a watch without breaking the bank.
