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S Skagen Falster 3
Bringing a big slice of Scandi chic
to your wrist, Skagen’s third-gen
smartwatch is one for lovers of
minimalism. Google’s Wear OS
powers the smarts, including a
new speaker letting you make calls
and hear the responses to your
Google Assistant queries. The
latest Qualcomm processor tech
pushes battery life a little further,
while you can pair up the slender
watch case with a whole host
of sleek leather and metal
strap options.
£279 / skagen.com
Mobvoi TicWatch Pro
(2020)
An upgrade of the most stylish
member of the TicWatch family,
the new Pro beefs things up in
the performance department to
give Google’s onboard Wear OS
a much-needed boost. It’s better
suited to withstand some rough
and tumble than the old version,
with a military-standard 810G
design. That’s wrapped up in a
watch with interchangeable straps
and the best battery life that Wear
currently has to offer.
£223 / mobvoi.com
Garmin Venu
Garmin truly entered the
smartwatch fray with the Venu,
adding an AMOLED touchscreen
display to make it more at home
with the Apples and Samsungs of
this world. It’s packing desirable
features like letting you pile on
Spotify playlists and animated
workouts you can follow on-screen,
and it’s jam-packed with sports
sensors. All this while giving you
two days short of a full week’s
battery life to keep you away from
that charger for longer.
£330 / garmin.com
Amazfit GTS
The Chinese brand has made an
Apple Watch clone, giving you that
familiar rectangular design for a
much smaller dent in your pocket.
This budget-friendly option has
a high-resolution colour AMOLED
display along with a big array of
customisable watch faces. There
are dedicated modes for activities
including swimming and skiing, plus
the promise of reliable health
insights via an optical heart-rate
sensor – and it’ll go the distance
with up to two weeks of battery life.
£110 (est) / amazfit.com
Apple Watch Series 5
It’s taken a big bite out of Swiss
watch sales and, after five years,
continues to rule the roost when it
comes to connected timepieces.
Take your pick of two sizes that
feature the same watchOS giving
you an always-on display, a slick
place to view phone notifications
and the challenge to close those
rings in the quest for a fitter you.
The ECG heart-rate sensor
is saving lives on a watch
that remains a good option
for iPhone owners only.
from £399 / apple.com
Wear OS is Google’s smartwatch
operating system, with a simple
screen-sliding interface; Apple’s
watchOS is largely controlled by its
digital crown and supported by Siri.
But some makers opt for a different
OS altogether: Samsung favours the
Linux-based Tizen platform, arguably
the easiest of the three to use.
Bohemian strapsody
Samsung Galaxy
Watch Active2
The smallest member of
Samsung’s smartwatch clan
still goes big on features – and
there’s more on the way. It fully
plays up to that Active name,
prodding you with exercises when
you’ve been inactive, and is adept
at tracking the likes of outdoor
runs and pool sessions. Incoming
ECG support will increase its
health-monitoring powers, while
fall detection should also make it
a better rival to the Apple Watch.
from £269 / samsung.com
Fitbit Versa 2
Fitbit, the fitness-tracking fave,
also knows how to make a
smartwatch you wouldn’t be
ashamed to wear out and about.
Beneath that soft-edged
rectangular frame lies the best
of Fitbit’s tracking features, a
growing collection of handsome
watch faces, smartwatch staples
like payments and a built-in music
player. Plus, Alexa has now been
added to the mix to offer some
smart assistance when you’re
racking up those steps.
£200 / fitbit.com
We know the Apple Watch is all-powerful, but 2020 has
the strongest line-up yet of pretenders to the digital crown
Suunto 7
Suunto’s debut smartwatch calls
on Google to bring the payments,
the music and the ability to keep
a closer eye on what’s kicking off
in your most active WhatsApp
groups... and all of that while you’re
busy pounding the treadmill. It also
plays up to Suunto’s navigation
roots with mapping features that
will help you find popular trails
wherever you are in the world. This
is wrapped up in the company’s
most attractive – but undeniably
still sporty – watch.
£429 / suunto.com