7 Best Smart Watches for Women, Tested by Experts

Apple didn’t invent the smart watch, but it’s done a ton to improve it, delivering the same clean design and intuitive, responsive controls you know and love from its smartphones and computers. That continues with the Apple Watch Series 8.

Several enhancements make this one of our favorite smart watches, according to our testing. Our pros love that the Series 8’s watch face features slim borders that draw attention to its large, always-on retina display. This makes it easier to read notifications or simply check the time even when your wrist is down. Like the Series 7, this model has an 18-hour battery life and faster charging capabilities. In tests, our pros were able to reach sufficient charge (around 80 percent) for the next day within 45 minutes, or essentially the amount of time it takes you to get ready for work in the morning. If you’ve ever broken a smart watch, as many of our consumer testers have, you’ll appreciate the Series 8’s crack-resistant crystal, which also repels dust and water.

Health and wellness features remain largely the same as those of the Series 7, with a few key innovations. First, the Series 8 features a sensor that tracks your temperature while you sleep and enables ovulation estimates, a handy tool for those who are hoping to grow their family. As long as you wear your watch to bed every night, it’s able to predict your fertile windows based on your health data. Also new to the Series 8 is crash detection, an extension similar to fall detection. Should an Apple watch user ever get in a severe car crash, the watch can now not only detect it but automatically connect you with emergency services, share your location and inform emergency contacts.

The Series 8 continues to offer guided workouts through Apple Fitness+ (also available through your iPhone), including HIIT, strength, Pilates and meditation. Advanced sensor technology allows the watch to measure blood oxygen levels, and it can also take an ECG reading in 30 seconds, providing valuable insights into your overall heart health. (Of course, check with a doctor at the first sign of concern.) As for aesthetics, there’s no mistaking the Apple form, but the subtly rounded case is a nice refinement, plus the Series 8 comes in various colors and a wide range of straps, including designs from Hermés.

Timex has taken its time in the smart watch race, lagging behind the category leaders. But with the Metropolitan watch, the iconic brand gives loyalists the option of a familiar watch face with solid intelligence at a very competitive price. Our experts like the high-res, always-on display, 24/7 fitness tracker and accurate GPS, good for logging miles on the run.

We found the setup simple and the app was easy to use. The 36mm case width and 20mm silicone strap combine for an exceptionally lightweight design, and the watch face is made out of high-impact resistant Gorilla Glass, so it can still take that lickin’ and keep on tickin' when it matters most.

This stylish rose gold option from Fossil is adorned with stones surrounding the face, and the swappable watch straps allow for versatility when pairing with your wardrobe. The 42mm smart watch features a touchscreen and tracks sleep, heart rate and activity — and it's compatible with both Android and iOS.

You can also control your music and phone notifications by downloading the relevant apps to your phone, such as Spotify or Wear OS, and then syncing them to your smart watch. The contactless payment option makes shopping a breeze. According to the brand, the Gen 5E has a multi-day battery mode which can give you 24+ hours of battery life; in our testing, we found it lasted the full day with no issues.

Plus, you don't have to worry about taking off your watch while taking a dip in the pool since it's water-resistant up to 50 meters.

Fitbit’s top-of-the-line smart watch earned solid marks in our tests, combining intuitive setup and controls with a sleek design. “We found the app to be particularly straightforward, guiding users through the step-by-step set-up and providing instructions on how to wear the watch,” says Jamie Kim, Contributing Writer and Analyst at Good Housekeeping. That makes the Sense 2 an especially good fit if this is your first smart watch. Another user-friendly feature is the built-in voice command. With Amazon Alexa, you can quickly check the weather or news and control other connected devices in the home.

The Sense 2 offers many health and wellness features, including basic insights into activity, sleep and nutrition, a temperature sensor and feedback on your stress levels. For the full experience, you'll want to consider a Premium membership (three-month free trial and $9.99 a month thereafter), with enhancements like a stress management score, a detailed breakdown of your sleep and access to more than 200 workouts and meditations.

Serious athletes need a smart watch that can keep pace, and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is up to the challenge. Not only is this smart watch perfect for Samsung phone owners (it’s both Android- and IOS-compatible), but it impressed our engineers with its ability to track a range of exercises including running, cycling, rowing and up to 90 other types of exercise — and its fall detection provides peace of mind.

In tests on previous iterations of the Galaxy Watch, our Lab experts found Samsung’s heart monitor to be more accurate than other watches when tested against a third-party heart rate monitor. Be aware it's not a medical device, but if you’re looking to improve athletic performance or manage stress throughout the day, that level of accuracy might be useful. Also notable is that the watch face is constructed from Sapphire crystal, making it stronger and more scratch-resistant than previous models. In terms of overall aesthetics, you can definitely keep your Samsung smart watch on when you’re out on the town, thanks to its rich offering of case finishes and straps.

Fitbit is the original fitness tracker that started the entire wearable craze over a decade ago, so it's no surprise that the Fitbit Versa 3 is packed with fitness and wellness features.

It has built-in GPS, menstrual health tracking and a daily Sleep Score feature through the Fitbit app, which our testers found incredibly intuitive and easy to use. “The sleep scores were convenient and it was especially useful to see how many hours I slept each night,” says Senior Textiles Analyst Emma Seymour. Other testers like the Versa 3’s design and ease of use. “It looks nice and sleek on the wrist,” says one tester. “It helps you track your activity and sleep while holding you more accountable to be more active. It’s also extremely easy to set up and use for basic features.”

Like most Fitbit models, this smart watch tracks your steps and heart rate which we found accurate in testing. It also has features such as voice assistant (Google and Alexa), weather, wallet, calendar, find my phone, music subscriptions and more but some of these do require a subscription to access. It lacks some of the advanced features you’ll find in the Sense 2 (reviewed above), like ECG readings, a skin temperature sensor and stress monitoring, but if you’re willing to make that sacrifice to save a few bucks this is a great smart watch to have.

Though this is Apple's entry-level watch, it's comparable to many top-of-the-line smart watches. Unlike other smart watches, it offers a unique feature called Family Setup, which enables younger kids or older family members to benefit from an Apple Watch without owning an iPhone (you’ll pair their watch to your phone).

iPhone users will also appreciate its competitive price and that it comes with the same large display as the Apple Watch Series 6 and the latest WatchOS9 features such as water resistance, optical heart sensor, fall and crash detection and available WiFi/cellular options (for $50 more). You can also expect 20 percent faster performance over the Gen 1 model, according to Apple.

Some of the latest Apple health features are missing like blood oxygen and ECG apps. If you care about the finish, aluminum is the only option (no stainless steel or titanium). Perhaps the most important trade-off: there's no always-on display, so you have to decide if the black box on your wrist is worth saving $100.