The Best Smartwatches for Swimming and Water Sports
Best waterproof smartwatch: Top watches you can swim with
Pretty much every smartwatch is water resistant these days, making them equipped to handle a dip in the pool and even survive an open water swim. But some are better than others at tracking your swims accurately.
After extensive testing from the Wareable team, we've ranked the best waterproof smartwatch as the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for its diving features, auto-depth tracking, and excellent built-in Workout smarts. But that doesn't necessarily make it the right choice for everyone.
We've been swimming with every smartwatch in our testing process to find out which smart watches can tell your breaststroke from your front crawl.
Smartwatch water resistance ratings explained:
If you're looking for a smartwatch for swimming, you needa device with 5ATM and IPX8 ratings (or higher).
Having at least both these marks will mean your watch has both ingress protection for continuous immersion in water, as well as the ability to deal with a good level of water pressure.
It might sound baffling, but a 3ATM watch is technically water-resistant up to 30 meters, but it won't provide suitable protection for swimming.
You can read ourguide to wearable waterproof ratings for more detailed information.
Apple Watch Ultra 2
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Probably the ultimate waterproof smartwatch, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is rated 100ATM, and it's good for diving (its EN13319 certified) putting it a few lengths ahead of its competitors.
When submerged in water, the Apple Watch Ultra automatically turns into a dive computer, showing you live depth in a clear and easy-to-read display. Its good for dives up to 40m, and can also survive the water pressure of jet-skiing and surfing.
It also integrates with the Oceanic+ app, which offers specialist diving metrics and features.
Divers are also well catered for with the Ocean strap, which is the best of the standard issue bands, in our opinion.
When it comes to swimming, the Apple Watch Ultra shares the excellent tracking performance of the standard Series 9 and Apple Watch SE models. (See below).
Of course, its a completely different beast to wear. The 49mm case means that its chunky on the wrist, and a lot of people (especially women) will find that more uncomfortable to wear.
But the screen and added day(s) of battery life more than makeup for that, and the Apple Watch Ultra oozes outdoor vibes when youre getting on with the mundanities of everyday life.
Waterproof rating: 10 ATM (100m) | Pool and open water: Yes | Dive: EN13319
Wareable verdict: Apple Watch Ultra 2 review
Apple Watch Series 9 / SE
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If you dont fancy the size or price tag of the Ultra, the standard Series 9 and Watch SE are fantastic pool/water companions. And in terms of pool skills, theres nothing to pick between them.
There are multiple swimming modes in the Workout app, which will serve up a host of metrics, including distance covered, lengths, and average pace, and it can distinguish stroke style, as well.
During the swim, the touchscreen is inactive, but the always-on display does mean you can raise your arm to check in on real-time progress.
In terms of accuracy, the Apple Watch is up there with the dedicated sports watches, and the experience overall of taking it swimming is strong.
Core data (distance, lap counts, average pace) were all in line with our control testing, and it's a comfortable watch to wear in the water. Data lives in the Apple Activity app, but you also have the benefit of third-party Apple Watch swimming apps for that extra hit of analysis.
Waterproof rating: 10 ATM (100m) | Pool and open water: Yes
Wareable verdict: Apple Watch Series 9 review
Garmin Forerunner 965 / 265 / 165
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Check price: Buy Garmin Forerunner 165
Check price: Buy Garmin Forerunner 265
Check price:Buy Garmin Forerunner 965
We've lumped these Forerunner devices together here due to their similarities when it comes to swimming tracking, with both essentially affording you top-level insights in a lightweight design.
All are adept at tracking pool, open water, triathlon, and Swimrun workouts, with a number of different versions on offer to help you find the right fit and screen size for your wrist.
As you would expect, the performance and accuracy are very similar to what's offered on other Garmin watches - and that's no bad thing. Metrics like distance, pace, stroke count, and SWOLF scores are all presented neatly, with the option to customize data fields also present.
As with the Epix (Gen 2), you can also set up auto-resting, pace alerts, and Garmin's Drill Log feature from the old Swim 2, which is really handy for pool workouts.
There is one key difference: The Forerunner 165 doesn't have pool-based workouts or a pace alerts feature when in the pool. The Forerunner 265 and 965 do.
