The Easy Way to Use Your Smartwatch for Educational Podcasts and Audiobooks

By Isabella Storyclaire

last updated September 17, 2024

Contributions sourced from

Best Smartwatches For Audiobooks And Podcasts

Smartwatch for audiobooks or podcasts? Its a terrific idea for runners who want to be at the top of their physical and intellectual well-being.

Streaming music on smartwatches has been made possible by the introduction of cellular connectivity, but similar apps for streaming audiobooks and podcasts are far and few between.

Popular Audiobooks apps like Audible are available only on Apple watches. Smartwatches with Wear OS and other proprietary OS are still at a disadvantage in this regard as there is not even a single popular dedicated audiobooks app available on these.

However, you can always turn to old school tricks to get your favorite audiobooks on your non-Apple Watch.

For this, the smartwatch must have a large storage capacity and a music player. You would have to convert the audiobooks to supported format (mp3) and then load them on to the watch via Bluetooth connection.

Of course, it is a tedious process and it takes patience and compromises on your part.

As far as the podcasts are concerned, you can have high hopes. Both Spotify and Wear Cast is available on Wear OS that let you search, stream, and store podcasts on the smartwatch.

With WatchOS, the options are more diversified. Apple has its own Podcast app well integrated into its watches, plus third-party options like Overcast.

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Best Tizen Based Watch For Podcasts

eSIM: Yes
Size: 44 mm Version
Weight: 42 g (1.48 oz)
OS: Tizen by Samsung
Display: 1.4 AMOLED / 60 x 360 / 328ppi /Always-on Display
Storage & Memory: 4GB , 1.5 GB
Battery Life: 20-50 hours
GPS: Yes with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
NFC: Yes
Water Resistance: 5 ATM IP68 + Military Grade 8100

Samsung Galaxy Active 2 is a swiss army knife of smartwatches. It has almost all the popular smartwatch features under the sun. To mention a few, you can make calls and texts on the smartwatch, stream music and podcasts, and have a voice assistant in Samsung Bixby. Plus, onboard GPS and contactless payment make it a truly standalone device.

Active watch 2 also features advanced fitness features. It has an accurate heart rate tracker, can track sleep and steps, but more importantly, can perform ECG and blood pressure measurement. The latter two health features were first available for Koreans, after Samsungs got the FDA approval for its ECG watches, Americans could access them too.

The smartwatch has a thin profile, a vibrant AMOLED display, and a pretty decent battery life to boast off. One of its characteristic features is the touch rotating bezel for quick navigation. The watch is not fragile as it might look. It is military standard and ATM 5 approved for resistance against water, dust, scratches, and shocks.

The Tizen OS of the smartwatch doesnt have a great variety of applications as you would find in Wear OS and Watch OS devices, but it surely does have the most popular ones. You can stream music and podcasts on Spotify and can download them for offline usage.

For Streaming And Offline Listening To Audiobooks & Podcasts:

eSIM: Yes (By Verizon Wireless)
Size: 45 mm Version
Weight: 100 g (3.52 oz)
OS: Wear OS by Google
Display: 1.28 AMOLED / 416 x 416 / 328ppi /Always-on Display
Storage & Memory: 1GB , 8GB
Battery Life: Up to 18 hours
GPS: Yes
NFC: Yes
Water Resistance: 3 ATM

Fossil Gen 5 LTE has been released just at the start of this year and it is the only smartwatch by the company that offers cellular connectivity. It runs Wear OS by Google (Previously known as Android Wear) LTE version offers nothing new except for the calling, texting, and streaming feature.

Gen 5 LTE is a big watch with a large bezel. It goes without saying that the watch is suitable for large wrists and fashion enthusiasts. Its 1.28-inch AMOLED display is brighter, vivid, and crisp and has an always-on sensor. Unsurprisingly, the battery life hardly gets you through the day, but it charges pretty fast.

The resistance against water is pretty mediocre as the watch is ATM 3 rated. To put things in perspective, smartwatches nearly half their price come with an ATM5 rating these days. The overall build of the watch, however, is premium. Fossil has rightly combined fitness features with fashion in this watch.

Its large storage capacity, plus the fact that it can stream music and audiobooks, is the key reason why this smartwatch makes it to this list. WearOS might not have the versatility of Watch OS apps and may lag in performance, it is still a better option than Tizen OS for Android users.

