Wear OS is more exciting than it’s been in years. With its Galaxy Watch series, Samsung has been leading the charge in the new wave of noteworthy Android wearables: its new Watch 6 series are the first watches to run Wear OS 4 out of the box. Google’s Pixel Watch has proven to be a viable option, too. Mobvoi’s also launched its first watch with latest Wear OS 3.5, and options from the likes of Fossil are eligible for updates to the slightly older Wear OS 3.2. It’s a fun time to be in the market for a smartwatch.

There are tons of great smartwatches and excellent fitness trackers to choose from that will work with your awesome Android phones. To help narrow it down, here are our top seven Wear OS picks today.

Our favorite Wear OS smartwatches in 2023

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is our favorite Wear OS watch overall right now. It’s yet another light generational refresh of Samsung’s tried-and-true Wear OS platform, but it’s the most refined version yet, featuring a slimmer build, larger displays, slightly faster performance, and longer battery life than the Galaxy Watch 5 did. It also brings back Samsung’s trademark rotating bezel for navigating menus — not an essential feature, but one we sorely missed in the Watch 5 series.

All the fundamentals are rock solid here: the Watch 6 Classic has strong battery life (especially in the larger 47mm version), the smoothest performance of any Wear OS watch you can get right now, and great, vibrant displays across both sizes. Along with the standard Galaxy Watch 6, it also marks the debut of Wear OS 4 — though, for now, that doesn’t mean a whole lot compared to the Wear OS 3.5 some other watches on this list are running.

If you’re rocking a Galaxy Watch 5 or even a Galaxy Watch 4 and its battery is holding up, there’s not a lot of incentive to jump on the Watch 6 Classic, but if you’re coming from an older wearable or buying your first, this is as good as it gets in Wear OS today.

The standard Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 offers almost everything the Watch 6 Classic does for considerably less cash, starting at $300. Nearly everything is identical across the two watches: performance, displays, battery life, and software are all exactly the same. The standard Watch 6 lacks the 6 Classic’s rotating bezel, though. That’s a minor difference on paper, but the bezel is a big deal to a lot of folks — it’s fun, useful, and helps protect the display from cracks and scratches.

But the option to skip that single feature to save $100 is very appealing — the standard Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 represents a top-shelf Wear OS experience for a lower price. The previous-generation Galaxy Watch 5 and even the Galaxy Watch 4 that came before that are super similar to the newer Watch 6, but they’re getting increasingly hard to find lately. If you catch a good price on either prior-model watch from a reputable seller, you’ll be getting a better value than purchasing the Watch 6 at MSRP. But if you’re buying a current-generation watch, the Galaxy Watch 6 is the thriftiest way to spend your money right now.

Years into Wear OS, the Pixel Watch is Google’s late smartwatch debut. For a first attempt, it gets a lot right. The Pixel Watch’s hardware is beautifully designed with a unique look, not quite like anything else on the market today, and its case is made from stainless steel, which is a tougher and more premium option than the aluminum many smartwatches use. Performance is surprisingly solid, given Google’s choice to use an older chipset to power the Pixel Watch. Wear OS 3.5 is also great, and Google’s custom watch faces are positively killer.

Google’s really pushing Fitbit integration in the Pixel Watch, and using the wearable the way Google intends — wearing it all day to track your activity and all night to track your sleep — requires charging once a day, if not twice. The watch is also missing some health features you can get in other Fitbit trackers, like skin temperature sensing, EDA measurements, and SpO2 sensing (though that last one should be coming eventually in a software update). We have durability concerns, too; reports of cracked screens started surfacing before the watch was even commercially available. Still, it’s a unique, high-end Wear OS watch.

The Google Pixel Watch is actually less expensive than our overall favorite watch, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. But it’s our Premium Pick because, frankly, it’s impractically expensive at $350. Performance is good, but not exceptional; battery life is average at best. But with the Pixel Watch’s relatively high price tag comes undeniably unique, high-end styling — premium, indeed.

