Wear OS buyer's guide: What you need to know about Google's smartwatch platform

This article contains everything you need to know about Google’s Wear OS smartwatch operating system. We walk you through various features and buying guidelines, as well as round up the best Wear OS smartwatches you can find. Strap in, because there is a lot to talk about.

What is Wear OS?

Wear OS is a smartwatch operating system created and maintained by Google. It was announced on March 18, 2014, as Android Wear, and rebranded as Wear OS on March 15, 2018. Wear OS is an Android-based operating system that receives semi-regular feature and security updates, just like the version of Android that powers billions of smartphones around the world.

Google officially announced its flagship, in-house wearable in the form of the Google Pixel Watch in May 2022, and the device hit shelves in October of the same year. Google also allows hardware partners to create their own smartwatches running the Wear OS operating system. A number of smartphone OEMs — including Samsung, LG, Motorola, ASUS, Sony, and HUAWEI — were the first companies to create Wear OS watches. Now, most watches are made by fashion brands and various watchmakers, such as Fossil Group, Mobvoi, Tag Heuer, Montblanc, Casio, and others. However, not only Wear OS watches have access to the most recent version of Wear OS.

Why buy a Wear OS smartwatch?

First and foremost, just like Android itself, the operating system offers choice. You get a similar software experience on any device you buy, but the hardware can vary drastically. Google’s hardware partners consist of tech companies, traditional watchmakers, fashion brands, fitness companies, and more. This is in stark contrast to the operating system’s biggest competitor — the Apple Watch — which has nearly the same hardware no matter which generation you buy.

Wear OS watches come in all different shapes and sizes. You can buy a cheap plastic watch if you’re on a budget, a nice stylish watch from a fashion company if you want to wear your watch at the office, or even a top-tier luxury Wear OS watch if money is of no concern to you. Buying a smartwatch for thousands of dollars isn’t recommended, but it represents the idea that the platform is versatile.

The simple fact that Google makes both Android and Wear OS is also a selling point. If you use Android, it’s the obvious smartwatch platform to try out. All of your notifications, (most of) your apps, and your data will all be tightly integrated into Wear OS, as your phone and your watch run on the same underlying Android platform.

What’s the deal with Wear OS 3?

Wear OS has gone through many iterations in its lifetime, and the biggest change came in 2021. Google and Samsung announced Wear OS 3, a co-developed operating system that first appeared on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.

Samsung held exclusive rights to the operating system until late 2022 when it became available for other smartwatch makers. Fossil Gen 6 watches for example received the updated operating system. But not all watches are eligible and some eligible Wear OS 3 watches are still waiting. The TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra and TicWatch E3, for example, run Wear OS 2.23 out of the box but are eligible for Wear OS 3 and are still waiting for an update.

Google and Samsung built Wear OS 3 with performance, battery life, and customization in mind. Smartwatch OEMs can now customize Wear OS with a software skin, just like they can with Android proper. A shining example of this is Samsung’s One UI Watch software overlay on the Galaxy Watch 4 or Galaxy Watch 5 series. It looks similar to what you’d see on a Samsung smartphone. You can expect similar customizations from companies like Motorola, OPPO, and others in the future.

Wear OS 3’s user interface is a bit different from Wear OS 2’s. A swipe up from the watch face pulls up the all-apps drawer, while a swipe down shows your quick settings — just like your smartphone. Swiping left and right will shuffle through Tiles, which are glanceable screens of information from different apps and services. 

Google also claims apps launch up to 30% faster than they did on Wear OS 2.23, and battery life should be improved across the board as well. Speaking of apps, Google has already brought all-new redesigns of some of its most popular apps to Wear OS 3. Both a new Google Maps experience and a new YouTube Music are now available.

The latest version of Google’s operating system, Wear OS 3.5 integrates certain Fitbit staples into the company’s Pixel Watch such as the Today app (your daily activity summary), exercise modes, Active Zone Minutes, and on-wrist celebrations when you hit a goal. As mentioned, manufacturers can add a custom interface on top of the operating system so the platform won’t look identical on every Wear OS smartwatch.

What experts think of Wear OS products

We have lots of Wear OS product reviews on our website. Because there are dozens of Wear OS watches, we haven’t reviewed them all, but we always make it a point to check out the most popular devices.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro are our picks for the top Wear OS watches you can buy. These watches offer the best Wear OS has to offer on classy devices with premium builds.

