The Apple Watch is the most popular smartwatch globally for a reason. Not only do they look great and offer comprehensive health-tracking and safety features, but they’re also extremely well-integrated with iPhones, making them helpful companion devices. However, all of this tech demands one significant trade-off. The battery life kind of sucks. The Apple Watch 11 finally hit the 24 hour threshold, but real-world results will absolutely vary. This means that consumers will have to charge the watch at least every day, and twice each day for power users. Even the beefy Apple Watch Ultra maxes out at around three days of use in low power mode.
This has led people to look for competitors with long battery life, and the good news is there are certainly plenty of options. In addition to smartwatches, there are other types of wearables that last for a full week before you have to plug them in, though many of them come with trade offs. If you’re looking for something that will not require as much charging and are okay with the limitations that it might do only some Apple Watch things, Here are some of our favorite gadgets that last longer.
Whoop 5.0
The Whoop 5.0 is more of a smart band than a smartwatch, as there’s no screen, but this no-nonsense wearable can get 14 days of use on a single charge. To that end, it’s designed to be worn at all times and includes sleep sensors, ECG capabilities and the ability to read blood pressure. The product also tracks the typical metrics like heart rate and step counts.
The major downside with this product is that nearly everything is locked behind a variety of subscription tiers, which cost $200 to $360 each year. However, this subscription does include the Whoop 5.0 itself and access to the full-featured companion app.
Garmin Venu 4
The Garmin Venu 4 is a direct rival to the Apple Watch Series lineup, offering many of the same features. However, the battery can keep this thing going for up to ten days before requiring a trip to the outlet. That’s a mighty fine metric for a legitimate smartwatch with robust health tracking and an AMOLED touchscreen. It tracks sleep, a full range of fitness metrics, skin temperature, hormonal cycles and a whole lot more. It’s also pretty durable, as the exterior is made from stainless steel and Gorilla Glass.
The only downside here is price. It costs $550, putting the cost between a standard Apple Watch and the Ultra. However, the tech on offer makes it a pretty good deal for serious athletes.
Amazfit Bip 6
This is a great choice for the budget-conscious, as it costs just $80. Despite the low price, the battery lasts up to a week on a charge. We gave it a spin and found it to be quite a capable fitness tracker. It has built-in GPS and sensors that track heart rate and blood oxygen. This is an extremely lightweight watch, another boon for fitness enthusiasts, with a bright AMOLED screen.
The Bip 6 also offers a robust suite of sleep tracking tools, and we found them to be on par with more expensive gadgets. However, though the marketing indicates that it will automatically track workouts like an Apple Watch, we found this feature to be hit or miss. If you want to save money and get the most battery life by buying this, make sure you’re okay with manually logging your workouts and not relying on auto detection.
CMF by Nothing Watch 3 Pro
Nothing is a company that marches to the beat of its own drum, and the Watch 3 Pro from sub-brand CMF is no exception. This is a fairly advanced wearable that offers up to 13 days of battery life per charge, all while costing under $100. It includes a four-channel heart rate sensor and over 100 sports modes, with AI coaches providing fitness advice. These modes include stuff like long-distance running.
The Watch 3 Pro also monitors blood oxygen levels, menstrual health and stress. It’ll help lower that stress via guided breathing exercises and inactivity reminders. There’s a 1.43-inch AMOLED always-on display, but having it on 24/7 will drain the battery significantly, dropping it to just 4.5 days. That’s still more than the Apple Watch, but it also means if you want it to last at least 7 days, you should consider leaving the Always On Display off.
One reason this watch is different from the rest? It’s got an integrated ChatGPT chatbot and something called Watch Face Studio, which lets you use AI to create custom watch faces.
Withings ScanWatch 2
The Withings ScanWatch 2 lasts up to 35 days on a single charge, which is the longest runtime of all the devices on this list. Despite the battery life, it still manages to do a lot, including tracking all kinds of health and fitness stats. It keeps an eye on body temperature, heart rate, heart rhythm, sleep quality, menstrual cycle dates and a whole lot more. This watch is also easy on the eyes, resembling a classic timepiece. To that end, there’s no touchscreen. Instead, the watch features an analog dial with real hands.
Like the Whoop, the Oura Ring and other modern health trackers, many of the ScanWatch 2’s features are locked behind a paywall. A subscription costs around $100 each year. Despite that, this is a great watch for folks who want some decent health tracking without having to sacrifice classic aesthetics.
Oura Ring 5
Who says you need a dedicated screen or a wristband to get insightful fitness and health data? If that’s all you’re really looking for, a smart ring might be a better, longer-lasting bet than a full-fledged smartwatch. The Oura Ring 5 features a battery that lasts up to nine days and rests unobtrusively on a finger. It’s extremely thin and light, with a design that doesn’t call attention to itself. As for the tech, the Ring 5 tracks a whole bunch of stuff, like blood pressure, nighttime breathing, heart rate and a lot more. All of this data is collected in a handy app and can even sync up with hospital records.
The company manages to squeeze a lot into the ring’s minuscule form factor, but this comes at a (literal) price. The Oura Ring 5 starts at $400 and requires a monthly subscription on top of that.
