While the openness of the Android ecosystem means there’s no shortage of options to choose from in terms of smartwatches, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch family leads the pack by a wide margin. Samsung launched the Galaxy Watch 7 in July 2024 and it's been six years since we saw the first Galaxy Watch in 2018. Over the years, the line has had plenty of time to evolve and mature into the watches we're coveting today.
You don’t need to splurge on the latest Galaxy Watch 7 to get a great wearable. The Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic are still available and can often be found on sale. More affordable options such as the Galaxy Watch FE are also worth checking out for those on a budget who still want solid health- and fitness-tracking features.
If you’re looking for one of the best smartwatches around, Samsung’s wide range of options ensures you’ll find the perfect Galaxy Watch to meet your needs. But which one is right for you? Let’s take a look and see how they compare.
The best Galaxy Watch overall
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7
- Attractive, enduring design
- Choice of size, color, and band
- Fast processor
- Bright, clear screen
- All the durability you need
- One-day battery life
- Slow charging
- Some features require a Samsung phone
Why you should buy this: This is hands down the best Android smartwatch for most people.
Who's this for: Android users looking for a well-rounded smartwatch with the latest health- and fitness-tracking features.
Why we chose the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: The Galaxy Watch 7 is Samsung’s latest smartwatch, and it shows. The processor is faster and there are new health-tracking features to add to the previous model’s already impressive array.
The Galaxy Watch 7 comes in 40mm or 44mm case sizes, with a Super AMOLED panel measuring 1.3 or 1.5 inches, respectively. That’s a 432 x 432 or 480 x 480 resolution. It’s a little thicker than the Galaxy Watch 6, but it boasts the same slim bezels and sleek design, ensuring the larger size fits even smaller wrists nicely.
Under the hood, the Galaxy Watch 7 is powered by the Exynos W1000 chip, with five cores and 1.6GHz clock speed. It’s noticeably faster and smoother than its predecessor, and you also get double the storage at 32GB.
The Watch 7 packs all the same fitness-tracking features as the Watch 6, including Samsung’s BioActive Sensor for tracking BMI, body fat, heart rate, and more, ECG, blood pressure, and stress-level tracking, plus abnormal heart rate alerts.
The new feature is Energy Score, and it combines seven health metrics, such as sleep quality and workout history, to predict your energy levels for the day. There’s also FDA-approved sleep apnea detection, plus the AGEs index that Samsung says is designed to “reflect your overall biological aging process and provide an indication of metabolic health.”
Overall, the Watch 7 is a solid upgrade for most users, but does come with a couple of caveats, one being its battery. Where the Watch 6 promised a two-day battery life, the Watch 7 falls short, offering around 30 hours. Anyone in the market for a multi-day smartwatch will find reaching for the charger so often frustrating. Speaking of charging, it’s slow, taking around 85 minutes to go from 0% to 100% charged.
The Galaxy Watch 7 starts at $240 for the 40mm size with Bluetooth/Wi-Fi only, while the 44mm version can be found for $270. The LTE versions of each are $290 or $320, respectively. Either model is available in green, but cream is only available on the 40mm version, while if you want silver, you’ll need to spring for the 44mm size.
The best premium Galaxy Watch
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra
- Bold, unique design
- Surprisingly comfortable
- Quick button is great
- Big and bright display
- Excellent activity/sleep tracking
- Sleep apnea feature works well
- Two-day battery life
- No rotating bezel or crown
- Limited use for water activities
- Slow, slow, slow charging
- Very expensive
Why you should buy this: Reliable battery life, a cool original design, and fantastic health- and fitness-tracking features make the Watch Ultra a must-have if you're looking for something a bit special.
Who's this for: Fans of bold design looking for a durable smartwatch that can withstand harsh environments.
Why we chose the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra: Though it packs many of the same features as the Watch 7, the Galaxy Watch Ultra’s unique, bold design helps differentiate it from the rest of Samsung's lineup. Combined with two-day battery life and rugged durability, there’s a reason it commands a higher price tag.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra stands out from the crowd with its bold design. Available in one, large, 47mm size, its 1.5-inch AMOLED display boasts 480 x 480 resolution, the same as the Galaxy Watch 7. The similarities don’t end at design. The Watch Ultra is powered by the Exynos W1000, the same chip as the Watch 7, for fast, buttery smooth performance. It runs Wear OS 5 with Samsung’s One UI 6 watch interface, with the new “Double Pinch” feature allowing you to quickly control music playback, take photos, answer calls, and more.
