The 9 Best Smartwatches for Women to Buy in 2018

Perhaps the most feature-rich digital timepiece on the market, the Huawei Watch 2 Sport is part fitness tracker, part smartwatch, part digital assistant. The design is sporty and, by some standards, a bit chunky, but highly functional with a removable and sweat-proof silicone strap. It’s also refreshingly light, considering it packs in GPS, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G SIM, a Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset and 768MB of RAM, plus a relatively small 1.2-inch, 390 x 390 display. Thanks to the NFC support, you can use Android Pay, and the SIM card means you can receive calls, as well as send and receive messages without being tethered to your phone. It runs Android Wear 2.0, giving you access to a host of helpful apps. Athletes will find the Workout Coach feature especially valuable, with the ability to track heart rate, sleep stages and even recovery times and Vo2 max.

If you’re one of those people who needs the newest gadget as soon as it drops, look no further than the Fitbit Versa. While some new releases turn out to be essentially wonky prototypes, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to know that the Versa is ready for prime time.

The low-cost alternative to Apple’s watch is both a qualified fitness tracker and smartwatch, compatible with iOS as well as Android. Pair it with your smartphone and you’ll receive all your calls, messages and notifications, plus it’ll track things such as your heart rate, sleep, menstrual cycle and activity. The battery lasts about three days on a single charge, which is exceptional if you’re comparing it to the Apple Watch, but disappointing if you compare it to other Fitbit models. But if you didn’t have to charge it, you’d likely never take it off because it’s fully waterproof, meaning you can wear it in the shower (and even in the swimming pool), and also so comfortable you can sleep with it on.

Today’s digital watches and smartwatches can get pretty pricey, but there are plenty of budget options that flaunt many of the same features. Our favorite is this TOOBUR fitness tracker watch. It has 14 different activity modes that measure stats like steps, distance, calories burned and heart rate. It can also track your sleep trends throughout the night. In addition, it syncs with your smartphone (Android 4.4 and above; IOS 7.1 and above) to serve up messages in notifications so you always stay connected. It’s smaller and narrower than most other watches on this list, but still manages to deliver most of the same benefits. If you don’t need all the bells and whistles, why pay for them? This TOOBUR watch offers all the basics, and at a fraction of the price.

If your life is locked into the Android ecosystem, the Samsung Gear S3 Frontier is hands down the best digital watch you can buy. The timepiece itself is rather large, with a 46mm round face and rotating bezel, but its inserts enable every feature you could want from a smartwatch – and more. You get GPS, a heart rate monitor, water resistance, NFC and activity tracking. The 1.3-inch 360 x 360 Super AMOLED screen is brilliantly bright, on par with Samsung’s smartphone screens, and uses Always On technology to ensure the screen is at least partially lit at all times. As you can imagine, that takes a toll on the battery, but it’ll still last you two to three days, depending on your use. Compared to the Apple Watch, its design is a bit classier and less techy, but it can easily become sporty if you swap in a rubber wristband.

It runs Tizen, rather than Android Wear, so, unfortunately, it has fewer apps available, but Spotify’s recent announcement that you can save offline playlists to the device keeps us happy in lieu of that. Runners, rejoice! That means you can finally leave your phone at home.

Interested in reading more reviews? Take a look at our selection of the best Android smartwatches. 

If your tech gear all comes in shades of Space Gray or Rose Gold and has the same signature curved edges, you’ll likely be drawn to the Apple Watch. Its Series 3 comes in two versions: one with cellular connectivity onboard and one with GPS only. Both run the smooth WatchOS 4 and integrate a heart rate sensor, an altimeter, an accelerometer and a gyroscope to give you comprehensive feedback on your activity. It’s also water-resistant up to 50 meters, so you can wear it while swimming and in the shower, and lets you stream music via Apple Music and Beats Radio.

Even though the newer version packs a new chipset, the design of the Series 3 is almost identical to its predecessor. That’s fine by us​ because its bezel-less, square face remains sleek and iconic. When people see your wrist, they’ll know right away that you’re wearing an Apple Watch. And if you’re a devoted Apple fan, that’s exactly what you want.

Designed to help you get the most out of your workout, the Samsung Gear Sport is chalk full of features that make it a standout option for fitness tracking. With more than 60 workouts to choose from, the Gear Sport will help you guide through each motion while also measuring your heart rate and tracking calorie burn. It's also water resistant up to 150 feet, and with Speedo’s swim tracking app pre-installed, tracking a water workout is as easy as tracking those on dry land.

The Gear Sport also has super intuitive controls, including swiping the screen to reply to notifications and turning the bezel to adjust volume. Capable of syncing to both Android and iOS smartphones, Samsung users will find added perks like the ability to control compatible smart devices, appliances and door locks all with the turn of the bezel. 

This sleek-looking smartwatch marks the fashion brand's first attempt at a touchscreen display smartwatch. And inside its stylish casing, the Kate Spade Scallop packs a serious set of features. Powered by Google's Wear OS, the Scallop has 4GB of internal storage for storing music and apps, as well as customizable watch faces, smartphone notifications, and voice activation with Google Assistant. Fortunately, iOS users aren’t left in the dark — Scallop connects to any iPhone running iOS 9.3 or above. 

This smartwatch pairs easily with Bluetooth 4.1 headphones. The watch face, designed with Kate Spade's iconic blend of sophistication and playfulness, is 42mm across and only 9mm thick with a band that's styled like a traditional adjustable watch band. And, with 24 hours of battery life, there’s more than enough power in the Scallop to last you all day.

Most of the smartwatches out there appeal mainly to techies and fitness enthusiasts. Their designs, while sleek and functional, don’t always fit your outfit. Michael Kors’ Access smartwatch, on the other hand, keeps you both connected and classy. Its 1.4-inch, 320 x 290 resolution display face is backed by a Snapdragon 2100 CPU, 4GB of storage and a 360mAh battery. It notably lacks a heart rate monitor that has become a mainstay in other smartwatches, but there’s no mistaking this fashion piece for a fitness tracker. It runs Android Wear 2.0, and with the Michael Kors Access app, you can customize the watch face. You can even set the watch face to automatically change at a certain time, helping you transition your day look to your night look.

Choosing a watch can be a big decision, especially when you’re planning to pay over $200 for it. But with a watch as customizable as Fossil’s Q Venture watch, you can switch up the style the second you get tired of it. You can change the face of the watch with just a few swipes, and since its bands are compatible with Fossil’s 18mm line, you can swap in new straps easily. Overall, the design is fairly compact and lightweight, with a 42mm round face and fixed bezel. It’s wirelessly charged via a small magnetic disk that secures itself to the underside of the watch, and a single charge will get you through about 24 hours, depending on use.

Inside, it packs a Snapdragon 2100 processor, paired with 512MB of RAM, which isn’t as capable as others on this list, but should still perform smoothly. There’s no heart rate monitor, meaning it’s not going to be your best workout buddy, and lack of NFC means you can’t use Android Pay. Still, it tracks your activity and serves up messages and notifications when synced with your smartphone.