The base model Galaxy Watch 5 brought some polish to the lineup, incrementally building on the success of the previous generation (which we already loved). The Pro model adds an even stronger build, a bigger battery, and solid new hiking and navigation features. We loved the look and comfort of the device during our Galaxy Watch 5 Pro review, including its classy new D-buckle clasp.

 Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic are still two great picks for a Wear OS watch if you don’t mind skipping the newest model. They both run Samsung and Google’s co-developed Wear OS. In our Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 review, we noted Samsung’s excellent hardware and long battery life, especially in the larger-sized models. Plus, Samsung significantly improved its heart rate sensor, making the Galaxy Watch 4 a solid workout device.

For the purest version of Wear OS 3.5, the Google Pixel Watch is now available. The device offers a modern aesthetic and comfortable build, plus unique integration with Fitbit. During our Pixel Watch review period, we felt there was a lot of potential for future iterations, but that the first generation can use some work. Namely, battery life leaves a lot to be desired.

Fossil Gen 6 devices should also be on your shortlist of smartwatches to consider. These devices come in a ton of colors and styles, as well as multiple sizes. The Fossil Gen 6 heart rate monitor and SpO2 spot-checks proved accurate in our testing, though the watch can only last about a day on a single charge. More importantly, it’s now running on the latest Wear OS as well. Fossil also released a Wellness Edition for more dedicated health tracking.

Another solid Wear OS smartwatch that’s guaranteed to receive the update is the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra. It builds on the already-great TicWatch Pro 3 from 2020. It’s more durable thanks to its MIL-STD-810G rating, and it comes with the latest internal specs you can get. Again, be mindful that this watch hasn’t yet received the significant Wear OS 3 update as of this writing.

We also reviewed the Mobvoi TicWatch E3, one of our top picks for a cheap Wear OS smartwatch. Our reviewer praised the TicWatch E3 for its solid hardware, IP68 rating, and decent battery life. However, this is a cheaper device we’re talking about, so some of Mobvoi’s cost-cutting measures are prevalent in the strap quality. It also may not be the watch for you if you’re looking for a workout companion.

What our readers think of Wear OS products

We asked you in mid-October 2021 about your thoughts. Out of over 3,000 total votes, ~34% of our readers said they love Wear OS 3 so far, 28% said they like the software overall, and just over 33% said it’s just okay. Fewer than 4% of our readers said they don’t like it at all, while .6% said they hate it.

We’ve also asked you about other smartwatch operating systems. When we polled our readers about which operating system their next smartwatch would run, over 2,500 readers chimed in with their thoughts.

Nearly 50% of the votes went to Wear OS 3, showing that new buyers are very interested in Google’s platform. A not-so-close second went to Apple watchOS with 16.4% of the votes. All the other smartwatch operating systems landed quite low on the scale. Zepp OS, which ships on various Amazfit smartwatches, garnered nearly 7.5% of the votes. Fitbit OS and Garmin’s operating system tied with 5.8% of the votes, Samsung’s Tizen only received 5.2% of the votes, and HUAWEI’s Lite OS received only 3.6% of the votes.

Buying the right Wear OS smartwatch for your needs

When buying a Wear OS smartwatch, it’s important to know what you want and need. Spending extra money on features you don’t want doesn’t make sense, but you also don’t want to buy something that doesn’t have the features you need. 

• The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 5 Classic are the best Wear OS smartwatches you can buy. They’re running the latest software, have decent battery life, and offer accurate fitness- and health-tracking features.
• The Fossil Gen 6 is the best Wear OS watch for customization. It’s available in two sizes and many different styles, so you’re bound to find one that suits your needs.
• The Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra is the best Wear OS watch for extended battery life. Thanks to its dual AMOLED + FSTN display, the watch can not only last up to 72 hours in “regular” mode but extend its longevity to 45 days in “essential mode.”
• The Mobvoi TicWatch E3 is the best cheap Wear OS watch right now. It’s available for just $200 and offers many of the features you’ll find on more expensive TicWatch devices.
• The Google Pixel Watch is the best Wear OS watch if you want a blend of Wear OS and Fitbit experiences. It’s not a perfect device, but it’s the only option for this level of integration.

What smartwatch features do Wear OS watches offer?

