Best Wear OS Watch: Pixel Watch and Galaxy Watch Compared

For most Android phones, buy the Google Pixel Watch 5. It is Google’s own watch, it runs the newest version of Wear OS, and it works with most phones on Android 12 or newer. If your phone is a Samsung, take the Galaxy Watch9. If battery life comes first, the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 claims twice the hours of the Watch9.

The field is smaller than it was. The 2020 version of this page had seven watches, led by the Fossil Gen 5. Of the makers we checked, two have Wear OS watches in stock on their US stores today, Google and Samsung. OnePlus is on its way out, which we come to below. We have not handled any of these watches, so what follows is what each maker states.

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Wear OS watches list

Prices are the makers’ own US store prices for the cheapest version, rounded. Battery figures are the makers’ claims with the always-on display switched on.

Watch	Wear OS	Sizes	Battery, as stated	LTE	Phone it needs	Maker’s price
Google Pixel Watch 5	7	41mm, 45mm	Up to 30 or 40 hours, by size	Optional	Android 12 or newer	about $400
Samsung Galaxy Watch9	7	40mm, 44mm	Up to 30 hours	Optional	Android 13 or newer	about $380
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2	7	47mm	Up to 60 hours	Standard	Android 13 or newer	about $700
Samsung Galaxy Watch8 Classic	Not stated	46mm	Up to 30 hours	Optional	Android 11 or newer	about $500

Do Wear OS watches work with an iPhone

None of these does, and each maker says so in its own way.

Google: the Pixel Watch 5 needs a compatible phone on Android 12 or newer. The comparison table on Google’s store lists Android for it and leaves iOS blank.
Samsung: the Galaxy Watch9 and Watch Ultra2 need Android 13 or higher with more than 1.5GB of memory. Samsung adds that the watch can only be activated with a phone that supports Google Mobile Services.
OnePlus: the footnotes for its Watch 3 say iOS devices are not supported, and neither are phones on Android Go.

Google’s Wear OS help still has setup steps for iPhones. The same page warns that watches running Wear OS 3 are not compatible with the iPhone app, and none of the makers here offers iPhone support on the versions since.

With an iPhone, the choice is an Apple Watch or a watch that works with both kinds of phone. Several of those are in our guide to the best hybrid smartwatches.

Google Pixel Watch

Pixel Watch 5, about $400

Google’s spec sheet lists Wear OS 7.0, 64GB of storage and a display that peaks at 3,000 nits. The 41mm is about $400 and the 45mm about $430. LTE adds $100 to either.

Battery is up to 30 hours on the 41mm and up to 40 on the 45mm with the always-on display, or up to 48 and 72 hours in Battery Saver mode. Google says its charging dock takes the watch to 50% in about 15 minutes. It is rated 5 ATM and IP68.

This is our pick. It carries the newest software from the company that writes it, and its phone requirement is the loosest of the Wear OS 7 watches. Google Pixel Watch 5 on Amazon

Pixel Watch 4: nearly gone

The previous model still has a page on the Google Store, with Wear OS 6.0 and 32GB of storage on Google’s spec sheet. When we looked, the Wi-Fi versions were marked out of stock in both sizes, at about $350 and $400. Only two colours of the 41mm with LTE were not, at about $450. That is $50 more than a Pixel Watch 5 without LTE, so we would not chase one.

Samsung Galaxy Watch

Galaxy Watch9, about $380

Samsung Newsroom’s spec sheet gives Wear OS 7 under Samsung’s One UI 9 Watch. The 40mm is about $380 and the 44mm about $410, and LTE adds $50 to either. Samsung’s US page gives the battery only as a capacity, 390mAh or 445mAh. Its Singapore spec table says up to 30 hours with the always-on display.

Samsung’s footnotes say several features, Vitals and Heart Health Score among them, need a Samsung Galaxy phone. That is the reason to pick this watch with a Samsung phone and the Pixel Watch 5 with any other. Samsung Galaxy Watch9 on Amazon

Galaxy Watch Ultra2, about $700

One size, 47mm in titanium, with LTE as standard. The battery is 800mAh, and Samsung’s Singapore table says up to 60 hours with the always-on display, twice the Watch9’s figure. It is rated to 10 ATM. Pick it for the battery and the tougher case, if the price and the size suit you. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2 on Amazon

Galaxy Watch8 Classic, about $500

Samsung’s store has no Classic in the Watch9 line, and it still sells the Watch8 Classic. It is the one with the rotating bezel, in 46mm, at about $500 or about $550 with LTE. Samsung’s page names its software as One UI 8 Watch without giving a Wear OS number, and asks for a phone on Android 11 or newer. Samsung’s Indian product page puts the battery at up to 30 hours with the always-on display.

