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At their core, smartwatches are extensions of your phone for checking notifications, making calls, sending texts, and, not to mention, telling the time. The best smartwatches can also ideally serve as powerful tools for tracking activities and monitoring health markers, too. The most important things to consider when choosing a new smartwatch are the features you'll use most and your smartphone operating system.

Our top pick among the best smartwatches is the Apple Watch Series 9. Although it's only compatible with iOS, it's a class-leading smartwatch that offers a wide range of health and fitness tracking tools. For Android users, we recommend the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. It has a durable titanium design, it's an excellent smartwatch that includes a comprehensive set of health and fitness tracking features, and it has multi-day battery life.

The Nothing CMF Watch Pro is a solid budget option. No smartwatch is perfect for a sub-$75 price, but the CMF Watch Pro offers the basics of a smartwatch with a couple of premium features, like an always-on display. It's also compatible with both iOS and Android phones. 

Top picks for the best smartwatches

Best overall: Apple Watch Series 9 – See at Amazon

Best budget: Nothing CMF Watch Pro – See at Amazon

Best for Android: Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro – See at Amazon

Best for Pixel users: Google Pixel Watch 2 – See at Amazon

Best for fitness: Garmin Epix Pro – See at Amazon

Best premium Apple Watch: Apple Watch Ultra 2 – See at Amazon

Best sleep tracker: Fitbit Sense 2 – See at Amazon

Best with bezel: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic – See at Amazon

Best overall

The Apple Watch Series 9 remains atop the smartwatch pack thanks to its excellent blend of health and fitness tools, smartwatch functionality, and overall effectiveness. For iOS users, there's no better wearable to buy. It's so good that it's a solid reason to stick, or even transfer, to the Apple ecosystem with an iPhone. 

When the Series 9 was released in September 2023, it didn't represent a massive generational leap over the prior year's release, the Apple Watch Series 8. However, it did introduce some new features that improved its accessibility, and it also debuted a fast new processor. 

The new additions include faster on-device Siri access, updated Smart Stack functionality, a brighter display, and, perhaps the most notable new feature, the Double Tap Gesture. The double tap gesture allows users to tap their index finger and thumb together twice to interact with the primary button of any app. For instance, it can answer or hang up a phone call, start or stop a timer, and snooze an alarm. 

While this new gesture is great for interacting with the Apple Watch when you have your hands full, it's a huge advancement in its accessibility. Now, users who may be unable to use the touchscreen easily can still use the watch's apps. The gesture feature and the Series 9's on-device Siri access completely change how the watch can be used. 

Beyond those updates, the Series 9 is still a powerful health and fitness tracker, offering several tools like sleep tracking and stress management. There are also new mental health tools available within its Mindfulness app that allow users to log how they feel at certain times throughout the day. Apple dropped the blood-oxygen monitoring feature on all Apple Watches, including the Series 9, due to a patent dispute. 

The Apple Watch has long been a quality wearable, and the Series 9 continues that trend, offering something for every type of user. It delivers a premium smartwatch experience, has powerful health and fitness tracking tools, and is not only the best Apple Watch you can buy but the best smartwatch, too.

Read our full Apple Watch Series 9 review.

Best budget

For around $65, the Nothing CMF Watch Pro perfectly fits the bill for a budget smartwatch, and it works both for Android and iPhone, too. It's far from perfect, but it does have some features we're surprised to find on such a budget watch.

The CMF Watch Pro focuses on the core basics of a smartwatch, including telling the time and showing your notifications. You have to dig into the CMF app's settings to pick the apps you want notifications for or select to receive all of them. You can even take a call on it thanks to its built-in microphone, which is a pleasant surprise for a watch in this price range, at least one with a recognizable brand name behind it.

It also covers the basic health and fitness tracking features that most smartwatches have, like a step counter, heart rate sensor, and sleep tracking. Also surprisingly, the CMF Watch Pro supports blood-oxygen monitoring — a feature deactivated on Apple Watches thanks to a patent dispute. It also has IP68 water resistance, which means it won't get damaged with water contact, but Nothing doesn't suggest you wear it swimming. 

The CMF Watch Pro's touted 13-day battery life is also worthy of note, and I can confirm that it has multi-day battery life. We expect most people would get less than 13 days with their typical usage, but that potential range is a great plus for the CMF Watch Pro. The CMF Watch Pro also supports an always-on display, a feature Apple's Watch SE can't tout at its $249 starting price. 

For $65, the CMF Watch Pro doesn't have certain features you'd expect on more expensive smartwatches. It doesn't run third-party apps, for example; that means different things to people who need third-party apps, but for most people, it means you can't run your music streaming app and store music on the CMF Watch Pro for phone-less workouts.

Watch faces are also somewhat limited, as you can't customize what widgets feature on a watch face. You can't interact with the widgets, either —  tapping on them does nothing, let alone bring up the relevant app. We also found that the weather widget would read "no data" at times, and required us to open the CMF app for the watch to receive weather data. However, we still received notifications. 

While you can get notifications about text messages, the CMF Watch Pro doesn't support writing and sending texts from the watch itself, nor does it support RCS messages from Android phones, which is the modern standard that Android phones use for text messages with photos and videos. 

There were reports that Bluetooth connectivity between the CMF Watch Pro and your phone could be patchy, leading to missed notifications unless the CMF app was recently opened. However, it seems the latest updates addressed this, as I did not encounter issues with connectivity. 

So, the CMF Watch Pro isn't perfect, but it's also around $65. Considering that most good smartwatches cost over $200, downsides to the CMF Pro are fully expected, and these specific downsides are certainly acceptable for the price.

Best for Android

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is a generation older than the current Galaxy Watch 6 series but has some notable advantages.

Namely, it houses a larger battery that allows it to go several days before a charge. It also has a premium, durable, lightweight titanium design that caters to the active user. And, when paired with one of the best Samsung Galaxy Watch bands, you can easily tailor it to function however you prefer to wear it. 

It's also a powerful smartwatch. Call, text, email, and app alerts are easy to interact with on the large, bright watch face, and it uses the latest iteration of Wear OS, which is fluid and intuitive to navigate. It allows for deep customization, too, including several different watch faces that can display certain relevant information. I found this one of its best features, as I could tailor what data or fitness stats it always showed on the home screen. 

Health-focused users will also appreciate its variety of wellness features, including in-depth sleep tracking and a unique body composition scanner that can inform you of your body fat percentage, water weight, and BMI. These aren't as accurate as readings you may get at the doctor, but it's still a handy tool.

For the fitness crowd, the Watch 5 Pro is stellar. Not only is there a wide range of trackable workouts, like cycling, running, and weight lifting, but there are plenty of activities that aren't specifically fitness-centric but still work out your body, like skiing and hiking. There's also a handy Track Back feature that functions like a breadcrumb feature to track your exact hiking routes; it only works for hiking and cycling, but hopefully, future updates make it available for things like trail running, too.

The Watch 5 Pro isn't without its drawbacks. Some features, like the ECG function that tracks heart rhythms and blood pressure monitor, are exclusive to Samsung phones via the Samsung Health Monitor app, and they're not available on other Android phones. It's not a major red flag, but it is something to keep in mind if you don't own a Samsung phone. 

Even with those issues, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is the best Android smartwatch you can buy. It's a quality health and fitness tracker and an exceptional smartwatch. For Android users, especially those who own Samsung phones, it doesn't get better than this.   

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro review.

Best for Pixel users

Google's second iteration of the Pixel Watch, the Pixel Watch 2, addresses our main complaints from the previous model, and it easily deserves its spot as the best option for Pixel phone users. 

The Pixel Watch 2 continues to offer the stellar core smartwatch experience from the original Pixel Watch with the intuitive Watch OS 4 operating system, compatibility with several third-party apps, and excellent notifications and interactions with calls, texts, and emails. As an extension of your phone, it shines. 

For fitness tracking, namely GPS accuracy, the Pixel Watch 2 brings major improvements, and it's actually up to par with other smartwatches now. It includes features like sleep tracking, all-day heart rate monitoring, stress monitoring, and ECG readings. The Pixel Watch 2 also comes with a new skin temperature sensor and a new heart rate sensor, contributing to unique insights into sleep quality. 

We should note that some features like advanced sleep data, advanced stress management tools, and Fitbit's unique Daily Readiness feature are locked behind Fitbit's $10/month Premium subscription service. You get a free six-month trial of the service when you buy the Pixel Watch 2, which lets you decide whether it's worth keeping.  

The Pixel Watch 2 also shows notable improvements in battery life over the original. It gets us through a full day that includes activity and workout tracking while leaving enough battery for sleep tracking.

Read our full Google Pixel Watch 2 review.

Best for fitness

There aren't many things the Garmin Epix Pro Gen 2 can't do. From its endless number of trackable activities and weeklong battery to its accurate GPS tracking, no-frills but useful notification system, and a suite of health-tracking features, it's more than just a quality fitness tracker; it's the best fitness tracker. Period.

But since we're talking about smartwatches, it's worth pointing out it excels at that, too. Its call, text, and app notifications are on the basic end of the smartwatch spectrum, but they're still easy to interact with, and the watch still serves as a reliable extension of your smartphone. It may not have all the bells and whistles of something like the Series 9 or Watch 5 Pro, but it gets the job done. 

Plus, the amount of extras that come with it makes it an especially great pick for fitness-focused folks or anyone who enjoys spending time outside. It offers in-depth activity tracking for things like running, cycling, weight training, and snowboarding and does more than just track heart rate and time. It can log actual workout reps and track actual ground you cover via GPS while providing a detailed map of your route. 

It's also a comprehensive health tracker with in-depth sleep and stress monitoring and a handy recovery tool that adjusts how much rest it recommends you need based on your daily activity. 

I found the recovery feature quite useful, especially when I wanted to push myself but decided to take it easy based on the watch's recommendation, knowing I wouldn't be at my best. This input ultimately changed how I worked out each week, and I started to feel far better on a week-to-week basis in terms of soreness and my overall recovery timeline. 

This feature only scratches the surface of what the Epix Pro Gen 2 can do, too, as the watch literally learns your day-to-day behavior and adapts to suit you best with workout recommendations, managing stress levels, when to go to bed and wake up, and how often you should have a rigorous workout. 

The fact it does all this while also being a reliable smartwatch makes it one of the premier wearables you can buy.

Best premium Apple Watch

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 offers a near-similar smartwatch experience to the Series 9 but at a much steeper price tag. While it may not be the preferred choice for casual users, it's worth the extra investment for advanced athletes or those who spend time outdoors.

This is mainly due to the features and internal hardware tailored to tracking activities like cycling, diving, and climbing. These features include a brighter screen that can be more easily seen in high-lighting conditions, tracking compatibility for freediving, scuba diving, and wakeboarding, and improved altitude readings.

The Ultra 2 also features a bulkier, more durable design than the Series 9 and a battery that lasts upwards of two full days instead of needing to be recharged daily. The increased battery life is a huge improvement compared to the Series 9 (and other smartwatches in this guide) since less time on the charger means more time using it for how it's intended.

However, my favorite feature of the Ultra 2 is its Action Button, which can be programmed to open several different apps, including the fitness-tracking app, the stopwatch, or the shortcuts app. The Action Button is especially helpful for activities because, instead of starting after a short three-second countdown, like on the Series 9, it allows you to press the button once you're situated and ready to go. This also helps wait for the GPS to sync.

Other notable features include the new double tap gesture, which also debuted on the Series 9, and faster on-device Siri access. It also has the new S9 processor chip and the updated ultra-wideband chip that improves its location accuracy.

Although the Ultra 2 offers many features geared toward the advanced athlete, it's still a quality wearable for the casual user. It has the same health and fitness tracking tools as the Series 9 while offering similar smartwatch functionality.

Note that Apple disabled the blood-oxygen monitoring feature on all Apple Watches, including the Ultra 2, due to a patent dispute.

Read our full Apple Watch Ultra 2 review.

Best sleep tracker

For a smartwatch that excels as a reliable sleep tracker, Fitbit's Sense 2 is at the front of the pack. Not only does it track your sleep each night and provide in-depth data, but it also offers unique recommendations on improving your rest via several metrics. Plenty of wearables try to provide this level of insight, but the Sense 2 does it best.

What sets the Sense 2 apart is how comprehensive the data it provides is. For example, after a night of sleep, the Fitbit app displays metrics showing how well I rested. These include time spent in REM, deep, and light sleep, as well as other factors like time spent awake, how restless I might have been, and what my heart rate was. 

The Fitbit app can then recommend ways to improve my sleep to better my nightly score. This may include certain workouts, when to work out, or how to keep a consistent sleep schedule. Once I got the hang of using the recommendations, they made a noticeable difference.

It's worth noting that to make the most of the Sense 2's sleep tracking abilities, you'll need Fitbit Premium, the subscription part of the Fitbit app. Memberships run for $10/month or $80/year and are worth the expenditure for those intent on using the extra data. 

Fitbit Premium also provides a unique Daily Readiness Score that analyzes your prior day's activity and rest and creates a numbered score to represent how hard to push yourself. There are also in-depth health insights, like heart rate variability, available to subscribers. 

Aside from its capability as a sleep tracker, the Sense 2 is also an excellent fitness tracker. It tracks various activities like running, cycling, and strength training. Also, it uses a skin temperature sensor, has heart rhythm (ECG) readings, and debuted Fitbit's real-time stress tracker. The stress tracker is especially useful for its feedback on how to lower stress throughout the day.

While the Fitbit Sense 2 is one of the best smartwatches, the actual smartwatch experience leaves a little to be desired. Yes, it gets notifications like calls, texts, and app updates, but the fact Fitbit removed third-party app support and Google Assistant access is disappointing. There's also no way to store or play music via the watch.

