Speaker 1: These are the best smart watches and fitness trackers you can get right now. I've tested and reviewed each and every one of these, putting them through their paces on the trails and in the real world to find the best options. Regardless of how you use your watch, we'll look at dedicated fitness trackers, more extreme Sports watchers and of course general smart watches that can do it all. We're only gonna be focusing on the watches and bands released in 2022, but there are plenty of other great options that are still going strong [00:00:30] and I will name check them throughout the video in case they happen to be better value for you because I am always looking out for you and your wallet.
Speaker 1: Let's kick things off with the best overall smartwatches of the year. Now first out of the gates is one of the most anticipated releases of the year for Android users that mostly lives up to the hype. It's Google's Pixel watch. Now it certainly looks the part thanks to its sleek and curve design. Fortunately, the internals do [00:01:00] match up to the design in terms of how it performs. You get an ECG or an Electrocardiogram app, blood oxygen tracking, and it's really closely tied into the Fitbit app so you get lots of in-depth analysis of things like your sleep and your readiness data as well. I think the pixel watch is best suited for you if you're looking for a hybrid fitness and smartwatch that really does look the part. Now the downside is there is only one size option, so if you are someone who likes a larger watch, this probably won't [00:01:30] be right for you and the battery isn't the best.
Speaker 1: More than likely you will be charging this daily though depending on how heavy you go on things like GPS workouts and LTE use, you can get around 28 to 30 hours by turning off the always on display. That's the best case scenario. Next we have another top choice for Android users. It's the Samsung Galaxy Watch five. Now this is a solid watch, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't wow me with its overall feature set just because it's really quite [00:02:00] similar to the watch four from the previous year, but it's at least 50 to 70 bucks cheaper than the Pixel watch, at least in the us and it comes in two sizes and it might be a better overall choice if you already have a Galaxy phone. Now it has a bioimpedance sensor that the Pixel Watch doesn't, that's used to track things like body composition, so you can keep an eye on your gains or your losses. There's also a temperature sensor, but that's still not active at the time of recording this video. Now if you're looking for a full in-depth comparison between these [00:02:30] two, the Pixel Watch and the Galaxy Watch, go check out my VERSES video right up here and I'll see you in a couple of minutes.
Speaker 1: Moving on, we have the best option for iPhone users, which is um, surprisingly an Apple watch. The series eight is a great choice if you're wanting the most well-rounded option that straddles fitness, health, and true smartwatch features. There's an ecg, a blood oxygen sensor plus a temperature sensor that is fully active. It doesn't really [00:03:00] look any different from the series seven or offer any better battery life. So actually I would recommend the Series eight to anyone coming from an earlier Apple Watch, like say a series three, four or five as you'll really notice the upgrade to that screen size and viewing area. Then again, it is so similar to the series seven that if you can find that watch on discount by the time you watch this video, I also recommend checking out the previous model with series seven for less and then there is the Apple Watch se.
Speaker 1: Again, quite similar to the series eight on the inside, [00:03:30] but without the extra bells and whistles of those health sensors and it doesn't have an always on display, but don't be fooled. You still get all of the same workout tracking options, the emergency SOS and car crash detection. This is your best option for an Apple watch on more of a budget, especially if you are considering getting a smartwatch for the very first time, it's refined without being overwhelming. Now if your interests skew a little bit more fitness, then true smartwatch, then I have the cross platform pick for you. One of my [00:04:00] absolute favorites this year is the Garin Venue two plus. It's got all the fitness tracking features that Garmin is known for. It works on Android and iOS. Yay, and it doesn't need any subscriptions to unlock extra features, say like Fitbit Premium does on the Pixel watch.
Speaker 1: Now this is the first Garmin watch I can wholeheartedly recommend even if you're not a fitness person because it does all the smartwatch things you'd expect like get notifications from your phone, it has a speaker and microphone so you can do things like talk to a voice assistant and most importantly, the battery [00:04:30] out shines. Pretty much every single watch we've talked about so far expect anywhere from eight to nine full days out of this thing before you need to charge it. Now, I get it, sometimes Smart Watchers can be a bit intimidating and you just want something a little bit more incognito, a little bit more low key. That's why I'm such a fan of fitness trackers and one of the best ones released this year is the Fitbit Inspire three. It's around a hundred dollars. It has all the workout and step tracking things that you need.