There’s tracking for all your favorite workouts, and detailed sleep tracking with a sleep score and coaching plan to help you improve the quality of your shut-eye, alongside a plethora of other features including stress monitoring, food and water intake tracking, and even guided workouts to motivate you. Like the Watch 7, the Watch Ultra also packs Energy Score, sleep apnea monitoring, and an AGEs index.
The Watch Ultra is designed to withstand harsh conditions, with MIL-STD 810H military standard durability, 10 ATM and IP68 dust/water resistance rating, altitude resistance of up to 29,527 feet, and an operating temperature of between -4 and 131 degrees Fahrenheit. It falls short in one key area though — despite packing double the water resistance of the Watch 7, Samsung says it’s not up to “ultra” water activities. Specifically that means “high-pressure” water activities and diving, though you can happily swim in a pool or the sea.
Other downsides include the lack of a rotating bezel or crown, painfully slow charging, and the price — it remains the most expensive of Samsung’s Galaxy Watch lineup to date. Those negatives aside, you can expect two-day battery life from the 590mAh battery and four years of updates, ensuring it’s a future-proof investment.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra comes in Titanium Gray with an orange band, Titanium White with a white band, and Titanium Silver with a black band. It’s only available as an LTE version, and will set you back $490.
The best value Galaxy Watch
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
- Very comfortable design
- Colorful and bright display
- Smaller bezels are lovely
- Samsung Health keeps getting better
- Good, reliable performance
- Much-improved battery life
- Still a great value
- Wear OS still has its issues
- Slightly more expensive
Why you should buy this: Though it’s not the latest model, this is a great value for those looking for solid health- and fitness-tracking features combined with multiday battery life.
Who's this for: Android users looking for one of Samsung’s best Galaxy watches at a competitive price.
Why we chose the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: At this price, the Galaxy Watch 6 is an easy recommendation for its reliable, multiday battery life, powerful processor, and bright, colorful display.
The Galaxy Watch 6 boasts a Super AMOLED panel that measures 1.3 or 1.5 inches, depending on whether you opt for the 40mm or 44mm case. That translates to a 432 x 432 or 480 x 480 resolution, with super-slim bezels, which means watch faces and other graphic elements stretch to the edges and look downright gorgeous.
While the Galaxy Watch 6 is still powered by an Exynos chip — a W930 in this case — rather than Qualcomm’s Snapdragon platform, it’s hard to consider that a shortcoming. We’ve had no problems with the watch keeping up with us, and it’s plenty powerful enough to do everything a wearable needs to do.
On the upside, that lower-power chip also takes less of a hit on battery life than its predecessor, and Samsung has made some nice optimizations to ensure the Galaxy Watch 6 delivers on its promises. Even with the always-on display enabled, a steady stream of notifications, and regular workouts, the wearable can finish the day with over half a charge remaining. Getting through two full days between charges isn’t at all difficult, even if you’re wearing it to bed at night for sleep tracking — something that the Galaxy Watch 7 sadly can't promise.
On the subject of health-tracking features, the Watch 6 packs everything you could need to track your workouts and overall health. Samsung Health just keeps getting better, and the Watch 6 packs in a wealth of sensors to give it all the data needed to provide heart rate monitoring, automatic workout detection, cycle tracking, and blood-oxygen tracking, as well as new Advanced Sleep Coaching and Personalized Heart Rate Zones for workouts. The body temperature sensor is joined by a Bio Impedance Analysis (BIA) sensor that can track muscle composition, fat mass, water percentage, basal metabolic rate, and more.
The Galaxy Watch 6 is currently an incredible $150 for the smaller 40mm size with Bluetooth/Wi-Fi only, with the 44mm version coming in at $170. The LTE versions of each are $200 and $220, respectively. As usual, the color choices differ depending on size. You can pick up either model in graphite, but silver is only available on the 44mm version, and gold is solely available on the smaller 40mm size.
The best-looking Galaxy Watch
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic
- Rotating bezel
- A choice of case size
- Supreme 24/7 comfort
- High quality materials
- Comprehensive health and fitness tracking
- Spotty notification reliability
- Performance doesn't always impress
Why you should buy this: Classic styling aside, this watch offers all-day comfort and comprehensive health and fitness tracking.
