Think of a smartwatch as an extension to your smartphone. Or like a tiny phone on your wrist. It keeps you connected and hands-free while you go about your day, so if you’re always on the go it can be a real time-saver.
How do I choose a smartwatch?
There are loads of smartwatches to choose from. If you fancy a new one, here are a few important things to consider:
Compatibility
Are you Android or Apple? Your smartwatch will connect to your smartphone, so make sure it uses the same operating system. Most watches use either Apple’s watchOS or Google’s Wear OS, but some will have their own. If you want to check, all our smartwatch product pages have this info.
Your style
A watch is something you wear every day, so it’s important that you like the look of it. There’s a lot of choice out there. You can go high-tech or classic, pick a round or square face, go digital screen or analogue hands. Some smartwatches look exactly like traditional watches from a distance. It’s not until you get up close that you’ll see the display is really a screen.
Screen type
Want to look at photos or use apps on your smartwatch? LCD or AMOLED display is probably best for you. These have richer colours and tend to be brighter too, so you can see everything clearly. Important when you’re looking at a small screen.
If battery life is your main priority, a black and white display is your best bet. Sure, you won’t have the eye-popping colours of LCD and AMOLED, but it does just fine for text-based messages and notifications.
Extra features
Now let’s think about the kind of things you’ll want to do on your new watch. Automatic fitness tracking, contactless payments and voice assistant are all popular features that could make your life easier. Then imagine getting touchy-feel with it. Do you want a touchscreen? Or are you fine with buttons? It’s completely up to you!
Now that you’ve had a good think about the kind of smartwatch you want, you can get looking! We’ve got a huge range of smartwatches at Currys suitable for all types. To kick off your search, here are a few of our favourites:
For the style conscious – Michael Kors Gen 5E Darci MKT5128 smartwatch
The Michael Kors Gen 5E Darci MKT5128 smartwatch packs loads of modern tech into its eye-catching design. See for yourself – it looks more like a piece of stylish jewellery than a smartwatch.
You can choose from different watch faces to match your style, or create custom-made ones from your favourite Instagram post.
But it’s much more than a pretty face. You can use it for all the usual smartwatch things - make calls, get weather updates, track your heart rate, pay for your morning coffee using Google Pay, and play music.
You can download up to 1000 songs onto its 4GB of internal memory, and track your location using the GPS function. So you don't even need to take your phone if you go out on a run.
And you’ve got 3 battery life modes to choose from, giving you the option of turning off certain features if you want to last longer - including a week-long ‘time only’ option.
For anyone that want to get sporty – Fitbit Charge 5
If you’re looking to become a bit more health conscious, the Fitbit Charge 5 is a great choice. It’s specially designed to give you a really clear picture of your health and fitness.
Its heart rate monitor is great. If you’re getting into spinning classes or HIIT (high intensity interval training), you’ll find it especially useful. It’s incredible accurate, and notifies you with a light buzz every time you move between heart zones.
Fitbit Charge 5 also helps you feel less stressed. Every day, you get a Stress Management Score that tells you how much stress your body is showing. So you know when you’re getting stressed (even if you don’t feel it), and can take action to help your mindfulness.
For runners (of any level) – Garmin Forerunner 55
Whether you're training for a half marathon or just getting into running, the Garmin Forerunner 55 running watch can help you reach your goals.
The Garmin Coach feature does the job of a personal trainer. It gives you on-screen guidance from expert coaches, plus free training plans based on the level you’re at (and where you want to get to).
Then there’s PacePro™, which gives you GPS-based pace advice whenever you select a course or distance. It’s not just handy for beginners – if you’re a serious runner training for a long race, it’ll steer you towards the best time.
For anyone with a busy lifestyle – Samsung Galaxy Watch4
The Samsung Galaxy Watch4 is the perfect watch for anyone with a busy on-the-go lifestyle. There’s so much to it. You’ve got loads of apps to choose from, it makes a great workout mate (it can track 90 different exercises for you) and you can then pay for that post-exercise smoothie with it.
It can also help make your daily step goal much more fun. You can compete with friends in a competition (it’s done through a live message board), giving you some extra motivation for going that extra mile (or two, or three).
Need any help?
Still not 100% sure about the smartwatch that’s right for you? Then chat to one of our tech experts on ShopLive. They’ll happily answer all your questions, and will even help you checkout if you get stuck.