Battery life varies between these two sports watches, we should note. The 965 is capable of reaching a couple of weeks with standard use as a smartwatch, while the 265 (13 days) and 165 (11 days) are shorter.
As we say, though, either of these is a great companion in the water. The experience is feature-rich, and accurate and also offers plenty of other smarts and tracking insights when you're done in the water.
Waterproof rating: 5 ATM (50m) | Pool and open water: Yes
Wareable verdict: Garmin Forerunner 965 review | Garmin Forerunner 265 review
Huawei Watch 4 Pro
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The Huawei swimming experience is also pretty consistent and the Huawei Watch 4 Pro also offers
Weve used Huawei wearables extensively in the pool, and have found tracking of laps, calories, distance, speed, SWOLF, swim stroke rate, and frequency to be reliable so on that front, the Huawei Watch 4 comes recommended.
And it's suitable for diving, with its EN 13319 rating meaning its good for dives up to 30m.
The dive app will produce plenty of data. It will measure the speed, depth, and duration of dives, as well as depth curve, heart rate, breath holding duration, and data on diaphragm contraction.
And it features a a titanium and ceramic build, and an excellent AMOLED screen. Battery life is a cut above rivals, with a week away from the charger however, all those premium materials mean it costs more than an Apple Watch but less than an Apple Watch Ultra.
Waterproof rating: 10 ATM (100m) | Pool and open water: Yes | Dive: EN13319
Wareable verdict: Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro review
Garmin Venu 3
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For swimmers, buying Garmin is a strong choice and the Venu 3 is the company's most advanced smartwatch, so you're getting an excellent all-rounder here.
The Venu 3 is two things. First up, it's a sporty smartwatch with a host of fairly basic sports profiles, and for a Garmin, produces quite low-level data for running, and cycling but also a decent array of swimming metrics.
Garmin watches have led the way here, and you'll get the detection of strokes (backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle), accurate length tracking, and also the all-important SWOLF metric.
The Venu 3 will also record heart rate underwater using the optical sensor.
It's also a strong wellness watch, with in-depth metrics such as the new sleep coach (as mentioned above) but also Morning Report and HRV Status, Body Battery, stress tracking, and metrics such as respiration rate and heart rate.
It comes in two available sizes (45mm and 41mm) with options for varied colors and features like the Sleep Coach and an automatic nap detection mechanism, which personalizes sleep requirements based on numerous metrics.
Battery life is 10 to 14 days depending on the model size.
Amazfit Active
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Amazfit offers a decent swimming experience across its range of smartwatches but its the Amazfit Active weve highlighted here.
The newer Amazfit brings much of what's good about its recent smartwatches with a budget price tag, that makes it easy to recommend.
Pool swimming is automatically detected and the AMOLED display is well-suited to checking your metrics while in the pool.
On the watch, you get the distance covered, swim duration, and calories burned, for open water and pool swims.
Afterward, you can find the average pace, speed, and average strokes per minute.
Whats more, the Amazfit app plays nicely with Strava, which is a great place to record and review swimming data.
Away from the pool, the Amazfit Active is a solid workout companion for runners, and the new Readiness feature will suit those who work out regularly and want to keep tabs on fatigue.
It lacks third-party apps, payments, and native streaming music support, but at this price,
Waterproof rating: 5 ATM (50m) | Pool and open water: Yes
Read our full Amazfit Active review
Garmin Epix (Gen 2)
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The Garmin Epix (Gen 2) is best described as a Fenix with an AMOLED screen and it's giving you the best that Garmin has to offer in swim tracking features as well, at a high price.
It works for the pool, open water swimming, and swim runs, it has a higher 100-meter waterproof rating than Garmin's Venu series watches and you're getting a bigger AMOLED touchscreen to view your data here too.
Performance-wise, it works as well as the swim tracking offered on other Garmins and that's good news. You have a rich array of metrics to capture, including distance, pace, stroke count, and SWOLF scores and the bright, vibrant screen makes it possible to view progress in clearer swimming waters.
In the pool, you can set up auto rests, and pace alerts, and includes the drill logging feature from its Swim watches.
There's support for underwater heart rate monitoring, though you'd be better off pairing up a swim-friendly heart rate chest strap to get more reliable insights into your effort levels.