However, I wouldn't view these as deal-breakers for the Sense 2, especially if you're looking for a smartwatch with premium sleep tracking. It's one of the best Fitbits you can buy, and while it is a so-so smartwatch, it gets the job done when needed while offering a suite of advanced health and wellness features. 

Read our full Fitbit Sense 2 review.

Best with bezel

Samsung's Galaxy Watch line has offered some of the best Android smartwatches you can buy for years, and the Samsung Watch 6 Classic is no exception.

One of the best additions Samsung introduced on the Watch 6 Classic was to reintroduce the rotating bezel last seen in the Watch 4 (an ideal budget option for Android users looking for something a little more premium than the CMF Watch Pro). With the rotating bezel, navigating the watch's interface and menus is fluid and easy, especially during workouts or when wearing gloves. This isn't to say the touchscreen is hard to navigate, but sometimes it took a little longer to respond to a screen swipe than it would if I just simply spun the dial.

The watch's improved battery life is also a welcome update. Outside of the Watch 5 Pro, most Galaxy Watches need to find their way to a charger at least once daily to recharge. This wasn't ever a dealbreaker as even our top pick, the Apple Watch Series 9, requires the same daily charging. 

However, having a watch with a battery that lasts more than one day ensures you can squeeze all the functionality out of it. You can use it as a smartwatch and fitness tracker during the day and as a sleep tracker at night. The Watch 6 Classic's longer battery allowed me to do that during my time with it. 

Not all Watch 6 users will make use of every bell and whistle, but even casual wearers will find plenty to utilize. Outside of the available activities and sleep tracking, there's also a stress tracker, a heart rhythm reader (ECG), a body composition analyzer, a temperature sensor, and a cycle tracker.

The highlight of these is the body composition analyzer, which I used to chart my body fat percentage and muscle mass, and the stress tracker, which tracked my specific stress levels at different times throughout the day and suggested ways to lower them. 

I also just really enjoyed wearing the Watch 6 Classic. It has a comfortable, lightweight design that felt equally good to wear while working out and sleeping as it did while sitting at my desk. 

The watch looks good on the wrist, too, featuring a classic round watch face design that looks and feels premium. I could see it being slightly too big for folks with smaller wrists, though it was the perfect size on my arm (and I like larger watch faces). But do keep this in mind if you don't like big watch faces.

My lone nitpick with the Watch 6 Classic is that it's not all that different from the previous generation of Watch 5. It does run the latest Wear OS, though that can also be downloaded on the Watch 5. What this means, though, is that upgrading to the Watch 6 Classic is best done by those wearing the Watch 4 or older — and Watch 5 users can take a beat and wait for the release of next year's Watch 7 or later.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic review.

What to look for in a smartwatch

It's important to know how you intend to use a smartwatch before you start shopping for one. Maybe you want a wearable with a smaller watch face or prefer a certain strap material. You may even want one that offers robust health and fitness tracking capabilities.

Here's what to consider before purchasing:

Use case: While all smartwatches offer similar functionality of telling time and displaying various call, text, email, and app notifications, some are better suited to certain uses than others. For example, the Fitbit Sense 2 excels as a sleep tracker in addition to being a reliable smartwatch. If you don't need sleep tracking, the Sense 2 may not be a good fit. 

While most smartwatches track activities, they're not all full-fledged fitness trackers. Dedicated fitness trackers provide a variety of trackable activities and often provide in-depth progress-tracking data, monitor rest and recovery, and create workout recommendations. For information on these, check out our guide on the best fitness trackers. 

Sizing: Smartwatches come in a variety of sizing options, both in terms of the actual watch face and the watch strap it comes with. While some folks may benefit from a larger watch face and prefer the amount of data they can see on it, others may find big watches too cumbersome and prefer something smaller and sleeker. This is especially true for those with smaller wrists.

Compatibility: While iPhone users shouldn't buy an Android smartwatch, and vice versa, there are other compatibilities to keep in mind when shopping. For instance, some wearables, like Samsung's Watch 5 Pro and Watch 6 Classic, function better on a Samsung-branded phone than on a different Android device like the Google Pixel. Some features aren't available while the overall experience is slightly different.

Battery life: Battery life is one of the most important considerations when shopping for a smartwatch and directly impacts how you use it. For instance, the Apple Watch Series 9, our pick as the best smartwatch overall, requires daily charging. This is fine for folks who can put it on the charger each night but may not suffice for those who travel frequently or who may not have access to a portable charger.

How we test smartwatches

Each smartwatch included in this guide went through various tests to determine how well it performed across these four categories: Features, fit & comfort, ease of use, and value.

Here's how each category specifically factored into the decision process:

Features: This is one of the most important considerations for any smartwatch and separates something like the Apple Watch Series 8 from something that didn't make our guide, like the Fitbit Versa 4. A wearable with features like third-party app support, the ability to play or store music, and others like sleep tracking or an always-on display truly fits the bill of being a quality smartwatch. 

Fit & comfort: If a smartwatch is uncomfortable, you'll be far less likely to want to wear it very often. And since a smartwatch is supposed to be a suitable extension of your phone, track your daily activity, and monitor your sleep, you need to wear it a lot. We took into consideration how the watch band feels, how lightweight it is while wearing at night, and whether it stays comfortable while commuting, working out, etc. 

Ease of use: Learning curve is another important factor since knowing how to get the most out of your smartwatch without fumbling through menus is vital to the experience. There will be a learning period with any new smartwatch but the ones that are intuitive and easy to navigate from the jump are the ones that stick out. The Apple Watch Series 9 is one of the easiest watches to navigate, which is part of why it's our top overall pick. 

Value: Value can often be subjective and is influenced entirely by how a user utilizes a certain smartwatch. For instance, not everyone needs the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Athletes or those who spend a lot of time outside who also need a powerful smartwatch will get a lot of value out of it while someone who is just casually active may not need all the bells and whistles. But value is still an important aspect we considered because smartwatches aren't cheap and you want to ensure that your investment is a wise one.

FAQs

What is the best smartwatch?

The best smartwatch largely hinges on two things: how you intend to use the smartwatch and, perhaps most importantly, what smartphone you have. For instance, the best Apple Watches only work on iOS devices, while the best Android smartwatches only work on Android devices.

So, while we think the Apple Watch Series 9 is the best overall smartwatch, regardless of smartphone operating system, it's still only usable by one group of users: those with an iOS device.

Consider how you intend to use the smartwatch, too. If you want something that accurately tracks activities and has several health-tracking tools, a pure smartwatch likely isn't going to be the "best" for you. Similarly, if you want the best pure smartwatch experience, a dedicated fitness tracker won't be the best fit.

Do all smartwatches work on any smartphone? 

No. Some smartwatches work exclusively on a certain operating system. For instance, the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 only work on iOS devices, while wearables such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and Google Pixel Watch 2 only work on Android devices. 

However, many wearables work on iOS and Android, including the Garmin Epix, the Fitbit Sense 2, and the Fitbit Versa 3. Always cross-reference which operating system a certain smartwatch requires with your smartphone's operating system before purchasing. 

Can you use an Apple Watch with an Android smartphone? 

No, the Apple Watch is only compatible with devices running iOS. While you can still wear an Apple Watch if you own an Android phone, you won't be able to get anywhere near the full functionality out of it like accessing any tracked data or downloading apps. 

Unlike smartwatches from Garmin and Fitbit, which work with iOS and Android devices, the Apple Watch only works with iOS devices.

Can you use an Android smartwatch with an iPhone?

No, Android smartwatches, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, Watch 5 Pro, and Google's Pixel Watches, are only compatible with devices running the Android operating system. Those with iOS devices should avoid purchasing these watches to ensure their smartwatch's full functionality.

If you want a device-agnostic smartwatch, opt for the Garmin Epix Pro or Fitbit Sense 2.

Best overall: Apple Watch Series 9

The Apple Watch Series 9 remains atop the smartwatch pack thanks to its excellent blend of health and fitness tools, smartwatch functionality, and overall effectiveness. For iOS users, there's no better wearable to buy and it's so good that it may even sway those who don't have an iOS device to get one.

When the Series 9 was released in September of 2023, it didn't represent a massive generational leap over the prior year's release, the Apple Watch Series 8. However, it did introduce a few new features that improved its accessibility and it also debuted a fast new processor chip. 

The new additions include faster on-device Siri access, updated Smart Stack functionality, a brighter display, and, perhaps the most notable new feature, the Double Tap Gesture. The Double Tap Gesture allows users to tap their index finger and thumb together twice to interact with the primary button of any app. For instance, it can answer or hang up a phone call, start or stop a timer, and snooze an alarm. 

While this new gesture is great for when you have your hands full yet still need to interact with your Apple Watch, it's a huge advancement in its accessibility. Now, users who may not be able to easily use the touchscreen can still make use of the watch's apps. This coupled with the Series 9's on-device Siri access completely changes how the watch can be used. 

Beyond those updates, the Series 9 is still a powerful health and fitness tracker, offering several tools like blood oxygen sensing, sleep tracking, and stress management. There are also new mental health tools available within its Mindfulness app that allow users to log how they feel at certain times throughout the day.

The Apple Watch has long been a quality wearable and the Series 9 continues that trend, offering something for every type of user. It delivers a premium smartwatch experience, has powerful health and fitness tracking tools, and is not only the best Apple Watch you can buy but the best smartwatch, too.

Read our full review of the Apple Watch Series 9.

Best budget: Fitbit Versa 3

Although the Versa 4 is Fitbit's latest model, the Versa 3 remains the better option of the two. For starters, its compatibility with third-party apps gives it a massive leg up over the Versa 4, and it's also a much more accurate tracker in terms of GPS tracking and syncing.

The third-party app support is probably the most important aspect of why the Versa 3 is a standout. Since Fitbit decided to end third-party app support on the Versa 4, the Versa 3 remains the last Fitbit smartwatch that offers that functionality.

This translates into a much better smartwatch experience because you don't have to solely rely on whatever apps come pre-installed. Having the option to customize what you use is one of the best features of any smartwatch.

The Versa 3 excels beyond the app support and fitness tracking, too. It also acts as a fluid extension of your smartphone, offering text, email, call, and app notifications that are easy to read, especially on the watch's big, bright watch face. Having such a large screen is also good for quickly viewing any workout stats or navigating through an app.

It also offers health-tracking features like menstrual cycle tracking, in-depth sleep monitoring, and an always-on heart rate monitor. Fitbit may be more well-known for its no-frills activity trackers but the Versa 3 is an excellent full-featured smartwatch (it's our pick as one of the best Fitbits, too).

Read our full review of the Versa 3.

Best for Android: Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro continued the Galaxy Watch line's reign as the best Android smartwatch you can buy, and it did so via a few key upgrades over the existing line.

First, it houses a larger battery that allows it to go several days before a recharge. It also has a ruggedly durable design that caters to the active user. And when paired with one of the best Samsung Galaxy Watch bands, you can easily tailor it to function however you prefer to wear it. 

These new features represent an extremely similar innovation cycle to the Apple Watch Ultra 2. The Watch 5 Pro has all the hallmarks of its non-Pro kin, the Watch 5, albeit with a few add-ons that make it especially useful for fitness-focused folks and outdoor enthusiasts. 

It's also a powerful smartwatch. Call, text, email, and app alerts are easy to interact with on the large, bright watch face and it uses the latest iteration of Wear OS which is fluid and intuitive to navigate. It allows for deep customization, too, including several different watch faces that can display certain relevant information. I found this to be one of its best features as I could tailor what data or fitness stats it always showed on the home screen. 

Health-focused users will also appreciate its variety of wellness features, including in-depth sleep tracking, as well as a unique body composition scanner that can inform you of your body fat percentage, water weight, and BMI. This isn't as accurate as a reading you may get at the doctor but it's still a handy tool.

For the fitness crowd, the Watch 5 Pro is stellar. Not only is there a wide range of trackable workouts, like cycling, running, and weight lifting, but there are plenty of niche activities including skiing and hiking. There's also a handy track-back option that functions like a breadcrumb feature to track your exact hiking routes. However, this only works for hiking and cycling but hopefully, future updates make it available for things like trail running, too.

The Watch 5 Pro isn't without its drawbacks, though as the experience is a bit better when using a Samsung phone compared to something like the Google Pixel. It's not a major red flag but is something to keep in mind. Some features, like the ECG function which tracks heart rhythms, are only accessible via an app exclusive to Samsung phones. 

Even with those issues, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is the best Android smartwatch you can buy. It's a quality health and fitness tracker and an exceptional smartwatch. For Android users, it doesn't get better than this.   

Read our full review of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.

Best for Pixel users: Google Pixel Watch

Google's Pixel Watch is one of the most polarizing wearables I've tested. For as good of a smartwatch as it is, it's a frustratingly terrible fitness tracker, which is especially strange considering Google owns Fitbit.

But the main reason it gets the nod here, and why it's one of the best smartwatches for Android, is that it is a truly great smartwatch. Wear OS is intuitive to use, making the interface easy to navigate, plus it's compatible with several apps and extremely easy to interact with calls, texts, emails, and app notifications. As an effective extension of your smartphone, it shines. 

However, those looking for a smartwatch that also does well in the fitness department should take heed: it's a very inaccurate watch in terms of GPS tracking and syncing. I had the most trouble when trying to get an accurate reading of my pace while running or cycling. 

I found the watch to be off by as much as a minute and a half to two minutes on my normal mile time while running, which created a significant discrepancy. I always end up around the same spot during a 30-minute run, yet the Pixel Watch would tell me I ran far shorter than I typically do. That kind of info is useless to anyone training for a specific race or event. 

Aside from those discrepancies, though, the Google Pixel Watch remains an excellent smartwatch. Not every smartwatch wearer needs something accurate down to .01 miles and instead wants a reliable smartwatch capable of displaying notifications and being the stand-in to their smartphone when they need it. That's exactly what you get with the Pixel Watch. 