The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 is a very compelling Wear OS option right now. Boasting both top-shelf performance and battery life that can easily stretch a full three days on a single charge, it’s a great smartwatch for almost anyone with wrists large enough. It is a big watch, though, and that multi-day battery life is facilitated by a secondary LCD layer that can be tough to read in some situations. Possibly worse, there’s no Google Assistant access, and Mobvoi hasn’t said when (or if) that’ll change.

At the same $350 MSRP as the Pixel Watch, the TicWatch Pro 5 is another premium option, but its better durability and battery life make it a more practical purchase for many buyers. If you can live without the Google Assistant on your wrist, Mobvoi’s latest should be a contender for your next Wear OS watch.

We weren’t initially too enthusiastic about the Fossil Gen 6. While it’s got Qualcomm’s relatively beefy Snapdragon 4100+ chipset, it also launched with an out-of-date version of Wear OS. As of October 2022, Fossil’s current slate of Wear OS watches are eligible for an update to Wear OS version 3.2. That’s still a little outdated, as the latest version is 3.5 (and Wear OS 4 is on the horizon), and the update breaks compatibility with on-wrist Google Assistant interactions and the Google Fit Wear OS app. But hey, if you don’t care about either of those features, the upgrade’s ready and waiting for you.

With robust build quality, a vibrant, crisp display, and an optional update to Wear OS 3 available, the Gen 6 is worth your consideration. Just be aware there are more appealing options available right now.

The Skagen Falster Gen 6 is a stylish alternative to the Fossil Gen 6. Aside from aesthetics, the two smartwatches are more or less identical: each has the same 1.28″ 416×416 AMOLED display, the same 300mAh battery, and the same Snapdragon Wear 4100+ chipset paired with a single gig of RAM. Like the Fossil Gen 6, the Skagen Flaster Gen 6 can be updated to Wear OS 3.2 — just remember that doing so will remove Google Assistant and Google Fit functionality.

While the experience of using either watch will be the same, the Falster offers a look that might appeal to people who don’t care for the Fossil Gen 6’s styling. One niche benefit to the Skagen watch over the Fossil is that the Falster Gen 6 has a water resistance rating of 5 ATM, which beats the Fossil’s 3 ATM. Lately, you’ll often find this watch available well under its $295 MSRP, so keep an eye out for good sales.

With Qualcomm’s Wear 4100 chip, a whole gig of RAM, and a promised update to the new-and-improved Wear OS 3 in the near future, Mobvoi’s TicWatch E3 offers a lot of value for a relatively modest $200. Mobvoi went with a lower-cost LCD to hit that low price, which means lower contrast and no perfect OLED blacks. Still, even with that less-efficient display type, battery life stretches well into a second day. An Essential Mode also limits the watch’s functionality but boosts battery life significantly.

The TicWatch E3 has an MSRP of $200 but is regularly available for less. It’s also eligible for a Wear OS 3 beta, which should mean the stable version isn’t far behind. For the price, it’s still a decent pick in the meantime.

What’s the best Android watch you can buy?

Right now, we’re big fans of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic. Samsung’s newest Wear OS watches come with Wear OS 4 and are fast performers with bright, smooth displays and battery life that can stretch past two full days, depending on the size you buy. However, most of what we like about the Watch 6 series is also featured in the Watch 5 series, so don’t rush out to upgrade from last year’s model.

There’s also Google’s Pixel Watch. It’s an interesting option for style-conscious Android fans who want the latest version of Wear OS in a pretty package, but it’s not a great pick for anyone looking for a super value. Or, for the same price, you can pick up the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5, a less style-conscious option with markedly better battery life.

Fossil and Skagen’s watches are still stuck on the out-of-date Wear OS 3.2 and don’t offer many tangible benefits versus the other options on this list, but they’re both fine picks if you can get them at a steep discount.