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Choosing a smartwatch can be difficult since the best options are often platform exclusive. The Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch 5 are the perfect examples of this notion. Nevertheless, the benefits of a smartwatch are real, and having one that works great, irrespective of the smartphone you own, is vital. So if you've been looking for one that works with Android and iPhone, this guide lists the best cross-compatible smartwatches available to help you find the right option.
Garmin Venu 2 series
The Venu 2 series joins Garmin's lineup of smartwatches to try and plug the gap between its heavily fitness-focused options — like the Fenix lineup — and devices like the Apple Watch Series 8 or Samsung Galaxy Watch 5. It comes in three sizes, the 41mm Garmin Venu 2S, the 43mm Garmin Venu 2 Plus, and the 45mm Garmin Venu 2.
Each model offers the ability to track a variety of fitness modes — 30 to be exact — which includes walking, hiking, and strength training to name a few. Now, the list isn't as expansive as other Garmin wearables but it is better than most other wearables, especially when it comes to accuracy.
As for battery life, you'll get the best performance out of the Venu 2, which will go for 11 days on a single charge. The Venu 2S comes in second with 10 days of battery endurance. The Venu 2 Plus, despite being the middle size, offers only 9 days of charge, but some of this is owed to its built-in speaker and microphone system, which are missing on the other two versions. Lastly, if you're someone who loves to have downloaded music, all Garmin Venu 2 series watches come with space to store up to 650 songs.
While the Garmin Venu 2 Series offers great value for money, if you're looking to have access to the latest hardware from Garmin, make sure to also check out the Garmin Venu 3S and Garmin Venu 3. These ship with improved build quality and improvements like improved battery life and better sleep coaching.
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Garmin Venu 2S
The Garmin Venu 2S is a smaller alternative to the Venu 2 Plus and Venu 2, featuring a 40mm watch face. It maintains the extensive Garmin health monitoring feature-set plus has preloaded workouts for yoga, HIIT, golf, and more.
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Garmin Venu 2 Plus
$360 $450 Save $90The Garmin Venu 2 Plus offers an experience that combines aspects of a smartwatch and fitness wearable. It the one to pick from the Venu 2 series if you'd like the option of Bluetooth voice calling and a voice assistant.
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Garmin Venu 2
The Garmin Venu 2 comes with an insane battery life that will get you up to 11-days on a single charge if you use it in smartwatch mode. You will also be able to use preloaded workouts that include cardio, yoga, strength, HIIT, and more. Plus, you get the chance to create your own in the Garmin Connect app on your compatible smartphone.
Garmin Fenix 7 Series
The Garmin Fenix 7 series is a wearable lineup to pair with your smartphone if you want to go above and beyond what the Venu 2 series offers in terms of fitness-related features. The Fenix 7 series offers access to topographical maps, golf course-related data, and in-depth details for many of the activities it tracks. There's even more storage onboard — 16GB on the standard models, while the more expensive tiers go up to 32GB — allowing users to store map data and up to 2000 songs on the wearable.
Looking at the specifics, the standard Fenix 7 has a 1.3" display with a cell that power it for a minimum of 18 days. The Fenix 7S (1.2" display) drops this to 11 days, while the Fenix 7X Solar (1.4" display) offers 28 days. You can also buy Solar options for the Fenix 7 and 7S. And in case you ever find yourself doing water activities, the smartwatch even features a 10 ATM water rating.
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Garmin Fenix 7
Garmin Fenix 7 is the standard model to pick up if you need the Garmin, which can do it all. It promises 18 days of use on a single charge and comes with space to store mapping data and music.
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Garmin Fenix 7S
The Fenix 7S is the wearable to get from Garmin if you're someone with a smaller wrist and want a watch that doesn't look out of place. It offers the exact feature set found on the standard Fenix 7 and only has lesser battery life.
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Garmin Fenix 7X Solar
Garmin Fenix 7X Solar features a 1.4-inch display and the ability to boost its battery with Garmin's Power Glass, allowing the device to charge off of sunlight. It features mapping technology and workout modes to satisfy any sportsperson.
Amazfit GTR 4
The Amazfit GTR 4 is a smartwatch to have your eyes on if you're looking for a user experience that remains more or less identical between the Android and iOS ecosystem. It runs on operating system that has a limited feature-set when compared to Garmin or Fitbit, but it can do enough to help you stay on top of your fitness goal, while helping you stay connected to your smartphone.
Amazfit has built-in various sports modes to track your physical activity and all of this is presented with the help of PAI — Personal Activity Index — which is a great way to stay on top of your goals, while being able to properly take breaks when needed. Also, when it comes to mapping routes accurately, the wearable even features multi-band GPS, a feature that Apple only offers on the Apple Watch Ultra series offers and not the standard Apple Watch.
The wearable comes with a 1.43-inch AMOLED screen which is bright and really gorgeous to look at, something we don't expect from a $200 smartwatch. It has a claimed 14-day battery life and its well-built aluminum chassis even features 5ATM water resistance.
