The best Apple Watch alternatives in 2024

The best Apple Watch alternatives provide options for those not convinced by the design, performance or price of Apple's smart wearables. We're big fans of the Apple Watch ourself, but there are other options out there, and some of them offer better battery life, useful features or better value.

The Apple Watch Ultra offers the best performance and build among Apple's own offerings, but it's very expensive. The Apple Watch SE is much more affordable and a sensible buy for many people but lacks many of the more advanced features. See our guide to the Apple Watch generations for the full low down, but on this page we'll be concentrating on alternatives from the likes of Fitbit, Samsung, Garmin, and Withings. 

Our reviewers have found these to be reliable smartwatches that offer an array of features and functions. Below we've compared their specs to help you pick out the best Apple Watch dupe for you. All of the Apple Watch alternatives in this guide can be paired with both iPhone and Android phones. For more analysis, you might want to see our guide to Apple Watch vs. Garmin.

The quick list

The best Apple Watch alternatives 

The best Apple Watch alternative overall

Put off by the price of an Apple Watch? The Fitbit Versa 4 is considerably cheaper and yet offers a quite similar experience. Yes, it's mostly targeted at those with an active lifestyle, and doesn't have quite as many high-tech features as the latest Apple Watches. That said, it comes pretty close in most areas. Like the Apple Watch, it offers an always-on display, Wi-Fi connectivity, built-in GPS and water resistance. 

There are lots of great health and fitness features, including swim tracking, sleep tracking, and 40 exercise modes. You can play, stream and store music, use Google Assistant and Alexa, and there's a generous range of sensors, including an accelerometer, pulse oximeter, and thermometer. 

Our sister site Tom's Guide found, however, that the Fitbit Versa 4 had inaccurate heart rate readings and limited “smart” features, rating it only a 3 star. You also lose out in terms of storage (only 4GB), no safety tracking, and lack of an ECG. On the plus side, a battery life lasting up to six days is more generous, and there's that very affordable price. 

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The best cheap Apple Watch alternative

Looking for an Apple Watch alternative under $100 / £100? Then check out the Amazfit GTS 2 Mini. Despite its low price, it boasts a beautiful, always-on, 1.55-inch AMOLED touchscreen display with 450 nits of brightness. And thanks to the four-curved corners of the 2.5D glass cover, the product has no obvious border on the front, resulting in a cool, bezel-less look.

There are a ton of great features too, including heart rate monitoring, blood-oxygen saturation measurement, sleep monitoring, stress level and menstruation tracking. You can use Alexa for voice control, there are 68+ sports modes and a pomodoro tracker for productivity, and the 220 mAh battery lasts 14 days on a single charge. 

A smaller version of the standard AMazfit GTS 2, it does compromise on some desirable features to shrink the product (and price). For instance, there's no music player or payment functionality, and little in the way of apps. But for a low price, it still does an awful lot. Rated 4 stars by TechRadar, this smartwatch still offers a great core experience that few rivals can match.

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The best Apple Watch alternative for health data

While Fitbit is known for fitness (the clue's in the name, after all), Fitbit Sense is more focused on health than exercise. This is the standard model in the Fitbit Sense range, followed by the Sense 2, and is considered to be an extension and improvement upon the popular Fitbit Versa series. Here you'll find a portable ECG, stress sensing, a skin temperature sensor, along with sleep tracking, heart rate zones, and meditation tools for better mental health.

Fitness isn't forgotten, though. This watch can track and record 20 different exercises and provides a great range of workout stats to pore over afterward. (Note that you need to take out a premium subscription to use many of these features, though.) Beyond that, the battery can last up to six days, there's onboard GPS, and you can use voice control via Alexa or Google Assistant.

Our sister site, LiveScience, gave this smartwatch 4.5 stars and praised its focus on mental well-being as well as physical health. it has a much larger number of sensors than the Versa and offers an EDA scan to determine stress levels through the sweatiness of your hand! 

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The best Apple Watch alternative for runners

Another great fitness tracker that's a decent Apple Watch alternative is the Garmin Venu 2. It's more expensive than the Fitbit Versa 3, number one on our list. But it does has the edge on it when it comes to battery life of 11 days, and the on-board GPS is more accurate. 

If you're into running, you'll love the Garmin Coach app, which helps you train for a 5K, 10K or half marathon race with expert coaching and a dynamic training plan that shifts based on your goals and performance. And there are excellent features for gymgoers too, including muscle map graphics that helps you plan workouts and support for weights, spinning, HIIT, treadmill running and resistance machines.

The Garmin Venu 2 also benefits from an crisp AMOLED screen and well-designed interface that means you can do a lot of stuff without having to connect to your smartphone. That said, if you're not into formal exercise or sport, then you may find of all this overkill for the elevated price.

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The closest alternative to Apple Watch

The Galaxy Watch 6 is the latest smartwatch from Samsung, and the most polished Galaxy Watch series yet. It's a direct rival to the Apple Watch Series 8 lineup, including the Apple Watch Ultra, as well as other non-Apple contenders such as the Pixel Watch and Fitbit series. The target market seems to be Android users, obviously, but there's no reason you can't use this watch with your iPhone or other devices as it connects via WiFi and Bluetooth, or cellular if you choose this option. 

