Technologies
Best Android Smartwatch for 2023
We’ve rounded up the best Apple Watch alternatives for work and working out.
A good smartwatch can add some serious convenience to your day-to-day routine. If you already use an Android smartphone, it just makes sense to get an Android smartwatch as well. The Apple Watch remains one of the most popular picks out there, but if you have an Android phone, you won’t be able to take full advantage of the features. That’s why Android users should get a watch that’s designed for your preferred operating system.
Whether you use your smartwatch for its fitness-tracking features, or as a less-distracting alternative to your phone, a smartwatch is a convenient way to stay connected and get information at a glance. And if you are in the market for an Android smartwatch, there are plenty of worthy contenders for just about any budget that offer key features like activity tracking, a heart rate sensor, Samsung Pay and more. Plus, there are many different styles of Android smartwatches to choose from to suit your personal taste.
If you’re looking for the best Android smartwatch out there, check out our recommendations below. You’ll notice we’re not recommending many watches powered by Wear OS because Google and Samsung have rebooted the OS, but every Android smartwatch listed here is a solid wearable with great features that pairs seamlessly with your Android phone or device. We’ll update our selections for the best Android smartwatch on the market periodically as we review new products.
Andrew Lanxon/CNET
Google’s first Pixel Watch wants to tackle the Apple Watch head-on. For the most part, it succeeds thanks to a sleek, curved design and a range of health sensors including an ECG app and blood oxygen tracking. It has a suite of fitness tracking features and analysis through the Fitbit app and accurate heart rate tracking.
Beware that the battery isn’t as strong as other options on this list and you will likely find yourself charging this watch every day, especially if you like to do outdoor GPS workouts and track your sleep. It’s also only available in one 41mm size.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro are two of the best Wear OS watches you can get right now. They have longer-lasting batteries than last year’s Galaxy Watch 4 models and plenty of great fitness tracking features. Google apps including YouTube Music, the Google Assistant and Google Maps are available, with many more apps accessible through the Play Store. You do need a Galaxy phone to use the ECG, but all the other features work seamlessly with other Android phones.
But the new temperature sensor isn’t active yet, and both watches miss out on the classic physical rotating bezel, one of the signature features of Samsung’s Galaxy Watch and Gear watches from years past.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
The Galaxy Watch 4 is the first smartwatch to run the new Google Wear platform, co-designed by Samsung and Google. Even though it’s now been superseded with the Galaxy Watch 5, you can still buy the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, the version with a physical rotating bezel. ECG and heart-rate tracking are onboard, but Samsung tries to differentiate itself from other watches with a new impedance-based electrical sensor that can tell you more about your body composition. The battery life is not as strong as other watches on the list.
Angela Lang/CNET
The Versa 3 smartwatch is compatible with both iOS and Android phones and lets you choose between Alexa or Google Assistant as your go-to voice assistant. It doesn’t offer all the apps and smart features that some of its competitors do, but it’s a well-rounded smartwatch with plenty of health and fitness features to keep you on track, such as onboard GPS and live heart rate monitoring notifications. The Android user can use this wearable to receive notifications for calls, texts, and calendar events. If your Android phone is nearby, you can use the Fitbit Versa to send a quick reply. It’s the best smartwatch on this list for sleep tracking, and it even gives you a breakout of your SpO2 and body temperature data overnight (for Fitbit Premium users). Battery life is also better than most: I got about four full days (and nights) of use with the screen always on.
There is also a newer model of this smartwatch, the Fitbit Versa 4, which we will be testing and evaluating soon.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
Garmin makes plenty of great smartwatches for fitness enthusiasts, but they don’t always have that many smart features. The Venu 2 hybrid smartwatch offers the best of both worlds. You can respond to notifications from the watch with quick replies, use contactless payments with Garmin Pay and store music from apps like Spotify. The bright AMOLED circular screen is easy to see outdoors and the battery lasts for 5 days or more. The Venu 2 Plus offers all the same features, but includes a speaker and microphone for taking quick calls from your wrist when your phone is in range, or talking to your voice assistant.
Lexy Savvides/CNET
If you’re looking for a fitness-focused Android watch without too many distractions, which works with both Android and iOS, the Garmin Venu Sq is the watch to get. It has a built-in GPS, plenty of workout options to choose from, and lots of fitness tracking data about your workout like heart rate zones and running dynamics in the mobile app.
This Android smartwatch also doubles as a health tracker with high and low heart rate alerts, a comprehensive sleep analysis and SpO2 tracking. It measures blood oxygen levels on demand, or automatically throughout the day and night just like the Apple Watch Series 7, but for half the price. But you do compromise on design. The watch has a plastic frame, and the watch face’s screen isn’t as big or as vibrant as those on some of the other watches on the list. There’s also a newer version of this watch, the Venu Sq 2, with a battery that lasts even longer, but it is significantly more expensive.
Lisa Eadicicco/CNET
If you’re looking for an Android-compatible watch that looks more like a dive watch, check out the Withings ScanWatch Horizon. It has regular watch hands and a tiny circular display that shows notifications scrolling across it like a ticker. But the focus is mostly on health-tracking features like monitoring your sleep, heart rate and workouts. There’s also an ECG onboard, and the battery can last two weeks or more.
