Break into your newly-found gym obsession with all the excellent smartwatch support you could ever want. Samsung smartwatches are some of the best on the market for a combination of gorgeous, clean and simple aesthetics, a huge amount of health and fitness apps, and a competitive price that's enough to make you question even considering the competition.
From sleep to stress trackers, route planning, body composition detection, messaging and calls - the modern smartwatch is a miracle of modern technology at the touch of a hand, and it'll keep you aiming high throughout your fitness journey.
We've compiled the best and brightest Samsung smartwatches for your reading pleasure, ranking them in order of our favourites that we think are going to change up your gym experience forever. Without further ado, here are our favourite Samsung smartwatches of the year.
Prefer your watches to run on iOS? Check out the best Apple Watches here.
Best Samsung smartwatch of the year
Push yourself towards those next-level fitness goals this year with Samsung's Galaxy Watch5 Pro: great for even the longest of hikes, the toughest cycling routes, or even the most casual of day-to-day activities.
It's hard to begin talking about a singular feature with the Watch5 Pro, there are just so many - GPS, body composition detection, sleep tracking, Bluetooth - it really has everything you could want out of a smartwatch.
It's also made to survive those daily ordeals, so regardless of whether you've taken an unexpected fall on your morning run, the Watch5 Pro keeps on ticking.
Of course, such a high-end watch isn't going to come cheap - and yet for such an array of features, you can't deny its value. The Watch5 Pro is uncontestedly the best Samsung smartwatch on the market, making it a contender for one of the best smartwatches of all time.
Pros
- Brilliant sensor features
- Huge variety of customisation
- Great battery life
Cons
- Fairly expensive
| Display: | 1.4-inch (super AMOLED, Sapphire crystal protection) |
| Sensors: | Accelerometer, barometer, BioActive Sensor, Body Composition, sleep tracking |
| Available Storage: | 16GB |
| Battery Capacity: | 590 mAh (up to 80 hours) |
| Additional Features: | GPS, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC |
Best value Samsung smartwatch
The perfect Samsung watch for the day-to-day, the Samsung Watch5 is significantly lighter, thinner, and more affordable than the Watch5 Pro, but without losing too many of its incredible features.
There's still broad access to a huge amount of body sensors for step-tracking, heart health, body composition, and much more. So why is it so much cheaper?
First off, the battery sits at about 410 mAh, which according to the site lasts about 40 hours (half of the Watch5 Pro), which gives it some limitations when going on those ultra-long travelling holidays or hikes, where an outlet is as far as can be.
Then there's the lack of route tracking, a big sell for the smartwatch that makes it perfect for breaking your running PBs, or even planning out some scenic walking paths - but for many, the loss of this feature isn't such a blow.
All-in-all, the Watch5 remains a great smartwatch worthy of your consideration.
Pros
- Great price
- An excellent multitude of sensors
- Looks fantastic - great variety of styles to choose
Cons
- Lower battery than Watch5 Pro
- No route-mapping on Watch5
| Display: | 1.4-inch (super AMOLED, Sapphire crystal) |
| Sensors: | Accelerometer, barometer, BioActive Sensor, Body Composition, sleep tracking |
| Available Storage: | 16GB |
| Battery Capacity: | 410 mAh (up to 40 hours) |
| Additional Features: | NFC, Bluetooth 5.2 |
For more golf-centric smartwatches to get some tidbits about the course you're playing on, the distance of the next hole or even keep track of your swings, you'll want to take a look at our favourite golf watches - perfect for saving time and improving your game in moments.
Best style smartwatch
Engineered for both that classic rotating stainless steel bezel aesthetic and its intuitive functional applications, the Watch4 Classic might be our favourite Samsung watch, aesthetically speaking.
Perfect for casual day-to-day use, or for formal events with its sophisticated, refined beauty - the Watch4 Classic is a fantastic smartwatch for the gymgoer, the hiking enthusiast, or the office post-work meetup.
Pros
- Gorgeous timeless design
- Same great features
- Built to last
Cons
- Not as many features as Watch5 Pro
| Display: | 1.4-inch (AMOLED) |
| Sensors: | Accelerometer, barometer, BioActive Sensor, Body Composition, sleep tracking |
| Available Storage: | 16GB |
| Battery Capacity: | 361 mAh (up to 40 hours) |
| Additional Features: | Bluetooth 5.0, NFC |
Recommended
If the Watch5 Pro seems a little chunky for your taste, then the Watch4 might just be the choice for you. Gorgeously designed with an array of fantastic colours, the Watch4 is perfect for gym-goers, daily users looking for quick message access (or an instant payment option), or even for those who want a beautifully designed smartwatch.
