How long are smartwatches good for
Best smartwatches for battery life 2024
The Apple Watch is great for many things, but one thing that users get upset about the most with it is the fact that the watch needs to be charged daily. For some, in fact, a daily charging requirement is a dealbreaker when it comes to a smartwatch. Thankfully, there are tons of smartwatches that can be worn for a week at a time, even longer, before they need a quick battery boost.
The best smartwatches for battery life are great for busy, active, and health-conscious individuals who dont want to miss a single step or sleep tracking and for travelers who love being able to wear it for an entire vacation without having to bring along a charging cord. Which smartwatches offer the best battery life? Heres a round-up.
At a glance
Best overall
The Garmin Vivoactive 4 lasts for up to 8 days per charge and offers animated workouts on screen, storage for up to 500 songs, a bevvy of health metrics, and a sleek design. Even with heavy usage, youll get at least half a week between charges.
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Best budget
Boasting an impressive 18-day battery life, you can go for a two-week vacation with this smartwatch and leave the charger at home. Despite its compact size, you get important data like heart rate, Sp02, exercise, steps, sleep, and more.
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Best fitness
With a battery life of up to six days, the Fitbit Versa 4 captures 24/7 heart rate, has more than 40 exercise modes, delivers wonderful sleep tracking, and even lets you follow workouts from your wrist.
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Best health tracking
Another option from Amazfit, this smartwatch has a large, square 1.65-inch face and plenty of premium features, from heart rate tracking to blood oxygen, sleep, and more than 120 sports modes. It offers an up to 15-day battery life which can be extended up to 45 days using the battery saver mode and limiting features.
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5. Citizen CZ Smart PQ2 Hybrid Smartwatch
Best hybrid
It doesnt get any smarter for a smartwatch than with the Citizen CZ Smart PQ2: it has built-in IBM Watson AI technology backed by NASA research, designed to learn your unique Chronotype and daily rhythms. It tracks all the usual suspects with a digital timepiece look to it data is behind traditional clock hands so it doesnt even look like a smartwatch at first glance.
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6. Garmin Instinct 2 Solar
Best solar
Can you get any better than unlimited battery life? With direct sunlight, youll get up to 48 hours in GPS mode. The Garmin Instinct 2 Solar is ultra-rugged, too, so you can swim with it, go on outdoor adventures, and more, all without breaking a sweat. Dont worry, it comes with a charging cable for traditional wired power battery boost as needed, too.
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Best premium
The OnePlus Watch 2 might only last 4 days in smart mode, but you can extend this to up to 12 days using the Power Saver mode while still accessing things like certain workouts, incoming calls, heart rate and sleep tracking, and more. Plus, the dual-engine architecture affords more efficient use of the battery.
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Best overall
Best overall
Specifications
Display size: 1.3 inches
Battery life: Up to 8 days
GPS: Yes
Water resistance: 5ATM
Reasons to buy
+8 days of battery life
+GPS, HRM, NFC
+Activity/sleep/stress tracking
+Blood oxygen monitoring
+On-screen workouts
Reasons to avoid
-Transflective display is underwhelming
-Sunlight visibility is hit or miss
-A tad chunky for some wrists
What you want out of a smartwatch can vary from person to person. If you're someone who wants a little more than just a basic fitness tracker but not a premium smartwatch with features that you won't find useful, look for a smartwatch that offers a good balance. And that's exactly why the Garmin Vivoactive 4 is so ideal for anyone looking for a mid-range smartwatch.
For starters, it has a sleek and snazzy look with plenty of color options. It can also keep track of essential health stats like blood oxygen, respiration, sleep stages, heart rate, and more. It includes animated on-screen workouts and has over 20 preloaded GPS and sports apps.
Most importantly, the Garmin Vivoactive 4 has a huge battery life that can last up to eight days in smartwatch mode or 6 hours in GPS mode with music. That's not to mention other nifty features like NFC functionality or smartphone notifications. For the average person, this is the smartwatch to pick if you need a good battery life.