Best Smartwatch For Audible:

eSIM: Yes
Size: 44mm Version
Weight: 47.1 g (1.66 oz)
OS: watchOS 7.0, upgradable to 7.1
Display: Sapphire crystal glass | 448 x 368 pixels (~326 ppi density) | 1.78 inches, 10.0 cm2 (~60.0% screen-to-body ratio) | Retina LTPO OLED, 1000 nits (peak)
Storage & Memory: 32 GB and 1 GB
Battery Life: Up to 18 h (mixed usage)
GPS: Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS
NFC: Yes, Apple Pay (Coverage: 41 countries worldwide)
Water Resistance: 50m water resistant

Apple Watch Series 6 is hands down the best smartwatch for Audiobooks and podcast lovers. And yes, their favorite app Audible is available on WatchOS.

Series 6 is the latest in the series Apple smartwatch product line and is the most complete watch. But if you are on a budget, you can choose older models. Just keep one thing in mind, buy the LTE version.

The watch has sapphire crystal glass with Retina OLED screen technology. In terms of display, the Apple watch has hardly any competitors close enough. Its 448 x 368 pixels display is crisp, sharp, and lively. 1000 nit brightness capacity makes it suitable to use indoor and outdoor.

Apple watch might outshine other watches in its vast variety of apps and envious display, but it has one chunk in the armor. The watch hardly makes it through the day. Apple has made amends for it by introducing wireless fast charging in the latest generations.

Apple watch can stream directly on your wrist, has a massive 32 GB storage, and above all, watch OS, which in turn has thousands of apps. No doubt that Audiobooks and Podcasts lovers would find the perfect match for their needs in Apple Watch Series 6.

Best Wear Os Watch For Audiobooks & Podcasts:

eSIM: Yes (By Verizon)
Size: 45mm Version
Weight: 47.4 g (1.671 oz)
OS: Wear OS by Google
Display: 1.39 AMOLED 400400 | 1000 nit brightness
Storage & Memory: 4 GB and 1 GB
Battery Life: 2 days (mixed usage)
GPS: Yes, GPS/AGPS + GLONASS + Beidou
NFC: Yes, Google Pay ( 29 countries Worldwide)
Water Resistance: IP68 + pool swimming suitable+US Military Standard 810G

The Chinese-based Mobvoi is behind the affordable Ticwatch Series, whereas Ticwatch Pro 4G is the latest smartwatch by the company that runs Wear OS (like all its previous models) and has the most powerful processor by Qualcomm, namely Snapdragon Wear 4100.

The smartwatch is also unique in terms of screen technology: it has dual-screen technology presumably to save battery. The watch lasts 3 days on a single charge, and more than 30 days if you use it in basic mode with limited features.

Ticwatch Pro is at par with Apple, Garmin, and Samsung when it comes to the prowess of sensors. It accurately tracks steps, heart rate, and sleep. The watch doesnt offer advanced features like ECG and blood pressure monitor, but the affordable price point justifies it.

Approved by the military standard it can withstand extreme abuse and is resistant to water for up to 50m.

Ticwatch pro 4G can make calls and send texts and emails thanks to cellular technology. But most importantly, it can stream music, podcasts, and audiobooks directly on the wrist. This along with an onboard GPS technology makes it an ideal fit for running and another exercise.

If you are unable to find an appropriate app for streaming audiobooks, an alternative is to manually store audiobooks using your smartphone. 4 GB of storage on the watch would not fit as many songs or audiobooks as your smartphone, and yet, it is more than enough for a smartwatch perspective.

eSIM: Yes By Verizon
Size: 43.1 x 43.1 x 13.6 mm
Weight: 39.0 g (1.37 oz)
OS: Garmin OS
Display: 1.2 AMOLED / 240 x 240 pixels
Storage & Memory: 8GB , 1 GB
Battery Life: 20-40 hours (4 hours on GPS Mode)
GPS: Yes with GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO,
NFC: Yes (Garmin Pay)
Water Resistance: 5 ATM

Garmin is a well-known brand among serious athletes, especially runners. It reserved a complete line of products under the Forerunner series, but we arent going to discuss them here. The reason we picked this one is its LTE support and large storage capacity than its close competitor: Garmin Forerunner 245 Music.

Vivoactive 3 music addition is not for serious athletes. Unlike other smartwatches by Garmin that are laser-focused on special purposes, this one has versatile features including all the bells and whistles you will find on other mainstream brands.

For instance, Vivoactive 3 has NFC for contactless payment via Garmin Pay, an AMOLED display for a visually appealing design, comfortable straps, and of course the streaming option.

However, it doesnt mean that Garmin has compromised its core fitness-related features. Its proprietary Garmin OS has some of the best Apps for fitness, and its powerful sensors offer accurate insights into your heart rate, step count, and sleep.

8 GB storage is more than enough for offline music, podcasts, and audiobooks on Spotify. Whereas the GPS and LTE feature allows you to leave your phone at home and directly stream audio on your wrist.

