10 Best Smart Watches for Men, According to Testing

Apple is a brand that consistently earns top marks in our tests, and in our most recent evaluation our experts liked its simple and easy setup for iPhone users since the watch app is pre-built into newer iPhones.

Like many other smart watches, this watch includes blood oxygen level measuring and heart rate tracking. This watch steps it up from previous models with temperature sensing while you sleep, so you can monitor changes and make adjustments to factors that may be interfering, such as your sleep environment or alcohol consumption. Sleep tracking also goes deeper than other smart watches, showing how much time you spend in REM, core and deep sleep.

Previous Apple watches, including the Apple Watch SE and Series 4 or later, have emergency features like detecting when the wearer has taken a fall. In addition to fall detection, the Series 8 introduces vehicle crash detection. According to the brand, it automatically connects you with emergency services, provides dispatchers with your location and notifies your emergency contacts when it detects a crash.

This Apple Watch is packed with fitness features, such as keeping track of workout and recovery intervals, as well as giving alerts for pace, heart rate, cadence and power, so you can adjust your workout as necessary. In our tests, we found the running distance tracking fairly accurate but the heart rate readings were slightly off. This smart watch is water-resistant, dust-resistant and resistant to cracking, making it extra durable. It can also call and text out of the country, but international roaming is required.

In our previous tests of Timex watches, we found the setup simple and the app easy to use, so our experts feel comfortable recommending this watch to someone looking for a simple smart watch.

For less than $70, it offers step counting, sleep tracking, heart rate monitoring and blood oxygen level measuring to help optimize overall health. It doesn't have features like GPS, sleep tracking or voice commands for smart devices, but our experts appreciate that it offers a variety of watch faces so you can customize the watch display.

Sports mode allows you to track your fitness progress, and the stress management tool gives a numerical rating for stress levels and provides a guided breathing function to help calm frazzled nerves. Plus, the watch can receive updates from Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and it's also able to notify the wearer of incoming calls and daily reminders.

In our tests, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 impressed our engineers with its ability to track a range of exercises, including running, cycling and rowing. The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro takes fitness further with sleep coaching that analyzes your sleep patterns and creates a five-week program to optimize sleep. The Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis sensor in the 5 Pro has also been newly redesigned for better accuracy: According to the brand, it measures your body fat, skeletal muscle, body water, basal metabolic rate and more.

In addition to those unique features, it also has GPS route tracking, step counting and the ability to stream music from YouTube, Spotify and more. There are custom watch faces to choose from too: both digital and analog options. Unlike the Galaxy Watch 3, which we found somewhat clunky, the 5 Pro is sleeker and more streamlined, making it better for working out or a night out.

Google phone users will love this Pixel Watch LTE, made specifically for Google phones and not compatible with other phones. We appreciated the sleek look and design with a comfortable, small watch face. Our experts found the heart rate zone feature accurate and helpful in knowing how hard you're working out. Unfortunately, to access all fitness functions, you'll need to download the Fitbit app in addition to the Google Pixel app.

With the LTE version of this watch, you can make calls and send texts. Since it connects directly to your Google phone, it can be used for navigation, your wallet or to control your music. There's also a Wi-Fi version available.

The Charge 5 resembles a traditional Fitbit with its slim face and band. Because of its small size, our experts found this comfortable to wear. We also found it extremely easy to set up and use, but the double-tap to view wasn't as responsive as we would prefer.

With built-in GPS, this Fitbit can keep track of your real-time pace and distance when doing activities outside, like running or hiking. You can also see a map of your workout route in the Fitbit app. This smart watch has handy features like metrics to explain how well you worked out, a stopwatch, sleep tracking, heart rate and stress sensors. Bottom line, our pros said it's good for someone looking for a simple and fitness-oriented watch.

Our pros were impressed with this smart watch's battery life which lasted over a week with continuous use. On top of that, it still had a 50% battery charge, one of the longest out of the watches we tested. It makes a great workout companion since it has auto workout detection to track your workout, such as hiking or spinning, and saves it in the Fossil app. It monitors overall health metrics like sleep tracking, heart rate sensor and blood oxygen.

Those who don't like the look of a smart watch will appreciate this hybrid watch, which looks like a regular watch but functions like a smart watch. It provides notifications but can't make or respond to calls or texts.

Alexa users can check the weather, news or use other Alexa connected devices in your home thanks to built-in voice command. The first version of the Fitbit Sense earned top marks in our tests for its sleek design and intuitive setup, so we feel confident recommending the newest model, the Sense 2.

What makes this watch really unique from others is it helps identify and manage stress levels by offering guided breathing and meditation. The Sense 2 focuses on a variety of health and wellness features like activity tracking and sleep scores. Just note that some of the features require a premium membership (six-month free trial and $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year thereafter).

When we tested the Fitbit Versa 3, we loved it for its fitness and wellness features. It has built-in GPS, step tracking, daily sleep rating, heart rate sensors and oxygen saturation monitoring. Our experts found that the step counter was accurate, as was the heart rate monitor. Testers reported that this watch was intuitive and easy to use, especially when checking notifications and using the app. Testers also gave it high marks for comfort and sleek design.

Plus, it has features such as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, so you can do things like set alarms or control compatible smart devices by voice command, tap your watch to pay with the Fitbit wallet, stream music from Spotify or Pandora, access more than 200 workouts and more, but some of these extras require a subscription.

This smart watch from Withings looks like a regular watch but functions like a smart watch, making it perfect for someone who doesn't want to look like they're wearing a smart watch.

One tester commented that the crown is seamless to use, easily switching between settings like sport or heart rate. And because this watch has hands that can get in the way of reading the screen, the tester said it was also easy to press the crown down so that both hands move to 10, making the screen simple to view.

The ScanWatch Horizon features sleep tracking, activity tracking like workout metrics and steps, heart rate tracking and oxygen saturation level measuring. Though we didn't test these for accuracy, one of our testers said they liked that it kept track of their heart rate and oxygen levels and found the features useful. A downside: It's heavy to work out with and not as comfortable as some other smart watches.

If you're looking for a basic Apple watch or just getting into smart watches and own an iPhone, you'll love the Apple Watch SE. It's loaded with features such as a heart rate sensor, a pedometer, sleep sensing and fall detection, which identifies when the user has take a fall. Even though it doesn't have blood oxygen or ECG capabilities, you're still getting a lot for an entry level Apple watch.

It passed our durability tests with flying colors, not breaking or cracking during our drop testing and surviving our water-resistance test without damaging the smart watch. Our pros found it's easy to use thanks to the large display and the step counter accurate. You can really make it your own, thanks to a variety of watch faces and interchangeable straps.