The best Apple Watches of 2023

The latest and greatest Series 8 Apple Watch takes the cake when it comes to impeccable performance, a huge amount of fitness features, as well as some next-level health tracking options that are perfect for keeping an eye on sleep, blood oxygen levels, and even body temperature.

The Apple Watch Series 8 display is practically unmatched by any other smartwatch on the market, utilising the self-lit OLED screen technology and its 1,000 nits maximum brightness to look beautifully crisp and clear, despite the size of the screen itself.

One of the major gripes we have with the Apple Smartwatch Series 8 is surprisingly not its cost, but its battery life. Sitting at around 14 hours total with constant use, what would be considered excellent for a smartphone, isn't particularly great for a smartwatch.

In fact, it's about half the battery of Samsung's smartwatch models from 2019, which is a bit of a disappointment, yet the absolutely fantastic experience of using the smartwatch almost entirely outshines this issue.

The Apple Watch Ultra is the ultimate Apple Watch right now, made of aerospace-grade titanium, ultra-tough sapphire glass that can withstand water up to 100m, and loaded with tonnes of frankly incredible sensors - including VO2max, body temperature readings, blood oxygen readings, balance and crash detection - it's precisely what you want out of a next-generation smartwatch.

With both GPS and cellular, plan your hikes or running routes with pinpoint precision - so you aren't surprised by an unexpected impassible river, or congested motorway out of the blue.

In terms of battery, the Apple Watch Ultra has the best battery life out of any Apple smartwatch ever made at 542 mAh (about 36 hours with average usage), while this isn't setting records in the smartwatch market, it's still fantastic - especially when considering the sheer variety of features at hand.

Choose from a variety of colours and choose between three specialised bands which are included with the watch itself, so you'll never get bored of the same strap again.

Of course, the price is a bit of an issue in our eyes - it's nearly the cost of a fully-fledged smartphone, so it makes for quite an investment, but in terms of smartwatches, you won't find anything with both the sheer variety of features nor the incredible accuracy of the Apple catch Ultra on the smartwatch market, it's just that good.

For those on a tighter budget, the Apple Watch SE is the perfect Apple Watch for you. The Apple Watch SE manages to retain a huge amount of those incredible features for monitoring your health and fitness, all at a significantly cheaper price.

Built to last, a great selection of colours, a 1,000 nit display for a great-looking screen, a solid loudspeaker - there's not much else you could need with the Apple Watch SE - it's just that good.

At the cheaper cost, however, the battery does take a significant hit - managing about 18 hours of use at a time in total. While this isn't great for multi-day hikes or cross-country travelling - it's perfect for popping to the gym, a night on the town, or just looking fancy - this is one smartwatch you shouldn't overlook.

Tough, quick, and perfect for thorough health and fitness tracking, the Apple Watch Series 7 is yet another great option from Apple for some of the most accurate self-monitoring apps ever made.

Perfect for people who can't live without getting their cardio in, track your progress, your improving heart health, even your VO2max (that's the maximum uptake of oxygen your body uses while exercising) - it's at the flick of a wrist.

This model of the Apple Watch Series 7 includes both GPS and cellular, giving you access to that pin-point precision route mapping that makes the Apple Watch second-to-none.

The only gripe, as is common with Apple products in general, is the price - this model was released in 2021 and still is above £400, but ultimately you're paying for that next-level performance and lifelong quality - and for that, it's worth its price.