GADGET GIZMO SPECIAL The best smartwatch for every wrist

Smartwatches have come a long way since they first showed up. After sorting the wheat from the chaff, these are the watches worth wearing

Pebble Steel


We love the $200 (Rs 12,660) Pebble Steel. It's missing a lot of the fancier smartwatch features: like being able to use voice control, or being able to swipe through my notifications with a finger instead of by pressing a button. But the trade-off is worth it because the screen is always on, always readable, and the battery lasts for five days, easy. Even better, it looks classy enough to wear it even while dressing up for a formal dinner or fancy business party. This ain't no child's toy. 
It's also incredibly versatile. Unlike Google's Android Wear watches or the upcoming Apple Watch, the Pebble Steel works with Android and iOS. Design-wise it's small enough that it looks fine even on daintier wrists. It's got leather and metal band options, a bajillion different faces to choose from, and I've never seen a third-party app store as robust as Pebble's. At $200, the Pebble Steel is on the cheap side when it comes to the better-looking smartwatches. It's a great smartwatch for anyone who's in the market. 

Moto 360 
The Moto 360 is beautiful, simple and elegant, but it's not good enough. You still have to shake the watch to turn on the screen, and battery life doesn't always last the day anyhow. 

Martian Voice Command and Martian Notifier
Clever analog/digital design but the tiny little horizontal window is just bad at telling you what you want to know. 


Microsoft Band 

More fitness tracker than smartwatch, the interface and notifications leave a lot to be desired as far as smartwatches are concerned. 

Samsung Gear Live 
It's boring but not bad, though the Zenwatch has it beat in looks and price. Also the Gear Live's default strap is garbage, so you have to buy a replacement if you don't want it to pop off and break. 

Sony Smartwatch 3 

Pretty unremarkable, but not ugly. The transflective LCD screen is easy to see in bright sunlight but alwayson AMOLED is just as good and easier on the battery. Options like the G Watch R and Zenwatch are just better.

LG G Watch R and ASUS Zenwatch 

On a functional level, the $300 G (Rs 19,000) Watch R and the $200 (Rs 12,660) Zenwatch are pretty equally great. Both have AMOLED screens, which means they can always display the time without burning through their whole battery before the day is out. Both watches got through 24 hours with battery to spare, even with extreme use. Both run Google's Android Wear platform: it's super convenient to set laundry reminders on the wrist with voice commands, or archive emails from the watch.


Pebble 

If you want to just dabble in smartwatchery without dropping a lot of cash, get the original $80 (Rs 5,068) Pebble. Functionally, it's the same as the Pebble Steel but in a cheaper, more robust (and uglier) plastic body, which you will come around to kind of dig it. Also the plastic body and rubber strap make it great for wearing at night (sleeptracking) or in the shower (music control/just being waytoo connected).

G G Watch 

Fine, but both the Pebble Steel and the ASUS Zenwatch are better, prettier, and cheaper. 


Apple Watch 

Not out yet, but the Apple Watch's shadow is looming so large that it's still worth mentioning. 

By Gizmodo | 1 Jan, 2015