Best Hybrid Smartwatches: Real Hands, Smart Underneath
Eight hybrid watches from Withings and Garmin compared on battery life, what they track, phone support and price. Prices start at about $250.
Our pick is the Withings ScanWatch Light at about $250. It has real hands, a small display in the dial, and a battery Withings puts at up to 35 days. Spend more on the ScanWatch 2 if you want its extra sensors, or look at Garmin’s Instinct Crossover if you need GPS in the watch itself.
A hybrid smartwatch keeps time with physical hands and hides the smart parts behind them. You get step counts, heart rate and phone notifications. You give up the big touchscreen and calls from the wrist. In return the battery is counted in days or weeks.
The 2020 version of this page listed watches from Fossil, Misfit and Skagen. Fossil has left the business, and the two ranges we could verify on sale today are from Withings and Garmin. Withings’ figures come from its US site and Garmin’s from its US store. We have not handled any of these watches.
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The watches compared
Prices are the makers’ own US prices for the cheapest version, rounded. Battery figures are the makers’ claims.
| Watch | Case | Battery, as stated | GPS | Maker’s price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Withings ScanWatch Light | 37mm | Up to 35 days | Uses the phone’s | about $250 |
| Withings ScanWatch 2 | 38mm or 42mm | Up to 35 days | Uses the phone’s | about $370 |
| Withings ScanWatch Nova Brilliant | 39mm | Up to 35 days | Uses the phone’s | about $600 |
| Withings ScanWatch Nova | 42mm | Up to 35 days | Uses the phone’s | about $600 |
| Garmin vívomove Trend | 40mm | Up to 5 days | Uses the phone’s | about $270 |
| Garmin Instinct Crossover | 45mm | Up to 28 days | Built in | about $400 |
| Garmin Instinct Crossover Solar | 45mm | Up to 28 days, or 70 with solar | Built in | about $450 |
| Garmin Instinct Crossover AMOLED | 47mm | Up to 14 days | Built in | about $650 |
All eight work with both iPhone and Android, by their makers’ spec sheets.
What a hybrid smartwatch is
The hands are real. The smart part is a small screen that shares the dial with them, and the three designs here handle that differently.
- Withings sets a small display into the dial. It is a greyscale OLED 0.63 inches across, and Withings says it shows incoming calls and app notifications.
- Garmin’s vívomove Trend has a colour touchscreen that Garmin describes as hidden. The face is a plain dial until you use it.
- Garmin’s Instinct Crossover puts the hands over a full digital display. Garmin says the hands and the display work together to highlight the data on screen.
None of the eight lists a speaker or microphone, so calls stay on the phone. If you want apps, replies by voice and calls on the wrist, you want a full smartwatch, and for Android owners those are in our guide to the best Wear OS watches.
Withings ScanWatch
The four ScanWatch models share more than they differ on. Withings states up to 35 days of battery for each, a full charge in two hours, and support for iPhones on iOS 16 or later and Android 9 or later. All four use the phone’s GPS for distance and pace during a workout.
Withings also sells a subscription, Withings+, at $9.95 a month. Its own page says the subscription is not needed to use the watch.
ScanWatch Light, about $250
The cheapest of the four: a 37mm steel case with Gorilla Glass, water resistant to 5 ATM. Withings lists heart rate by day and night, activity tracking, sleep monitoring and cycle tracking.
It is our pick because it has the two things a hybrid is bought for, the hands and the long battery, for $120 less than the ScanWatch 2. Withings ScanWatch Light on Amazon
ScanWatch 2, about $370
The same idea in 38mm or 42mm, with sapphire glass. To the Light’s list Withings adds an electrocardiogram, blood oxygen levels, temperature tracking around the clock and an altimeter for elevation. Withings notes that its devices cannot record an ECG in Canada.
Pick it if those sensors are the reason you are buying. If they are not, the Light does the rest. Withings ScanWatch 2 on Amazon
ScanWatch Nova and Nova Brilliant, about $600
Withings’ comparison table gives both the same tracking list as the ScanWatch 2. The $230 more goes on the watch around it. The Nova is a 42mm watch that Withings describes as diver style, with a rotating ceramic bezel and water resistance to 10 ATM. The Nova Brilliant is 39mm and rated to 5 ATM. Each comes with a metal bracelet and a second strap.
