Strong newcomers at Warentest: These smartwatches and fitness trackers are top

Stiftung Warentest is testing 40 new smartwatches and fitness trackers, two of which are now top of their class. Good watches and bands are available for less than €50 each, while the best value for money cost around €170 and €45, respectively.

Anyone looking for a new smartwatch now has a wide selection of good devices. While the Apple Watch is still top-notch, there are equally good competitors and many much cheaper, but still good, models.

Some of them are so affordable that they even represent an attractive alternative to the more basic and therefore more affordable fitness trackers. Stiftung Warentest tested 40 new devices in both categories, many of which performed well. Two newcomers even topped the best lists.

Smartwatches

Among smartwatches, five devices now occupy first place with the same quality rating of 1.6. A new addition is the Apple Watch 10 (GPS), which costs an average of around €460 online. It offers excellent fitness features, including heart rate monitoring, pedometer, and distance tracking. It also performed very well in communication and other functions such as music features and sleep monitoring. The same applies to handling, stability, and workmanship. However, the testers found its battery life to be only satisfactory.

Another top seller from Apple is the older Watch 8 (GPS), which costs around 420 or 450 euros in two sizes (41/45 mm).

Another newcomer to the top spot on the list is the Google Pixel Watch 3 (45 mm/Bluetooth/Wi-Fi), which retails for around €400. The smartwatch also received excellent ratings from reviewers for its fitness features, communication, handling, stability, and build quality. And just like its Apple competitors, the Pixel Watch 3's endurance is only satisfactory.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, which costs just under €440, also made it to first place. It offers the same excellent features as the other top performers, but was only rated "adequate" for its somewhat lackluster battery life.

The new price-performance winner among smartwatches, the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE , has the same weakness. It costs an average of just around 175 euros, but still achieved a strong quality rating of 1.7 thanks to consistently excellent ratings in the other categories.

Stiftung Warentest's best-value smartwatch is the Xiaomi Redmi Watch 5 Lite , which is available for less than €50 and achieved an overall score of 2.3. Its endurance, stability, and build quality were very good, its fitness features and handling were good, and its communication capabilities were satisfactory.

If you want to spend around 70 euros, you get the Huawei Watch Fit 2 Active Edition (2.1), a device with very good fitness functions and at least good battery performance.

fitness tracker

The new Xiaomi Smart Band 9 Pro, which is available online for just under €70, is the sole leader in fitness trackers, with a quality rating of 2.2. Stiftung Warentest rated the device's battery, stability, and workmanship as very good. The fitness features narrowly missed a top rating (1.6) and, like its handling, were rated good. However, the device isn't particularly communicative, scoring only adequate in this category.

If communication is important, the Samsung Galaxy Fit3 might be the right choice for you. The device costs just around €45, and with a quality rating of 2.4, it's barely worse than the top performer, offering at least satisfactory features in this category. Handling, stability, and build quality are very good, and fitness features and endurance are good.