Non-Apple, non-Samsung smart watch?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I bought a Samsung smart watch last November, it crapped out on me (black screen, only info shown is 100% charge) three days ago. Samsung claims warranty expired on August 31 (9.5 month warranty? You surprise me, Samsung) and that I have to mail it to them and expect to pay at least $70 (on a $200 watch) depending on what is wrong, and of course wait an unknown period of time. There is, of course, no person to talk to.

So I was going to give up smart watches, but there are too many things about it that I miss. Man, are metal watches heavy! Plus countdown timer, step counting, etc. All very handy to have on my wrist.

So I see there are other non-Apple brands: Garmin, Google Pixel, Amazfit, OnePlus, probably others. Any recommendations?

Forgot to mention, my phone is Samsung, and I need to be able to link the watch with my phone. Not sure if brand matters on that score.

2

I have no opinion, but here’s a review.

3

What do you need in a smartwatch?

If just basic notifications and fitness functionality (as opposed to a full mobile OS type of thing, with texting and apps and all that), the Garmin devices are very good, with great battery life and “just enough” functionality IMHO. I loved the ones I had in the past. I stopped using smartwatches altogether and life got much simpler after that, but if I were to get another one, it’d still be a simpler Garmin. Unfortunately, I think they might’ve recently moved to a subscription model…? Not sure.

The OG smartwatch, the Pebble, has recently made a crowdfunded reappearance: https://repebble.com/… though they’re all sold out now until Jan 2026.

It might be a good choice if you want something quirky, fun, and somewhat self-hackable. I wouldn’t count on it having any sort of warranty or replacement parts, though.

These things are commodity junk like any other device in the mobile market. I’d just buy some cheap plastic thing and expect it to replace it once it wears out.

4

I have owned a Google Pixel 1 watch and own a Google Pixel 2 watch. There is a Pixel 3, but it has nothing I would feel like upgrading for. You can still buy the Pixel 2 and 1s at lower prices.
I also have a Google pixel phone, so compatibility is not a problem.
It is completely Fitbit compatible and I pay for the premium Fitbit membership.

It is a nice reliable watch which measures things like heartbeat, oxygen, temperature and others. I like the GPS tracking when I go for walks. The battery life is not great, it needs to be charged about once a day.

I have not really compared it to other watches, and there are certainly a lot of cheap digitial watches available that are not brand names. Let me know if you have any questions about it.

5

@Reply’s question is probably most pertinent. “What do you need in a smartwatch?”

@Roderick_Femm mentions cost ($200 watch), reliability, and a few really basic features. In terms of reliability, yeah, Apple watches are in a rank of their own, but not really an option for us Android users.

If you go with others, I used to avoid Samsung like the plague, their proprietary Tizen system was a terror, but with WearOS it’s an also run. If you’re buying a cellular enabled one (not that I’m recommending it) it would be worthwhile going through your mobile carrier, and probably getting better service, though that’s not saying much.

For the needs mentioned though, I don’t think it’s a big deal, though the fall detection services on modern no-phone required cellular smartwatches can be a boon for active but more elderly individuals. Google Pixel makes solid watches, no bloatware that plagues Samsung devices, so it’s a solid choice. OnePlus is (IMHO) roughly equivalent to Samsung, decent, but with more bloatware. One not in the list, that I use, but not sure I’d advise is the Ticwatch series. They are function packed, but cheap in price (I personally like the dual layered screen, a “generic” digital watch with time date steps and then tap for active full smartwatch mode. Long battery life that way. But they use a bunch of less-than-ideal secondary apps, they’re bad about updates to the OS, and … finicky? You’ll probably need to be comfortable with forcibly rebooting the thing at least once every six months. So good value for money, but more work than a lot of people want to do.

Still at $140 (not on sale even) this model isn’t too bad a choice for what is, sadly, an ever more use-it-until-it-dies device. People talk about smartphones, computers, and browsers getting obsoleted, it’s far worse for smartwatches IMHO.

Oh, one last niche thing I like about the Ticwatches, they have both speakers and microphones, so in the case you want to take a call without a BT headset, or getting your phone out of the pocket, you have that Dick Tracy moment available to you. On previous models, I’ve even (poorly) streamed video on it, though only as a “see what it can do!” moment.

BUT - again, if you want reliability, I’d probably pick the Samsung (again) or Pixel as the best Android choice, or something with less adaptability and more reliability like Garmin.

6

Yeah I love my Garmin watches, mostly for their battery life. They are nowhere near as “smart” as an Apple or Samsung but are very good for fitness stuff (I have an Apple Watch Ultra 2 and a Samsung Galxy Watch). I don’t have a subscription to anything with Garmin, I think that’s just for some of the more specialised fitness stuff in their app.

7

I’ve been away a few days, without a computer (modified bliss), so I haven’t been able to answer.

I’m not that interested in a lot of fitness apps, but I did use the step counter (for what it was worth) and the heartbeat counter (I had an episode of atrial flutter a couple of years ago). I used the countdown timer a lot. The watch could show me my texts, but I didn’t care much about that, I’m not a serial texter. There were a lot of things it could do that I never tried. There were 1 or 2 other features I used from time to time, but they probably weren’t critical.

Actually, one of the things I liked best was that there were a lot of different straps to choose from. I don’t like those silicone rubbery straps, after a while they seem to make me itch, and Samsung makes a leather strap for the FE that I had.