Speaker 1: It gets notifications from your phone, it [00:05:00] can track your sleep quality and more importantly helps you interpret all of this information with an easy to understand readiness score and a sleep score as well. It's also got a really good screen considering its price and the battery lasts almost 10 days with normal use. If you want a few more bells and whistles like an EC G, my favorite Fitbit is actually the charge five and that's from 2021. And again, if you play your cards right, you can kind of find it for about the same price as the Inspire three at certain times of the year. But [00:05:30] the downside to both of those options is Fitbit premium costs $10 a month and while you don't have to pay for it, if you don't want to without it, you won't get those readiness scores once your free trial runs out.
Speaker 1: I find those particularly useful. Okay, so maybe subscription services aren't your thing and you just want a big feature set in a smaller and even cheaper package. Well, I got you with two options. The first is the ME Band seven and it has a gorgeous color screen that's bright and easy to see. I think the Fitbit is a bit more comfortable to wear overall, [00:06:00] but the me band is almost half the price, usually around 50 bucks. And it does many of the same things like track your sleep, your steps, and of course your workouts. Plus it has features to ping your phone work as a remote camera shutter and it has plenty of fun watch faces. But overall I do prefer the Fitbit for better data accuracy when it comes to things like heart rate tracking and sleep monitoring. Okay, one watch that I think offers very few trade-offs or compromises for the price is the amazed Fitbit three Pro.
Speaker 1: This is more a budget smartwatch option [00:06:30] than a fitness band or a tracker technically, but I really do think it's worth the $70. The screen is vibrant, it's got so many different workout types on this thing. It's got built in gps, which is great, so that means you don't need to lug your phone with you for an outdoor workout if you don't want to and the battery lasts for absolutely ages. Yeah, okay. It's not the prettiest option, especially compared to some of the big NA brands here, but it's definitely worth checking out if you are looking to stretch your money even further. But if you are not in the market for small and dainty, it's time to go [00:07:00] big or go home with the bigger, bolder and tough as nail smart watches that we're gonna talk about now. So the first is the Apple Watch Ultra, which is Apple's first attempt at a rugged and outdoorsy watch.
Speaker 1: And I really think it's an absolute success. It is my favorite watch of the year. If it's suits your budget, and I don't necessarily think you need to be an endurance athlete or a scuba diver to get one of these, the screen is incredibly bright and easy to see in all situations. The titanium casing is super solid and the battery is far and away the [00:07:30] best out of any Apple watch you can get. Now it can last up to three days if you're not doing a lot of GPS workouts or sleep tracking and it's got the customizable action button on the side that lets you start or stop a workout, activate a shortcut and more. It's also LTE by default, so unlike other Apple watches, you don't have to pay extra to get the version that comes with cellular connectivity, but of course you still need to pay extra to your wireless carry each month to activate it.
Speaker 1: Just fyi. Now, I would love it if it had fully offline mapping capabilities [00:08:00] and topographic maps and routing abilities and first party apps. That's the one downside for me. But if those are the things that you are looking for specifically, may I suggest my other favorite high-end fitness watch of the year, the garment Epics two. This is such a solid watch also available with a titanium case, a gorgeous OD screen, plus all the mapping features and data analysis you could possibly want. Now the battery's also great if you're thinking of using it more as a smartwatch rather than full on [00:08:30] fitness bike running tracker. There is no LTE variant though, however, and there's no speaker and microphone and the third party apps a really kind of limited. So I would really recommend the epics if you're more of a runner, a mountain biker, or of course you need something that's going to work on Android because the Apple Watch is iPhone only.
Speaker 1: Okay, so those two watches are pretty pricey. Now, if you want a less expensive alternative and happen to be on Android, the Galaxy Watch five Pro could be a good option. It has all the same features [00:09:00] as the regular Galaxy Watch five, but it's a bigger case size. It's tougher and it has some additional mapping and routing features like Track Back that you might be interested in. I actually think it's the best Galaxy Watch you can get for the price, especially cuz the battery lost around three days as well under the right circumstances, just like the Apple Watch Ultra. Well that's my list of favorites, but what about you? I would love to hear your pick for your top fitness tracker, your top smart ring or smartwatch. Let me know what you want me to review next and I will add it to the list. Thanks for [00:09:30] watching and I'll catch you next time.