Think of Wear OS like an Android phone: each watch comes with a basic set of features out of the box. You can then supplement the experience by downloading third-party applications, games, and watch faces. All Wear OS watches offer access to the Google Play Store and Google Assistant, in addition to other Google apps like Gmail, Google Messages, Maps, and more.

Wear OS watches are compatible with Android phones running Android 6.0 and above (excluding Android Go phones). Wear OS 2.23 watches are compatible with iPhones running iOS 11.4 and above, while Wear OS 3.5 does not support iOS. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, but you’ll get the best experience if you use an Android phone. Without further ado, let’s round up all the smartwatch features Wear OS has to offer:

• Smartphone notifications: You receive the same app notifications on your device as you do on your smartphone. If a Telegram message arrives on your phone, it’ll show up on your smartwatch too. Same with Gmail, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, or any other app. You can reply to messages from your wrist using either voice dictation (easy method) or using the on-screen keyboard (advanced method). Also, swiping notifications away from your Wear OS device also clears them on your phone. 
• Voice assistants: Most Wear OS smartwatches offer access to Google Assistant. You can trigger Google Assistant by saying the “Okay, Google” or “Hey, Google” hotwords or usually by a long press of a physical button on your watch. Fossil’s latest Wear OS devices are compatible with Amazon Alexa. 
• On-wrist phone calls: You can answer phone calls right from your wrist on some Wear OS smartwatches. Watches with this feature have a built-in microphone and speaker and need to be connected to a nearby smartphone. No matter what Wear OS device you have, you’ll be able to accept and reject incoming calls from your wrist, too.
• Contactless payments: Most Wear OS watches support Google Pay, the company’s contactless payment system. Google Pay on these devices is straightforward to use and only takes a few minutes to set up. Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 series devices also support Samsung Pay. 

• Music streaming and offline music playback: Wear OS smartwatches usually come with 4-8GB of onboard storage, which you can use to download music for offline listening. Wear OS now supports music downloads from popular music services like Spotify and YouTube Music. We also recommend an app called NavMusic, which lets you easily download local music files to your watch.
  • How to download music from Spotify to your Wear OS watch
  • How to download YouTube Music to your Wear OS smartwatch for offline listening
• Control music playback from your smartphone: You can control the music playing on your phone from your Wear OS watch using dedicated music streaming apps. For instance, the Spotify Wear OS app lets you control your phone’s music, favorite tracks, and more.
• First- and third-party watch faces: Each Wear OS watch comes with a set of preloaded watch faces. Depending on the company that makes your watch, you might have a huge list to choose from, or you might need to scour the Play Store for something that suits your needs. Regardless, there are plenty of free and paid watch faces to choose from. This contrasts with the Apple Watch, which only allows for first-party (aka Apple-made) watch faces.
• First- and third-party apps: Many of the applications you already have installed on your smartphone will be on your smartwatch when you set it up. This includes Google Messages, Google Pay, and Google Fit. Third-party apps are also a major part of the Wear OS experience. Some of our favorite Wear OS apps include Spotify, YouTube Music, NavMusic, and Strava. You can download apps directly on your smartwatch from the Google Play Store.
• Onboard maps and navigation: Google Maps is available on Wear OS smartwatches and allows for turn-by-turn navigation. It can be a battery hog at times, but it’s also extremely reliable. 
• Wi-Fi+Bluetooth and LTE models: Most Wear OS devices come with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, meaning you’ll need to have a phone nearby if you want your smartwatch to act… smart. Some support LTE connections, allowing you to leave the house without your smartphone and still have access to messages, calls, and more.
• Emergency SOS: This feature will let users tap a button to access authorities or contact friends or family in emergency situations. The feature, announced at Google I/O 2022, is landing later in 2022 in limited areas.
• Google Home controls: The Pixel Watch features a dedicated Home app to control smart home devices from your wrist though it is still in the beta stage.

The Wear OS user interface is quite simple. Your main screen is your watch face. Swipe over to the leftmost page to find your notifications. For an all-apps drawer swipe up, or swipe down from the watch face to access your quick settings.

Swipe to the left, and you’ll find tiles — a basic version of Android widgets, which give you quick, glanceable access to your most-used apps. Google recently opened up the Tiles API to third-party developers, so you should see more tiles from your favorite apps show up on your watch in the coming months.

What fitness tracking features do Wear OS devices have?