Best Smartwatch For Audiobooks And Podcasts: FAQs

What Is The Best Smartwatch For Audible?

The online audiobook & podcast service owned by Amazon, Audible Inc, has applications only for WatchOS so far. For Wear OS, the platform has long been promising a new application but has for some reason not delivered.

So if you are lucky to own an Apple Watch, especially the latest versions, as you wont have to give up your favorite app for audiobooks and podcasts.

Apart from Audible, Watch Store also has popular streaming apps including Pocket Cast, Spotify

For Wear OS users, the Audiobook.com application is a good alternative. Your smartwatch should have Wear 2.0 and later to seamlessly run the application. In the app, you will have Access controls for play, pause, forward, rewind, and volume.

What Is The Best Watch For Audiobooks And Podcasts?

Apple Watches, hands down. Especially the LTE version in which you can directly stream audiobooks right on your wrist.

Plus, they have all the popular music streaming apps well integrated into Watch OS, including the companys very own, Apple Music.

How To Add Audiobooks On Apple Watch?

Watch OS 6 and 7 on the Apple watch comes with several advanced features and one of them is particularly useful for audiobook lovers.

By default, the next five hours of the audiobook youre currently listening to, as well as the one listed under Want to Read, is automatically synced to your Apple Watch if theres enough storage space. (Source: Apple Support)

To add them manually, you would have to navigate through the Watch app on the iPhone.

Watch> Audiobooks > My Library> Add Audiobook

How To Stream Audible On Samsung Galaxy Watch Series?

If you own any of the Samsung Watches (popular ones are Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2, Galaxy Watch 3, and Gear S3), or are planning to buy one, you would be disappointed to find out that it doesnt have an app for Audible compatible with its Tizen.

But there is a way to circumvent the problem. Surely, its one hell of a job.

You need an LTE version of the Watch.

First, you will have to open an audible, desktop site. Navigate through the website until you find the right book. Copy the URL of the audiobook and send it to the watch. Login to the audible account through the watch this time and open the URL. Bingo! You can now stream music on the watch and listen to it via your Bluetooth/ wi-fi headsets.

How To Listen To Audiobooks And Podcasts On Fitbit Smartwatches Without The Phone?

You can directly store the files on the Fitbit smartwatches, they usually have space for 300 songs about 1GB storage capacity. Popular Platforms like Deezer and Pandora are well integrated into the Fitbit smartwatches.

Fitbit Ionic, Fitbit Sense, and Fitbit Versa series, you can download the audio files from Pandora and Deezer and can listen to your favorites while running and exercising.

Remember, you must have a premium subscription to the aforementioned apps.
You wont have to carry around your smartphone to listen to audiobooks via the Fitbit.

What Is The Best Smartwatch For Recording Audio?

For recording Audio, a smartwatch must have speakers and a microphone and essentially the latter. Apple watches are the best for the reason that they have a superior quality of speakers and mic.

For android users, popular titles are

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2
Ticwatch Pro 4G
Fossil Gen 5 LTE

Best Smartwatch For Audiobooks And Podcasts: Buying Guide

Why do you buy a dedicated smartwatch to listen to audiobooks or podcasts? You can just listen to them on your smartphone, pc or laptop.

You will be right to propose the conditions when you cant or dont want to take the above-mentioned gadgets with you. Though smartphones offer the best mobility of all, their growingly large size makes them unsuitable to take with you on a run or biking.

Thats where a smartwatch jumps in. Modern smartwatches are powerful enough to stream music directly on the watch, and the same is true for audiobooks and podcasts.

So if you are looking for the best smartwatch for audiobooks, podcasts, and music streaming combined, pay attention to these factors to narrow down your search.

Hardware

In this department, you will have to take notice of the storage, and the connectivity option on the watch. The memory and Processor of the watch are irrelevant as far as the playing/streaming audio is concerned but they considerably add to the performance of the smartwatch.

The watch should have a storage capacity of more than 1 GB and must allow you to store audio files directly. Only if the watch has wifi or cellular connectivity, you would be able to stream music directly on the watch.

Software

Both WatchOS and Wear OS have music streaming apps, but as the Apple smartwatches dominate the niche market as a whole, popular streaming platforms favor watchOS over WearOS smartwatches. For instance, you wont find the famous audiobook app by amazon, Audible, for Wear OS.

Tizen-based smartwatches have very limited applications to choose from. To listen to audiobooks, you will have to download the favorite titles on desktop/mobile and then have to load them on the watch.

Other Features:

As you might be using these watches as a running companion, the following features would come in very handy in the watch. Some of them are absolutely-must for a running watch.