When it comes to health tracking, many people will choose fitness brands like Fitbit, Garmin, or Amazon Halo. But these brands very clearly prioritize fitness tools, price, and battery at the expense of actual smartwatch features. You don’t have to accept a compromised experience; we’ve collected the best Wear OS watches with heart rate monitoring that give you the best of both worlds, from reliable health sensors to useful Android smartwatch tools.
Combine health and utility with the best Wear OS watches with a heart rate monitor
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4
All-seeing 3-in-1 sensor
Aside from being our favorite Android smartwatch for the Wear OS 3 software and lightweight hardware, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 has a 3-in-1 BioActive sensor that bundles an optical heart rate sensor with sensors for Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (opens in new tab) and ECG. Not only will you know your heart rate, you’ll know your blood oxygen level, check for AFib, and even test blood pressure in some countries.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic
Same sensors, better navigation
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic has the exact same 3-in-1 BioActive sensor package as the cheaper Galaxy Watch 4. But it has larger case options and a physically rotating bezel that lets you scroll easily through menus and your health results. While it’s more expensive and heavier, it also makes more of a fashion statement and its stainless steel case is more durable.
Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS
Unbeatable 3-day battery life
The TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS consistently lasted three days in our testing with 24-hour heart rate monitoring, blood oxygen tracking, and sleep tracking enabled. That’s nearly unheard of in a Wear OS watch; and you can even use Essential mode — which lasts over a month — and still get HRM results. It can even detect AFib and test your heart rate variability (HRV), which measures your fatigue level.
Skagen Falster Gen 6
Style and substance
Even the best Wear OS watches tend to be bulky and heavy. But the Skagen Falster Gen 6 takes the Fossil Gen 6 hardware and adds a stylish flat look that will make a fashion statement on your wrist. It has the Snapdragon Wear 4100+ chip with 1GB of RAM, a heart rate monitor and blood oxygen monitor, and some great automatic sleep tracking tools with sleep goals.
TicWatch Pro 3
Powerful and long-lasting
The TicWatch Pro 3 offers the same chip, display, design, and 3-day battery life as the Pro 3 Ultra, making the latter only a partial upgrade. One difference is that only the Ultra offers HRV, energy, and fatigue measurements. But the Pro 3 can still track your heart rate and blood oxygen non-stop, which may be all you need. If you spot this at a lower price and don’t need the extra features, this is still one of the best Wear OS watches for heart rate monitoring.
Suunto 7
Durable fitness tech
If heading into the great outdoors is in the cards for you, then the Suunto 7 will make a great companion. This durable smartwatch is filled with over 70 sports modes, offline mapping capabilities, and even heatmaps for trails. Its bright screen, long battery life, and heart rate sensor will make sure you have the info you need when you need it.
Mobvoi TicWatch E3
Affordable tracking
The Mobvoi TicWatch E3 came out in 2022, has the Snapdragon Wear 4100 chip and the promise of Wear OS 3 support in the future, and still is much more affordable than any other pick on this list. It too offers heart rate and blood oxygen monitoring plus automatic sleep tracking, though it’ll require more frequent recharges than the bulkier TicWatch Pro models. The E3 proves a low price doesn’t necessarily mean a huge compromise.
Fossil Gen 6
Full of useful sensors
Where past Fossils had limited built-in sensors, the Fossil Gen 6 has a HRM, accelerometer, altimeter, compass, gyroscope, off-body IR, SpO2, and an ambient light sensor. It has all the tools you need to track your health and fitness goals efficiently, with Snapdragon 4100+ performance and consistently long-lasting battery life.
TicWatch Pro 4G/LTE
Always connected
TicWatch Pro 4G/LTE has a dual-layer display technology that helps to preserve battery life and makes its visibility crystal clear even in direct light. Mix that with great performance, a cellular radio, and a heart rate sensor to give you the ultimate smartwatch letting you go where your adventures take you and not worry about the need for a phone.
Tell more than just time with your watch
There you have it, folks — a collection of all the best Wear OS watches that come equipped with a heart rate sensor. But there are a few we recommend above the rest, starting with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. They offer more health data than nearly any other smartwatch on the market. As we noted in our Galaxy Watch 4 review, we found the heart rate monitor accurate and were impressed with the level of data Samsung provides with its Body Composition test — though anyone who has struggled with weight loss could find so much data overwhelming or demoralizing, so be careful.
Both watches use Wear OS 3, but with a Samsung-esque spin on Google’s OS. If you want a heart rate monitor on a more traditional Wear OS watch, Mobvoi is the brand to beat because its long battery life enables 24/7 HRM and SpO2 monitoring without obliterating your battery. The TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra is only second to Samsung with its detailed heart tracking tools like HRV and AFib, but the TicWatch E3 is lighter on your wrist and more affordable while offering similar performance.
Then, of course, you have Fossil. The Fossil Gen 6, Skagen Falster Gen 6, and Michael Kors Gen 6 all offer the same hardware, with excellent heart rate monitoring backed by other useful sensors. So your main question is what style of watch you prefer to wear, so you have more incentive to wear it all day and keep a constant eye on your heart.
No matter which of these watches you decide to go with, you’ll be able to keep connected to your life and track your heart rate, whether it’s for your next marathon or just daily heart health monitoring. And many of them are also among the best Android smartwatches as well, giving you all the daily software features you need.