Key features of the Galaxy Watch 6 include Advanced Sleep Coaching, ECG / Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification, Personalized Heart Rate Zones, Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis, Skin Temperature, menstrual cycle tracking, and Blood Oxygen measuring.

If you don't need the latest device and want to save some money, there is also the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 series, and the even older Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 to consider, but in all honesty, there aren't huge differences between these models to really recommend one over the other. Take a look at the Galaxy Watch 3 below for a great value price in exchange for basic features (it's not the best for fitness). 

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The best Apple Watch alternative for looks

The Google Pixel Watch 2 is another contender to rival the Apple Watch. Great for those who already own Pixel smartphones like the Google Pixel 7 Pro, the second iteration has all-day battery life and faster charging. It's also a good choice for those who like their fitness, with FitBit integration, through a subscription offering access to the top FitBit apps and features. 

We love the look of the slightly curved AMOLED display and found the watch to be smooth and responsive. Features include  GPS tracking, optional cellular service, integration with Google's suite of apps (including hands-free Google Assistant), and other handy tools such as a flashlight and remote camera app. There's also an array of watch band colours to choose from. Our sister site, TechRadar gave the device four stars and rated it as a contender as the best FitBit device. One of the biggest downsides compared with Apple Watch is that there's only one size available.

The Pixel Watch is priced at $350/£340 for the Wi-Fi and GPS model, and $400/£380 for the LTE cellular edition, making it just $50 cheaper than the Apple Watch Series 8 or 9. 

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The best hybrid Apple Watch alternative

Want an Apple Watch alternative that looks like a traditional watch? Then you want a hybrid watch, and our top recommendation is the Withings ScanWatch Horizon. It has all the old-school looks, but turn it over and you can benefit from the functionality of a smartwatch. 

In terms of health, that means advanced features such as an ECG, SpO2 monitoring, heart monitoring and scans, breathing disturbance detection, and sleep tracking. Fitness features are strong, too, with support for cycling, running, and walking, although there's no onboard GPS, so you'll have to team it with your phone for that. On the plus side, battery life is up to 30 days on a single charge. 

Overall, it's not as sophisticated as an Apple Watch, and its tiny display on the back is a very different proposition to the large and detailed screen of the former. But for a halfway house between classic watch looks and smartwatch capabilities, you won't find finer.

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Other options

If you're not interested in fitness and just want a generic smartwatch, Samsung Galaxy Watches have a lot of appeal. However, the brand's latest model, the Samsung Galaxy 4, is not compatible with iOS. So if you want one that will work with your iPhone, your best option will be the slightly older Samsung Galaxy Watch 3.

Headline features include IP68 water resistance, fall detection, wireless charging, an ECG, and blood pressure monitor. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 also boasts accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer and an ambient light sensor. And although the first two watches on our list offer more sophisticated tracking, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 nevertheless provides a good range of health and fitness features. On the downside, battery life of just two to three days isn't so great. 

In general, then, if your priority is fitness, we'd go for one of the first two models on our list, while the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is a better bet for couch potatoes looking for other advanced smartwatch features.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 is pretty similar to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, which we list above, but cheaper, slimmer, lighter and better suited for workouts. It comes in two sizes, 40mm and 44mm, and you can choose between a Bluetooth/Wi-Fi version and a pricier one with cellular connectivity.

On the downside, battery life is limited, at just 24-60 hours depending on what you use it for and overall the Watch 3 has more advanced features, such as blood pressure monitoring. If you're on a tight budget though, the lower price may make those compromises worthwhile, and overall this is still a really nice Apple Watch alternative.

The TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra's headline feature is long-lasting battery that promises to last up to 45 days in Essential Mode, and a build quality that allows it to survive the extreme. Essentially, if you have a lengthy camping trip planned or ever get lost in the wilderness then this waterproof GPS smartwatch might be your saving grace. 

It also boasts a Snapdragon Wear 4100 processor, which makes everything run very fast and smoothly. It has a 1.4-inch retina AMOLED + FSTN screen that offers an impressive 454 x 454 resolution with 326ppi density. And you can use it to track your heart rate, stress levels, step count, sleep, and progress in 10+ workouts.

Overall, it offers sophisticated features like a heart rate monitor and blood oxygen SpO2 sensors at a lower price than, say, an Apple Watch 6 or a Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. In addition, it comes equipped with an accelerometer, gyro sensor, low latency off-body sensor, and a barometer, and the app has a Fatigue Assessment tracker with new TicHealth”, “TicPulse”, and “TicExercise” features.

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How to choose the best Apple Watch alternative

Choosing which of the best Apple Watch alternatives to buy will depend on what you're looking for in a smartwatch. You might want a watch that simply allows you to control your music and answer calls without turning to your phone, but if you're a keen runner or cyclist, you may want an option that provides health tracking features and metrics. In the guide above, we've highlighted the Apple Watch alternatives that we think are the best options for a range of different needs and budgets.

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How we chose the best Apple Watch alternatives

There are lots of reasons that products make the cut to feature in our buying guides, and we try to carry out hands-on tests of as many of the products as we can to offer honest recommendations and reviews. But when that's not possible - we make our choices based on our own experiences of testing other quality products in a brand's catalog, knowing that you can trust them too, and refer to the experience that other reviewers have had when testing products across our host of sister sites that include TechRadar, T3, and Tom's Guide.

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FAQs

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