Which Smartwatch is best to buy in 2021/2022

Compared to a few years ago, when the smartwatch models were rather spartan and limited, today we can find many smartwatches for every price category, many from very famous manufacturers and, for those who want to save as much as possible, also Chinese brands, all with one of the operating systems developed for this type of device.

Which Smartwatch is best to buy

In this article we will see together the best smartphones to buy, so you can immediately choose the best model among those available on the market. Before choosing a good smartwatch to buy we will have to find out which operating systems are used on these portable devices, then take a look at the technical characteristics that we can find on the new-generation devices.

Smartwatch operating system

One of the most important features, when we talk about smartwatches, is the operating system, which can make the difference between a good product and an incomplete or poor product. Currently, there are two complete operating systems on the market that can be well integrated with smartphones:

• watchOS: the most complete operating system for development and compatibility is undoubtedly watchOS, which moves the Apple Watch (not surprisingly the best-selling smartwatches). As often happens with Apple, this system is 100% compatible only if there is an iPhone connected and it is not possible to use it with an Android smartphone (except for very few functions). If we decide to focus on an Apple Watch, let’s make sure we have a modern iPhone available to be able to initialize it and be able to use it every day, otherwise, we will have made an unnecessary expense.
• Wear OS (formerly Android Wear): the best alternative to watchOS is without a doubt Wear OS, developed by Google and therefore in perfect harmony with Android systems. This system is fast and beautiful to look at, as well as offering seamless integration between wearables (e.g. fitness apps) and any modern smartphone, including iPhones (in this case with limited functionality). Android Wear is a free, customizable system (both in the screens and in the clock theme), it allows you to use many functions of the Android smartphone even when we keep the latter in our pocket and we can give voice commands to the integrated Google Assistant.
• Tizen OS: some Samsung smartwatches have this system, compatible with Samsung Galaxy phones, with any other Android mobile phone and with iPhone (albeit with several limitations). This system is very good but does not have the same functionality as Wear OS.

Unfortunately, not all smartwatches on sale have Wear OS as an operating system: on many devices, we find a proprietary operating system, in many cases a simplified version.

This does not mean that in the absence of the systems seen above the smartwatch is not valid: on many high-end models (such as Huawei, Honor, Xiaomi and Amaznfit) we find very powerful and very simple proprietary systems to connect to the phone (via dedicated app).

Those to be avoided absolutely are in Chinese clones sold on Wish or on other similar sites: these smart bands are cheap and worth little.

Technical features

Smartwatches work almost all the same way, as wearable interfaces of the mobile phone, always connected via Bluetooth (although in some cases Wi-Fi can be used for connection).

The Bluetooth connection must therefore always remain active between the phone and the watch, at least when going out and about, especially on a motorcycle or in a car: those who are used to wearing a watch will find it convenient to be able to view notifications on the smartwatch screen without having to pull out the phone from your pocket or purse; in addition, there is also a certain convenience to launch voice commands on the phone by speaking on the microphone of the smartwatch.

Below we have collected the other technical characteristics that a good smartwatch must-have. so that we can carefully evaluate the purchase (especially if we want to make it in the store):

• Health sensors: Almost all smartwatches on the market have a heart rate monitor, a blood saturation sensor and a sleep monitor. These features are very useful for calculating your stress level and for operating the built-in training and fitness modes on your device.
• GPS, pedometer and fitness: thanks to the presence of these sensors we can also use the smartwatch as a fitness tracker, i.e. also as a meter of competitive activities, therefore pedometer, calorie counter, heartbeat and tracker of the paths taken. In fact, we must remember that if the intention is only to buy a fitness watch, perhaps those that measure the heartbeat as well as the steps and sleep, it is not necessary to buy a smartwatch, but we can focus on another type of wearable like smart bands.
• Screen: It is important to know what type of screen a smartwatch can have. In fact, we can find smartwatches with a round or square screen, with the round ones that always cost a little more because they are more elegant to wear and less sporty. On smartwatches, we can find a square screen, which is more comfortable to use with the touchscreen.
  While the screen can present itself with different strengths and weaknesses, it is preferable to focus on smartwatches that have an AMOLED or OLED type display, where the black is not illuminated and, therefore, have greater autonomy. The only problem with the AMOLED screen is that you see less well under the sun than an LCD screen, but a lot depends on the type of screen produced (SuperAMOLEDs can be seen discreetly in almost any light condition). The Apple Watches feature a Retina-type screen, which is seen very well in any light condition and is also well illuminated, so as to offer very high contrast.
• Battery and autonomy: Regarding the battery of a smartwatch, if we talk about a traditional Android Wear or Apple Watch smartwatch, the battery will hardly last more than three days, so it is better to put it on charge often, especially at the end of the day (so as to have it always charged for the next day).
  In some smartwatches, the time is always visible on the screen, even if with a low consumption mode that has little impact on the autonomy of the clock battery. The presence of the brightness sensor is fundamental so that the brightness of the screen is automatically adjusted according to the ambient light. Monochromatic screens or cheaper smartwatch screens can guarantee greater autonomy (such as the 15 days of the Xiaomi Mi Band), but obviously, the information provided is much more limited than the large screen of the flagship products.
• Cellular data network connection: some smartwatch models are equipped with a SIM card and connection to the LTE data network. When we find support for the SIM card on these devices, we can also use them to make calls and send SMS without the need for a smartphone or we can receive notifications even when the phone is far away (out of Bluetooth coverage). This type of smartwatch are less common and are often more expensive (as is the case with Apple Watches).

Among the other technical features, let’s not forget to check the resistance to water and dust: a modern smartwatch must have the IP68 certification, so that you can use the smartphone outdoors even if a sudden storm or shower catches us (they resist several meters below . water for a variable time).

Processor, RAM and internal memory space are also characteristics to consider since smartwatches are computers in which applications can be installed that generate files to keep. Modern smartwatches have 64bit multi-core processors, capable of running all apps and interactions with the phone at maximum fluidity.

Best smartwatch models

After a nice roundup of technical features, let’s see together the best smartwatches that we can buy based on the operating system present in them.

Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite

The first smartwatch that we can see is the Xiaomi Mi Watch Lite, which has a 1.4-inch touch screen, underwater resistance up to 5 ATM, 9 days of battery life, integrated GPS, heart rate sensors, notifications on-screen and real-time vibrations, pedometer system and 11 sport modes.