Read our full review of the Google Pixel Watch.

Best for fitness: Garmin Epix Pro

There aren't many things the Garmin Epix Pro can't do. From its endless number of trackable activities and week-long battery to its accurate GPS tracking, no-frills but useful notification system, and a suite of health-tracking features, it's more than just a quality fitness tracker, it's the best fitness tracker. Period.

But since we're talking about smartwatches, it's worth pointing out it excels at that, too. Its call, text, and app notifications are on the basic end of the smartwatch spectrum but they're still easy to interact with and the watch still serves as a reliable extension of your smartphone. It may not have all the bells and whistles of something like the Series 9 or Watch 5 Pro but it gets the job done. 

Plus, the amount of extras that come with it makes it an especially great pick for fitness-focused folks or anyone who enjoys spending time outside. It offers in-depth activity tracking for things like running, cycling, weight training, and snowboarding, and does more than just track heart rate and time. It can log actual workout reps and track actual ground you cover via GPS, while also providing a detailed map of your route. 

It's also a comprehensive health tracker with in-depth sleep and stress monitoring and a handy recovery tool that adjusts how much rest it recommends you need based on your daily activity. 

I found the recovery feature quite useful, especially when I wanted to push myself but decided to take it easy based on the watch's recommendation, knowing I wouldn't be at my best. This input ultimately changed the way I worked out each week and I started to feel far better on a week-to-week basis in terms of soreness and what my overall recovery timeline was like. 

This only scratches the surface of what the Epix Pro can do, too, as the watch literally learns your day-to-day behavior and adapts to suit you best. This includes the workout recommendations but it also helps manage stress levels, when to go to bed and wake up, and how often you should have a rigorous workout. 

The fact it does all this while also being a reliable smartwatch makes it one of the premier wearables you can buy.

Best premium Apple Watch: Apple Watch Ultra 2

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 offers a near-similar smartwatch experience to the Series 9 but at a much steeper price tag. While it may not be the preferred choice for casual users, it's worth the extra investment for advanced athletes or those who spend time outdoors.

This is mainly due to the features and internal hardware tailored to tracking activities like cycling, diving, and climbing. These features include a brighter screen that can be more easily seen in high-lighting conditions, tracking compatibility for freediving, scuba diving, and wakeboarding, and improved altitude readings.

The Ultra 2 also features a bulkier, more durable design than the Series 9, as well as a battery that lasts upwards of two full days, instead of needing to be recharged daily. The increased battery life is a huge improvement compared to the Series 9 (and other smartwatches in this guide) since less time on the charger means more time using it for how it's intended.

However, my favorite feature of the Ultra 2 is its Action Button, which can be programmed to open several different apps including the fitness-tracking app, the stopwatch, or the shortcuts app. The Action Button is especially helpful for activities because instead of starting after a short three-second countdown, like on the Series 9, it allows you to press the button once you're situated and ready to go. This also helps wait for the GPS to sync, too.

Other notable features include the new Double Tap Gesture, which also debuted on the Series 9, and faster on-device Siri access. It also has the new S9 processor chip, as well as the updated ultra-wideband chip that improves its location accuracy.

Although the Ultra 2 offers many features geared toward the advanced athlete, it's still a quality wearable for the casual user. It has the same health and fitness tracking tools as the Series 9 while offering similar smartwatch functionality.

Read our full review of the Apple Watch Ultra 2.

Best Fitbit: Fitbit Sense 2

For a smartwatch that excels as a reliable sleep tracker, Fitbit's Sense 2 is at the front of the pack. It not only tracks your sleep each night and provides in-depth data but it also offers unique recommendations on how to improve your rest via several metrics. There are plenty of wearables that try to offer this level of insight but the Sense 2 does it best.

What sets the Sense 2 apart is how comprehensive the data it provides is. For example, after a night of sleep, the Fitbit app displays metrics showing how well I rested. These include time spent in REM, deep, and light sleep, as well as other factors like time spent awake, how restless I might have been, and what my heart rate was. 

The Fitbit app can then recommend ways to improve my sleep to better my nightly score. This may include certain workouts, when to work out, or how to keep a consistent sleep schedule. Once I got the hang of using the recommendations, they made a noticeable difference.

It's worth noting that one major hurdle to having all the sleep data available is to have Fitbit Premium, the subscription part of the Fitbit app. Memberships run for $10 per month or $80 per year, and are worth the investment, especially for those intent on using the extra data. 

Fitbit Premium also provides a unique Daily Readiness Score that analyzes your prior day's activity and rest and creates a numbered score to represent how hard to push yourself. There are in-depth health insights, like heart rate variability, available to subscribers, as well. 

Aside from its capability as a sleep tracker, the Sense 2 is also an excellent fitness tracker. It offers tracking for a variety of activities like running, cycling, and strength training and also uses a skin temperature sensor, has heart rhythm (ECG) readings, and debuted Fitbit's real-time stress tracker. The stress tracker is especially useful for the feedback it provides on how to lower stress throughout the day.

And while the Fitbit Sense 2 is one of the best smartwatches, its actual smartwatch experience leaves a little to be desired. Yes, it gets notifications like calls, texts, and app updates, but the fact Fitbit removed third-party app support and Google Assistant access is disappointing. There's also no way to store or play music via the watch.

But I wouldn't view these as reasons to not buy a Sense 2, especially if you're looking for a smartwatch with premium sleep tracking. It's one of the best Fitbits you can buy and while it is a so-so smartwatch, it gets the job done when needed while offering a suite of advanced health and wellness features. 

Read our full review of the Fitbit Sense 2.

Best with bezel: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic

Samsung's Galaxy Watch line of smartwatches has stood as the best Android smartwatch you can buy for years. With the recent release of the Watch 6 Classic, it looks to stay that way for at least another generation.

One of the best additions Samsung introduced on the Watch 6 Classic was to bring back the rotating bezel last seen in the Watch 4. With the rotating bezel, navigating the watch's interface and menus is fluid and easy, especially during workouts or when wearing gloves. This isn't to say the touchscreen is hard to navigate but sometimes I'd find it took a little longer to respond to a screen swipe than it would if I just simply spun the dial.

The watch's improved battery life is also a welcome update. Outside of the Watch 5 Pro, most Galaxy Watches would need to find their way to a charger at least once a day to recharge. This wasn't ever a deal breaker as even our top pick, the Apple Watch Series 8, requires the same daily charging. 

However, having a watch with a battery that lasts more than one day ensures you can squeeze all the functionality out of it. You can use it as a smartwatch and fitness tracker during the day while also using it as a sleep tracker at night. The Watch 6 Classic's longer battery allowed me to do exactly that during my time with it. 

Of course, not all Watch 6 users will make use of every bell and whistle but even casual wearers will find plenty to utilize. Outside of the available activities and sleep tracking, there's also a stress tracker, a heart rhythm reader (ECG), a body composition analyzer, a temperature sensor, and a cycle tracker.

The highlight of these is the body composition analyzer, which I used to chart my body fat percentage and muscle mass, as well as the stress tracker, which tracked my specific stress levels at different times throughout the day and suggested methods for trying to lower it. 

I also just really enjoyed wearing the Watch 6 Classic. It has a comfortable, lightweight design that felt equally as good to wear while working out and sleeping as it did while sitting at my desk. 

The watch looks good on the wrist, too, featuring a classic round watch face design that looks and feels premium. I could see it being slightly too big for folks with smaller wrists, though it was the perfect size on my arm (and I like larger watch faces). But do keep this in mind if you don't like big watch faces.

My lone nitpick with the Watch 6 Classic is that it's not all that different from the previous generation of Watch 5. It does use the latest Wear OS, though that can also be downloaded on the Watch 5. What this means, though, is that upgrading to the Watch 6 Classic is best done by those wearing the Watch 4 or older — and Watch 5 users can take a beat and wait for the release of next year's Watch 7.

Read our full review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic.

What to look for in a smartwatch

It's important to know how you intend to use a smartwatch before you start shopping for one. Maybe you want a wearable with a smaller watch face or prefer a certain strap material. You may even want one that offers robust health and fitness tracking capabilities.

Here's what to consider before purchasing:

Use case: While all smartwatches offer similar functionality of telling time and displaying various call, text, email, and app notifications, some are better suited to certain uses than others. For example, the Fitbit Sense 2 excels as a sleep tracker in addition to being a reliable smartwatch. If you don't need sleep tracking, the Sense 2 may not be a good fit. 

Sizing: Smartwatches come in a variety of sizing options, both in terms of the actual watch face and the watch strap it comes with. While some folks may benefit from a larger watch face and prefer the amount of data they can see on it, others may find big watches to be too cumbersome and may prefer something smaller and sleeker. This is especially true for those with smaller wrists.

Compatibility: While iPhone users shouldn't buy an Android smartwatch, and vice versa, there are other compatibilities to keep in mind when shopping. For instance, some wearables, like Samsung's Watch 5 Pro and Watch 6 Classic, function better on a Samsung-branded phone than they do on a different Android device like the Google Pixel. Some features aren't available while the overall experience is slightly different.

Battery life: Battery life is one of the most important considerations when shopping for a smartwatch and directly impacts how you use it. For instance, the Apple Watch Series 9, our pick as the best smartwatch overall, requires daily charging. This is fine for folks who can put in on the charger each night but may not suffice for those who travel frequently, or who may not have access to a portable charger.

How we test smartwatches

Each of the smartwatches included in this guide went through a variety of tests to determine how well they performed across these four categories: Features, fit & comfort, ease of use, and value.

Here's how each category specifically factored into the decision process:

Features: This is one of the most important considerations for any smartwatch, and is what separates something like the Apple Watch Series 8 from something that didn't make our guide, like the Fitbit Versa 4. A wearable with features like third-party app support, the ability to play or store music, and others like sleep tracking or an always-on display truly fits the bill of being a quality smartwatch. 

Fit & comfort: If a smartwatch is uncomfortable to wear, then you'll be far less likely to want to wear it very often. And since a smartwatch is supposed to be a suitable extension of your phone, track your daily activity, and monitor your sleep, you need to wear it a lot. We took into consideration how the watch band feels, how lightweight it is while wearing at night, and whether it stays comfortable while commuting, working out, etc. 

Ease of use: Learning curve is another important factor since knowing how to get the most out of your smartwatch without fumbling through menus is a vital part of the experience. There will be a learning period with any new smartwatch but the ones that are intuitive and easy to navigate from the jump are the ones that stick out. The Apple Watch Series 9 is one of the easiest watches to navigate, hence the reason why it's our top overall pick. 

Value: Value can often be subjective and is influenced entirely by how a user utilizes a certain smartwatch. For instance, not everyone needs the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Athletes or those who spend a lot of time outside who also need a powerful smartwatch will get a lot of value out of it while someone who is just casually active may not need all the bells and whistles. But value is still an important aspect we considered because smartwatches aren't cheap and you want to ensure that your investment is a wise one.

FAQs

What's the best smartwatch?

This largely hinges on two things: how you intend to use the smartwatch and, perhaps most importantly, what smartphone you have. For instance, the best Apple Watches only work on iOS devices while the best Android smartwatches only work on Android devices.

So, while we think the Apple Watch Series 9 is the best overall smartwatch, regardless of smartphone operating system, it's still only usable by one group of users: those with an iOS device.

It's smart to also consider how you intend to use the smartwatch. If you want something that accurately tracks activities and has several health-tracking tools, a pure smartwatch likely isn't going to be the "best" for you. Similarly, if you want the best pure smartwatch experience, a dedicated fitness tracker won't be the best fit.

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Do all smartwatches work on any smartphone? 

No. Some smartwatches work exclusively on a certain operating system. For instance, the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 only work on iOS devices while wearables such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and Google Pixel Watch only work on Android devices. 

However, there are plenty of wearables that work on both iOS and Android, including the Garmin Epix, the Fitbit Sense 2, and the Fitbit Versa 3. Always cross-reference which operating system a certain smartwatch requires with the operating system of your smartphone before purchasing. 

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Can you use an Apple Watch with an Android smartphone? 

No, the Apple Watch is only compatible with devices running iOS. While you can still wear an Apple Watch if you own an Android phone, you won't be able to get anywhere near the full functionality out of it like accessing any tracked data or downloading apps. 

Unlike smartwatches from Garmin and Fitbit, which work with iOS and Android devices, the Apple Watch only works with iOS devices.

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Can you use an Android smartwatch with an iPhone?

No, Android smartwatches, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic and Watch 5 Pro, as well as the Google Pixel, are only compatible with devices running the Android operating system. Folks with iOS devices should avoid purchasing these watches if they want to ensure the full functionality of their smartwatch.

If you do want a device-agnostic smartwatch, opt instead for something like the Garmin Epix or Fitbit Sense 2.

• As a makeup artist, I often shop at Sephora for great beauty products under $25.
• The Hourglass Vanish airbrush concealer covers imperfections and makes my face look flawless.
• The Benefit Cosmetics Fan Fest fanning-and-volumizing mascara coats my lashes from root to tip.

Sephora offers so many great, high-quality beauty finds that it can be overwhelming to figure out which items are worth purchasing.

This is especially true as more beauty enthusiasts buy their products online, leaving them unable to try out an item in person. That's why good recommendations are essential when purchasing makeup.

As a makeup artist, I've tried what feels like an endless number of makeup and skincare items. Here are nine products at Sephora that cost less than $25 and deliver impressive results.

I love the Benefit Cosmetics Fan Fest fanning-and-volumizing mascara.

The Benefit Cosmetics Fan Fest mascara separates lashes and makes them look voluminous. I also love how its unique curved wand coats each lash from root to tip.

The formula is smudge-proof, so it's great for achieving bold, beautiful lashes that'll stay in place for several hours. The mini Benefit Cosmetics Fan Fest mascara is $16.

