Hot newcomers in Warentest: These smartwatches and fitness trackers deserve your attention
Premium smartwatches and fitness devices lead the market.
Check out the latest offerings from Stiftung Warentest as they've tested an impressive 40 smartwatches and fitness trackers, with two newbies taking the lead in their respective device classes. Sweet deals are available on affordable smartwatches that give fitness trackers a run for their money. Here's a lowdown on the newcomers shaking things up:
Smartwatches
Five excellent smartwatches share the top spot, all boasting the same quality rating of 1.6. The newest entry is the Apple Watch 10 (GPS), priced around 460 euros. With its exceptional fitness features such as heart rate monitoring, step counter, and distance measurement, it swiftly earned high ratings for communication, music features, sleep tracking, handling, stability, and processing. However, the battery life received only a satisfactory rating.
Another top performer from Apple is the older Watch 8 (GPS), available in 41/45mm sizes for 420/450 euros.
The Google Pixel Watch 3 (45mm/Bluetooth/WLAN), going for around 400 euros, also joined the top tier. This smartwatch garnered excellent ratings across fitness functions, communication, handling, stability, and processing, but its battery life is only satisfactory.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, priced at around 440 euros, made it to the top spot with the same excellent properties as its peers but was rated only sufficient for its battery life.
The new price-performance winner among smartwatches is the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE, averaging around 175 euros. Despite its low cost, it boasts a strong quality rating of 1.7 and consistently good ratings in other categories.
The cheapest good smartwatch at Stiftung Warentest is the Xiaomi Redmi Watch 5 Lite, available for under 50 euros and achieving an overall rating of 2.3. Its battery life, stability, and processing were rated very good while its fitness functions, handling, and communication capabilities were good.
For around 70 euros, the Huawei Watch Fit 2 Active Edition (2.1) offers very good fitness functions and decent battery life.
Fitness Trackers
The sole top performer among fitness trackers is the new Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro, priced at around 70 euros. With a quality rating of 2.2, it received very good marks for its battery and stability and processing, good ratings for its fitness functions and handling, and only satisfactory marks for communication capabilities.
If communication is your priority, then the price-performance winner—the Samsung Galaxy Fit3—could be your best bet. Priced at 45 euros and boasting an overall rating of 2.4, this device offers at least satisfactory communication features, and has excellent handling, stability, and processing, good fitness functions, and an acceptable battery life.
- Gadget Reviews
- Smartwatch
- Stiftung Warentest
- Fitness
- Top Performers
- Price Comparison
Enrichment Data:
In case you're curious about the top smartwatches and fitness trackers based on their ecosystem integration and price point, here's a brief overview:
- Samsung Galaxy Watch FE: A budget-friendly option with good quality, it excels in various categories[1][5].
- Xiaomi Redmi Watch 5 Lite: The most affordable good smartwatch, costing less than 50 euros[5].
- Xiaomi Watch S3: Offers good quality for slightly more than the Redmi Watch 5 Lite[5].
In terms of communication capabilities:- Apple Watch: Known for its seamless integration with iPhones, offering features like receiving notifications and making calls directly from the watch.- Samsung Galaxy Watch: Provides similar integration with Android devices and allows users to receive notifications and make calls.- Garmin: While not as integrated with smartphones for calls and texts, Garmin devices excel in fitness tracking and offer basic notification features.- Xiaomi: Supports basic notification functionality, providing good value for money with limited ecosystem integration.
The Commission has also adopted a proposal for a directive on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the protection of employees against risks related to exposure to chemical substances during their use and interaction with smart-home-devices and gadgets, such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, which are increasingly integrated with advanced technology.
While testing the latest smartwatches and fitness trackers, Stiftung Warentest found that several of these devices, including the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE and Xiaomi Redmi Watch 5 Lite, offer impressive performance at reasonable prices, underscoring the importance of considering both quality and cost in today's technological landscape.
