The battle for your wrist has begun. But what should you keep in mind when you want to buy the best smartwatch? The following tips will help you find the suitable device for your needs and budget.

Dozens of companies have developed smartwatches that bring notifications, apps, and more to your wrist. While the features and designs may differ, the most significant benefit of smartwatches is the time they save. When you want to check your incoming messages or your music quickly, you can do so with a quick glance at your wrist without having to pull your smartphone out of your pocket to unlock it. And while some smartwatches work independently of your smartphone, many are designed to work with it.

If you want to take care of your health, you should know that many smartwatches have built-in fitness features such as pedometers and heart rate monitors. The line between fitness meters and smartwatches is becoming increasingly thin. Let’s take a quick look at what to look out for!

1) Buy a Smartwatch That Is Compatible With Your OS and Device

Since most smartwatches are designed to work with smartphones, compatibility is critical. For example, some watches use their own OS, but also work with Android and iOS devices. However, this may not be the case with all brands, so please check beforehand. Do not assume that all major manufacturers offer this as standard equipment.

You should also check to make sure that all features, if compatible, are available. For example, some Android Wear watches work with iPhones, but many features will not work when connected to an iOS device; Google makes it easy to check compatibility.

In summary: do not buy a smartwatch if you are not comfortable connecting it to your smartphone. Some very advanced smartwatches function like phones, but few such models are available.

2) Interface: Buttons and Touch

Adopting a touch screen for your smartwatch may seem like the most reasonable choice. Most gadgets today have touch screens. The touch interface must also be easy to operate.

Watches with physical buttons require a lot of scrolling. However, these types of smartwatches are less expensive than touch-screen models. Some people also prefer the classic look of a traditional watch.

In addition, gesture-based interfaces may not be intuitive. For example, Android Wear software provides card-shaped notifications that can be easily removed with a swipe. However, accessing other apps and in-app options requires frequent swipes.

3) Notifications and Alarms

A good smartwatch will alert you to incoming calls, emails, and text messages with a short vibration. This allows you to discreetly check to see if the call is important. However, we also encourage you to connect with your social networks to receive notifications from websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

If you miss a notification when you receive it, you should be able to check the latest notifications immediately. Display modes vary widely among smartwatch models, and not all are intuitive.

4) Battery Life and Charging

Smartwatches with electronic card displays can last about 4-5 days before needing to be recharged. However, most watches with color screens need to be recharged daily or every other day. Therefore, the frequency of charging should be considered.

Watches with voice functionality will not last as long when used as a phone, but this is to be expected.

As for charging, smartwatches that use micro USB are preferable. This makes it easier to find the cable if the supplied cable is not at hand or if you lose it.

Let us know if these few tips have helped you in choosing your smartwatch in the comments below!