At a glance
1. Best overall
2. Best premium
3. Best design
4. Best battery
5. Best last-gen
6. Best budget
7. Best for students
How to choose
A lot of thought goes into picking the right smartwatch, but opting for something from the Samsung Galaxy wearable lineup is a good start. Samsung's made some of the best Android smartwatches with Wear OS consistently for nearly a decade. You get a comprehensive set of useful features no matter what Galaxy Watch model you choose, including features like health and fitness tracking, as well as notifications and app support.
Once you start looking at the portfolio of Samsung Galaxy Watches, it can be somewhat overwhelming to determine which model is right for you. If money isn't an object and you want an all-rounder, the Galaxy Watch 8 is the best overall choice. Users who value other features, like price or even more premium features, need to look at the specs of relevant models and choose for themselves.
Don't worry about the research involved in buying the right Galaxy Watch, because we've done that for you. All you have to do is match yourself to one of the best Samsung smartwatches listed here, depending on what you're looking to achieve or get out of your wearable.
Michael Hicks is Android Central's resident smartwatch geek, having reviewed or tested dozens of wearables from Samsung, Google, Apple, Garmin, Fitbit, Coros, Polar, Withings, Amazfit, and others. In particular, he reviewed the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, Watch 6, and Watch 6 Classic, plus several Samsung phones and tablets.
At a glance
Best overall
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 performs accurate health tracking, comes with Gemini, and has handy AI-backed health and fitness features such as Running Coach and Bedtime Guidance.
Best premium
The Watch Ultra (2025) is Samsung's most expensive Galaxy watch. If you have the budget and partake in outdoor adventures and sports, you can expect excellent health and fitness tracking, a bright display, and long battery life.
Best design
The Classic is a classier version of the Watch 8 with a squircle stainless steel casing and a useful rotating bezel for easier controls. It's attractive, but also quite heavy for smaller wrists.
Best battery
No other Galaxy Watch lasts nearly as long as the Galaxy Watch Ultra, both for casual use and GPS tracking. It has highly accurate GPS and HR data and performs like a well-oiled machine.
Best last-gen
Though the Watch 8 is getting all the attention, the Watch 7 is still a great deal with its lower price. It offers speedy performance, a gorgeous display, and solid battery life.
Best budget
Now that it's two generations old, the Watch 6 is significantly cheaper, making it a great deal at its lower price. It offers speedy performance, a gorgeous display, and solid battery life.
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Best for students
The Samsung Galaxy Watch FE is essentially the Watch 4 with a mildly refreshed design, Sapphire Crystal protection over the display, and a complete suite of fitness tracking features.
Best overall
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 looks markedly different from the Galaxy Watch 7. It is notably much slimmer and sits flatter than the last-gen model. The dial is no longer circular, morphing into more of a squarish circle this time around. Samsung also changed the connector system used for the bands with the Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic, so you can no longer use quick-release bands.
Just like the Galaxy Watch 7, the Watch 8 comes in two sizes, 40mm and 44mm, with each having an LTE option for a bit more money. The display is crisp, vibrant, and easily legible outdoors. You get the same old Exynos W1000 processor here to power the slick interface. It's one of the first Samsung watches to ship with One UI Watch 8, based on Google's Wear OS 6, with a brand-new look and Gemini.
The robust Galaxy Watch 8 comes with some powerful Galaxy AI fitness and health features like Antioxidant Index, Bedtime Guidance, Mindfulness Tracker, Running Coach, and Vascular Load. One UI 8 Watch also adds Now Bar, so you can summon relevant information to the home screen with a gesture shortcut. It creates "Multi-info tiles" that you can customize to show relevant data from multiple sources at a glance.
Disappointingly, the battery life has improved only slightly, despite the smartwatch weighing a tad heavier than the previous model. Users are promised four years of OS and security updates, guaranteeing support until 2029. Overall, the Galaxy Watch 8 is a fantastic smartwatch.
For Watch 7 owners, it isn't worth upgrading from as there aren't enough novel features making the bump worth it. However, other buyers rocking older models will surely enjoy the jump to the powerful Watch 8.
