Speaker 1: This video is your cheat sheet to the best smartwatches and trackers of the year. I’ve tested lots of different wearables this year and the recurring theme, incremental updates. That means if you bought a watch in the last year or two, you’re probably not missing out on too much, but if you’re due for an upgrade or coming to a smartwatch for the very first time, there’s plenty to choose from. And these are my top six of the year. First off, the Apple Watch series nine and Ultra two. I’ve put them together on this list because inside they are so very similar. [00:00:30] If you have an iPhone, one of these will be the best choice for most people as long as it fits your budget and you don’t need a week’s worth of battery life. New this year are brighter screens all around and a new processor. Speaker 1: The Ultra two is the brightest of all at an eye-watering 3000 nits, so it has really good outdoor visibility. This series nine also gets a boost to 2000 nits, which is the same as the original Apple Watch Ultra on-device. Siri is also a nice perk, so you don’t need to worry about being connected to the internet to perform tasks like starting a [00:01:00] workout or setting a timer. I think the double tap gesture is a practical way to control some aspects of the watch, especially when you can’t use your other hand. Battery life is pretty much the same as earlier Apple Watches. Those so expect to charge every day to day and a half with a series nine, but the Ultra two can last around three days with regular use, still undecided. Check out my full versus video where I compare absolutely everything about these two watches. And one final tip. If you want an Ultra Two and don’t like that price tag, I highly [00:01:30] recommend a first generation Ultra. If you can still find one, it’s a fantastic watch and you get most of the same great software features on Watch OS X, the same heart rate sensor as the newer watch and all of the rest of the bells and whistles like ECG, blood oxygen emergency SOS, and car crash detection bonus. It looks identical to the Ultra Two except the screen’s not as bright Speaker 1: For Android. You’ve got a wide range of options including the Pixel watch too. Now this is one of the best looking watches out there with an elegant design that does not [00:02:00] look like your average smartwatch. It has some extra coaching tools for runners that we didn’t see on the first Pixel watch, and it’s a very accurate watch for tracking heart rate. All the usual features like an ECG, blood oxygen monitoring, skin temperature tracking are there. Plus I really like the safety check feature that sets a timer for you to check in with an emergency contact, and if you don’t respond to that notification when the time is up, it will share your location with that contact. The main downside, only one size option, [00:02:30] and you’ll probably also want to think about getting Fitbit Premium. That’s the $10 a month subscription service to access some features like the readiness score. Speaker 1: Another great choice on Android is the Samsung Galaxy Watch six and six classic. The Bezel is back, my friend, and it’s just as fun as ever to use to navigate the watch. This is the watch to get if you need the option of two sizes and you want a couple of extra sensors, the Galaxy Watch has had a Bioimpedance [00:03:00] sensor for a few generations now, which helps determine body composition. That’s useful if you’re looking to keep tabs on your weight or muscle mass. The temperature sensor is also now active and you can use it to determine not just your skin temperature overnight, but also other items like your cup of coffee or your water. Not quite sure why you want to do it, but it is there. The battery life is good, not great, just like most of the smartwatches that we’ve talked about so far. Speaker 1: The TicWatch Pro-Five is another one [00:03:30] of my overall favourites for Android, and it caters to a slightly different user than the Pixel Watch and the Galaxy watch. It has a tough construction and two displays. The first is an OLED that looks just like your standard smartwatch and a ULP or ultra low-power display that turns on when your watch isn’t actively being used. That really helps to conserve battery life and you can still see lots of helpful details like the time and your workout metrics. This is a pretty large watch though, so small wrists are going to likely be put off by how big and bulky it is, and I have found I [00:04:00] do need to wear it really, really tight and a lot higher on my wrist to get more accurate heart rate readings during workouts. The other downside is it’s still running wear OS 3.5 at the time of recording performance-wise, it doesn’t really make any difference at all because this watch is super fast, but you are going to miss out on the Google Assistant, which is a bummer. Speaker 1: Garmin has been releasing some killer smartwatches over the past few years and the Vivo Active-Five is great at what it does and it works with Android and iOS, which is really [00:04:30] becoming a rarity these days. It’s a fitness watch with just enough smarts to make you take a second look, especially if you thought Garmin was only for fitness and sports enthusiasts. It has a great screen, gives you detailed analysis on your workout metrics and recovery, detects naps and has amazing battery life. Seriously. This blows all of the other smartwatches on this list out of the water with 11 days of battery life at most. You also get mobile payments and Spotify on your wrist. The main things you’re missing out on compared to something like an [00:05:00] Apple Watch or a Galaxy watch is an ECG and a speaker in microphone if you do like to take calls on your wrist. Otherwise, the battery life and fitness tracking on this is unbeatable. Now, Garmin also has the Venue three, which also came out in 2023 that does have a speaker and microphone and voice assistant support. It is significantly more expensive though, and for most people this is the one I’d recommend because it’s way better value. Speaker 1: Sometimes smartwatches are a bit too much and you just want something incognito [00:05:30] like a fitness tracker, and that is the Fitbit Charge six, which has the best of both worlds, just enough smartwatch features like turn-by-turn navigation on Google Maps, but the great battery life that fitness trackers are known for. And this lasts almost a week with light use and it works with Android and iOS two, which is great. Sleep and activity tracking are excellent. Plus, you can now send your live heart rate data to supported exercise machines and apps during a workout. The Fitbit app also helps you interpret your sleep and stress information [00:06:00] with an easy to understand readiness score and sleep score. If $160 is a little bit too much for your budget. I really also like the Inspire three, which is more basic. It doesn’t have an ECG or stress tracking sensor or any of those other apps either. It’s a hundred dollars, but definitely keep your eye out because I’ve seen it as low as $70. But the downside to both of those options is that Fitbit Premium subscription that I did mention with the Pixel two. It costs $10 a month after your free trial is over. While you absolutely do not need to get this subscription [00:06:30] if you don’t want to, you are going to miss out on some of those key parts of the Fitbit experience, like that readiness score and more in-depth sleep tracking metrics. Speaker 1: So that’s my list of the best fitness trackers and smartwatches of 2023. As always, want to hear what you have on your wrist and if you’re loving it or you’re looking for an upgrade, and make sure to check out all of our full reviews of those watches linked in the description. I’ll catch you later.