I refresh my makeup daily with the Caudalie Beauty Elixir Prep, Set, Glow face mist.

The Caudalie Beauty Elixir face mist feels super refreshing on my skin. It's made with peppermint and rosemary essential oils to tone and hydrate the skin and is perfect for a quick, refreshing spritz on hectic days.

A mini-sized bottle of the Caudalie Beauty Elixir costs $20.

The Glossier Cloud Paint gel-cream blushes leave a gorgeous color and finish on the cheeks.

This gel-cream blush provides a natural flush of color that effortlessly blends into my skin. The Cloud Paint blush is easy to apply and blend — just squeeze a bit on your fingers or a brush and tap onto the cheeks.

I use the shade Haze, a deep fuchsia, to add a fresh, pink glow to my skin. The Cloud Paint blushes are $22.

I swear by the Hourglass Vanish airbrush concealer for brightening the under-eyes.

The Hourglass Vanish concealer offers impeccable coverage with a lightweight formula. It's ideal for concealing imperfections, brightening the under-eye area, and creating a flawless-looking complexion.

The mini-sized concealer is $18.

The Sephora Collection Colorful lip-gloss balm has the perfect sheer wash of color and a nourishing formula.

The Sephora Collection lip-gloss balm is one of the most reached-for products in my kit. It has the luster of a gloss and the nourishing properties of a lip balm.

The formula leaves the perfect sheer wash of color and is infused with hydrating ingredients like mango and grape-seed oils to nourish the lips. The Sephora Collection Colorful lip-gloss balm is $11.

The Rare Beauty Kind Words lip liner has a creamy formula that glides on easily.

I love a good brown lip liner, and this one by Rare Beauty is creamy and long-lasting. It's available in various flattering shades, perfect for creating different lip looks alongside a lipstick or gloss.

The Rare Beauty lip liner is $15.

I keep the Sephora Collection Microsmooth powder foundation in my handbag.

The Microsmooth powder foundation is my favorite Sephora Collection product because it has buildable coverage and a natural, matte-looking finish.

I keep it in my handbag to set makeup and control shine throughout the day. The Sephora Collection Microsmooth powder foundation is $20.

The Glossier Stretch concealer is a staple on my minimal-makeup days.

I reach for this Glossier product when I want to cover up only a few blemishes on my face on minimal-makeup days.

This concealer covers imperfections while leaving a natural-looking finish. The Glossier Stretch concealer costs $22.

The Sephora Collection About That Shine lacquer shine lipstick adds a touch of glamour to my makeup routine.

I love this lipstick because it has a great, pigmented color and a hydrating feel that lasts up to 12 hours. The lipsticks come in various pink, red, and purple shades that add high-shine glamour to any look.

The Sephora Collection About That Shine lacquer shine lipstick is $16.

• China is about to start selling $138 billion in long-dated sovereign bonds, the finance ministry said.
• Beijing is raising the debt in a bid to reignite the country's faltering economy.
• Deflation, stagnant growth, and the property-market crisis have all been causes for concern.

China will start selling bonds this week in a bid to boost its faltering economy.

The finance ministry said it will issue 30-year sovereign bonds worth 40 billion yuan ($5.5 billion) on Friday in the first of several sales aimed at raising 1 trillion yuan ($138 billion) overall.

Beijing revealed its plans to start selling ultra-long sovereign bonds in March. Premier Li Qiang said at the time that the funds would be used to fund "major national strategies and building up security capacity in key areas."

Both Bloomberg and The Financial Times reported the bond sales ahead of Monday's announcement, citing unnamed sources.

It's the first time since 2020 and only the fourth time in the past 26 years that China's government has raised debt by selling long-dated bonds.

It's trying to reignite an economy that's stumbled since the pandemic, with policymakers grappling with deflation and stagnant growth.

The world's second-largest economy has also been plagued by an ongoing property-market crisis, which has triggered the collapse of large developers, including Evergrande and Country Garden.

When Li announced the long-duration bond sale in March, he warned that China's economy faced significant risks but still set a growth target of 5%. That figure was higher than many forecasters had expected.

"The foundation for the continuous recovery and improvement of our country's economy is still not solid, with insufficient demand, overcapacity in some industries, weak societal expectations, and many lingering risks," said Li, who is second only to Xi Jinping in the Chinese government.

• Russia is exploiting Ukraine's manpower shortage, a war analyst told The New York Times.
• Franz-Stefan Gady told the Times Russia is thinning out the front line to try to break through.
• Ukrainian soldiers have been redeployed from Donbas to the embattled Kharkiv region, per the outlet.

Russian forces are taking advantage of Ukraine's manpower shortage to thin out the front line and improve their chances of making breakthroughs, a war analyst said.

Franz-Stefan Gady, an adjunct senior fellow with the Center for New American Security, told The New York Times that "the Russians have understood, just as a lot of analysts have, that the major disadvantage that Ukraine is currently suffering from is manpower"

He added: "By thinning out the front line, you are increasing the odds of a breakthrough."

According to the Times, in recent days Russian troops have poured across Ukraine's northeastern border and have taken at least nine villages and settlements.

But it said that part of Russia's plan, according to military analysts, is to force Ukraine to divert troops from other fronts, notably those in Donbas.

The Times cited a group of Ukrainian special forces who had been redeployed to Kharkiv from the eastern Donbas region, and were huddling at a gas station there as of Sunday afternoon.

The Institute for the Study of War, or ISW, drew a similar assessment on Saturday, saying Russian offensive operations in Kharkiv are likely meant to draw Ukrainian forces away from other battlefronts that they could otherwise defend.

This could have long-term implications, if Russia takes advantage of weaknesses in the Ukrainian lines.

Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said there is a danger for Ukraine as it will take months for it to tackle its lack of manpower.

"Ammunition may come in two weeks, but manpower won't," Kofman told the War on The Rocks podcast last week, predicting that Ukraine's "manning situation is the kind of thing that's probably going to get worse before it gets better."

While some of the $61 billion in military aid from the US could reach Ukraine in a matter of days, according to the Pentagon, Ukraine's manpower issue is not such an easy fix.

Mark Herlting, a former US lieutenant general, said he doesn't think weapons alone will allow Ukraine to regain the territories it has lost.

"Artillery and long-range systems do not win war," he told CNN last month.

To address the dire situation on the front lines and replenish troops, Ukraine has lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25, done away with some draft exemptions, and created an online registry for recruits, per the Associated Press.

Ukraine's parliament also passed a bill earlier this month that would allow the country's military to recruit prisoners to fight.

Whether these will be enough to replenish Ukrainian forces and prevent Russian breakthroughs remains unclear.

For now, Russian forces appear to be trying to encircle the city of Vovchansk in northern Kharkiv from the west and the east, according to an assessment published on Sunday by the ISW.

• Abbe Minor spent nine months and $140,000 converting a Mercedes Sprinter van.
• Inspired by Mediterranean architecture, the van has plaster walls, handmade tiles, and organic shapes.
• The space isn't just a luxury campervan, Minor told BI. She considers it a work of art.

After years of living in and converting campervans, Abbe Minor naturally ended up with a community of people in San Diego working on similar projects.

One friend was working on a big red van. Another was building a space where every interior detail was orange with an '80s psychedelic theme.

The 24-year-old told Business Insider that her community offered her a version of "la-la land" — a place where boundaries were limitless and challenging the norm was welcomed.

So, she set out to do just that for her most recent van conversion. In April 2023, she purchased a bold yellow 2022 Mercedes Sprinter.

For the next nine months, she designed and built a space that's just as much functional as it is artistic. She used Moroccan plaster to create organic, curved walls, and handmade Spanish tiles line the shower.

The space screams luxury — and so does the price tag. By the end of the conversion, Minor said she spent $140,000 on the build. Today, she values the van at $235,000.

It's an investment she said she doesn't regret.

"I wanted to learn new skills and create something that scared me," she said. "At the core of all this is art."

This is Minor's fourth conversion since moving into a van in college

In college, Minor and her boyfriend at the time built out their first van and traveled around the country, checking off 46 states.

Throughout that adventure, Minor said she saw firsthand what some people are willing to pay for a campervan conversion.

While people spend a vast range on campervans, the luxury RV market caters to travelers willing to shell out high prices. In 2020, BI reported that luxury vans could have price tags of upward of $250,000. Since then, luxury campervan prices have continued to rise. Redtail Overland released its Skyloft Van earlier this year with a base price of $530,000, Autoevolution reported, and Noovo recently unveiled its latest luxury campervan, the Noovo Plus, which starts at $178,000.

"It made me realize the opportunity that was there," Minor said.

After graduating from college, Minor launched a business converting vans. She'd buy a campervan, spend a few months converting it, sell it, and then live off the profit for the rest of the year.

"I've done one per year, and I've really tried to make them boutique and artistic," she said.

For the past few years, Minor has supported herself through van renovations. She's also diversified her revenue streams thanks to social media and a book she's writing on how to renovate vans.

With the first two builds, Minor said her goal was to be strategic with her investment. She kept an eye on trends and focused on efficient conversions so her builds would sell fast. Minor said she made about the average US salary with each sale, so around $60,000.

With her most recent conversion, she tossed thoughts about money aside. Minor was inspired to challenge both herself and the industry on what a van could look like.

"With this build, I said, 'Screw it,'" she said. "I don't really care what the market wants. I don't care how much money I spend. I'm just going to create something that has never been done before."

The first step was purchasing a yellow 2022 Mercedes Sprinter.

The van renovation took nine months and cost her $140,000

A bright yellow van was the ideal canvas for this project. Not only did it personify Minor's bright personality, but it's something "you can't scroll past without being like, 'Whoa,'" she said.

Minor traveled to Pennsylvania to pick up the $66,000 van.

"Driving it home was the best time of my life," she said. "I was just floating, envisioning what I was going to do with it."

Minor then drove to San Diego, where she did most of the automobile work. She replaced the van's wheels, tires, and suspension and added a roof rack and ladder. Then, she headed to a small island off the coast of Washington, where she spent months working from a relative's shed.

Minor said most of her time in the shed was devoted to ideation.

She drew inspiration from Pinterest and AI renderings. She gravitated toward Spanish and Mediterranean styles, where "everything flows together and looks like it's like coming out of the earth."

The goal was to learn new skills and use new materials for the conversion. For example, Minor used liquid fiberglass — a material that's typically used on the exterior of automobiles — inside her van.

This approach is what helped create the curved walls throughout the space.

Minor also covered the van's interior walls with Tadelakt, a plaster used in Moroccan architecture. It's a material she said she'd never seen inside a van.

With the help of social media, Minor partnered with brands and installed thousands of dollars worth of free products throughout the space.

The van also has a handful of hidden elements throughout. The benches at the front convert into a second bed and a staircase is home to secret storage.

Overall, the entire conversion, including the cost of the van, cost Minor $140,000. She said that materials such as plaster and Baltic birch wood, used for the cabinetry, were some of the most expensive parts of the build.

The conversion took about nine months to complete, with just enough time to bring it to San Diego's TinyFest, an annual gathering for tiny homes and nomad living. There, Minor's van received an award for the best use of space.

Minor said her van isn't just a smart business move — it's an art piece

Minor knew this van would be a different investment than her other builds. Instead of immediately selling it, like she's done in the past, Minor will live in the van and create content to capitalize on the conversion.

A bright yellow van appeals to brands since it stands out. An interior with luxury details lends herself to working with high-end companies. And a space that's visually appealing leads to engagement and interest from viewers around the world.

While $140,000 might be a lot for a conversion, she said: "I think that'll be more valuable in the long run."

This investment, along with her upcoming book, means Minor can continue to live the free, independent lifestyle that van life has continued to offer her.

"I know so many van builders and so many companies who have scaled and have focused more on van building from a strictly business perspective," she said. "In which case, it just turns into a regular business that's complicated, that's restricted."

"I wanted to be more of an artist and keep my life as free as it can be," she said.

Ultimately, Minor acknowledges that everything has a price. She's listed the van on her website for $235,000. In the meantime, she's continuing to tweak and enhance the van as she lives and travels in it.

Reflecting on the build, Minor said her goal throughout was to create something uncommon and something "that was a reflection of myself and who I am."

She said she believes she's done just that.

"It's the best feeling ever when you can create a space that makes someone feel something," she said.

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The best Android smartwatches seamlessly integrate with Android phones to act as a dynamic extension of that device. They send calls, email, app, and text notifications to your phone, are easy to navigate, and offer various health and fitness tracking tools.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is our top pick among the best Android smartwatches. Although it works best with a Samsung phone, and it's a previous generation model, this rugged wearable still offers the finest combined Android smartwatch and fitness tracker experience with a range of trackable activities, an intuitive interface, and multi-day battery life. For a budget pick, we like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. It has similar features as the Watch 5 Pro but costs far less.

Our top picks for the best Android smartwatches

Best overall: Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro – See at Amazon

Best Fitbit: Fitbit Sense 2 – See at Amazon

Best for Pixel users: Google Pixel Watch 2 – See at Amazon

Best with bezel: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic – See at Amazon

Best budget: Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 – See at Best Buy

Best battery life: Fitbit Inspire 3 – See at Amazon

Best for runners: Garmin Forerunner 745 – See at Amazon

Best overall

With a price drop that comes close to the newer Galaxy Watch 6, the previous-generation Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is still the best Android smartwatch, even when the Galaxy Watch 6 is available. With multi-day battery life, accurate activity tracking, and distinctive insights such as body composition data and sleep analysis, it's the perfect combination of a smartwatch and a health and fitness tracker for the Android user — more so than the Galaxy Watch 6 series.