Best premium
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025) is Samsung's successor to the revamped Pro series, now called the Ultra. In comparison to the Watch 8 Classic, you lose the rotating bezel and have to pay a lot more, but the new Watch Ultra has several perks, like enhanced battery life, to justify the $649 price. It's worth noting that it isn't all that different from last year's Galaxy Watch Ultra, but it's also not identical. There are slight spec changes and a new Titanium Blue color option to tempt you.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025) will look familiar because it's virtually unchanged from last year's model, from the 1.5-inch AMOLED display to the squircle titanium case. The only noticeable hardware difference is that the Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025) offers 64GB of storage for music and apps, double what the 2024 model offered. It has 50GB available out of the box, subtracting predownloaded software.
If you already own a Galaxy Watch Ultra, there's very little reason to buy the new one. But if you're a long-time Galaxy Watch fan considering an upgrade, the Ultra is compelling for the same reason as last year: You get a significant battery life boost over the Watch 8 series to spare you frequent charging. The built-in LTE is nice if you like to leave your phone at home, and the titanium case looks sleek.
Best design
Samsung skipped the Galaxy Watch Classic model with the Galaxy Watch 7 series, so fans have been waiting for a refreshed Classic model for some time now. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic overhauls the design of the Watch 6 Classic with a more squared look. Not everyone will love it, but it might grow on you if you give it a chance.
Compared to the Galaxy Watch 8, the Watch 8 Classic has more in common with the beefed-up Galaxy Watch Ultra. It adds the Ultra's third Quick Button and the old Classic's steel rotating bezel, which is motion tracked by a 3D Hall sensor. It carries over most Watch 7 hardware and sensors. But since many buyers will be upgrading from the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, the Exynos W1000 processor, BioActive sensor with HR accuracy upgrades, brighter display, dual-band GPS, and extra storage will be new to them.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra makes the Watch 8 Classic look relatively affordable, but it's still one of the most expensive Android watches ever. If you like the bezel and can trade in your old Classic to Samsung to cut the bill in half, I'd suggest buying the Watch 8 Classic; you may find that the new design grows on you. For others, this heavy, expensive smartwatch may be the wrong fit.
Best battery
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is the new name for the Pro series of Samsung watches, but with a new twist. While the Watch Ultra (2025) is now out, this model is cheaper and not all that different from the 2025 iteration. Therefore, it's the best option when looking at just the battery. Samsung opted for a squircle design here, which very much resembles the Apple Watch Ultra. The extra girth of titanium around the display is for added protection against falls and bumps, aimed mainly at users who are into adventure sports or extreme outdoor activities.
The Watch Ultra was Samsung's most expensive watch at launch, going for a whopping $649 sticker price. Currently, you can get it for a more amicable $449 on average. It has a pretty big battery that can last multiple days on a single charge, but it's also quite heavy, even for a pro smartwatch user. Underneath all this armor, it's not too different from the Galaxy Watch 7. It shares the exact same set of sensors, processor, and storage, making it just as capable. Even the display is the same 1.5-inch AMOLED, but with a higher 3,000 nits of brightness, so it's more readable in direct sunlight.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra is for those who want something unique-looking on their wrist, great battery life, and a durable device that's not afraid of getting roughed up. Since it's nearly identical to the newer, more expensive Watch Ultra (2025), you can skip that and get this 2024 model instead. You won't miss out on much.
Best last-gen
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 might not have seemed like a big upgrade from the Watch 6, going by the specs on paper. But some clever re-jigging of how the health sensors are laid out made tracking and monitoring vital statistics way more accurate than the previous model. This means there's no wireless charging capability when placing it atop the back of a Samsung phone (called Wireless PowerShare), but it's the price you pay for more precise data readouts. With the newer Watch 8 out, the Watch 7 is cheaper and an even better deal now.
The Galaxy Watch 7 comes in two sizes, 40mm and 44mm, with each having an LTE option for a bit more money. The display is crisp, vibrant, and easily legible outdoors. There's a faster Exynos W1000 processor that helps power the slick interface. It was one of the first Samsung watches to ship with One UI Watch 6, based on Google's Wear OS 5. There are a few Galaxy AI-powered features, like Energy score, which we found to be quite handy.
