We asked, you told us: You are willing to pay up for a 'perfect' Wear OS watch

It seems like companies are launching high-end Wear OS smartwatches left and right. At the beginning of the year, Suunto launched the $500 Suunto 7, its first real smartwatch and one of the best Wear OS watches you can buy right now.

Now, Montblanc and Tag Heuer are launching new, super expensive Wear OS smartwatches. The Montblanc Summit 2 Plus costs $1,170, while the new Tag Heuer Connected smartwatch goes for a whopping $1,800.

That got us thinking. If a company made a Wear OS smartwatch that was perfect for you, how much would you pay for it? I’m talking no compromises and every single feature you want on a smartwatch, but it’s running Wear OS. We asked you last week how much you’d be willing to pay, and the results are pretty interesting.

How much would you pay for an ‘Ultra’ Wear OS watch?

Results

Out of almost 2,000 total votes, 64% of Android Authority readers said they’d still only pay the “average” amount of money for a perfect Wear OS smartwatch: between $100 and $300.

29.5% of voters said they’d pay much more for a perfect Wear OS watch. 27.2% would pay somewhere between $300 and $1,000, while 2.3% of voters said they’d pay over $1,000.

Finally, 6.5% of voters wouldn’t pay any amount of money for a perfect Wear OS device.

Here’s what you had to say

Here are some of the best comments from last week’s poll explaining why they voted the way that they did:

• Monk: I’d go for up to 500… Good battery, rugged. Not a name brand per say but not some knock off startup company. It’s gotta work with any Android phone. I have a phone, so I don’t need 3g 4g or 5g… Maybe enough data to do texts for when I’m away from my phone but I don’t need to watch videos or anything. I’d want heart rate and 02 sensor. Sleep tracking that works well. Some other medical miracle that hasn’t been done yet. Easy to use reminders (guess a top of the line assistant that doesn’t need data to do most tasks)In terms of design thin enough to not feel bulky. Round face without a flat tire. A dual screen for low power consumption. A new design where the buttons aren’t huge, so you could wear it comfortably on either wrist without pushing them by mistake. Comfortable band that you don’t have to buy an aftermarket one and hope for the best. Then instead of over designing a new pixel with maybe some people like the soli stuff but instead throw that R/D into wear OS and make it
• DBS: WearOS is a sh*tshow. Unpolished, unfinished, unsupported. Even Google seems to have forgotten it. So I wouldn’t buy anything over 100€ running it. Only if the watch was under 100€ would I consider it. Since there’s no option for that…Option 1 it is.
• jdrch: I wouldn’t buy it, not because “I hate Wear OS” (LMAO wat) but because I’m not about to buy yet another device that needs to be charged. I already rock a Bluetooth headset, phone, and backup power bank everywhere. Don’t need a 4th.
• Lee: I’ve removed Google pay from my watch due to constant inconsistency of it being fussy about where exactly on the terminal it makes connection, or it deciding to quit or freeze right at the point of payment. A smart ring works flawlessly without any of this & requires no charging. Unless you have a watch with that charges itself it’s just not worth it, you can still have Google assistant through earphones.
• mejustsayin: I have the gear s2 classic. it is almost the ideal watch. the perfect smartwatch for me is small, takes phone notifications, able to make payments (prefer samsung pay) and don’t have all the health tracking features. It will be a while before I will be in the market for a new watch. I just cannot see getting a new watch every few years at the current prices. when I am in the market, wear os will be considered and I will pay to get what I want and need – within reason.
• none: If it has a square screen, and it isn’t made by Samsung, I’ll buy it…
• Chris Jewell: I bought the Montblanc Summit 2 a year ago for about $950. The point about paying the extra dollars is that you get a quality timepiece as far as hardware and aesthetics. For example it is virtually scratch proof and the leather strap still looks good. It’s a beautiful watch and I’ve had a lot of compliments. I know that WearOS has a bad reputation but on my watch it’s super fast and responsive. The battery lasts about 16 hrs with regular usage which isn’t stellar but I’m OK with that. I know that in 5 years or so the software will likely be obsolete and the battery will have deteriorated but I’m kind of hoping that those things can be repaired. If not, I’m still happy with my purchase.
• Harry Knuckles: My fitbit versa 2 is awesome and only cost $180. Buying “Luxury” technology is just like waving a flag saying I’m foolish.
• funkpod: I put down the $300 to $1000 option, only because I could see spending$350 or even$400. If it is like the Apple Watch quality, then yeah, I’d pay that much. But not $1k.

That’s it for this week. As always, thanks for voting, thanks for the comments, and don’t forget to let us know what you thought of the results below!