Because there is so much variation in Wear OS hardware, fitness tracking features vary depending on the smartwatch. Below is a list of health metrics Wear OS devices track. Some devices track all of these metrics, while other watches only track basic things.

• Steps: Every Wear OS smartwatch tracks your steps taken throughout the day.
• Distance: Wear OS watches track your distance traveled throughout the day, as well as during exercises like cycling, running, and swimming. Some watches have standalone GPS, which enables them to track distance accurately without a phone nearby. Some less fitness-focused watches have connected GPS, which uses a connected smartphone’s GPS to calculate distance.
• Floors climbed: Using a barometric altimeter, most Wear OS watches can track your floors climbed or elevation throughout the day.
• Calories: Wear OS watches track your caloric burn during rest and during exercises. 
• Heart rate: As long as your device watch has an optical heart rate sensor, it will track your active and resting heart rate. Many of these watches can also alert you to high/low heart rate readings during periods of rest.
• Sleep: Wear OS watches can natively track your sleep duration, stages (light, deep, and REM), and disturbances. Some watches will also give you a sleep score based on how well you slept on any given night. You can also download a sleep tracking app if you’re not a fan of tracking in Google Fit.
• Snoring: In very specific cases, your Wear OS watch can even keep track of your snoring. 
• Blood oxygen saturation (SpO2): Pulse oximetry is all the rage nowadays, and various Wear OS watches can keep track of it. Usually, watches allow you to perform SpO2 spot checks throughout the day, as opposed to them continuously tracking the metric. Some devices are also able to track SpO2 levels throughout the night while you’re sleeping.

• Move Minutes and Heart Points: Google Fit prioritizes two metrics that you won’t find anywhere else: Move Minutes and Heart Points. “Move Minutes” are basically the number of minutes you’re active, and “Heart Points” are earned when you perform activities at a higher pace. Google worked with the American Heart Association (AHA) to create these two goals based on the AHA’s recommendations.
• Stress: Certain Wear OS watches can track your stress levels, usually by utilizing a metric called heart rate variability.
• Body composition: The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 series and 5 series have something called a bioelectrical impedance sensor (or BIA sensor) that will take a snapshot of your body composition. In this snapshot, your Galaxy Watch attempts to determine metrics like your skeletal muscle, basal metabolic rate (BMR), body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, and water retention.
• Sinus rhythm (ECG): Certain devices pack a built-in ECG monitor for performing electrocardiogram tests, whenever you need them.
• VO2 max: Some Wear OS watches estimate your VO2 max, or your cardio fitness level. This is the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use at maximum performance during exercise.
• Guided breathing: Using Google Fit, all Wear OS watches offer guided breathing exercises in case you need help calming down throughout the day.

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 series and 5 series both use Samsung Health as the primary app for fitness and health tracking. The Google Pixel Watch uses Fitbit’s companion app. Many Wear OS watches use or can be synced with Google Fit.

Google Fit has received mixed reviews from long-time users. Some cherish its simplicity and ease of use, while others feel the platform is too light on features. Google rolls out new feature updates to the platform every few months. However, the app is still far behind other fitness app staples like Fitbit, Strava, and MyFitnessPal. You can read more on Google Fit in our comprehensive guide linked below.

While Google Fit is the de facto fitness app for Wear OS, some companies ship their watches with additional fitness apps. Suunto’s watch uses Google Fit for basic activity data, while workout data is sent to the Suunto app. It’s not a seamless system, but it works. Mobvoi’s watches ship with a handful of basic health apps for tracking exercise and health data, again in addition to Google Fit.

If you’re not all-in on Google Fit, remember, this is Android we’re talking about. You can always download a third-party fitness app or workout app to use with your device. Many of the most popular fitness apps on Android support Wear OS, so odds are you’ll find something that suits your needs.

Generally speaking, Wear OS watches are fine for tracking basic activity metrics and the occasional workout. We’d suggest you look at devices from Fitbit, Garmin, or other health-focused companies if you’re looking specifically for a fitness watch.

The Wear OS app

You likely won’t use the Wear OS app on your smartphone very often after the initial pairing process. Aside from pairing your watch to your phone, the app is basically a giant settings menu. It lets you change watch faces, add/remove tiles, edit barebones notification settings, and enable things like the always-on display or tilt-to-wake functionality. You can also check your connected watch’s battery and storage amounts. Keep in mind, you can do most of these things right on your watch. 

Fitbit and Google: What’s the deal?