More to track your fitness and health
- How to Buy a Smartwatch or Fitness Tracker
- The Best Chest Strap Heart Rate Monitor You Can Buy Now
- Best Fitness Tracker for 2023
- Best Alarm Clock for 2023
- Best Sunrise Alarm Clock for 2023
- Best Home Exercise Equipment for 2023
- The Best E-Bikes to Ride for 2023
- Best Peloton Alternatives: 5 Great Indoor Exercise Bikes That Cost Less
- Amazon Echo Dot With Clock vs. Google Home Mini
- OnePlus Reveals Budget Fitness Tracker Band
- Best Smartwatches for 2023
Technologies
Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for May 18, #707
Hints and answers for Connections for May 18, #707.
Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Connections puzzle is a mix of difficult and easy. The purple category does what most purple categories do, and makes you really break down how you think about the words. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.
The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.
Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time
Hints for today’s Connections groups
Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.
Yellow group hint: School days.
Green group hint: About there!
Blue group hint: Sure, let’s go.
Purple group hint: The Scarlett Letter.
Answers for today’s Connections groups
Yellow group: Tasks for a student.
Green group: Encouraging responses in a guessing game.
Blue group: Up for anything.
Purple group: What «A» might mean.
Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words
What are today’s Connections answers?
The yellow words in today’s Connections
The theme is tasks for a student. The four answers are assignment, drill, exercise and lesson.
The green words in today’s Connections
The theme is encouraging responses in a guessing game. The four answers are almost, close, not quite and warm.
The blue words in today’s Connections
The theme is up for anything. The four answers are easy, flexible, game and open.
The purple words in today’s Connections
The theme is what «A» might mean. The four answers are area, athletic, excellent and one.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for May 18, #441
Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle No. 441 for May 18.
Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Today’s NYT Strands will probably be easier if you have some basic knowledge about a certain type of vessel. You don’t really need to have ever been on one, since the answers show up in books and movies all the time. If you need hints and answers, read on.
I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far
Hint for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s Strands theme is: Riding the wind.
If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: famed song by Christopher Cross.
Clue words to unlock in-game hints
Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints, but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:
- DULL, TILE, TILER, SEER, GALE, GALES, HAIL, SAIL, LEEK, GLUE, HALL, TALL, HEAT
Answers for today’s Strands puzzle
These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you’ve got all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:
- HELM, HULL, KEEL, MAST, STERN, RIGGING, RUDDER, TILLER
Today’s Strands spangram
Today’s Strands spangram is SAILBOAT. To find it, start with the S that’s four letters down on the farthest row to the left, then wind across, up and down.
Technologies
Google I/O 2025: How to Watch and What to Expect
With Android 16 out of the way, Google I/O will certainly be all about AI.
Google I/O 2025 takes place on May 20 and 21 with Google’s big keynote happening on day 1. We expect Big G to talk about its myriad innovations across its ever-expanding portfolio of products — almost certainly with a huge focus on AI every step of the way. If we collectively cross our fingers, promise to be good and eat all our vegetables then we may even be treated to a sneak peek at upcoming hardware.
Read more: Android 16: Everything Google Announced at the Android Show
Google also hosted a totally separate event that focused solely on Android. The Android Show: I/O Edition saw the wrappers come off Android 16, with insights into the new Material 3 Expressive interface, updates to security and a focus on Gemini and how it’ll work on a variety of other devices.
By breaking out Android news into its own virtual event, Google frees itself to spend more time during the I/O keynote to talk about Gemini, Deep Mind, Android XR and Project Astra. It’s going to be a jam-packed event, so here’s how you can watch I/O 2025 as it happens and what you can look forward to.
Google I/O: Where to watch
Google I/O proper kicks off with a keynote taking place on May 20, 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT, 6 p.m. BST). It’ll almost certainly be available to stream online on Google’s own YouTube channel, although a holding video is yet to be available. There’s no live link on the I/O website yet, either, though you can use the handy links to add the event to your calendar of choice. Expect links to a livestream to be available closer to the day.
What to expect from Google I/O 2025
Little chat about Android 16: As Google gave Android 16 its own outing already, it’s likely that it won’t be mentioned all that much during I/O. In fact at last year’s event, Android was barely mentioned, while uses of the term «AI» went well over a hundred.
Android XR: Google didn’t talk much about Android XR during the Android show, focusing instead on the purely phone-based updates to the platform. We expected to hear more about the company’s latest foray into mixed-reality headsets in partnership with Samsung and its Project Moohan headset, so it’s possible that this is being saved for I/O proper.
Gemini: With Android being spun out into its own separate event, Google is evidently clearing the way for I/O to focus on everything else the company does. AI will continue to dominate the conversation at I/O, just as it did last year (though hopefully Google can make it more understandable) with updates to many of its AI platforms expected to be announced.
Gemini is expected to receive a variety of update announcements, including more information on its latest 2.5 Pro update which boasts various improvements to its reasoning abilities, and in particular to its helpfulness for coding applications. Expect lots of mentions of Google’s other AI-based products, too, including DeepMind, LearnLM and Project Astra. Let’s just hope Google has figured out how to make this information make any kind of sense.
Beyond AI, Google may talk about updates to its other products including GMail, Chrome and the Play Store, although whether these updates are big enough to be discussed during the keynote rather than as part of the developer-focused sessions following I/O’s opening remains to be seen.
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