These are for someone who wants the watch to pass as jewellery. On tracking alone there is no reason to choose them over the ScanWatch 2.
Garmin
vívomove Trend, about $270
The dress watch of the Garmin range, with a 40mm case and a hidden colour touchscreen. Garmin states up to 5 days in smartwatch mode, which is the shortest battery in the table. It charges on most Qi wireless pads as well as Garmin’s own clip.
Garmin lists wrist heart rate, Pulse Ox blood oxygen, all-day stress, sleep score and its Body Battery energy monitor, along with Garmin Pay for contactless payments. GPS comes from the phone. Two colours cost about $270 and the two gold-toned ones about $300.
Pick it over a ScanWatch if you want a touchscreen and payments from the wrist, and can live with charging every few days. Garmin vívomove Trend on Amazon
The cheaper vívomove Sport still has a page on Garmin’s US store, marked permanently out of stock.
Instinct Crossover, from about $400
A rugged 45mm outdoor watch with hands over a monochrome display, GPS built in and water resistance to 10 ATM. Garmin states up to 28 days in smartwatch mode. It lists Pulse Ox, sleep score and Garmin Pay here too.
The Solar version costs about $450. Garmin’s figure for it is up to 70 days, on the assumption that the watch spends three hours a day outside in bright light. If your days are spent indoors, the $50 buys little. Garmin Instinct Crossover on Amazon
Instinct Crossover AMOLED, about $650
This version swaps the monochrome display for a bright AMOLED one under a sapphire lens, and adds an LED flashlight and multi-band GPS. The price of the brighter screen is battery: up to 14 days, or 5 with the display always on. A Tactical Edition costs about $750.
That is $250 more than the standard Instinct Crossover for a nicer screen and half the battery life. We would take the standard one. Garmin Instinct Crossover AMOLED on Amazon
One limit applies to every Garmin here: replying to a text from the watch, or rejecting a call with a text, works with Android phones only.
Makers that have left
- Fossil and Skagen: Fossil told The Verge in January 2024 that it had decided to exit the smartwatch business, and reports at the time said that covered its hybrid models. Skagen is a Fossil Group brand. That accounts for the Fossil Q Commuter and the Skagen Connected on the old list.
- Misfit: the Misfit Command was on the old list. Misfit’s website no longer loads.
- Citizen: a search of Citizen’s US store for its CZ Smart watches returns nothing. What remains is a charging cable for the first CZ Smart Hybrid.
- Withings Steel HR Sport: Withings’ watch range is now the four ScanWatch models above.
The old list also had the Samsung Galaxy Watch on it. That is a touchscreen smartwatch and was never a hybrid.
Which to pick
- For most people: the Withings ScanWatch Light.
- For the fullest set of sensors: the Withings ScanWatch 2.
- For a touchscreen and payments: the Garmin vívomove Trend.
- For GPS without the phone: the standard Garmin Instinct Crossover.
If the watch is for a desk job more than for the outdoors, we compare these with touchscreen watches in our guide to the best smart watch for remote workers.
Quick answers
What is a hybrid smartwatch?
A watch with physical hands that also tracks activity and shows phone notifications on a small display in or behind the dial. It trades the apps and big screen of a full smartwatch for a battery that lasts days or weeks.
Which hybrid smartwatch has the longest battery life?
On the makers’ figures, the Withings ScanWatch models at up to 35 days. Garmin’s Instinct Crossover Solar is stated at up to 70 days, but only with three hours a day outside in bright light. Without it the figure is 28.
Is there a hybrid smartwatch with GPS?
Garmin’s Instinct Crossover watches have GPS built in. The Withings watches and the Garmin vívomove Trend use the GPS in your phone.
Do hybrid smartwatches work with an iPhone?
All eight here do. Withings asks for iOS 16 or later, and Garmin lists both iPhone and Android. On the Garmin watches, replying to texts is for Android only.
Does Fossil still make hybrid smartwatches?
No. Fossil said in January 2024 that it was leaving the smartwatch business, hybrids included.
Prices move, so confirm on the maker’s store before you pay.