We have covered this topic extensively in our detailed Fitbit guide. To avoid repeating ourselves, we’ll give you the “greatest hits” of what’s going on now that Fitbit is officially part of Google.

Google officially purchased Fitbit, one of the world’s biggest health and wellness companies, for $2.1 billion on January 14, 2021. Google intends to utilize Fitbit’s hardware portfolio to bolster its bigger wearable ambitions. As Google’s Rick Osterloh said in the announcement, this deal is about “devices, not data.”

For now, Fitbit will continue to make wearables with Fitbit OS — the operating system that powers devices like the Versa line, Sense, and various fitness trackers — but that might not be the case forever. Fitbit plans to launch a Wear OS-powered smartwatch sometime in the future, though we don’t know when. We also don’t know if Google’s grand ambitions are to get all Fitbit smartwatches running the operating system in the future, or if Fitbit OS will continue to be developed as it has been. Expect Fitbit devices to run Fitbit OS, until they don’t.

That said,  Fitbit will play a crucial role in Google’s future wearable plans. The Pixel Watch features extensive integration with the Fitbit platform including heart rate tracking and basic activity metric smarts. The Pixel Watch also benefits from Fitbit’s impressive sleep-tracking credentials, too. 

What is Google Pay?

Google Pay is Google’s contactless payments service. You can use the service for many things such as paying or requesting money from friends and managing your funds. On Wear OS, the primary use is to pay for things in stores without the need to pull out your phone or your actual credit card.

Google Pay requires your device to have NFC. Most modern Wear OS devices do indeed have an NFC chip, but for some reason, there was a period of time when not all watchmakers included NFC in their devices. If you’re using an older or a cheaper device, you might not have access to Google Pay.

Once Google Pay is set up on your watch, using it is a breeze. You simply select the app on your watch, ensure the correct card is selected, then tap your watch on the NFC terminal. It really couldn’t be any easier.

Google Pay works with many credit and debit cards from the most popular banks. Hundreds of banks in the US support Google Pay. You can pay with Google Pay on Wear OS in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States. It can also be used at more than 200 transit systems around the world.

Problems and solutions

We’ve alluded to many of the Wear OS issues present in today’s build of the operating system. Since there are so many devices from so many manufacturers, we’ll stick to the main software issues present no matter which device you have.

The main issue most people have is poor battery life. Depending on which device you buy, your watch might last anywhere from 18 hours to two or three days on a single charge. Battery life was a big problem with early devices, which oftentimes had smaller batteries and old processors. Now, companies are getting smarter with battery-saving features.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many easy ways to fix the operating system’s battery drain. You can turn off certain functions like the always-on display, GPS for location, or NFC, but these are system-level features that should be able to be kept on at all times.

Many Wear OS users also complain about poor performance. Again, this was very much a problem with early devices, but not so much anymore. Remember, your watch is not nearly as powerful as your smartphone, so you may experience an app that takes a few seconds to load every once in a while. We’ve also noticed laggy Google Assistant voice prompts on some of our units.

We polled Android Authority readers in December 2020 to figure out which part of Wear OS was your least favorite. Poor battery life and lack of software updates were by far the top choices, followed by nearly a four-way tie between lack of hardware choices, the software interface, the limited app selection, and the overall package.

Wear OS and the competition

Wear OS has a fair amount of competitors from various companies from all around the world. For Android users, the biggest competition is from Fitbit and Garmin. On iOS, Wear OS’ biggest competition is the Apple Watch. We won’t list out every single competitor (there are far too many), but we’ll point you toward the main devices here:

• The Fitbit Versa 3 and Fitbit Sense are Wear OS’ biggest competitors from Fitbit. Both watches have plenty of smart features, built-in Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, and great fitness and health tracking features. Though a new generation is available for each line, we still recommend the older devices.
• The Garmin Venu 2 Plus is the best Wear OS alternative for fitness tracking, thanks to its accurate sensors and crisp AMOLED display.
• The Apple Watch Series 8 is the best smartwatch you can buy, full stop. If you’re looking for something a little cheaper but still in the Apple ecosystem, the Apple Watch SE 2 is much cheaper and offers many of the same features.

Older Wear OS smartwatches

We’ve covered all the current-gen Wear OS devices in this article, but what about older wearables that are no longer available or that we no longer recommend? Check out the list below to learn more about older options.

Top Wear OS-related questions and answers

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