Best Smartwatch for iPhone 2020
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Looking for the best smartwatch for iPhone? There are many more options than only the Apple Watch, even though, this is still the best option. We’ve made it easier than ever to find the best smartwatch for iPhone users with our latest research, which includes from hybrid smartwatches to the great Fitbit and other smartwatches compatible with iPhone.
Recommended read: Wear OS vs Tizen – what should you get?
Whether you are looking for a smartwatch with Sim card for untethered music streaming or a smartwatch with accurate GPS for tracking your runs, there’s a wide range of iPhone compatible smartwatches on the market to suit your needs. So, without further ado, let’s look at the top 10 smartwatches for iPhone in this year:
Best Smartwatch for iPhone & iOS devices
The following smartwatches are compatible with iOS, from the iPhone 6 and forward.
You may find interesting to read: List of The Best Smartwatches
Apple Watch Series 5 – Latest watchOS Smartwatch for iPhone
The latest Apple Watch Series 5 is currently the most powerful smartwatch for iPhone, with fully customizable features and a more affordable price than its LTE counterpart.
Pros
- Always-on display
- Premium design materials
- Heart monitor, GPS, and compass
Cons
- Can’t stream music on the go
- No cellular data.
This might be obvious but the Apple Watch 5 is the best smartwatch for iPhone users on the market right now. As with all the Apple products in this list, staying within their proprietary ecosystem means you’re going to be able to take advantage of much more functionality than other brands. This is the best of the bunch, with the only decision being with or without cellular connectivity.
For those who don’t need it to connect as a standalone device, the Apple Watch Series 5 does everything the LTE version does, except receive calls and notifications over a cellular network. The upside to this is the price; the Apple Watch 5 is cheaper than the LTE version, and it can’t possibly charge you extra to stream data from the watch. Thrifty. And for many people, the lack of LTE isn’t a big deal.
With in-built GPS and GLONASS, the Apple Watch Series 5 tracks workouts perfectly and instantly syncs that data to the iPhone when paired. You also get a heart-rate sensor for even more in-depth data. The Series 5 has an 1.78″ OLED display, comes with the newest S5 processor, and 32GB of onboard storage, making the Series 5 the most powerful watch in their range.
The only real downside to this version of the Apple Watch is that you can’t stream music on the go. You download it first. But of course, there’s a solution for that… and that solution lies with Apple themselves and the Apple Watch Series 5 LTE.
Apple Watch Series 5 LTE
Like it’s non-cellular counterpart, the Series 5 LTE is the most powerful Apple Watch to date – but also has the capability of answering calls, messages, and streaming music on the go.
Pros
- Always-on display
- Cellular data
- On the go music streaming
Cons
- More expensive
- Battery life can be affected by cellular connectivity
Improving on the non-LTE version, the Series 5 LTE allows you to take and make phone calls straight from your wrist, along with letting you receive and send messages without your phone being connected via Bluetooth. So, leave your phone at home, and you’re still fully connected. Excitingly, you’re also able to stream music on the go too.
There’s a massive range of options to customize the Series 5 too. One of the coolest aspects is the premium watch body materials: aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, ceramic. The cellular version also increases the internal storage from 8GB to 16GB.
Whether or no cellular data is worth the premium depends on where, when, and what you will use your Apple Watch for. Right now, the LTE cellular functionality is only useful for receiving calls and streaming music while hiking the price considerably. However, price aside, this is the overall best smartwatch for iPhone.
Read the full review of the Apple Watch Series 5 here.
Apple Watch 5 Nike+
Pros
- Based on Apple Watch 5
- Can be with or without LTE
- Access to the Nike+ Run Club
Cons
- Battery life can be limited
Fitbit Ionic – Best Fitbit for iPhone
Pros
- Fantastic sport, health and fitness tracking
- Good battery life
- Good functionality with iPhone
Cons
- Low-resolution screen
- Doesn’t work with Siri
You could find interesting: Guide of The Best Fitbit for Kids
The Fitbit Ionic is also feature-packed. It has GPS and a heart-rate monitor, and Fitbit has included Fitbit Coach to help you get more from your workouts. This application gives you customized workouts and feedback on your progress.
Fitbit estimates that you’ll get 10 hours of battery life whilst using GPS and streaming music, but users report over 12. On standby, you’ll easily get a day and a half out of the Ionic which is right up there with the best on the market. This smartwatch also has 2.5GB of onboard storage for your music. It connects seamlessly to the iPhone but doesn’t support Siri. It doesn’t have LTE either, but that’s hardly a deal-breaker with this sort of smartwatch.
Also read: Best Smartwatches For Gym-Goers On The Market Right Now
Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 – Luxury Wear OS Smartwatch for iPhone
Pros
- Premium design
- Very quick and efficient
- Can function as a standalone device
Cons
- Very expensive
- No Siri support
If you’re looking for something a little more luxurious, the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 will fit the bill. This luxury smartwatch from iconic Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer runs Android Wear 2.0 and is fully compatible with the iPhone. It’s one of the fastest Android Wear smartwatches on with an Intel Atom Z34XX chipset and 512MB of RAM, and it includes Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC connectivity.
The first thing you notice about the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 is its outstanding build quality, weight and heft. It simply feels like a higher quality product than anything else on our list. The second thing you notice is the gorgeous fully-round 1.39” display, which has a stonking 400 x 400-pixel resolution with a beautiful Sapphire crystal to protect it.
Android 2.0 is an excellent operating system. For iPhone users, the only thing it gives up versus the Apple Watch is Siri support. But, you still get Google’s Assistant, and to be honest with you, Google Assistant is better anyway. This smartwatch runs its own applications with access to its own app store, so it doesn’t rely on your iPhone for anything.
