The best smartwatches for keeping track of your health

Thanks to the advances in wearable technology, smartwatches with capable health monitoring features are more accessible than ever. More devices are packing specialized sensors to keep track of your heart, blood pressure, and more. But which are the best smartwatches for health monitoring and tracking your wellness? We detail our recommendations below.

Buying the right smartwatch to monitor your health

Plenty of modern smartwatches pack almost every health monitoring feature imaginable, but not every device provides the specific focus some people need. For instance, while blood oxygen sensors are near ubiquitous, not every smartwatch packs a reliable medical-grade sensor, and some devices are better at tracking specific factors than others.

With this in mind, you’ll need to identify precisely what facet of your health you want to track. If you’re concerned about your heart health, consider a device with an ECG and a reliable heart rate monitor. What about stress and energy management? Consider a device that either has a dedicated stress sensor or takes heart rate variability into account.

Whatever you’re concerned or curious about, you’ll find a recommendation that fulfills your needs below.

The best smartwatches for health monitoring

• Apple Watch Series 10: Apple’s latest smartwatch is the best menstrual cycle tracker thanks to its skin temperature sensor. It also provides fertility estimates.
• Fitbit Sense 2: The Fitbit Sense 2 is the best smartwatch for stress management and general sleep monitoring thanks to its new cEDA sensor and Fitbit’s ever-reliable sleep-tracking smarts.
• Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: This is the best smartwatch for body composition and blood pressure monitoring. Although previous Galaxy Watches also pack both features, the Galaxy Watch 7 is the overall better device.
• Withings ScanWatch: The ScanWatch is the best watch for monitoring heart health, blood oxygen, and sleep apnea. Although a hybrid watch, the ScanWatch packs medical-grade ECG and SpO2 sensors.
• Garmin Venu 3: The Garmin Venu 3 is the best smartwatch for monitoring energy levels. Most Garmin watches feature the Body Battery functionality, but the Venu 3 includes useful morning and evening recovery and activity guidance tools — Daily Summary and Morning Report.

Apple Watch Series 10: The best smartwatch for menstrual cycle tracking

The Apple Watch Series 10 isn’t a marked upgrade over the Series 9, but that’s a good thing. It means it retains many of the key features that made the previous watch our pick for menstrual cycle tracking, but also introduces quality of life improvements.

Like its predecessor, the Series 10’s skin temperature sensor informs wearers body temperature changes, and this data is used to generate improved period predictions and retrospective ovulation estimates. It also packs an ECG for heart health monitoring, a heart rate sensor, and reliable sleep tracking. More importantly, it also packs FDA-approved sleep apnea monitoring for troubled sleepers. The wearable still includes onboard Siri processing which its predecessor introduced, but also packs a swifter chipset and refined design.

The Series 10 is also hamstrung by Apple’s ongoing legal spat with Masimo, rendering its blood oxygen sensor inactive at the time of writing.

If you’re using an Android smartphone, you may want to look at smart rings for your menstrual tracking needs. The Oura Ring 4 ($399 at Amazon) and Galaxy Ring ($399.99 at Amazon) both support Natural Cycles’ fertility tracking smarts.

Fitbit Sense 2: The best smartwatch for stress management and sleep monitoring

Speaking of Fitbit, the Sense 2 has plenty of tricks. In addition to the ECG sensor and skin temperature monitor, it now includes a continuous electrodermal activity (cEDA) sensor. This sensor records the changes in the skin’s electroconductivity due to the salts contained in sweat. These readings then inform Fitbit’s body response feature, which automatically gauges stress throughout the day. At the same time, the Stress Management Score provides a more understandable overview of a user’s stress levels. Finally, Fitbit bakes a mood tracker, making the Sense 2 a more intuitive reflection and relaxation smartwatch. When it’s time for bed, Fitbit’s detailed and useful sleep tracking steps up.

There are plenty of features (or lack thereof) to dislike about the Sense 2. It’s a dumber smartwatch than its predecessor, lacking Google Assistant, Wi-Fi, and third-party app support. Some features also remain locked behind the Fitbit Premium paywall.

Of course, if you want a proper smartwatch with the Sense 2’s health tracking kit and are willing to spend a little bit more, the Google Pixel Watch 3 ($349.99 at Amazon) is a worthy contender, and will receive active support for several years to come. It’s a very capable smartwatch, with accurate health tracking and features beyond the Sense 2. That said, it costs a fair bit more.