Best budget
Best budget
Specifications
Display size: 1.47 inches
Battery life: 18 days
GPS: No
Water resistance: 5ATM
Reasons to buy
+Very affordable
+PAI data with no subscription
+Up to 18 days of battery life
+Built-in Alexa support
+Continuous heart rate and stress tracking
+Really cool always-on display
Reasons to avoid
-Connected GPS is sometimes unreliable
-No NFC or speaker
-Can't do anything with notifications
-Touchscreen-only/no buttons
There are a lot of cool smartwatches on the market with so many different features. The more features you want your smartwatch to have, however, the more costly it's going to be. If you want a smartwatch that just covers the basics or you're simply working with a tight budget, the Amazfit Band 7 is an absolute winner.
There's a whopping 120 sports modes available ranging from standards like swimming and running, to more unusual activities like parkour and kite flying. You'll also be able to set workout goals based around either time or amount of calories burned. Crucially, it sports a battery life of up to 18 days, though, in our testing, we found that it's likely to last 12 days even with heavy usage.
Best fitness
Best fitness
Specifications
Display size: 1.69 inches
Battery life: 6 days
GPS: Yes
Water resistance: 5ATM
Reasons to buy
+The hardware navigation button is back
+Superb battery life
+Lightweight and sleek design
+Works with both iOS and Android
+Google Wallet and Pay integration
Reasons to avoid
-No Google Assistant, Alexa only
-Unable to download third-party apps
-No more music streaming
-Some features are still locked behind Fitbit Premium
-More expensive than its predecessor
If you want a smartwatch that's dedicated to fitness, you can never go wrong with a Fitbit; if you want a smartwatch that's dedicated to fitness and has a great battery life, you can't go wrong with the Fitbit Versa 4. You'll be missing out on a lot of features that other smartwatches offer but will get a more dedicated fitness tracker.
There are over 40 exercise modes ranging from strength training to kayaking, and the built-in GPS will give real-time pace and distance when exercising outdoors. Google Maps integration will give you directions turn-by-turn, making it great for an activity like cycling. You'll get a battery life of up to six days with the Fitbit Versa 4, giving you around a full week of exercising between charges.
Best health tracking
Best health tracking
Specifications
Display size: 1.65 inches
Battery life: Up to 15 days
GPS: Yes
Water resistance: 5ATM
Reasons to buy
+Reliable battery life
+Heart rate and oxygen measurement
+Sleep and fitness tracking
+120 sport modes with GPS and waterproofing
+Alexa built-in
+Easily lasts for a week or more
Reasons to avoid
-Cannot reply to notifications
-Poor third-party app support
-No rotating crown
-Build doesn't feel premium
-Inaccurate step-counter
-Still no NFC for payments
One of the benefits of smartwatches is their ability to gather health metrics. If you're someone who needs to keep up with important health data on the fly like heart rate or blood-oxygen saturation, you'll want a smartwatch that has reliable sensors. It might lack third-party support and NFC payment, but the Amazfit GTS 4 Mini is a good choice if you're primarily looking for a way to track your health and sleep data.
We found it to be very comfortable, which is important when choosing a smartwatch. Alexa is built right in, too, so you'll be able to do everything from setting an alarm to getting a translation right from your wrist. It has over 120 sports modes and smart recognition of seven sports, and is waterproof up to 50 meters. The 270 mAh battery gives up to 15 days of charge with normal use, but up to 45 days on battery saver mode.
Best hybrid
5. Citizen CZ Smart PQ2 Hybrid Smartwatch
Best hybrid
Specifications
Display size: 1.28 inches
Battery life: 18 days
GPS: No
Water resistance: 3ATM
Reasons to buy
+Huge battery life
+Stylish design
+NASA-backed technology
While function is important in choosing a smartwatch, form matters just as much. The digital interface of a smartwatch can be a turnoff for anyone who's a fan of a more classic, standard-looking watch. Hybrid smartwatches like the Citizen CZ Smart PQ2 offer the best of both worlds.
The Citizen CZ Smart PQ2 looks like a snazzy watch right out of a spy film and performs like one, too. It uses AI models created by IBM Watson that are backed by research from NASA itself to learn your own unique Chronotype and then create a personalized forecast with the YouQ app.
This forecast anticipates a pattern of expected peaks and valleys in your levels of energy and fatigue, which gives you a better understanding of your body and allows the app to provide suggestions to improve your health. You'll also be able to sync it to your Nest, August, or Yale Lock security systems and it has Alexa built right in. The best part? It does all of this on a battery that offers up to 18 days of use per charge.
