What is the Best Value Android Smart Watch under $500 in 2021?

dogboy on 12/04/2021 - 10:52
Last edited 12/04/2021 - 14:12 by 1 other user

I am looking for an Android smart watch <$500. Interested to hear people's opinions on what is the best value for money ones on the market right now.

I have looked at the Samsung Active 2 and seems quite nice but reviews are mixed (some say terrible battery life but others say it is fine. Hard to know who to believe).

Would prefer something with a built in speaker, nice aesthetics and some basic activity tracking (don't need GPS).

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Comments

  • trustnoone on 12/04/2021 - 11:12
    +2

    Some things that you may or may not know. The Samsung watches differ to Android watches, they only allow installation from the Tizen store I think, so you don't get some apps that Android has, and similarly generic Android watches don't have Tizen apps. This may be important to you depending on apps you want to use and notably payment platform (as I don't know if google pay is on Samsung watches?). It also means with a samsung watch you're using Samsung Health (which IMO is pretty good).

    Honestly and oddly enough though, I find the Samsung line even though locked down to be the better experience and the Android one to be bulky and slow last time I used it (feels like a cut down version of Android), though I did have a worser android watch.

    Note that although the Activ 2 has ECG and BP monitoring, they're not switched on for Aus (you can use BP monitoring through an App though).

    Personally I liked my Activ 2 watch, it vibrates when I sit for too long and gives me a random stretch to do. Seems to automatically pick up walking/running/sleeping pretty well, and values/distance/calories seem to align with my fitbit (for better or worse). I have to recharge every 1.5 days which is a bit of annoyance, largely as I have it on while sleeping (as opposed to a phone you may charge every night while asleep so its less annoying). I don't do much exercise though, so I don't know what it will be like if you use it with more features in use.

  • AdamFury on 12/04/2021 - 11:23

    I am a Pixel 4 XL user and pair it with the Galaxy Watch (SM-R800). I purchased it a while back for around $300. It's been a great watch. I do hope that the rumors about a Google Pixel watch eventually come true.

    • Zephyrus on 07/05/2021 - 13:29

      Does Google pay work on it?

      • AdamFury on 07/05/2021 - 13:31

        I don't believe so. Only Samsung Pay which I've not used.

  • mooney on 12/04/2021 - 13:39

    Been through the lot.

    Ticwatch is best value.. they also work well.
    Samsung Active 2… great watch, great screen, battery life great, app selection terrible (as mentioned above runs Tizen)
    Fitbit Versa 2.. good if you like fitbit, great battery life, crap if you want genuine smart features.

    Rumour is Samsung watch with Wear OS is coming, that would be a goldilocks watch, be great as well as (by end of the year) a genuine pixel watch.

    However Apple watch still sh*ts all over all of these options. Shame its so locked down.

  • 2jzzzz on 12/04/2021 - 13:55
    +1

    Garmin.

  • Moderatorscrimshaw on 12/04/2021 - 14:14

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  • noren7 on 12/04/2021 - 15:20

    Any Samsung watch will perform much better than any Wear OS (previously Android Wear) watch. Unfortunately however, the app support is much more limited.

  • mbck on 12/04/2021 - 19:28

    I still rock a galaxy watch and got a new update recently (it's 3 or so years old).

    I've played with the google version, but I prefer the Samsung. Battery life is 3 days with full function. A week with power saving and a lot longer for just being a watch.

  • Ebisu on 22/04/2021 - 02:33

    Mi watch color paid $145 ali express

    https://www.google.com.au/search?q=mi+watch+color&client=saf…

  • Ebisu on 22/04/2021 - 11:07
    Suggested Xiaomi Mi Watch Color

    Mi watch color

  • bleeder on 18/05/2021 - 12:10

    How does Apple watch go with Android phones these days? Any good?

  • theknight27 on 28/05/2021 - 23:58
    +1

    Galaxy Watch 3! Bought for under $400 from Amazon, love mine.

  • twocsies on 19/07/2021 - 21:09
    Suggested Lenovo S2

    [AU$54.79 41% OFF]Lenovo S2 Pro 1.69 inch HD 2.5D Borderless Dial Heart Rate Temperature Monitor 23 Sports Mode 15 Days Long Standby IP67 Waterproof Smart Watch Smart Wearable Device from Consumer Electronics on banggood
    https://banggood.app.link/gjZiVZu80hb

    This is quite a good smart watch. I have a high end Samsung watch, but this Lenovo bought for my kid does nearly everything it does, it looks good, and it has one week battery life (my Samsung is about two days).

  • Santosh8518 on 24/07/2021 - 20:29
    Suggested Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2

    I have been using Active 2 sinch launch and I have no issues at all, Good battery life, easy charging, many free watches faces in the Galaxy store, better off buying a Spigen case from EBAY otherwise the glass is prone to scratches.

  • serrin on 12/08/2021 - 15:29
    +1
    Suggested Samsung Galaxy Watch 4

    40mm sized one (without dial) is $399 apparently, 44mm $449. Galaxy Watch 4 Classic is $150 more for the dial (and a Hall Effect Sensor) and LTE is $100 more.

    • Rail Rider95 on 04/09/2021 - 08:41

      It's worth noting that these new Samsung watches, running on the new gen WearOS, are no longer compatible with iOS.
      On the flip side, they do support Google Pay, but at present, I believe the default is still SamsungPay which can't be changed.

  • DBBROS on 01/09/2021 - 21:58

    Look out for Active 2 watches on FB marketplace. Managed to get one for $180 which was the LTE version. My brother's 3 year old galaxy watch is still going strong.

  • Rail Rider95 on 04/09/2021 - 08:43

    It's not a google/WearOS option, but the Huawei line of watches seem pretty decent at a budget.
    Could look at the Huawei Watch GT2?

  • dtc on 21/12/2021 - 10:51

    Depends what you want it to do…Garmin knocks everything out of the park in terms of sports and exercise, but not so good if you want something to read your emails. Do you want one that only links to a phone or one that works independently.

  • jm03 on 13/01/2022 - 08:39

    I just bought a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 from The Good Guys on 9/1/22.

    I took it back for a full refund on 12/1/22.

    The battery life was shockingly short…

    I charged it overnight and started wearing it at around 6am and by 3pm it only had 25% charge left…

    This was the case over 3 days of use…

    So I took it back to The Good Guys and told them that I think it must be faulty and that I want a full refund, which they did for me…

    I am having a lot of trouble finding a good alternative to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4.

    The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is a fantastic smartwatch, except for the short battery life.

    The only other smartwatch that I've found so far that could be a worthy alternative is the Mobvoi Ticwatch Pro 3 Ultra.

    Regards,

    jm03

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