Notably, if you’re specifically looking for a watch that detects potential sleep apnea symptoms, the Galaxy Watch series and newer Apple Watch models now pack FDA-approved functionality.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: The best smartwatch for body composition and blood pressure monitoring

The Galaxy Watch 7 is one of the best Wear OS smartwatches you can buy right now, and it’s the only one on this list packing a bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) sensor. It’s worth noting that while the Galaxy Watch 7 isn’t the first Samsung device to pack this feature it is the most polished Galaxy Watch to date.

The BIA sensor can measure the body’s composition using electric microcurrents, gauging skeletal mass, muscle mass, water retention, and fat mass. These details are beneficial for those looking to build muscle or lose weight. It’s also simply fascinating information for curious users.

Samsung has also carried over blood pressure monitoring smarts to the Galaxy Watch 7; however, it’s not without caveats. You’ll need a portable blood pressure cuff to calibrate the feature and recalibrate it regularly. The feature is also exclusive to Samsung smartphones, as is the new AI-powered features, like Energy Score.

If you’re in two minds about the Sense 2 and Pixel Watch 3’s sleep tracking credentials, the Galaxy Watch 7 puts in a decent performance. It tracks blood oxygen, heart rate, and skin temperature throughout the night, and can alert users of possible sleep apnea episodes. The ECG is a bonus for those concerned with their heart health.

Withings ScanWatch: The best watch for monitoring heart and breathing health

The ScanWatch is a hybrid watch that packs far fewer smart features than the other devices on this list. However, it makes up for this with clinically validated sensors. This includes a medical-grade pulse oximeter to measure oxygen saturation levels in the blood. It also joins a medical-grade ECG sensor which can scan for signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib) or irregular heartbeats. ECG data can also be exported or printed to present to a medical professional if need be.

There’s also a nifty set of features for those who struggle to breathe. A Respiratory Scan feature considers heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood oxygen levels to help users understand if they experience potential breathing disturbances overnight. These details are also presented in graph form, informing users of any potential sleep apnea issues.

Although the mildly upgraded and pricier Withings ScanWatch 2 ($349.95 at Amazon) is available, I feel that the original model remains excellent value for those intent on monitoring heart and lung health.

Garmin Venu 3: The best smartwatch to monitor energy levels

Finally, the Garmin Venu 3 is worth a mention for those particularly interested in monitoring their energy reserves during the day and their recovery overnight. Garmin’s latest smartwatch packs the nifty Body Battery feature that combines heart rate variability, stress, and activity data to calculate the user’s energy reserves. A number between 1 and 100 is generated, with 100 being the maximum energy. It’s an excellent and surprisingly accurate measurement of energy levels.

It also brings new features to the series, from Nap detection for improved all-round sleep monitoring and Daily Summary, which provides an overview of your health each night. Morning Report is still available for you in the morning.

While the Garmin Venu 3 lacks the ECG features of the Garmin Venu 2 Plus ($449 at Amazon), I still think it’s Garmin’s best smartwatch. Nevertheless, if you can find the latter at a good price, it’ll also be an excellent energy monitoring companion. It’s also worth mentioning Samsung’s Energy Score metric. While it’s a nice-to-have, the feature lacks the polish of Body Battery. In short, it’s not a reason to choose the Galaxy Watch series over the Venu line.

Honorable mentions

If you’re looking for more recommendations, find our list of honorable mentions below.

• Fitbit Versa 3 ($158 at Amazon): If you don’t need the Sense 2’s cEDA sensor, the Versa 3 is a solid all-round tracker that should appease most buyers.
• HUAWEI Watch D ($132 at Huawei): Few smartwatches can claim to measure blood pressure without a third-party cuff, but the HUAWEI Watch D does just that.
• Samsung Galaxy Watch FE ($199.99 at Amazon): Samsung’s latest budget smartwatch uses the Galaxy Watch 4 as the mold. This means it keeps its BIA sensor and gains a longer update support period.
• Apple Watch Series 8 ($329 at Amazon): If you need an Apple Watch with a working blood oxygen sensor and can’t find a used Series 9, the older Series 8 is your best bet.

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