Design-wise, the Watch 5 Pro's titanium frame discerns itself from the aluminum Galaxy Watch 6. It has a round watch face and a 1.36-inch touchscreen display that offers tons of viewable data. With the right watch face, you could have everything from the week's upcoming weather forecast and the sunrise/sunset schedule to your daily steps, burned calories, and workout shortcuts displayed. It's also compatible with a variety of the best Samsung Galaxy Watch bands.

As a smartwatch, the Watch 5 Pro is excellent. It uses Google's Wear OS operating system with Samsung's own flair, which functions seamlessly and offers access to a comprehensive list of apps. It gets app notifications, text alerts, emails, and phone calls and is easy to navigate. 

Fitness-focused folks will appreciate the variety of activities it tracks, including common things like running and cycling, as well as advanced sports like snowboarding, hiking, or trail running. It even has a useful track-back option that works like a digital breadcrumb, showing your exact route through a forested area. However, this only works with hiking and cycling, which is disappointing as it'd be great for runners, too. 

One of the Watch 5 Pro's best features is its health tracking. It has everything from in-depth sleep tracking, which monitors sleep patterns and habits, to a body composition app that charts body fat percentage and muscle mass. 

There is one minor caveat: some features, like the ECG app that tracks heart rhythms, are only compatible with Samsung phones, diminishing the watch's overall experience on other Android phones like the Google Pixel. It's not a dealbreaker, but it's worth considering if you don't own a Samsung phone. 

Despite those issues, Samsung's Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is the best Android smartwatch for almost any user. It excels as a smartwatch, has robust fitness-tracking capability, and offers unique health insights. This is as good as it gets on Android.  

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro review.

Best Fitbit

Fitbit's Sense 2 is everything you want in a dependable fitness tracker. It's compatible with several trackable activities, provides unique insights into your fitness habits, monitors your sleep, stress, and menstrual cycles, and has a built-in GPS. It even has a battery that lasts upward of five to six days.

We found it to be one of the most accurate fitness trackers we've worn, and it quickly syncs its GPS — the watch found a GPS signal within seconds, and we were ready to start tracking our activity. It also has an interface that's easy to navigate, which is especially helpful for first-time Fitbit wearers or those new to fitness trackers.

The Sense 2 has several helpful health and wellness tools, too. These include a skin temperature sensor, heart rhythm (ECG) readings, and Fitbit's new real-time stress tracker. Stress tracking was especially interesting during our tests as we liked how well it charted our stress levels while offering useful feedback on ways to lower them. 

The Sense 2 doesn't overly impress as a smartwatch in its price range. It's technically one of Fitbit's "smartwatches," but it doesn't exactly live up to that billing. For instance, there's no third-party app support available, which is a frustrating decision by Fitbit. 

And bafflingly, it doesn't support Google Assistant like the original Sense did, which is confounding since Google is the parent company. Oddly, the Sense 2 supports Amazon's Alexa instead. 

Still, overall, the Sense 2 is an adequate smartwatch that still gets notifications like calls, texts, and emails, but its strengths lie in its health and fitness tracking. For those looking for a fitness-first smartwatch, the Sense 2 is the best Android smartwatch to buy (and one of the best Fitbits overall).  

Read our full Fitbit Sense 2 review.

Best for Pixel users

Google addressed several of the original Pixel Watch's shortcomings with the Pixel Watch 2, and it's easily the best smartwatch for Pixel users. The Pixel Watch 2 not only excels in being a smartwatch, but Google's improvements make its current smartwatch a suitable option for fitness tracking and health monitoring, unlike the original. 

The Google Wear OS operating system delivers a seamless experience between the available apps you can access, whatever notifications you might receive, and its smart features like Google Assistant, Google Maps, and Google Wallet. These features allow it to satisfy the one major requirement of a smartwatch: to be an effective extension of your smartphone. Plus, it's compatible with a variety of the best Google Pixel Watch bands, so it can fit anyone's style.

The Pixel Watch 2's GPS is accurate for fitness tracking, and you get a solid range of health and fitness features, like sleep tracking, all-day heart-rate monitoring, stress monitoring, and ECG readings. New skin temperature sensors and an updated heart rate sensor contribute to unique sleep quality insights. 

Unlike the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro or other Samsung smartwatches, the Pixel Watch 2 makes its features available to all, no matter which Android phone you use. However, some features like advanced sleep data, advanced stress management tools, and Fitbit's unique Daily Readiness feature are behind Fitbit's Premium $10/month subscription service. A six-month free trial of Fitbit Premium when you buy the Pixel Watch 2 lets you decide whether it's worth keeping.

Read our full Google Pixel Watch 2 review.

Best with bezel

Samsung's Galaxy Watch 6 Classic retains the high bar set by previous generations, even if it doesn't push the line forward in any major way. But despite its minimal new additions, the Watch 6 Classic still delivers a high premium experience, making it not just one of the best Android smartwatches you can buy but one of the best smartwatches.

The most notable update on the Watch 6 Classic is the return of the rotating bezel, a feature last seen on the Watch 4 series. Instead of relying on the watch's touchscreen to scroll through the interface, the rotating bezel allows easy navigation. I found it especially useful while working out where spinning the dial was more manageable and quicker than trying to swipe the screen.

The Watch 6 Classic also has impressive battery life — depending on how often I used the built-in GPS for workouts, I consistently got almost two days-worth. I always got a full day and night of battery, though sometimes I needed to recharge the watch the following afternoon. This is a welcome upgrade over the Watch 5, though it is still a bit shorter than the multi-day battery life of the Watch 5 Pro.

Beyond those upgrades, the Watch 6 Classic is highly similar to the Watch 5 generation before it. It has a large catalog of health and wellness features, including sleep tracking, a body composition analyzer, and stress level monitoring.

The two health features I used most were the body composition analyzer and the stress tracker. With the body composition analyzer, the watch provided real-time readings of my body fat percentage, BMI, and muscle mass, which I used to chart my overall fitness progress. The Watch 5 Pro also offered this, so I had a baseline of knowledge (and existing data) to compare to, and it functioned the same.

I found the stress tracker to be a helpful feature, too, mainly because it's interesting to see when the watch would say I had higher stress levels and when I didn't. This positively impacted my day-to-day life as I would implement some of the recommendations for lowering my stress and found them effective.

The Watch 6 Classic does severely lack as a fitness tracker, though, and its inaccurate GPS makes it difficult to recommend for those actively wishing to track fitness. Not only would it take upwards of a minute to sync a GPS connection, but its distance- and pace-tracking were off by significant margins. Those looking for a quality fitness tracker experience should instead opt for the Watch 5 Pro, which is a key reason it's still the top pick for Android users overall.

Design-wise, the Watch 6 Classic is a stylish smartwatch that I thoroughly enjoyed wearing. Its big 47mm watch face might be too large for folks with smaller wrists, but I liked how much data I could display on it. Its bright watch face makes it easy to quickly reference the screen or tell the time. A smaller 43mm model is also available. 

Overall, it looks, feels, and functions like a premium wearable, and while it may not satisfy those looking for a reliable fitness tracker, it's an excellent smartwatch. Its compatibility with a variety of the best Samsung Galaxy Watch bands is a nice feature, too.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic review.

Best budget

When we first reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, we couldn't help but notice that it was the closest thing to an Apple Watch for Android users. Two years later, that sentiment goes to the next generation Watch 5 Pro but the Watch 4 is still an impressive wearable — only now, it costs far less than when it was released. 

The release of the Galaxy Watch 4 was Samsung's first go with utilizing Google's Wear OS as the watch's operating system instead of Samsung's own Tizen OS. The switch paid off in spades as Wear OS pairs perfectly with the Watch 4. Navigation is fluid, notifications can be fully customized, and there's a wide selection of downloadable apps (thanks to Google Play Store access). 

Other highlights of the watch include its extensive health and fitness capability. It tracks activities like running, cycling, and hiking, and we found the syncing and tracking capability to be on par with some of the best fitness trackers. 

We especially like its in-depth sleep tracking, which monitors sleep patterns and can help turn bad habits into good ones. Its body measurement features are also unique as it analyzes your body weight, muscle mass, and water weight to give you an idea of your overall body composition. 

All of this equates to the Watch 4 being one of the best Android smartwatches. Of course, there are still a few drawbacks, most notable of which is its watered-down experience on anything other than a Samsung phone, as some features, like the ECG app, aren't available on other Android phones. We don't see this as a total dealbreaker, but users of other phones, like the Google Pixel, should consider this before purchasing. 

Often available for under $200, the Watch 4 isn't just at its lowest price since it was released, but it's the cheapest smartwatch of this quality we've seen. You rarely find a premium full-featured wearable in this price range. 

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 review.

Best battery life

Fitbit's Inspire 3 is one of the brand's most basic and affordable wearables, but it's still an impressive activity tracker for Android users (and one of the best Fitbits you can buy). At less than $100, it's a hell of a bargain. It offers a range of health and fitness tracking insights, a no-frills interface, and advanced features like skin temperature sensing and in-depth sleep tracking. 

But what makes the Inspire 3 such a great tracker is how anyone, from beginners to expert users, will be satisfied using it. Navigating the watch is intuitive enough for first-time wearers, while the wide variety of trackable activities and useful health metrics give it appeal to those familiar with fitness trackers. It's also compatible with a range of the best Fitbit Inspire 3 bands, so users have even more ways to customize their wearable.

The watch does come with a few drawbacks, though. Absent is built-in GPS and the ability to download additional apps. Although the lack of apps isn't a huge downside, not having GPS is, especially for hardcore athletes who want exact timing and activity tracking. Our tests found that the tracking worked well when you sync GPS via a companion phone, but that means you do have to tote your phone along.

Those cons aside, the Inspire 3 is still a powerful activity tracker in a small, budget-friendly form factor. For Android users looking for something basic, trying out a fitness tracker for the first time, or who just want something straightforward and easy to use, the Inspire 3 is easily one of the best Android smartwatches on the market. 

Read our full Fitbit Inspire 3 review.

Best for runners

The Garmin Forerunner 745 isn't just the best running watch for Android users; it also happens to be one of the best running watches, period. It's that good. Garmin's made its name on manufacturing powerful sports wearables, and the 745 is the latest in a long line of triumphs from the brand. 

What makes the 745 so good is its accurate tracking capabilities and easy-to-navigate interface, and it stands out from the competition with its unique approach to workout recommendations and focus on rest and recovery, two vital aspects of an effective workout routine. 

For the workout recommendations, the watch requires a 10-day monitoring period to assess your day-to-day activity and performance. Once those 10 days are up, it adapts its recommendations to your specific activity needs. One day, it might have you pump up the mileage and go for a several-mile long run, while another may see that you need more rest and dial the day's workout down to a recovery jog. 

Whatever it recommends, it does so in lockstep with its rest and recovery insights. In other words, the watch isn't just going to run you into the ground but rather, it takes a thoughtful approach to giving your body the time to properly recover between strenuous workouts. 

The 745 feels like having a personal trainer right on your wrist with all these features active. Of course, you don't have to do the daily workouts, but they do prove worthwhile for anyone stumped about what to do on a certain day or those who want to take the guesswork out of how to train for a race or event. 

Other highlights of the 745 include a comfortable, lightweight design that won't weigh heavy on your wrist, even during long runs, as well as a large, colorful display. The big display does tend to look rather large on folks with smaller wrists, but it's especially useful in the middle of a run to easily see your training stats without having to squint or stop running. 

Then there's the battery life, which Garmin claims lasts up to six days on a single charge. We found this to be mostly true during our tests, as it would last a little longer and a little shorter than that estimation, depending on how heavily we used it daily. 

For consistent runners, the Garmin Forerunner 745 is the best Android smartwatch to buy. 

Read our full Garmin Forerunner 745 review.

How we test Android smartwatches

To compile this guide, we compared the best Android smartwatches across various categories, including fit & comfort, features, battery life, ease of use, accuracy, and compatibility. Here's how each category factored into which watches made the guide:

Fit & comfort: This was a straightforward assessment of how well the watch felt on-wrist while wearing it normally throughout the day and during workouts. We also looked at how easy it was to dial in the right fit with whatever the clasp system was.

Features: Simply put, what are all the features native to a certain Android smartwatch? We looked at what kinds of apps were natively available right out of the box, as well as what was accessible via an app store like Google Play. We also assessed how well these features elevated the overall experience. 

Battery life: Battery life is one of the most important aspects of a smartwatch and can dictate which watch is best for a certain user. If a fitness-focused watch has a hard time getting through just one day on a single charge, then that watch won't be good for something constantly using GPS or the heart rate monitor. Charging a watch every day isn't a dealbreaker, but it's useful to know what a watch offers and how it affects the overall experience. 

Ease of use: Smartwatches should ideally not have a steep learning curve and should be easy to navigate right out of the box. Of course, not all operating systems are the same, so there will be some differences from watch to watch. If a wearable is hard to navigate, you're less likely to use it. 

Accuracy: Tracking accuracy can make or break a smartwatch, especially for folks who use it as a training tool. Some are inherently better than others but even small discrepancies in tracking capability can make a big impact. We tested this by running a mile with each watch and comparing the differences in time and distance. 

Compatibility: Testing compatibility for Android smartwatches consisted of using each watch with several Android smartphones. No single Android watch is fully compatible with every single Android phone, but some do function better on a competitor's device without much change to the overall experience. For instance, our top pick, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, functions best on a Samsung phone, while the experience on something like the Google Pixel is watered-down.  

What to look for in an Android smartwatch

Before purchasing a new Android smartwatch, it's important to consider how you plan on using it and which models fit your lifestyle best. Here are a few things to keep in mind while shopping: 

Style: The best smartwatches for Android come in several styles suited to different users. There are fitness tracker-type wearables like the Sense 2 or Inspire 3 designed to function best during activities. Then there are watches like the Google Pixel that evoke a more traditional wristwatch design. Deciding which style best suits your lifestyle is a key factor when shopping.  