You could find interesting too: Best Luxury Smartwatches
Fossil Q Accomplice
Pros
- Huge 12-month battery life
- Dedicated iPhone app
- Stainless steel design
Cons
- Not too many iPhone functions
The Fossil Q Accomplice is one of the best hybrid smartwatches on sale. It connects seamlessly to the iPhone and lets you track your activity through a dedicated iPhone app. Being a hybrid smartwatch, the Fossil Q Accomplice has an analog watch face but gives away its smart internals with a 0-100 progress dial on the watch face.
Battery life is one of the biggest selling points with hybrid smartwatches and the Fossil Q Accomplice delivers with 12-month battery life. The CR214 coin-cell battery is user-replaceable and dirt cheap too. In terms of other hardware, the Fossil Q Accomplice is made from stainless steel and has a mineral crystal covering the dial.
The Q Accomplice is Fossil’s slimmest smartwatch to date and that shows. On the wrist, the Fossil Q Accomplice wears small and it looks the part under a shirt cuff. Like many hybrid smartwatches, the Q Accomplice has a silent notification system, which vibrates to alert you when you receive a notification on your iPhone.
Samsung Gear S3 Frontier – Tizen OS Smartwatch for iPhone
Pros
- Access to its own app store
- Useful smart dial function
- Decent battery
Cons
- Limited resolution compared with others
The Samsung Gear S3 is an obvious choice for iPhone users because it runs Tizen. This means it runs its own applications rather than relying on a smartphone, which does away with any compatibility concerns. It also helps that the Samsung Gear S3 is an excellent smartwatch, with a great display, solid battery life, and a speedy processor.
Another thing you’ll love is the smart dial. Basically, this is a dial that you can twist left or right to scroll through the Tizen interface and your apps. It works very well, and it puts Apple’s digital crown to shame from a usability point of view. Once you have highlighted the app that you want with the dial, you tap the screen to launch it. Simple.
The fully-round display is another highlight. It’s an OLED panel so it has beautiful colors, and it has a 360 x 360 resolution. That’s not class-leading, but it’s certainly sharp enough on a 1.3” display. The Gear S3 is fast too, although it uses a Samsung Exynos 7270 processor instead of a Snapdragon processor. The RAM stands at a healthy 768MB.
LG Watch Sport
- Decent memory space
- Quick and efficient processing
- Nano-SIM slot
Cons
- Uses Google Assistant which isn’t iPhone compatible
Huawei Watch 2
Pros
- Very nice build
- Many connectivity features
- Lightweight and comfortable
Cons
- Limited resolution
The Huawei Watch 2 is a decent Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch. It’s comfortable and lightweight and features a build quality that’s more comparable to the Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45 than the Apple Watch. It packs GPS, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and a 4G SIM tray into its stainless-steel case which looks the part with a black finish.
The display is a particular highlight, being a 1.2” OLED panel with a 390 x 390 resolution. That makes it smaller than the competition, but it also makes the watch lighter, which is a plus point depending on your needs. The display also has an ambient light sensor that adjusts brightness automatically, making it more usable outdoors.
The Huawei Watch 2 runs Android Wear 2.0, so it has access to its own app store and runs its own applications without the need for a smartphone. It connects to the iPhone seamlessly and sends notifications well enough. One thing to keep in mind is that the case only has two hardware buttons for navigation the OS, and they aren’t as nice to use as the swivel dial that is found on the Samsung Gear S3.
Read the whole review of the Huawei Watch GT 2 here.
Armani Exchange Hybrid Smartwatch
Pros
- Water-resistant
- 6-month battery life
- Find iPhone feature
Cons
- Not the full list of iPhone features
We end our list with the Armani Exchange hybrid smartwatch, which is available in four colors (Black, Orange, Blue, White) to suit any taste. This smartwatch offers iPhone notifications, activity tracking, music control, camera control, and a ‘ring’ function which will call your iPhone to help you find it if you misplace it.
The Armani Exchange hybrid smartwatch is, in our opinion, extremely stylish and it seamlessly connects to any smartphone via Bluetooth. It accurately tracks your steps and basic activity and it is water-resistant to 5ATM. The battery life stands at 6 months and you can control your music wirelessly using the buttons on the side of the case.
The Black, Blue, and White versions are listed as ‘coming soon’ on the Armani Exchange website, with a release date in early 2018. For now, you can only pick up the orange version which has a lovely orange and black rubber strap. The 44mm case on this smartwatch has a silicone coating for durability and a textured finish for a unique look.
Is it recommendable to get a smartwatch for iPhone that is not iOS?
It wouldn’t be a problem, if that it’s what you are doubting about it. Most Wear OS smartwatches are compatible with the iPhone, even though they will never get the synchronization that the Apple Watches do.
So, if you decide to go for any of the no-Apple options that we have mentioned here, you might consider that there will be some apps that you will miss.
But apart from that, there won’t be any big issue to stop you from using your new smartwatch compatible with iPhone.
Which is the Best Smartwatch for iPhone regarding price-quality?
Let’s face something: the Apple Watch 5 is quite expensive. You could go for the 4 or even the 3 versions, but preferably the 4th since it’s much closer to the latest launched by Apple. But if your budget does not go up to 300$ to 400$, then you might be interested in getting a Fitbit Ionic or the Fossil Q.
Both are quite good options for a smartwatch compatible with iPhone and their prices are not too bad.
If you are not too picky in terms of technology but your priority is getting a good deal, below you will find the different options you have for Smartwatches that work with iOS.
You could find interesting too: Best Cheap Smartwatches
Smartwatches that Work with iOS