Battery life improved slightly compared to the last model, despite the smartwatch having the same capacity as the Watch 6. The only trouble is that the Watch 7 is not compatible with any of the older Galaxy Watch chargers, which means you'll need to carry along the bundled cable or invest in new chargers.
Best budget
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is the next best thing to the Watch 8, especially at its now reduced pricing. If you compare the Galaxy Watch 6 to the older Watch 5, the Watch 6 adds the Exynos W930 chip with 2GB of RAM, which Samsung says delivers 18% faster performance, 25% faster switching between apps, and a more compact design. Our reviewer found that it delivered ultra-fast speeds with smoother transitions than the last generation, and appreciated the 1mm-thinner design than the Watch 5.
Perhaps most significantly, the display has a significantly thinner border, giving you 1.3- or 1.5-inch options instead of 1.2 or 1.4; all this, while keeping the Watch 6 the same size (more or less) as the Watch 5. The upgraded 2,000 nits maximum brightness ensures you'll never have problems with outdoor readability, and our reviewer noted that the capacitive bezel for scrolling through Tiles — while less reliable than the Classic's physical bezel — is "much more useable" with this generation.
Of course, when compared to the latest Galaxy Watch 8, the Watch 6 pales in comparison. However, the Galaxy Watch 6 still runs the latest software, is a solid performer, and should deliver a comparable battery life to the Watch 8. And when you factor in the price gap between the two, it becomes clear that the Watch 6 is the best budget-friendly pick for bargain hunters.
Overall, unless you really care about style (the Classic) or despise having to charge your watch daily (the Pro), this is the watch to choose. It'll get at least four years of software support, so it'll last you through the summer of 2027.
Best for students
The Galaxy Watch FE is the latest addition to the family and is targeted towards first-time smartwatch users and younger audiences. Compared to the newer Samsung watches, the FE has a duller display, an older processor with lesser RAM, no cellular option, and only one dial size. But when you look at its price, it's really hard to complain, which is what makes it a great buy for cash-strapped students.
The Watch FE looks nearly the same as the older Galaxy Watch 4, save for a new dual-color accent on the strap, which will soon be a running theme on newer Galaxy wearables and accessories. You also get a more durable Sapphire Crystal glass over the display. The Watch FE has similar specs to the Watch 4, with its 1.2-inch Super AMOLED display in the 40mm dial. It's powered by the latest One UI 5 Watch software, which is based on Google's Wear OS 4.
The watch comes in three colors, Black, Silver, and Pink Gold. The battery capacity is also exactly the same as the Watch 4 at 247mAh. Going by our experience reviewing the Watch 4, you should expect the FE to offer a comfortable fit, decent battery life, and very good health-tracking abilities. In fact, it has nearly all the sensors found in the Watch 6, so you barely have to compromise with health tracking.
Comparing the Galaxy Watch FE vs. Watch 4, it does not make sense to get the latter anymore since it's too old, and it only has one more year of OS upgrades left. If you want a more powerful smartwatch and have the budget for it, you could also consider the Watch 6. It costs only a little over $200 for the 40mm, non-LTE version, and compared to the Watch FE, it offers a faster processor, more RAM, the latest wireless standards, and a brighter display.
How to choose
Which of the best Samsung watches are still worth buying?
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You'll notice that all six of the best Samsung watches are Wear OS watches. Anyone familiar with Samsung's older models knows they used to run the company's proprietary Tizen OS, before Samsung and Google joined forces.
We genuinely loved the Galaxy Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch Active 2 for everything they offered at the time. But Samsung's software support for Tizen has essentially ended, as it has gone all-in on Wear OS instead. You won't see any new apps developed for the older ones, they won't sync well with newer Galaxy phones, and you'll miss out on new perks like Google Assistant. So if you see them on sale, we recommend you steer clear.
For the best longevity and features, of course, you'll want to choose among the compact, powerful Galaxy Watch 8, the rugged Watch Ultra (2025), the stylish Watch 8 Classic, or the wallet-friendly Watch 6.
Both the Galaxy Watch 8 models and the new Watch Ultra (2025) are currently Samsung's latest and greatest options. These wonderful Wear OS wearables boast features like Gemini and AI Health Coach, Now Bar, and Shortcuts.
