While there are tons of great iOS-compatible smartwatches out there from the likes of Withings, Fossil and Fitbit, yet none of them pair quite so seamlessly with Apple’s smartphones as the Apple Watch series itself. No matter which one you opt for, the Apple Watch has been designed to make the most out of iOS with features such as messaging on your wrist, hands-free Siri activation, and even sleep tracking. Apple recently announced three new wearables in the form of the affordable Apple Watch SE 2, the rugged Apple Watch Ultra, and the Apple Watch 8; we have published reviews of the latter two and you can find them in the article below, but if you’re on a tighter budget then you might want to wait until our Apple Watch SE 2 review is published so you can see how much bang you’d get for your buck. As a side note, you can also check out our round-ups of the best smartwatch, best running watch and best fitness tracker if you’re after a wearable that doesn’t have the Apple brand attached. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the Apple Watch 3 is no longer supported by Apple so we’d recommend steering clear of it, even if it is available at a tempting price, and those who are still sporting the Apple Watch 3 should look at getting an immediate upgrade.
Which is the best Apple Watch 2022?
The best option for most people: Apple Watch Series 8 – check priceThe best affordable option: Apple Watch SE – check priceThe best option for serious athletes: Apple Watch Ultra – check price
There are many excellent attributes to this watch, including its highly adjustable screen; not only can it boast high levels brightness that’s perfect for sunny days, but it can also reduce this right down for when you need to check your watch at night, while the always-on display means you can check the time and notifications just with a glance thanks to its LTPO refresh rate tech. There aren’t all that many additions to the Watch 8 over its predecessor, but one change is that employment of a skin temperature sensor, which is particularly useful for women’s health tracking and family planning. The overalll fitness tracking is still very strong, comparing favourably to dedicated sports watches such as the Garmin Forerunner 955 in its lock-on speed and accuracy, while the adoption of heart rate zones is informative for keeping an eye on the intensity of your workout. Overall, this watch does a great job of encouraging to to keep healthy, whether that be through its addictive sleep-tracking feature or its step counting goals. The new S8 chipset s more efficient than its predecessor, and we found that its battery life generally leaves us with 25-30% charge after a full 24 hours’ usage (including through the night), and this is further helped out by its improved low-power mode. The fast-charging introduced last year has remained in place, giving us 20% of the juice after 10 minutes plugged in. Reviewer: Max ParkerFull review: Apple Watch 8 Though the SE is hardly cheap, especially compared to some of the dedicated fitness trackers and WearOS watches we recommend, it’s still very good value. During testing we found the watch offers equivalent fitness tracking to the 7, near identical battery life and access to the same portfolio of apps. Performance also proved to be on a par with our tester never noticing any lag or slow down using the device. The only compromises are that the SE doesn’t have an always on display option, which means you have to turn the screen on when fully whenever you want to check the time and that its charge speeds are much lower. It took well over an hour for us to get a full charge. We found the compromises are worth making if you can live without these small luxuries which is why we actually recommend the SE over the 7 for most buyers. Reviewer: Max ParkerFull review: Apple Watch SE Review All this would mean nothing if the performance wasn’t up to scratch, but fortunately it is. The dual-band GPS tracking is just as accurate as a high-end Garmin watch for tracking your running and cycling, while the safety features such as crash detection, ECG and more are there to reassure you. The software is brilliantly zippy and supports lots of compatible apps, plus the battery life is an improvement over the standard Apple Watch 8, now giving you 36 hours of normal use or 60 hours when in power-saving mode. However, the watch is certainly very bulky to wear, especially if you want to track your sleep, and the native mapping supports isn’t as rich as we’d have liked. What’s more, some of the higher heart rate readings could be inaccurate when compared to a chest strap monitor. Reviewer: Michael Sawh Full review: Apple Watch Ultra 2,373 Wearable & Fitness