Battery life is solid too, giving you potentially up to 16 days, with that dropping down to 6 days if you keep the display on 24/7.
If you like the idea of a more feature-rich Garmin that has more to offer swimmers that offers the best of Garmin's smartwatch and tracking features with a color screen, this is the Garmin you want on in the water.
Waterproof rating: 10 ATM (100m) | Pool and open water: Yes
Wareable verdict: Garmin Epix (Gen 2) review
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
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The Galaxy Watch 6 is Samsung's latest smartwatch. It runs on Google's Wear OS 4, giving you access to Google features like the Play Store and the ability to download Google apps.
In terms of its sports tracking prowess, it still feels very Samsung from that point of view and that means you can expect similar swim tracking in the pool and open water from it. It's also waterproof up to 50 meters depth.
It's a smartwatch that will let you view metrics like distance, strokes, lap time, and SWOLF (to measure swimming efficiency) from the Super AMOLED display.
With Wear OS now on board, you have access to third-party apps to track swims outside of Samsung's own Health companion app.
Unlike previous smartwatches, the Watch 6 only works with Android phones. It does offer good accuracy on the whole in the water and is one that's comfortable to wear in the water too. You're also getting one of the best smartwatch experiences outside of Apple's whether it's notification support or music features and now it has significantly better app support.
Waterproof rating: 5 ATM (50m) | Pool and open water: Yes
Wareable verdict: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
Fitbit Versa 4
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The Fitbit Versa 4 isn't a huge departure from the Versa 3, but it's still a decent pool companion.
It offers all of the same swim-tracking features, so you'll be able to view lengths, distance covered, and workout duration on the touchscreen display.
It doesn't display the type of stroke and there's no SWOLF data available, so data-hungry swimmers might find the experience a little underwhelming, but it's a good swimming smartwatch for beginners or casuals.
The swim tracking experience feels a little basic in terms of what you see on the watch. And when you've showered and dressed, the post-swim data is similarly basic and the emphasis once again is on how this activity contributes to your overall day's data.
Fitbit's other smartwatch, the health-centric Sense, also offers the same swim tracking support, so you'll paying the extra money for the additional serious health monitoring features available.
In terms of smartwatch features, you're getting the best Fitbit has to offer. You can view notifications, access music controls, and pile on the music of your own or via music streaming services like Deezer. There's Fitbit Pay and a microphone to make use of Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant and take calls over Bluetooth.
If you want a data-rich swim tracking experience, that's not what you'll get here. It's a good fit for pool swimmers who just want to go for a dip and are not fussed about digging into more advanced metrics.
Waterproof rating: 5 ATM (50m) | Pool and open water: Pool only
Wareable verdict: Fitbit Versa 4 review
Huawei Watch Fit 2
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The Huawei Watch Fit 2 is a smartwatch that looks like a fitness tracker but don't be fooled, it has plenty of smartwatch skills and has the same ability to track swims indoors and outside as the Huawei Watch GT 3, GT Runner, and the Watch 3.
It's got a lovely light, design and a crisp, 1.74-inch, 336 x 480 resolution AMOLED touchscreen display and that screen is perfectly viewable despite its slender form factor.
Like the GT series, the Fit 2 is capable of tracking both open water and pool swimming offering metrics including laps, calories, distance, speed, SWOLF, swim stroke rate, and frequency.
When you head outdoors, you can expect to see distance, average SWOLF, swimming time, swimming strokes, and swim stroke rate.
The downside is that data largely lives inside Huawei's companion app with no great third-party app support for swimmers present. It does run on Huawei's HarmonyOS operating system, which means you do get access to Huawei's AppGallery store, though it lacks any big-name apps or swim-centric apps for that matter.
There is an app that can help you sync workout data to other third-party apps like Strava, so getting that data out can be done.
On the smartwatch front, it's a more complete experience using it with an Android phone or Huawei phone compared to an iPhone. You get notifications, Bluetooth calling, and a built-in music player, with room for up to 5,000 songs, but the latter is Android only.
If you don't want to spend big and like the idea of a smartwatch with strong swim tracking support that's slimmer, lighter, and smaller than most smartwatches, then this is well worth looking at.
Waterproof rating: 5 ATM (50m) | Pool and open water: Yes
Wareable verdict: Huawei Watch Fit 2 review