Battery life: Battery life estimates vary wildly among the best Android smartwatches, as some, like the Google Pixel Watch, need to be recharged daily. Others, like the Fitbit Sense 2 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, boast multi-day battery life and are often better for active users using the built-in GPS throughout the day or traveling often. 

Smart features: Although every smartwatch comes with smart features, some are smarter than others. Take the Fitbit Inspire 3, for example. This watch offers basic smartwatch capability, including call, text, email, and app notifications, but not much beyond that. Compared to the Google Pixel, which offers in-depth smart features that allow users to interact with the notifications, the Inspire 3 is leagues lower.

Ecosystem: Each smartwatch in this guide shares the Android ecosystem as a foundation, but they all have a secondary ecosystem to keep in mind. The Garmin Forerunners are compatible with the Garmin Connect App, the Sense 2 with Fitbit's app (and Fitbit Premium), and the Watch 5 Pro with Samsung Health. It's worth researching companion apps to see what you prefer. 

Display: The display native to an Android smartwatch can be as interactive as what's found on the Google Pixel Watch or as basic as what the Fitbit Inspire 3 offers. Your overall experience will change based on a watch's display, so it's important to understand what it offers and if it syncs with your preferred smartwatch experience.

FAQs

What is the best Android smartwatch?

The best Android smartwatch depends on your preference and how you intend to use the watch. Some Android smartwatches, like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro or Fitbit Sense 2, are better for fitness-focused users, and the former is our top overall pick for its combination of a fitness tracker and smartwatch experience. 

For those looking for a smartwatch that works fully and seamlessly with any Android phone, including a Google Pixel phone, the Google Pixel Watch 2 would fare better, and it's also solid as a fitness tracker. 

It's important to understand how you intend to use the smartwatch to make the best purchasing decision.

Do all Android smartwatches work on any Android smartphone? 

Yes and no. While most of the best Android smartwatches are compatible with all models of Android smartphones, some deliver a different overall experience. 

For instance, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic function more seamlessly on a Samsung smartphone than it does on something like a Google Pixel. Some app access is limited, while the companion apps used to customize the watch differ. However, a watch like the Google Pixel Watch functions nearly similarly on the Google Pixel Phone as on a Samsung phone. 

Can you use an Apple Watch with an Android smartphone? 

No, the Apple Watch is only compatible with an iPhone running iOS. Unlike wearables from brands like Garmin or Fitbit, which work on iPhone and Android phones, the Apple Watch only functions on an iOS device.

Similarly, the best Android smartwatches won't work on an iPhone and are only compatible with smartphones running the Android operating system. 

Do you need an Android smartphone to use these watches?

Yes. Although you don't technically need a smartphone to power up a smartwatch, you won't be able to unlock its full functionality without syncing it to a smartphone via Bluetooth. 

Without a phone, a smartwatch could only tell the time and perform a few of its basic functions, like counting steps and how many calories you've burned. However, you'd have no way of accessing the amassed data without a device like a smartphone (or tablet). 

Can you use an iPhone with an Android smartwatch?

No. To get the full functionality out of an Android smartwatch, you'll need to use an Android smartphone. While nothing stops an iPhone user from wearing an Android smartwatch, they wouldn't be able to take advantage of its basic smartphone compatibility and would have an incredibly watered-down experience.

Do some Android smartwatches work better with certain Android devices?

The most common compatibility issue Android smartwatches encounter is when using an Android device from a different brand. For instance, Samsung's Galaxy Watches lose some functionality when used with a Google Pixel Phone. The same goes for using a Google Pixel Watch with a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, though it's not as drastic. 

While you can still use those watches with phones from different brands, you'll typically get the experience of using the same Android device brand with whatever Android smartwatch you buy.

Best overall: Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro

Samsung's Galaxy Watch lineup has been among the best Android smartwatches for years, and its latest release, the Watch 5 Pro, places it right at the top of the industry. With multi-day battery life, accurate activity tracking, and unique insights such as body composition data and sleep analysis, it's the perfect combination of both a smartwatch and a health and fitness tracker for the Android user. 

Design-wise, the Watch 5 Pro has a round watch face and a 1.36-inch touchscreen display that offers tons of viewable data. With the right watch face, you could have everything from the week's upcoming weather forecast and the sunrise/sunset schedule to your daily steps, burned calories, and workout shortcuts displayed. It's also compatible with a variety of the best Samsung Galaxy Watch bands.

As a smartwatch, the Watch 5 Pro is excellent. It uses Google's WearOS operating system which functions seamlessly. It gets app notifications, text alerts, emails, and phone calls, and is easy to navigate. 

Fitness-focused folks will appreciate the variety of activities it tracks, including common things like running and cycling, as well as advanced sports like snowboarding, hiking, or trail running. It even has a useful track-back option that works like a digital breadcrumb feature that shows your exact route through, say, a forested area. However, this only works with hiking and cycling, which is disappointing as it'd be great for runners, too. 

One of the Watch 5 Pro's best features is its health tracking. It has everything from in-depth sleep tracking, which monitors sleep patterns and habits, to a body composition app that charts things like body fat percentage and muscle mass. 

There is one minor caveat, however: the watch's overall experience is far better on a Samsung phone than on something like the Google Pixel. It's not a dealbreaker but some features, like the ECG app that tracks heart rhythms, aren't compatible with anything other than a Samsung phone.

Despite those issues, Samsung's Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is the best Android smartwatch for almost any user (and our pick as one of the best smartwatches, too). It excels as a smartwatch, has robust fitness-tracking capability, and offers unique health insights. This is as good as it gets on Android.  

Read our full review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.

Best Fitbit: Fitbit Sense 2

Fitbit's Sense 2 is everything you want in a dependable fitness tracker. It's compatible with several trackable activities, provides unique insights into your fitness habits, monitors your sleep, stress, and menstrual cycles, and has a built-in GPS. It even has a battery that lasts upward of five to six days.

We found it to be one of the most accurate fitness trackers we've worn, specifically how quickly it synced its GPS before an activity. Within seconds, the watch found a GPS signal and we were ready to start tracking our activity. It also has an interface that's easy to navigate, which is especially helpful for first-time Fitbit wearers or those new to fitness trackers.

The Sense 2 has several helpful health and wellness tools, too. This includes a skin temperature sensor, heart rhythm (ECG) readings, and Fitbit's new real-time stress tracker. Stress tracking was especially interesting during our tests as we liked how well it charted our stress levels while offering useful feedback on ways to lower them. 

One area where the Sense 2 doesn't impress is its smartwatch capability. It's technically one of Fitbit's "smartwatches" but it doesn't exactly live up to that billing. For instance, there's no third-party app support available, which is a frustrating decision by Fitbit, nor does it allow access to tools like Google Assistant (despite Google being the parent company). It also won't store or play music. 

Although some may consider these drawbacks, we don't see them as a reason not to buy the Sense 2. It's an adequate smartwatch that still gets notifications like calls, texts, and emails, but its strengths lie in its health and fitness tracking. For those looking for a fitness-first smartwatch, the Sense 2 is the best Android smartwatch to buy (and one of the best Fitbits overall, too).  

Read our full review of the Fitbit Sense 2.

Best for Pixel users: Google Pixel Watch

The Google Pixel Watch experience is an interesting one. On the one hand, it's the best pure smartwatch for Android users with an easy-to-navigate interface, wide app compatibility, and the ability to answer texts, emails, and phone calls.

But as a fitness tracker, it's awful. This is especially disappointing since Google is now the parent company of the fitness wearable brand, Fitbit. Despite that, the Pixel Watch is bogged down by connectivity issues, syncing problems, and poor GPS tracking.

And while those may be deal breakers for fitness-focused folks, there's no denying it's still an impressive smartwatch. Its operating system, WearOS, delivers a seamless experience between the available apps you can access, whatever notifications you might receive, and its smart features like Google Assistant, Google Maps, and Google Wallet.

These features allow it to satisfy the one major requirement of a smartwatch: to be an effective extension of your smartphone. With the Google Pixel Watch, anything you want to do on your phone, you can do on your wrist. Plus, it's compatible with a variety of the best Google Pixel Watch bands, so it can fit anyone's personal style.

Not everyone shopping for a wearable needs something capable of tracking their workouts and instead just wants it to serve as their phone away from their phone. The Google Pixel Watch is exactly that, and for Android users, it's the best pure smartwatch they can buy.

Read our full review of the Google Pixel Watch.

Best with bezel: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic

Samsung's latest Galaxy Watch, the Watch 6 Classic, retains the high bar set by previous generations, even if it doesn't push the line forward in any major way. But despite its minimal new additions, the experience of using the Watch 6 Classic is still a highly premium one, making it not just one of the best Android smartwatches you can buy but one of the best smartwatches, too.

The most notable update on the Watch 6 Classic is the return of the rotating bezel, a feature last seen on the Watch 4. Instead of relying on the watch's touchscreen to scroll its interface, the rotating bezel allows easy navigation. I found it to be especially useful while working out where spinning the dial was more manageable, and quicker, than trying to swipe the screen.

The Watch 6 Classic also has impressive battery life that I consistently got almost two days out of, depending on how often I used the built-in GPS. I always got a full day and night of battery, though sometimes I needed to recharge the watch the following afternoon. This is a welcome upgrade over the Watch 5, though it is still a bit shorter than the multi-day battery life of the Watch 5 Pro.

Beyond those upgrades, the Watch 6 Classic is highly similar to the Watch 5 generation before it. It has a deep offering of health and wellness features, including sleep tracking, a body composition analyzer, and stress level monitoring.

The two health features I used most were the body composition analyzer and the stress tracker. With the body composition analyzer, the watch provided real-time readings of my body fat percentage, BMI, and muscle mass which I used to chart my overall fitness progress. The Watch 5 Pro also offered this, so I had a baseline of knowledge (and existing data) to compare to and it functioned the same.

I found the stress tracker to be a helpful feature, too, mainly because it's interesting to see when the watch would say I had higher stress levels and when I didn't. This had a positive impact on my day-to-day as I would implement some of the recommendations for lowering my stress and found them to work.

The Watch 6 Classic does severely lack as a fitness tracker, though, and its inaccurate GPS makes it difficult to recommend to more active users. Not only would it take upwards of a minute to sync a GPS connection but its distance- and pace-tracking were off by significant margins. Those looking for a quality fitness tracker experience should instead opt for the Watch 5 Pro.

Design-wise, the Watch 6 Classic is a stylish smartwatch that I thoroughly enjoy wearing. Its big watch face might be too large for folks with smaller wrists but I liked how much data I could display on it. Its bright watch face makes it easy to quickly reference the screen or tell the time.

Overall, it looks, feels, and functions like a premium wearable and while it may not satisfy those looking for a reliable fitness tracker, it's one of the best smartwatches on the market. Its compatibility with a variety of the best Samsung Galaxy Watch bands is a nice feature, too.

Read our full review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic.

Best budget: Samsung Galaxy Watch 4

When we first reviewed the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, we couldn't help but notice that it was the closest thing to an Apple Watch for Android users. A year later, that sentiment goes to the next generation Watch 5 Pro but the Watch 4 is still an impressive wearable — only now, it costs far less than when it was released. 

The release of the Galaxy Watch 4 was Samsung's first go with utilizing WearOS as the watch's operating system, as it decided to go away from the in-house interface, Tizen OS. The switch paid off in spades as WearOS pairs perfectly with the Watch 4. Navigation is fluid, notifications can be fully customized, and there's a wide selection of downloadable apps (thanks to Google Play Store access). 

Other highlights of the watch include its extensive health and fitness capability. It tracks activities, like running, cycling, and hiking, and we found the syncing and tracking capability to be on par with some of the best fitness trackers. 

We especially like its in-depth sleep tracking which monitors sleep patterns and can help turn bad habits into good ones. Its body measurement features are also unique as it analyzes your body weight, muscle mass, and water weight to give you an idea of your overall body composition. 

All of this equates to the Watch 4 being one of the best Android smartwatches. Of course, there are still a few drawbacks, most notable of which is its watered-down experience on anything other than a Samsung phone as some features, like the ECG app, aren't available. We don't see this as a total deal breaker but users of other phones, like the Google Pixel, should consider this before purchasing. 

At less than $170 via Amazon, the Watch 4 isn't just at its lowest price since it was released, but it's the cheapest we've seen a smartwatch of this quality. You're rarely able to find a premium full-featured wearable like this for $200. The fact that it's less than that easily makes it the best budget Android smartwatch on the market. 

Read our full review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4.

Best battery life: Fitbit Inspire 3

Fitbit's Inspire 3 is one of the brand's most basic wearables but it's still an impressive activity tracker for Android users (and one of the best Fitbits you can buy). It offers a range of health and fitness tracking insights, a no-frills interface, and advanced features like skin temperature sensing and in-depth sleep tracking. 

But what makes the Inspire 3 such a great tracker is how anyone from beginners to expert users will be satisfied using it. Navigating the watch is intuitive enough for first-time wearers while the wide variety of trackable activities and useful health metrics give it appeal to those familiar with fitness trackers. It's compatible with a range of the best Fitbit Inspire 3 bands, too, so users have even more ways to customize their wearable.

At less than $100, it's a hell of a bargain, too. What's especially great about its low price is that the Inspire 3 is the latest generation of the Inspire line, meaning it's the most current and updated version yet.

The watch does come with a few drawbacks, though. Absent is built-in GPS, as well as the ability to download additional apps. Although the lack of apps isn't a huge downside, not having GPS is, especially for hardcore athletes who want exact timing and tracking for activities. During our tests, we did find that when you sync GPS via a companion phone, the tracking worked well. But that means you do have to tote your phone along.

Those cons aside, the Inspire 3 is still a powerful activity tracker in a small, budget-friendly form factor. For Android users looking for something basic, trying out a fitness tracker for the first time, or who just want something straightforward and easy to use, the Inspire 3 is the best Android smartwatch on the market. 

