The convenience of a good smartwatch is hard to beat.
Most smartwatches provide basic exercise tracking, but the best ones should also include advanced features such as heart-rate monitoring, sleep tracking and GPS tracking, along with the ability to show phone notifications on your wrist.
Here are two of CNET’s top smartwatch picks.
Apple Watch Ultra 2
CNET take: The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is Apple’s best smartwatch for iPhone, with a tough titanium construction and an Action button to quickly start workouts or launch apps. It has the brightest screen of any Apple Watch at a maximum of 3,000 nits, which makes it incredibly easy to see when adventuring in the outdoors. For adventurers and athletes, it also has a built-in siren for safety and a dual-band GPS for accurately tracking your route.
The Ultra 2 also comes with a blood oxygen sensor, electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) app, fall detection and emergency SOS. ($516)
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic
CNET take: Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 is the best Android watch for most people. Both the Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic have incredibly bright screens that hit a maximum 2,000 nits, so seeing your watch in all lighting conditions is easy.
This watch has an ECG, blood oxygen, body composition and temperature sensors. Note you do need a Galaxy phone to use the ECG, but all the other features work seamlessly with other Android phones. ($240)
