We’re living in the Smart age where everything from our fridges, TV, central heating - even BBQs - are available to buy as digitally souped-up versions.
Our everyday personal accessories have smartened up their act too, with watches arguably front of the pack. Just as mobile phones now do a thousand other things than allow one to make calls, the days of watches solely telling the time are fading into history.
Smart watches have been around for some time, and are now used for everything from receiving messages and reading emails to monitoring your workout and keeping an eye on your wellbeing by recording your BPM and sleeping patterns. Some models allow wearers to navigate over roads and hiking paths, while others have features that let you video call friends and family, from all over the world. Pretty impressive for something that sits on your wrist, wouldn’t you say?
Of the leading brands in the smartwatch sphere, Samsung sits pretty high on the tree. The Korean tech giant has a number of models in the Galaxy series that are innovative enough on their own but really shine when paired with the brand’s other wearables, like its sizable collection of handsets and earbuds.
Whether you’re shopping for a friend or looking for a new bit of kit to streamline your life, it can be tough to know which to go for; let alone how Samsung’s watches fare against the likes of Apple, Garmin and Fitbit. Which is why we’ve put together a quick guide to showcase each one and its features.
Read all about the best Samsung smartwatches below.
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Samsung Smart Watch Gear Sport HR GPS - Grey
Best for: streamlined stats, sports watch
Weight: 68g
Special features: pedometer, GPS, heart rate monitor, calorie tracker, Bluetooth
Water-resistant: yes
Notifications: yes
Colours: black, blue
Buying refurbished tech is a win-win, saving you cash while keeping existing tech working. Samsung’s Smart Watch Gear Sport is available on Back Market, one of the UK’s top refurbished tech companies.
Available in simple grey, this durable design is made with sports fans in mind. As well as health monitoring - it will keep an eye on the calories you’ve blitzed through as well as your heart rate to ensure you’re not overdoing it - it’s ready for the fast lane with a 5ATM rating (which means that it’s water resistant to up to 50 metres for 10 minutes), so you can wear it in the pool or splashing around in the ocean.
Pair it with Samsung Connect to link up with compatible devices in your home: think lights or the TV. Once done, you can control those gadgets right from your wrist. Twist the bezel to get updates on your messages, emails and notifications while calendar-viewing and call-making are on the table too. You can load apps onto this watch too, everything from Uber to Spotify, so you can listen to your favourite tunes as you’re getting from A to B, all without needing to fumble for your phone.
You can also set notifications to let you know about important calls or emails when you’re out and about.
Buy now £80.00, Back Market
Galaxy Fit2
Best for: fitness fanatics
Weight: 21g
Special features: pedometer, running, elliptical, rowing, dynamic workout, heart rate monitor, sleep tracker, stress monitor
Water-resistant: yes
Notifications: yes
Colours: black, red
The Fit2 is made for people who have an active lifestyle and want to ensure their workouts stay on track with automated features to optimise every workout. Okay, so it can’t measure every drop of sweat, but it can detect up to five styles of exercise - walking, running, dynamic workout, elliptical and rowing - so you can track your efforts and know the PB to smash for next time. Just flick your wrist and look at the 1.1-inch full colour AMOLED display to see all the info you need. There are even little grooves in the wristband to make sure sweat doesn’t gather, keeping the design, and the skin next to it, cool and breathable.
Want to wear it on your next wild swimming adventure? Go for it, safe in the knowledge that it will continue to perform in depths of up to 50m. And once you’ve pushed yourself to the limit, it will monitor your sleep too, to ensure you get the quality shut-eye you deserve. A stress level monitor is also a standout feature, helping to identify sticky situations to help you better overcome them.
The thing that steps it up over the Fit-e? If you have a Galaxy smartphone, you can pair up this watch to it to streamline and control apps right from your wrist, from notifications to skipping to the next track, all without having to reach for your handset.
The battery is impressive too. A single charge can see your watch last up to 21 days on low use, or just over a fortnight on normal usage. There are 70 faces to choose from, so you can play around and pick one for every mood and occasion.
Available in black or red colour options.