Despite lacking some of the refined features of the Watch5/Watch5 Pro - the Watch4 remains a great smartwatch and is the ideal watch for those after something a little more affordable.
Pros
- Slim, comfortable design
- Great affordable smartwatch
- Good selection of body sensors
Cons
- Not as powerful as Watch5
| Display: | 1.4-inch (super AMOLED) |
| Sensors: | Accelerometer, barometer, BioActive Sensor, Body Composition, sleep tracking |
| Available Storage: | 16GB |
| Battery Capacity: | 361 mAh (up to 40 hours) |
| Additional Features: | Bluetooth 5.0, NFC |
Best affordable Samsung smartwatch
Samsung's Watch Active2, despite being released in 2019, still offers plenty of fantastic features for an incredible value - first and foremost is the Active2's brilliant battery life of 60 hours, putting both the newer Galaxy Watch3 and Watch4 to shame.
The Active2 is, therefore, absolutely perfect for both the long excursions into the wilderness, as well as those early morning rushes where remembering to charge your gadgets is something of an uphill battle.
The Active2, despite its cheaper price also have LTE built-in, giving you access to mobile data - allowing users to make calls, and text among other things - the perfect backup for when your phone's seemingly vanished.
Unfortunately, this rather exciting LTE feature is limited by the Active2's hardware, there are no fully-fledged apps on the Active2 such as Spotify or Facebook Messenger - for that, you'll need at least a Watch4.
For an elegantly simple smartwatch that's perfect for fitness tracking, quick calls, and other exciting features, you've found the perfect Samsung smartwatch for you.
Pros
- Great battery
- Amazing price
- Gorgeous design
Cons
- Doesn't quite have the access to features that the Watch4/5 have
| Display: | 1.4-inch (super AMOLED) |
| Sensors: | Accelerometer, barometer, BioActive Sensor, stress tracking, sleep tracking |
| Available Storage: | 4GB (1.4GB available) |
| Battery Capacity: | 340 mAh (around 60 hours of typical usage) |
| Additional Features: | LTE network, NFC |
FAQs: your questions answered
Do Samsung watches work with Google Pixel smartphones?
Simply put, absolutely. The Samsung smartwatches will work with any Android phone available, and users should be able to access the same great features, aside from some restrictions with the Samsung Health app which only works with Samsung smartphones.
Do Samsung watches work with Apple?
Once again, the answer is a yes, but with some caveats. You will need to use Bluetooth and the smartwatch app to connect and access the watch's features - but not all smartwatches will connect to the iPhone. Earlier models of the Samsung Galaxy Smartwatch will not connect to Apple products, however, each and every smartwatch we've listed here will have no problem connecting.
Your Apple iPhone must also have its software updated to at least 9.0 for it to work, so anything older than an iPhone 5 won't work.
Are Samsung watches worth it?
In our opinion, 100 per cent yes. Not only are they beautiful watches with a huge amount of customisation options, but they're also incredibly useful throughout your day-to-day life. From answering messages and calls to paying for shopping in an instant, these are just innately useful features of the smartwatch that is going to make daily life a little less challenging.
Then there are the incredible health benefits of having a smartwatch that actively encourages users to exercise, take care of their heart health, and get a good night's sleep - these are all incredibly beneficial ways to better your daily happiness - which is worth the price of admission alone.
What phone would you recommend using with a Samsung smartwatch?
There's a whole range of excellent smartphones on the market right now, from Apple to Samsung, to Google, you're very much spoilt for choice.
If you're looking for a little break from the typical slab-style smartphones of the modern age - check out the phone that's got everyone talking - the Samsung Flip4.
Check out our thorough hands-on review of the Samsung Flip4 today, and grab one for yourself as quickly as you can, they're selling fast.
Best Samsung smartphone
Pros
- Ultra-powerful
- Great battery life
- Folding screen is a game-changer
Cons
- Expensive
Any other Samsung gadgets to recommend?
Just one more - if you're in the market for some top-tier gym earbuds that'll cancel out that awful gym music; we cannot recommend the Samsung Galaxy Buds2 Pro with some of the best noise-cancelling we've ever had the pleasure of using.
For more insight into these terrific, bass-rich, ultra-comfortable earbuds - read our review.
Best Samsung earbuds
Pros
- Fantastic volume
- Incredible bass
- Great noise-cancelling
Cons
- A little pricey for some