Pick it only for the bezel. Samsung Galaxy Watch8 Classic on Amazon

Samsung also still has the plain Galaxy Watch8 in stock, in 40mm and 44mm, from about $300. That is the cheapest Wear OS watch we found in stock at a maker’s US store.

Wear OS watches with the best battery life

With the always-on display switched on, the makers’ figures rank this way.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2: up to 60 hours
Google Pixel Watch 5, 45mm: up to 40 hours
Samsung Galaxy Watch9, Galaxy Watch8 Classic and the 41mm Pixel Watch 5: up to 30 hours

Every one of these is a watch you charge every day or two. If you want weeks, Wear OS is the wrong place to look, and a hybrid watch is the right one.

Makers that have left or are leaving

OnePlus

The OnePlus Watch 3 has longer battery claims than any watch in the table: up to five days for the 46mm in what OnePlus calls Smart Mode with the always-on display off, and three days of heavy use with it on. Its page for the 43mm names Wear OS 5.

It is hard to buy from OnePlus now. The wearables page of its US store lists one watch, the 43mm at about $300, and shows it as out of stock. In 2026 OnePlus told TechCrunch that it will no longer launch new products in Europe and North America, and that after-sales support and software updates for existing owners remain guaranteed. A Watch 4 is on OnePlus’s global site and not on its US store.

If you find a Watch 3 at a retailer, the battery is the reason to consider it, and the end of the line is the reason to hesitate.

Fossil, Skagen and Mobvoi

Fossil and Skagen: Fossil told The Verge in January 2024 that it had decided to exit the smartwatch business. Skagen is a Fossil Group brand. That accounts for the Fossil Gen 5 and the Skagen Falster 3 on the old list.
Mobvoi: the menu of Mobvoi’s US store no longer has a TicWatch in it. It lists a voice recorder, a treadmill, and straps and a charging dock for older TicWatches.

Samsung watches older than the Galaxy Watch4 ran a different system, Tizen, and its app store has closed. We cover what still works in Tizen watch apps.

Outside the US

Google’s Indian store lists the Pixel Watch 5 at ₹42,900 for the 41mm and ₹45,900 for the 45mm. Samsung’s Indian store lists the 40mm Galaxy Watch9 at ₹37,999.

Many searches from India ask for a Wear OS watch under ₹10,000 or under ₹5,000. A current-generation one costs about four times the higher figure on the makers’ own stores, so a watch at that price will be running something other than Wear OS.

Which to pick

Most Android phones: the Pixel Watch 5.
A Samsung phone: the Galaxy Watch9.
Longest battery: the Galaxy Watch Ultra2.
Lowest price: the Galaxy Watch8, while Samsung still has it.
An iPhone: none of them.

If the watch is mainly for work, our guide to the best smart watch for remote workers looks at calls, timers and reminders to move on these and on watches that work with an iPhone.

Quick answers

Which is the best Wear OS watch?

The Google Pixel Watch 5 for most Android phones, at about $400. With a Samsung phone, the Galaxy Watch9 at about $380.

Do Wear OS watches work with an iPhone?

Not the current ones. Google and Samsung each require an Android phone for the watches on this page, and OnePlus says the same of its Watch 3.

Which Wear OS watch has the best battery life?

Of the watches in stock at their makers, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2 at up to 60 hours with the always-on display. The 45mm Pixel Watch 5 is next at up to 40.

Which watches run Wear OS 7?

The Pixel Watch 5, the Galaxy Watch9 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra2, by Google’s and Samsung’s own spec sheets.

Is there a budget Wear OS watch?

The cheapest we found in stock at a maker’s US store is the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 at about $300. Below that, the makers we checked sell nothing with Wear OS.

Prices move, so confirm on the maker’s store before you pay.