Read our full review of the Fitbit Inspire 3.

Best for runners: Garmin Forerunner 745

The Garmin Forerunner 745 isn't just the best running watch for Android users, it also happens to be one of the best running watches, period. It's that good. Garmin's made its name on manufacturing powerful sports wearables, and the 745 is the latest in a long line of triumphs from the brand. 

What makes the 745 so good is not just its accurate tracking capabilities and easy-to-navigate interface (but, those are excellent). What makes it stand out from the competition is its unique approach to workout recommendations and focus on rest and recovery, two vital aspects of an effective workout routine. 

For the workout recommendations, the watch requires a 10-day monitoring period to assess your day-to-day activity and performance. Once those 10 days are up, it adapts its recommendations to your specific activity needs. One day it might have you pump up the mileage and go for a several-mile long run while another may see that you need more rest and dial the day's workout down to a recovery jog. 

Whatever it recommends, it does so in lockstep with its rest and recovery insights. In other words, the watch isn't just going to run you into the ground but rather, it takes a thoughtful approach to giving your body the time to properly recover between strenuous workouts. 

The 745 feels like having a personal trainer right on your wrist with all these features active. Of course, you don't have to do the daily workouts but they do prove worthwhile for anyone stumped about what to do on a certain day, or those who want to take the guesswork out of how to train for a race or event. 

Other highlights of the 745 include a comfortable, lightweight design that won't weigh heavy on your wrist, even during long runs, as well as a large, colorful display. The big display does tend to look rather large on folks with smaller wrists, but it's especially useful in the middle of a run to easily see your training stats without having to squint or stop running. 

Then there's the battery life, which Garmin claims lasts up to six days on a single charge. We found this to be mostly true during our tests, as it would last both a little longer and a little shorter than that estimation depending on how heavily we used it each day. 

For consistent runners, the Garmin Forerunner 745 is the best Android smartwatch to buy. 

Read our full review of the Garmin Forerunner 745.

Best for outdoor adventures: Garmin Forerunner 935

Like the Forerunner 745 above, the Forerunner 935 is one of Garmin's best wearables. And for the outdoorsy Android user, it's the best.

The 935 is compatible with a wide range of trackable outdoor activities such as hiking, trail running, skiing, and snowboarding, to name a few, and can even track your trips via its built-in GPS (which is a must-have for those venturing into the backcountry). It's also highly accurate, both in terms of tracking and GPS syncing.

Although the watch itself is on the medium to large end of the wearable spectrum, it's incredibly lightweight and comes with a comfortable rubber band that feels good against the skin. The watch's face features tempered, scratch-resistant glass, as well as a durable, stainless steel bezel. 

But where the watch truly shines is how Garmin's interface functions with the activities it tracks. The tracking screens show everything from heart rate and distance traveled, to training status, heart rate variability, and total training load. In other words, you have everything you'd ever need right there on your wrist. 

We did have one nitpick with the watch: its battery doesn't last much longer than a single day, especially if you're relying on GPS and heart rate tracking for long periods. This isn't an issue for those who return home each night but this could pose a problem for anyone out on a backpacking trip or who forgot their charger. 

Still, the Forerunner 935 is a full-featured watch that's the best Android smartwatch for outdoor enthusiasts. 

Read our full review of the Garmin Forerunner 935.

How we test Android smartwatches

To compile this guide, we compared the best Android smartwatches across a variety of categories including things like fit & comfort, features, battery life, ease of use, accuracy, and compatibility. Here's how each category factored into which watches made the guide:

Fit & comfort: Testing this was a straightforward assessment of how well the watch felt on-wrist while wearing it normally throughout the day, as well as during workouts. We also looked at how easy it was to dial in the right fit with whatever the clasp system was.

Features: Simply put, what are all the features native to a certain Android smartwatch? We looked at what kinds of apps were natively available right out of the box, as well as what was accessible via an app store like Google Play. We also assessed how well these features elevated the overall experience. 

Battery life: Battery life is one of the most important aspects of a smartwatch and can dictate which watch is best for a certain user. If a fitness-focused watch has a hard time getting through just one day on a single charge, then that watch won't be good for something constantly using GPS or the heart rate monitor. Charging a watch every day isn't a dealbreaker but it's useful to know what a watch offers and how it affects the overall experience. 

Ease of use: Smartwatches should ideally not have a steep learning curve, and should be easy to navigate right out of the box. Of course, not all operating systems are the same, so there will be some differences from watch to watch. If a wearable is hard to navigate, you're less likely to use it. 

Accuracy: Tracking accuracy can make or break a smartwatch, especially for folks who use it as a training tool. Some are inherently better than others but even small discrepancies in tracking capability can make a big impact. We tested this by running a mile with each watch and comparing the differences in time and distance. 

Compatibility: Testing compatibility for Android smartwatches consisted of using each watch with several Android smartphones. No single Android watch is fully compatible with every single Android phone, but some do function better on a competitor's device without much change to the overall experience. For instance, our top pick, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, functions best on a Samsung phone while the experience on something like the Google Pixel is watered-down.  

What to look for when shopping

Before purchasing a new Android smartwatch, it's important to consider how you plan on using it and which models fit your lifestyle best. Here are a few things to keep in mind while shopping: 

Style: The best smartwatches for Android come in several styles suited to different users. There are fitness tracker-type wearables like the Sense 2 or Inspire 3 designed to function best during activities, and then there are watches like the Google Pixel that evoke a more traditional wristwatch design. Deciding which style best suits your lifestyle is a key factor when shopping.  

Battery life: Battery life estimates vary wildly among the best Android smartwatches as some, like the Google Pixel Watch, need to be recharged daily. Others, like the Fitbit Sense 2 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, boast multi-day battery life and are often better for active users who may be using the built-in GPS throughout the day or who travel often. 

Smart features: Although every smartwatch comes with smart features, some are smarter than others. Take the Fitbit Inspire 3, for example. This watch offers basic smartwatch capability including call, text, email, and app notifications but not much beyond that. Compared to the Google Pixel which offers in-depth smart features that allow users to interact with the notifications, the Inspire 3 is leagues lower.

Ecosystem: Each of the smartwatches in this guide shares the Android ecosystem as a foundation but they all have a secondary ecosystem to keep in mind. The Garmin Forerunners are compatible with the Garmin Connect App, the Sense 2 with Fitbit's app (and Fitbit Premium), and the Watch 5 Pro with Samsung Health. It's worth researching companion apps to see what you prefer. 

Display: The display native to an Android smartwatch can be as interactive as what's found on the Google Pixel Watch or as basic as what the Fitbit Inspire 3 offers. Your overall experience will change based on a watch's display, so it's important to understand what a watch offers and if that syncs with your preferred smartwatch experience.

FAQs

What's the best Android smartwatch?

This depends on your preference and how you intend to use the watch. Some Android smartwatches are better for fitness-focused users, like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro or Fitbit Sense 2.

For those looking for a true smartwatch experience, something like the Google Pixel Watch would fare better (though it does come at the expense of its fitness tracking capabilities as it's a poor activity tracker). 

It's important to understand how you intend to use the smartwatch to make the best purchasing decision.

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Do all Android smartwatches work on any Android smartphone? 

Yes and no. While most of the best Android smartwatches are compatible with all models of Android smartphones, some deliver a different overall experience. 

For instance, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro functions more seamlessly on a Samsung smartphone than it does on something like a Google Pixel. Some app access is limited while the companion apps used to customize the watch differ. However, a watch like the Google Pixel Watch functions nearly similarly on the Google Pixel Phone as on a Samsung phone. 

---

Can you use an Apple Watch with an Android smartphone? 

No, the Apple Watch is only compatible with an iPhone running iOS. Unlike wearables from brands like Garmin or Fitbit, which work on both an iPhone and an Android phone, the Apple Watch only functions on an iOS device.

Similarly, the best Android smartwatches won't work on an iPhone and are only compatible with smartphones running the Android operating system. 

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Do you need an Android smartphone to use these watches?

Yes. Although you don't technically need a smartphone to power up a smartwatch, you won't be able to unlock its full functionality without syncing it to a smartphone via Bluetooth. 

Without a phone, a smartwatch would only be able to tell the time and perform a few of its basic functions, like counting steps and how many calories you've burned. However, you'd have no way of accessing the amassed data without a device like a smartphone (or tablet). 

---

Can you use an iPhone with an Android smartwatch?

No. To get the full functionality out of an Android smartwatch, you'll need to use an Android smartphone. While nothing stops an iPhone user from wearing an Android smartwatch, they wouldn't be able to take advantage of its basic smartphone compatibility and would have an incredibly watered-down experience.

---

Do some Android smartwatches work better with certain Android devices?

The most common compatibility issue Android smartwatches encounter is when they're used with an Android device from a different brand. For instance, Samsung's Galaxy Watches lose some functionality with used with a Google Pixel Phone. The same goes for using a Google Pixel Watch with a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, though it's not as drastic. 

While you can still use those watches with phones from different brands, it's best to use the same Android device brand with whatever Android smartwatch you buy.

• Michael Cohen is on the witness stand at Donald Trump's hush-money trial in New York.
• He is the key witness behind prosecutors' "election conspiracy" theory.
• Cohen began by describing an allegedly conspiratorial hey-day before the two men hated each other.

Michael Cohen testified at the former president's criminal hush-money trial Monday that Donald Trump warned about "a lot of women coming forward" before he announced his presidential run.

"You know when this comes out," Cohen said, quoting Trump while on the witness stand in a downtown Manhattan courtroom, "just be aware there's going to be a lot of women coming forward."

Cohen, Trump's personal-attorney-turned-nemesis, told jurors that Trump gave the warning in 2015, before he announced his presidential run.

It may be hard to believe, but 10 years before he coined the online taunt "Donald 'Von ShitzInPants," Cohen saw Trump as his co-conspirator bestie.

That's the story Cohen told jurors after taking the stand at Trump's hush-money trial on Monday.

When Trump asked him to work as his attorney at the Trump Organization, "I was honored," testified Cohen, who once boasted he'd take a bullet for the GOP-frontrunner.

"It was fantastic," Cohen testified Monday of his decade working for Trump, calling the Trump Organization "a big family."

"Working for him, especially during those 10 years, was an amazing experience in many, many ways," Cohen told the jury.

Prosecutors have been striving all trial to cast Cohen as the loyal top lieutenant who conspired with mastermind Trump and National Enquirer editor David Pecker to change the course of the 2016 election.

The three men met at Trump Tower in August, 2015, soon after Trump announced his run for office, prosecutors say.

With Trump at the helm, they hatched a plan. The Enquirer would smear Trump's opponents, write favorable stories about him, and "catch" negative, salacious stories that could damage the campaign.

Trump is on trial for allegedly falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 hush-money payment that buried one of those salacious stories — porn star Stormy Daniels' tale of an unpleasant, one-night fling at a Lake Tahoe celebrity golf tournament in 2006.

Cohen held a unique role in Trump's life, acting as a "fixer" and following in the footsteps of the hard-charging personal attorney who worked for Trump earlier in his life, the political operative and mob lawyer Roy Cohn.

Cohen did not work in the Trump Organization's general counsel office. He reported directly to Trump, and often took care of personal matters. On Monday, Cohen testified about an incident where he got a taxi cab driver to pay for repairs after hitting Trump's limousine.

Trump has tried to distance himself from his personal lawyer ever since the FBI first raided Cohen's residence in 2018.

At the trial, his attorneys have also tried to downplay his central role in Trump's life. Jeff McConney, the longtime corporate controller for the Trump Organization, appeared to give a deep sigh when he was first asked about Cohen on the witness stand.

"He said he was a lawyer," McConney said, to some laughter in the courtroom.

Hope Hicks, Trump's communications director at the Trump Organization, 2016 campaign, and White House administration, agreed with his lawyer that Cohen was "not helpful" at times and "went rogue."

"I used to say that he liked to call himself a 'fixer' or 'Mr. Fix It,' and it was only because he first broke it that he was able to come and fix it," Hicks testified.

One of Cohen's roles included shaping the perception of Trump in the press, trying to keep negative stories out of the papers. He said he lied and bullied people to please Trump.

"The only thing that was on my mind was to accomplish a task to make him happy," Cohen said.

Prosecutors said Friday that Cohen is the second-to-last witness in their case, which they expect will conclude this week.

Trump's lawyers have said they will call two defense witnesses. They have not said if one of those witnesses will be Trump himself, but the former president has said he will take the stand.

Cohen and his former boss last faced each other as courtroom adversaries in October, at the Trump civil fraud trial.

Cohen's time on the stand there was highly damaging.

He testified that Trump would set a highly-inflated, target number for his net worth on annual financial statements that banks used to lend Trump money.

Cohen said he and the Trump Organization's then-CFO would falsely "reverse engineer" the supporting data to hit that target net-worth goal.

• Renewables can offer cheaper energy than fossil fuels, but the grid isn't designed to handle them.
• We explore the places in the US making progress on this front. 
• This article is part of "Transforming Business: Infrastructure," a series exploring the advancements reshaping US infrastructure. 

Think about the last time your power went out.

Maybe a car hit an electricity-distribution pole or a falling branch took down a power line during a storm. It probably took at least a few minutes, maybe hours, before your power turned back on.

Most likely, that's because workers at your local utility first had to assess how to restore your power. Then dispatchers had to drive to the nearby switches that control the flow of energy and manually flip them until everyone's lights were back on.

Not in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Instead, software automatically sends commands to smart switches throughout the system, rerouting the flow of electricity to restore power in seconds.

The electric utility in Chattanooga, EPB, has invested $280 million in creating one of the smartest power grids in the country. It has this self-healing system and manages energy more efficiently than traditional grids, reduces carbon emissions, and saves customers money on their electricity bills.

