In recent years, the Android smartwatch landscape has seen significant improvements, offering more choices than ever before. However, it’s still a transitional period for the market. While third-party app support has grown stronger, the ecosystem remains somewhat fragmented. Samsung’s Galaxy Watches and Google’s Pixel Watch 3 are already running on Wear OS 5, but many devices are still catching up. Some smartwatches running Wear OS 3 are missing key features, such as Google Assistant, and Wear OS 4 isn’t widely available yet.
Despite these limitations, the Android wearable ecosystem continues to advance. If you’re hesitant about jumping in while Wear OS is still evolving, there are platform-agnostic smartwatches and fitness watches available that might suit your needs in the meantime.
It’s also important to pay attention to the chip and Wear OS version powering any smartwatch you’re considering. For instance, Mobvoi took a long time to roll out Wear OS 3 for its Wear OS 2 watches, and it only recently started offering Wear OS 4. Mobvoi’s TicWatch Pro 5 was the first in the U.S. to feature the new Qualcomm Snapdragon W5 Plus, offering solid performance, but you may want to wait for more W5 Plus-powered watches to become available. Meanwhile, the base W5 chip is also impressive, as seen in the Pixel Watch 3 and OnePlus Watch 2, which offer improved performance and battery life.
Overall, Android users now have a wider range of smartwatch options to choose from. With the evolving landscape in mind, it’s a good time to explore the latest offerings, keeping in mind which Wear OS version and chipsets best suit your needs. If you’re not quite ready for a smartwatch, fitness trackers are also a great alternative.
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