Who's this for: Those who want a smartwatch that packs the classic style of a “real” watch — and is comfortable enough to wear 24/7.
Why we chose the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic: The Watch 6 Classic combines good looks with comfortable, high-quality design, an outstanding health- and fitness-tracking suite, and a choice of case sizes.
The Watch 6 Classic is almost identical to the Watch 6 in terms of its processor, software, battery, and screen. Where it breaks away is its classic watch styling and that rotating bezel, which makes navigating menus intuitive and fun. The hybrid strap positions rubber against your skin, with leather on top for the perfect blend of design and sweat-resistant functionality.
Both the 43mm and 47mm models have a bright Super AMOLED screen, with a 1.3-inch screen with 432 x 432 resolution and 1.5-inch display with 480 x 480 resolution, respectively. Battery life is reliable at around a day and a half, it’s IP68 and 5ATM rated, with MIL-STD-810H military toughness, and it runs Wear OS 4.0 with One UI Watch 5.0. Samsung provides four years of updates.
Under the hood, you get all the same health- and fitness-tracking features as the Galaxy Watch 6, including excellent sleep tracking with a sleep score and sleep coaching based on your assigned "sleep animal," to help improve your rest. There's also the same BioActive Sensor as the Watch 6, including an infrared temperature sensor, optical heart rate sensor, and electrical heart signal sensor.
If we had to nitpick negatives, the Exynos W930 processor can be a little laggy, particularly when the smartwatch wakes up. Notifications are sometimes unreliable, and if you have an iPhone, this isn’t the watch for you — it can only be paired with Android phones.
The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic comes in silver or black and starts at $220 from Amazon for the 43mm size with Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and $270 for the 47mm size. The LTE versions are $240 and $300, respectively. If you prefer to look like you’re wearing a “real” watch rather than a smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is a must-have.
The best budget Galaxy Watch
Samsung Galaxy Watch FE
- Comprehensive health-tracking features
- Accurate heart rate monitoring
- Classic design
- No AI features
- Older processor
- No SpO2 tracking
Why you should buy this: Despite its older processor, it's a capable smartwatch with excellent health- and fitness-tracking features and a classic design.
Who's this for: Anyone who wants an Android smartwatch for everyday use, without breaking the budget.
Why we chose the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE: The Galaxy Watch FE is just six months old and packs excellent health-tracking features for the price. It’s a great value for anyone looking for a truly affordable Wear OS smartwatch.
This is a capable smartwatch that should meet the needs of most daily users. Samsung has squeezed an impressive array of health- and fitness-tracking features into this budget smartwatch, with tracking for over 100 different workouts, ECG readings, HR Alert to detect abnormal heart rate, and Irregular Heart Rhythm Notifications (IHRN) to identify heart rhythms that could be a warning sign of atrial fibrillation (Afib). You also get Samsung’s Body Composition tool for metric like Body Mass Index (BMI) and body fat percentage, plus a BioActive Sensor to track your sleep and activity.
The Galaxy Watch FE comes in one size: 40mm, with a 1.2-inch AMOLED panel with 396 x 396 resolution and always-on display support. For those concerned about durability, Sapphire Crystal Glass provides everyday scratch protection, while 5ATM and IP68 dust/water resistance ratings ensure the Watch FE is capable of withstanding even the wettest and stormiest of workouts.
That affordable price tag does come with some caveats, however. The Watch FE is powered by the Exynos W920, an older processor found in the Galaxy Watch 4 that’s still perfectly capable — just not the latest model.
Battery life also takes a hit. At 247mAh, the Watch FE's battery is the smallest we've seen yet in a Galaxy Watch — smaller than even the Galaxy Watch 4's 361mAh offering. You should still be able to eke out a full day of usage, but if you're tracking your sleep, you may find yourself frequently reaching for the charger before the day is through.
Finally, the Watch FE also lacks SpO2 tracking and a temperature sensor, so if either of those are on your wishlist, you'll likely want to look elsewhere.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch FE is available to purchase in black, silver, or Pink Gold. At under $200 from Amazon, it’s an outstanding budget option for anyone looking for a capable everyday Android smartwatch.