Best solar
Best solar
Specifications
Display size: 1.27 inches
Battery life: Up to 65 days depending on use and sunlight
GPS: Yes
Water resistance: 10ATM
Reasons to buy
+Unstoppable battery with decent solar recharging
+Bright MIP display upgraded from Instinct 1
+Comes in two sizes with several special editions
+Works with Garmin Pay and Connect IQ
Reasons to avoid
-Fairly expensive for Solar version
-No music storage or calls
-Maps are too barebones
If you want to squeeze as much battery life from your smartwatch as possible, nothing can beat a solar-powered battery literally. Provided you expose it to a required amount of sunlight, your battery life can be unlimited. If you're looking for a solar-powered smartwatch, you can't go wrong with the Garmin Instinct 2 Solar.
This is a watch that really benefits anyone needing a tough, rugged design for their outdoor exercise and activities. It's durable and damage-resistant and offers water resistance up to a whopping 100 meters. It offers all the same essential fitness data you'd get from any other smartwatch, but gives you the same level of detail without the need for a subscription, which some require to get the most out of it. To top it all off, the Garmin Instinct 2 Solar comes in a ton of fun colors and patterns to zhush up your wardrobe.
Best premium
Best premium
Specifications
Display Size: 1.43 inches
Battery Life: 100 Hours (12 Days in Power Saver Mode)
GPS: Built-in, dual frequency
Water resistance: IP68, 5ATM
Reasons to buy
+Dual-engine architecture handles background tasks and apps separately
+Incredible, adaptable battery life
+Can even create custom workouts
+Comes with built-in Google apps via WearOS 4
Reasons to avoid
-No female health tracking
-No ECG
-No LTE option
-Might feel big and clunky for some
The newest entry on this list, OnePlus followed up its lackluster original Watch from 2021 with this beauty, the OnePlus Watch 2, which more than makes up for the shortcomings of the original. Along with the rated 100 hours of battery life (or about 4 days), you can also flip it to Power Saver mode to extend that up to 12 days. Unlike with other smartwatches that shut down virtually every feature to save power, you'll still be able to access things like sleep tracking, heart rate, and even some fitness exercises as well as notifications.
Beyond that, it employs VOOC fast charging so you can be up and running in no time with a quick plug-in to the proprietary charging puck using the included charging brick. The dual-engine architecture, meanwhile, further extends battery life by using one chip to run basic background activities and others to kick in only when needed to run more complex apps, like maps or music controls.
Loaded with Google's Wear OS 4, you'll get plenty of pre-loaded Google apps along with others you can download right from the watch. That includes everything from Maps to even Google Assistant. Durable and elegant in design, the OnePlus Watch 2 is a sleek option to rival any of the best Android smartwatches on the market today.
How to choose
Which long battery smartwatch is best?
Why you can trust Android Central Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Of course, youre going to choose the perfect smartwatch for you based on more than just battery life. But for some, thats a deciding factor between the two models you might be considering. If youre often away on adventures, youll benefit from a solar charging model like the Garmin Instinct 2 Solar.
All of the best Fitbit smartwatches offer good battery life, often at least a week, so you cant go wrong with that brand when it comes to the battery lasting for a good amount of time. The Fitbit Versa 4 is a good option to consider if you want premium features balanced with favorable battery life. Garmin makes fabulous smartwatches as well, like the Garmin vivoactive 4, and most of the brands smartwatches have batteries that last up to a week. Keep in mind that with the best running watches, from Garmin or other brands, using the built-in GPS can be a battery drain. But you still come out ahead.
From a budget standpoint, you cant go wrong with a brand like Amazfit, and the Amazfit Band 7 is a solid option for casual athletes and average users that youll love wearing. It employs more of a band design but still offers tons of smartwatch features. If you prefer the traditionally larger smartwatch screen instead, you can consider the Amazfit GTS Mini, which has the larger design and is still affordable, though it isnt as feature-rich as some of the other smartwatches on this list.
While the OnePlus Watch 2 works with any Android phone using 8.0 or higher, it's perfectly paired to a OnePlus device. (I used it with both the OnePlus 12 and the Google Pixel 8 and it works wonderfully with both). It's stylish, responsive, and you'll find that with regular, everyday use, you'll get through a full workweek before needing to recharge.
All the best Android smartwatches boast at least decent, at most amazing, battery life. Youll find that charging becomes part of your routine, whether it needs to be done daily, weekly, or less often. But the less you need to charge, of course, the better.
