Apple Watch alternatives

Android Wear is Google’s smartwatch platform to do battle with the Apple Watch. It’s designed to connect with any Android phone, acting as an extension of your mobile as well as adding features of its own.

So what can it do? First, obviously, it tells the time. Even in 2015 watches still need this feature. They’ll also display notifications from your phone. The latest update will also let you respond to messages with emoticons, by just scribbling on the screen.

They’ll also count your steps each day and, in some cases, even track your runs, cycles and walks using GPS. Apps like RunKeeper already support Android Wear.

Basically, it will give you day-to-day info which is relayed using Google Now style cards, on a watch face. The rest of a smartwatch’s skills are determined by apps. It’s a work-in-progress scene, but there are already to-do lists, sleep trackers, games and more.

An Apple Watch won’t work with Android phones, so if you’ve just bought yourself a new LG G4 or Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge then Apple Watch is ruled-out. There’s also a variety of choices when picking an Android Wear watch.

Just like Android phones, there are lots of companies making Android Wear watches. Sure, there are three different Apple Watch versions and two sizes for each, but unless you earn serious cash or have a real Apple addiction, I think most people will aim for the basic Sport version. It starts at £299. Which is still a lot of money for a watch. You could buy a Oneplus One 64GB model (£268) and still get change.

Let’s take a look at the best Android Wear watches money can buy right now.

Best Android Wear Watches:

Asus ZenWatch £179 (Amazon UK 25/05/2015)

Asus may not be a huge name in phones but the Asus ZenWatch has already made its mark on Android Wear. It’s one of the best-looking smartwatches around, with a classy look supplied by its mix of a brown 100 per cent legit leather strap. Curved glass and stainless steel watch casing conform to your wrist, with a hand-stitched leather band.

This is probably one of the most elegant Wear watch available, with its large AMOLED screen increases visibility, while the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 offers durability. Customize the watch face to match your style.

Motorola Moto 360 -£162 (Amazon UK 25/05/2015)

The Moto 360 is probably the most popular smartwatch with circular display. Look at some of its specs, the CPU is a bit old and the screen isn’t the best. However, in use it’s still a lovely looking watch. For one thing its circular face makes it feel more like a traditional watch. Although that annoying little cut-out at the bottom of the display means its not perfectly round. But just look at it: if you’re not afraid to embrace the gadget lifestyle, it’s pretty perfect. The Moto 360 had pretty terrible battery life when it first launched, but after a few updates you’ll now get a full day’s use, and it has a great wireless charger dock. Motorola does need to give the hardware an update. Hopefully, the next moto 360 will have a fully circular display.

Sony SmartWatch 3 SWR50 - £128.40-£188.90 (Amazon UK 25/05/2015)

Pure design has been an important draw for all the watches I’ve talked about so far. But the Sony SmartWatch 3 SWR50 is a bit different. Unless you splash out for the more expensive metal version (£188.90) it’s a pretty plain, boring-looking black watch. And the LCD screen isn’t really a patch on the OLED screens of the more popular watches. What the SmartWatch 3 does have, though, is GPS. This lets you accurately map your runs with an app like Runkeeper, while the others here either need a phone to piggy-back off its GPS, or will only roughly estimate how far you run/walk/cycle.

Samsung Gear Live -£199 (Amazon UK 25/05/2015)

I can’t go without mentioning the king of Android phones, Samsung. However, its Samsung Gear Live Android Wear watch isn’t top of the smartwatch pile. Why? Samsung isn’t just focusing on Wear. It also supports Tizen, and its Gear S is a lot more advanced. Next to it, the Gear Live is a bit of a standard effort. It’s a bit plainer looking than other Wear watches and doesn’t have any real stand-out features either. It does have a fairly nice 1.6-inch AMOLED screen, though. It’s square rather than circular, so choose carefully if you want a traditional analogue watch look. Battery life is a solid day, but not quite at the level of something like the G Watch R.

LG Urbane - £239.99 (Amazon UK 25/05/2015)

The Urbane is the result of LG looking at the Apple Watch and saying “lets make this better looking” Essentially is takes the G Watch R’s hardware and puts it into a much more stylish frame. Once again it looks a lot like a normal watch, but one that’s just that bit more sophisticated. LG has done away with the markings in the watch bezel to class up its act, and it comes in brushed silver and gold watch face styles. Elegant, Full Metal Design with beautifully stitched leather strap. Full Circle 1.3" P-OLED display. Its also water and dust resistant (IP67) and compatible with Android 4.3+ Devices 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400.

Alcatel OneTouch - £139.99 (Expansys.com 28/05/2015)

And now the last but not least, the Alcatel OneTouch Watch is a slim, stylish, affordably priced smartwatch for everyone. Compatible with both Android and iOS smartphones, the Watch packs an array of easy-to-use apps for tracking your health, monitoring alerts and controlling your music and camera. Complete with built-in USB charging and an efficient battery, the Alcatel OneTouch Watch gives users the best experience and long battery life for staying connected on-the-go. You can stay powered up while you're on the go with built-in USB charging. Track your daily activity including steps, heart rate, calories and sleep. Android and iOS compatible with quick access to notifications, phone finder and music control. Snap the perfect group selfies with a simple tap or shake of your wrist, so no selfie stick needed.

So that is it, the choice is yours. Please leave a comment below and tell me which one you have or which one you are thinking of getting, and what you might consider purchasing in the future. Stay with TechDependent for all the latest tech news!

(Prices are correct at the time of writing)

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