Buy now £89.99, Amazon
Galaxy Watch4 Classic
Best for: 007 types
Weight: 46.5g
Special features: pedometer, barometer, gyro sensor, geomagnetic sensor, light sensor, optical heart rate sensor, electrical heart sensor, bioelectrical impedance analysis sensor, hall sensor
Water-resistant: yes
Notifications: yes
Colours: black, pink, silver
Sitting pretty on the upper echelons of the Samsung smartwatch ranking is the Galaxy Watch4, which, despite being one of the more high-tech options, still comes in at an affordable price compared to competitor brands.
It harnesses an altered version of the Wear OS platform that packs in innumerable wearable apps from the Google Play Store, so you can play music and Whatsapp all on this watch.
It’s got a pretty face with a rotating bezel and vivid screen that can be set to 70 different designs, from analogue to digital with an array of backgrounds, fonts and colours to play with. You can even add AR Emojis and animated graphics to give your watch the personal touch.
One for fitness fans, the Galaxy Watch4 takes on the role of a personal coach, ideal if you’re training for a big event like a marathon, or want to stay on top of your game with detailed analysis. This baby can track some 90 types of workout but it’s best for runners and cyclists, giving advanced insights so you can see how you’re improving and recovering before setting fresh goals to knock out of the park for next time. If you’ve got competitive friends or family, there’s the option of creating a leaderboard, complemented with live messaging, challenges and fun badges to turn it into a game.
But it’s the Samsung BioActive Sensor that’s the real powerhouse of this design. This chip is set into the back of the watch and sits against the wrist; it’s responsible for all kinds of monitoring, from body fat percentage, skeletal muscle, body water, ECG, fitness levels, sleep quality, blood pressure and so much more. With this much tech balanced on your hand, we wouldn’t be surprised if we learned it came out of Q’s MI5 lab.
The cherry on top? The watch can also make contactless payments - a lifesaver if you’re the forgetful type who’s forever leaving their wallet at home.
Buy now £199.00, Currys
Samsung Galaxy Watch5 40mm Smart Watch - Purple Silver
Best for: health and wellbeing
Weight: 22g
Special features: makes and answers calls, read and respond to texts, emails and social media notifications, shows weather, HR monitor, pedometer, GPS, calories burned, sleep monitor, view calendar and music, monitor workouts including running and swimming
Water-resistant: yes
Notifications: yes
Colours: black, purple, pink
Offered in fun, fashion-forward colours (black, purple and blush pink), the Galaxy Watch5 looks good but performs even better. The gadget helps you stay on top of your training game while also optimising your lifestyle for a watch that can do it all.
As well as all the usual fitness tracking features, you can not only track sleep but get coaching advice on how to get a higher quality snooze too. There's even snore detection if you don't believe what your bedfellow says about your supposed nocturnal orchestra.
Stay connected too, with the ability to view and respond to texts, emails and social media messages as well as make and take calls when you're on the move. Leave your wallet at home on your next run; this baby can make contactless payments too, keeping you light on your feet.
It makes the perfect birthday or Christmas gift for all ages.
Buy now £269.00, Argos
SAMSUNG Galaxy Watch5 Pro BT with Bixby & Google Assistant
Best for: triathlon trainers
Weight: 46.5g
Special features: makes and take calls, respond to texts, emails and social media notifications, weather, HR monitor, pedometer, GPS, calories burned, sleep monitor, view calendar and music, monitor workouts including running and swimming
Water-resistant: yes
Notifications: yes
Colours: black, white, grey
One for cross-country runners and off-road cyclists, the Galaxy Watch5 Pro goes the extra mile with active GPS that gives you navigation along pre-plotted routes so you'll always know which twist and turn to take next. Once you're done, initiate the Track Back feature to guide you back home. As a safety element there's a fall detection feature which will send an SOS to your emergency contacts in the event of a serious accident.
It's built for a highly active lifestyle with a strong titanium frame and solid bezel that can survive knocks and tumbles. And it's water resistant to 50m - so no blaming the rain for getting out of your next run.
Like its predecessors it supports contactless payments and is kitted up to the eyeballs with health and fitness trackers including body composition, calories burned and sleep monitoring. All this with up to 80 hours battery from a single charge.
Buy now £429.00, Currys
