The Best Smartwatches of 2018

Thinkstock

Thinkstock

By Peter Zemeske

Want to become James Bond and talk to people with your watch? Lucky for you, you can!

Smartwatches first came on the tech scene in early 2012 when a relatively unknown start-up company called Pebble launched a Kickstarter page promising backers access to the world’s first smartwatch. The company managed to raise a whopping $10.3 million, a record for Kickstarter at the time.

The Pebble utilized an e-ink screen, similar to those found in Amazon Kindles, for low power consumption and long battery life. The watch didn’t have as many features as an Apple watch, but it started the conversation about smartwatches.

While smartwatches aren’t as popular today as when they first came out, they are still a useful and fun gadget to have if you’re looking for something to enhance your phone experience.

Best Android Wear Watch – LG Watch Sport – $349

The LG Watch Sport is the most feature-packed Android Wear on the market. If you’re not familiar with Android Wear, it’s Google’s own smartwatch operating system. The LG Watch Sport comes loaded with GPS, LTE support for calls and texts, NFC for Android Pay and fitness tracking.

One downside to the watch is the poor battery life, which comes at an expense of all features. Users may not like the bulky design of the watch, and people with smaller wrists might want to look elsewhere.

Best Smartwatch for iPhones- Apple Watch 3 – $329-749

With no surprise, the Apple Watch 3 is the best smartwatch out there for iPhone users. The Apple Watch 3 comes with call and text support, GPS, NFC for Apple Pay, a heart rate monitor and waterproofing up to 50 meters. The tech giant also brags a two-day battery life. The Apple Watch 3 comes in a multitude of different styles for both men and women.

Best Smartwatch for Fitness Tracking- Fitbit Ionic – $299

For fitness junkies and athletes, the Fitbit Ionic is the best choice. The Ionic is Fitbit’s first venture into smartwatches and has tracking features for swimming, running, biking, weight lifting and many other activities. The watch doesn’t have LTE functionality, which means you won’t be able to make calls with it; however, the watch does have GPS, as well as a four-day battery life. You can load music onto it and pair the device with Bluetooth headphones for running.

Best Budget Smartwatch – Pebble 2 – $69

Pebble watches aren’t the most feature-packed, but are reliable and offer users functionality without the more complex features. The Pebble 2 is the company’s reworked version of their first watch, and the device can now receive notifications from your phone, has a microphone to dictate texts, music control, a sleep tracker and heart rate monitor.

The e-ink display allows the battery life to last up to an impressive seven days. The Pebble 2 supports both Android and Apple phones, which is a surefire bonus.