Amazfit GTR 4
The Amazfit GTR 4 smartwatch is an excellent deal for $199, and it comes with excellent health and activity tracking features, a long battery life, Amazon Alexa, and other common smartwatch features in an elegant package.
HUAWEI Watch GT 4
Building on the success of the HUAWEI Watch GT3 series, HUAWEI introduced the Watch GT 4 in 2023. The smartwatch embodies the high-quality build we've seen in previous generations and comes with a variety of sensors for recording data, so if you're looking for a wearable with the ability to accurately measure your performance and keep you connected with your smartphone.
The Watch GT 4 is available in two sizes, a 46mm case and another smaller 41mm option. You can pair these with a variety of strap options offered directly by the OEM. The varying case dimensions also result in different sizes on the screen; the larger watch comes with a 1.43-inch AMOLED display while the smaller wearable has a 1.32-inch AMOLED unit.
Huawei GT 4 comes with a battery life claim of 14 days of light and eight days of heavy use, while the smaller unit halves this rating to 7 days of light use and four days of heavy use. These wearables are backed by Huawei's long-standing experience in creating fitness trackers and smartwatches. Hence, we believe they'd make a great addition to your ecosystem. Don't miss the Huawei GT 4 review on Pocketnow to learn more about these watches.
If you're looking for more premium wearables from HUAWEI's stables, the Watch GT 3 Pro and Watch Ultimate are options worth considering. They're built with great detail and the latter is especially attractive if you are an adventure enthusiast or a diver.
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Huawei Watch GT 4
The new HUAWEI WATCH GT 4 series comes in two sizes, 41mm and 46mm. It's available in eight different colors with various stylish straps. The watches feature improved fitness and location tracking and can last for up to two weeks on a single charge.
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Huawei GT 3 Pro
The Huawei GT 3 Pro with Titanium Casing comes with a large 46mm case with a 1.43-inch AMOLED panel protected by a sapphire glass. It promises 14 days of light use on a single charge, which reduces to 8 in case of heavy usage.
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Huawei GT 3 Pro Ceramic
The Ceramic Case Huawei GT 3 Pro is the wearable for those with smaller wrists. It has a 43mm case and a 1.32-inch AMOLED display. It promises seven days of light use or four days of heavy use on a single charge.
Fossil Gen. 6
Fossil Gen. 6 adds an option running Google's Wear OS 3 to this list. With the Galaxy Watch and Mobvoi's TicWatch 5 moving away from iPhone compatibility, the Fossil remains as one of the very few that's still cross-compatible. Speaking about the device itself, it brings a design that's true to the brand's pedigree, making it an attractive option for those who want their smartwatch to resemble traditional timepieces. It is available in two case sizes — 42mm and 44mm — and ships with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 4100+, which the OEM claims provides 30% better app loading speeds and a lower amount of power consumption when compared to the chipset packaged in Gen 5.
The display on both case sizes is a 1.28-inch AMOLED panel with a battery promising a day of use. Fossil touts its faster charging mechanism as a selling point, which we feel is worth keeping in mind, as the device can reach 80% battery capacity in nearly 30 minutes. Just keep in mind that if you wish to use the smartwatch for a few years, it only comes with 8GB of storage, which might leave you struggling for space as you install new applications.
Android device owners will even be able to use the built-in Alexa on Fossil Gen. 6.
Fossil Gen 6
The Fossil Gen 6 smartwatch comes with Wear OS and a Qualcomm 4100+ chipset. The watch can track activity goals, SPO2, sleep, and many more. It has a 3ATM waterproof design, and it has a fast charge feature to keep you on the go.
TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra
The TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra rounds off our list of the best smartwatches to consider if you need an option that works with Android and iPhone; the key selling points for it are the dual-display tech and a multi-GPS system like the wearables from Garmin.
The wearable comes with a 1.4-inch AMOLED panel, above which is a low-power screen that can display just the essential info you may require from your smartwatch. Packed inside the casing is a 577maH battery that offers 72 hours of usage in Smart Mode and 45 days when set to Essential Mode.
These numbers are promising for a smartwatch running WearOS, which provides a robust user experience with access to applications like GPay and Spotify. The smartwatch is even in tow to get an update to WearOS 3 this year. TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra offers a host of health features, with heart rate and heart rate variability tracking (the latter used for fatigue assessment), guided breathing, sleep tracking, and access to more than 100 workout modes.
The TicWatch Pro 5 ships with WearOS 3.5 out of the box and is no longer officially compatible with the iPhone. So, in case you want a wearable that can swap between iOS and Android, the older TicWatch Pro 3 might still be your top pick.
TicWatch Pro 3
TicWatch Pro 3 is the WearOS device to get if you're looking for a more fitness-oriented wearable that comes with all the smarts you need to keep your phone usage to a minimum.