"They are an example of people who are looking forward to say: We see technology coming," Kevin Schneider, the chief engineer studying power systems at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, told Business Insider. "It is a challenge. It will be expensive, but we view it as less expensive and less challenging than doing nothing for the next 10 years and then trying to catch up."

Nationwide, our power systems are in trouble. The infrastructure is aging and outdated, costing consumers billions a year in higher energy bills. Moreover, the aging grid is not ready for the barrage of increasingly severe weather that the climate crisis is bringing, nor the incoming surge of renewable energy and battery storage as the US moves toward the Biden-Harris administration's goal to achieve a carbon-pollution-free grid by 2035.

"Much of our grid infrastructure is 40, 50, 60-plus years old," Joe Rand, an energy policy researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, told BI. "And so it is in need of upgrading and maintenance."

Smarter grids, like Chattanooga's, are just part of what it will take to modernize the American grid in the coming decades. They can deliver electricity in a "cleaner, more efficient, faster way," Joshua Rhodes, a research scientist studying smart grids at the University of Texas at Austin, told BI.

However, getting that electricity in the first place from wind, solar, and other renewables is where the challenge begins.

A troubled transition to renewable energy

Last year was record-breaking for clean energy in the US. Renewables, including wind, solar, and hydropower, represented about 25% of the electricity generated in the US in the first half of 2023.

And this year is off to a solid start. South Fork Wind — New York's first offshore wind farm — began powering homes in March. And the Edwards & Sanborn project, the US's largest solar energy and energy storage project in California, came online in January.

Renewable energy is not only cleaner than fossil fuels but also often less expensive.

"In many parts of the United States, wind and or solar are basically the cheapest ways that we can generate electricity," Rand said.

But we have a long way to go to reach 100% clean electricity by 2035. Renewables are intermittent energy sources. Unlike fossil fuels, the amount of energy they generate fluctuates. But our grid system wasn't designed to handle that variation.

Plugging intermittent energy sources into this outdated grid network can cause problems, such as energy imbalances that exceed capacity and trigger outages, Philip Odonkor, an assistant professor in the School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology, told BI.

So what's happened is a bottleneck: Renewable projects are generating energy but with limited ways of getting it to towns and cities. At the end of 2023, 930 gigawatts of power — enough to power roughly 171 million homes — were waiting to connect to the grid.

To achieve zero-emissions electricity by 2035, the US needs to revamp the grid with up to 10,100 miles of new transmission lines that can transport renewable energy from point A to point B. The Midwest grid operator, Midcontinent Independent System Operator, has approved the country's largest transmission investment to date, totaling $10.3 billion, to improve how it delivers electricity to 45 million people across the Midwest.

But in general, construction on new high-voltage transmission has slowed to a trickle over the past decade, Rand said. In 2013, the US completed over 3,000 miles of transmission projects. Last year, it completed 251 miles.

It's not economic or technology barriers holding these projects back, Rand said: "It's institutional, regulatory, and social issues."

Breaking down barriers

When South Fork Wind began operations in March, it was a major milestone but also years behind schedule. Economic headwinds struck in 2020 with the Trump administration's moratorium on offshore wind, which stalled progress for two years.

"The clearest delay for South Fork was losing those years of progress," said Julia Bovey, the director of external affairs for offshore wind at Eversource Energy, which co-owns South Fork Wind with Ørsted.

Other obstacles stand in the way of clean energy — the biggest being the lengthy permitting process and interconnection queue delays. The permitting process for renewable-energy projects involves massive amounts of paperwork and can take three or more years to finish.

In the end, about 80% don't make it to completion, and those that do can get stuck in the clogged interconnection queue for as long as five more years. By the end of 2023, almost 12,000 projects were in the queue, waiting to be connected to the grid.

"It's a seriously complex process with so many stakeholders," Bovey said.

South Fork Wind was the first utility-scale offshore-wind project in the US to make it through this process. In doing so, it revealed a lot of issues that could be fixed through standardization and better agency coordination, Bovey said. But it also proved that bringing offshore wind online was possible.

"Every hope is that this has paved the way for future projects to be cheaper, bigger, faster, and just as responsible — just as well sited," Bovey said.

On the whole, Paul Denholm, a principal analyst and senior research fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is more skeptical of the country's prospects. We'll be closer to a 50% renewable-power grid by 2035 with the way things are going, he told BI.

Right now, we lack the federal policy necessary to solve regulatory and permitting delays, clear the interconnection queue, and drive rapid infrastructure upgrades and technology implementation, Denholm said.

For example, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator's transmission investment, while noteworthy, took 11 years to get approval, and its next series of approvals have been delayed.

"So from that standpoint, it's pretty clear that we're not on a path to get to 100%," Denholm said.

There's no going back

Regardless of how quickly the US gets there, we're headed for a clean-energy revolution. The federal government has invested nearly $100 billion in clean energy through its Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.

Old infrastructure must be modernized across the country because the production and use of energy are going to get much more complicated.

Nationwide, the grid draws power from about 12,000 power plants. Over the next 20 years or so, it will have to balloon to incorporate millions of small, distributed energy-generation resources, from hydropower dams to offshore wind farms to rooftop solar panels.

Then there will be the batteries, which store wind and solar energy until a rainy day. Meanwhile, newly electrified cars and heating systems will increase energy demand.

Eventually, home appliances may tap into data from the grid — how much people are drawing energy from it, how much carbon it's emitting, and how much electricity costs at any given hour — to help you make smart decisions about when to wash your dishes or heat your house.

"Historically it was meant to go one way," Schneider said of the grid. "Now we've got solar that pushes power back in. We've got EVs. We've got new loads like heat pumps. So the edge is getting so much more complicated with a lot more stakeholders in there."

Smart grids are essential for integrating all that new stuff. The rollout of smart-grid technologies, renewable projects, and new transmission lines will happen piecemeal across the country, at different paces in different places, depending on policies, utility finances, and the economy — high up-front costs can be a major deterrent. However, the return on investment can be even greater.

Take Chattanooga. EPB spent $280 million to refurbish its power system with smart technologies. In its first 10 years, the project generated $2.7 billion worth of economic value by creating jobs, attracting businesses, and reducing customers' electricity bills, an EPB-funded study found.

MISO foresees a similar return on its $10.3 billion investment. It estimates that investment will bring $37.3 billion of value for customers by transporting cheaper, more reliable power. So the benefits can outweigh the cost.

"As we move forward, things are becoming more complex," Schneider said. "And we need to find ways to work together collaboratively. Because no one group or organization has all the answers, it's going to be a lot of different things coming together."

• This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.
• You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here.

Welcome back! Take extra care to pick the right outfit today, because it could affect your mood. It's called "dopamine dressing," and it's all about feeling better by wearing your favorite styles.

In today's big story, we're looking at the people preparing for the collapse of the financial system.

What's on deck:

• Markets: Why America can't seem to quit inflation.
• Tech: How Mark Zuckerberg turned against the news industry.
• Business: The man leading the fight to legalize MDMA therapy.

But first, it's the end of the world and they know it (and they feel fine).

If this was forwarded to you, sign up here.

The big story

Preparing for the worst

Opinions fluctuate on the economy, but one group has a decidedly strong take.

In the subreddit r/economiccollapse, users are preparing for a Soviet Union-type fall of the US economy, writes Business Insider's Jennifer Sor. From investing in defense stocks to refusing to hold any savings in cash, the economic glass isn't half empty in the eyes of these users — it's almost dry.

The movement is gaining popularity, with the subreddit's membership growing 80% from the end of 2021 to the end of 2023.

Even passing interest in the potential downfall of the economy is on the rise. Searches for "stock market crash" and "economic crash" rose 17% and 15%, respectively, according to data Jennifer obtained.

There's an element of alarmism here, but the general pessimism mirrors how many Americans feel about the economy.

The middle class believes the life they aspired to is no longer possible. Further down the economic totem pole, ALICEs (asset limited, income constrained, employed) are struggling to make ends meet. Even those entering retirement aren't financially prepared.

Economic doomsayers do make you wonder about cracks in the economy.

The housing market's sky-high mortgage rates have been a problem for a while. But now, with supply on the rise, it's sellers, not buyers, who could be in trouble. To make matters worse, more and more houses in the US are worth significantly less than the mortgages financing them.

The stock market's been relatively strong, but there are some caveats. We have to thank AI for a good chunk of that. And considering the healthy amount of exaggerating companies have done to get on the AI bandwagon, it's easy to see how it could all come crashing down.

Ok, but jobs are still good, right? The unemployment rate is incredibly low!

Yes and no. Job growth slowed a lot in April, and it's hard for certain demographics, like high earners, to switch jobs.

Well, at least interest-rate cuts will provide some relief!

So… about that.

The number of companies filing for bankruptcy is spiking, cuts continue to get delayed. In fact, some experts speculate the economy will need to crash before cuts come.

News Brief

Your Monday headline catchup

A quick recap of the top news from over the weekend:

• Trump's 'multi-tasking' defense is falling apart in court.
• Ukraine was a magnet for foreign fighters. After 2 bruising years, many are disillusioned or dead.
• Putin axes defense minister, replaces him with an economist.
• Ncuti Gatwa says he feels 'sad' for those tuning out of the new season of 'Doctor Who' because of its push for diversity.

3 things in markets

1. Yes, inflation is back. But there's still a path toward "economic nirvana." Neil Dutta, head of economics at Renaissance Macro Research, argues concerns over inflation are overdone. In fact, his reading of the data is that a soft landing is still in the cards.
2. An investing legend dies. Billionaire hedge fund manager Jim Simons died Friday at the age of 86. Renaissance Technologies, the fund he founded in 1982, is one of the most successful hedge funds in history with 66% in annualized returns (before fees) over a 30-year period.
3. The US-China rivalry could be a game changer for Big Tech. Sources told BI that mega-cap earnings growth will likely come under pressure from tensions between Washington and Beijing. Apple and Tesla are among the firms that could be particularly vulnerable.

3 things in tech

1. How Mark Zuckerberg turned against the news. After the 2016 election, Zuckerberg held regular discussions about how to make news on Facebook more trustworthy and reliable. There was talk of buying a news outlet, or Facebook starting its own. But the CEO has since turned on the industry — thanks in part to cost, personal animosities, and Rupert Murdoch, insiders say.
2. A new crop of startups wants you to make friends — IRL. In an attempt to solve Gen Z and millennial loneliness, a new wave of companies is trying to help people make friends the old-fashioned way: through in-person events and meetups.
3. OpenAI is teasing something big. CEO Sam Altman promised last week that the ChatGPT developer will announce "new stuff" that "feels like magic" today. He shot down rumors that OpenAI is poised to release a search engine of its own, but didn't deny that the company is working on a search product.

3 things in business

1. Credit cards are getting smarter. Credit-card fraud protection is still far from perfect, but banks are getting much better at discerning which payments are fraudulent and which are legit. That's thanks to the astounding amount of data companies have collected on their customers.
2. One man's mission to legalize MDMA. For decades, Rick Doblin and MAPS, the nonprofit he founded, have been pushing to legalize medical MDMA. Now, the FDA could issue its approval as soon as this summer. However, insiders have begun voicing concerns about possible ethical lapses in clinical trials and questioning whether MAPS can effectively lead the movement into the future.
3. These people beat the millennial odds. The unique economic circumstances of the past few years have helped some members of the generation to surge ahead financially. Millennials that managed to buy real estate before the start of the pandemic have tended to be the big winners.

In other news

• Senior managers at Globe Life division traded racist memes.
• Netflix said it didn't want to be in sports. Now it could be streaming two NFL games on Christmas.
• A Trump voter proved Mike Lindell wrong. Now he wants his $5 million.
• The $5 McDonald's meal may be making a grand comeback.

What's happening today

• Today's earnings: BuzzFeed and other companies are reporting.
• FOX will host its annual upfront presentation, unveiling its 2024-25 program lineup.

The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. George Glover, reporter, in London. Grace Lett, associate editor, in Chicago.

• Elon Musk seems to be courting Argentine President Javier Milei to secure lithium supplies.
• Argentina has the world's second-largest lithium reserves, which are crucial for EV batteries.
• The pair met up last month and have spoken about Tesla's investment opportunities in lithium. 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been cozying up to Argentine president Javier Milei — and lithium may be one reason why.

Argentina has the world's second-biggest reserves of the metal used in batteries for electric cars.

Milei told the TV show "La Noche De Mirtha" in December that Musk had called him and said he was "extremely interested" in lithium.

Musk plans for Tesla to build cheaper cars. The company said last month it will launch "new and more affordable products" earlier than expected, after previously mooting the second half of 2025.

But those ambitions partly rely on Tesla getting enough lithium supply for its EV batteries at a decent price.

Lithium supply security has become a major priority for firms like Tesla. Lithium production outside the US rose by 23% in 2023 from the previous year due to strong demand from the battery market, according to data from the United States Geological Survey.

Tesla broke ground on a Texas lithium refinery last May, which it said would open this year, Reuters reported at the time. Musk said at the ceremony: "As we look ahead a few years, a fundamental choke point in the advancement of electric vehicles is the availability of battery-grade lithium."

Musk's courting of Milei could suggest he thinks getting lithium from Argentina is an answer to that problem.

He met the Argentine leader for the first time last month at Tesla's factory in Austin. Argentina's ambassador to the US, Gerardo Wethein, told Argentine media that the pair talked about Tesla's "investment opportunities" in lithium, the Financial Times reported.

Musk met up with Milei again last week, shared a photo of them on X, and later told his followers: "I recommend investing in Argentina."

The far-right Milei won last November's presidential election in a victory welcomed by the likes of Donald Trump. He's vowed to fix Argentina's battered economy, where inflation is running at about 300%, but austerity measures have triggered widespread strikes.

Tesla didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.