Top 5 Best Apple Watches in 2025
Your ultimate buying guide for the best Apple Watch
Since there won’t be a new Apple Watch until later this year, the best 2025 model is still the finest option available.
Apple has extended the life of the rugged Ultra 2 and the low-cost Apple Watch SE while settling into a normal yearly release cycle for its mainstream Series model. This implies that, depending on your demands, choosing an Apple Watch in 2025 is really simple.
In 2025, the powerful Apple Watch Ultra 2 remains the top model. With its amazing display, long battery life, and ultra-rugged build, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is our top choice for the best smartwatch overall. The Apple Watch Series 10, which is still our popular choice for everyone else, comes in a close second. It lacks some of the more radical features of the Ultra, but it has a quicker chip and a better display.
The Apple Watch SE 2, which is at the opposite end of the price range, is still the best option for a low-cost Apple Watch in 2025.
The Apple Watch requires an iPhone, of course, so if you don’t have one, think about getting one of the top Android wristwatch models.
These are the top Apple Watch models for 2025, whether you’re looking for a low-cost fitness tracker, a multipurpose daily model, or an adventure watch for the great outdoors.
Table of Contents
Best overall
1. Apple Watch Ultra 2
best budget
2. Apple Watch SE 2
Best curved
3. Apple Watch Series 10
Best 32:9
4. Apple Watch Series 9
best bendable
5. Apple Watch 6
1. Apple Watch Ultra 2
The best Apple Watch is the Apple Watch Ultra 2. It is larger, thicker, and has a customizable action button with truly helpful features. The Apple Watch Ultra, which rivals several Garmin watches and has the brightest, finest OLED screen ever, is made to withstand any kind of terrain.
Even while it outperforms the standard Apple Watch in terms of battery life, it still has a diving sensor for the ardent underwater explorer and a strong, precise GPS that is excellent for exploration. Additionally, all of the advantages of previous Apple Watches are now available, guaranteeing that you can always monitor your health.
Even the Double Tap gesture controls, which are enabled by the S9 chipset, are included. It’s powerful but pricey. Additionally, this is by far the best wearable the firm has ever produced, according to our tests.
2. Apple Watch SE 2
Anyone who isn’t too concerned with monitoring their blood oxygen level or ECG and doesn’t want an always-on display should choose the Apple Watch SE 2. You won’t be missing much thanks to its sophisticated fitness tracking and the 8’s automobile crash detection function.
With a stunning screen that can reach 1,000 nits of brightness, flipping your wrist up isn’t too painful. Fast performance is guaranteed by using the same chipset as the Apple Watch 8, but we were surprised to discover that the battery outperformed, lasting about two days.
Your decision between the Apple Watch SE 2 and the Apple Watch Series 8 depends on the features you may want and the price you are ready to pay for them. In addition to an ECG, pulse oxygen sensor, and temperature sensor that are intended to assist women in managing their reproductive health, the Series 8 has an always-on screen, which I believe is a worthwhile enhancement. The Series 8 is a lot more expensive for a largely identical experience if you don’t think any of those health sensors are important.
3. Apple Watch Series 10
The first design update to the Apple Watch in a number of years is the new Series 10. It is slimmer in profile and has a bigger, brighter display. When you peek at the face of your Apple Watch, the wide-angle OLED provides 40% more brightness, and it now refreshes once per second at a reduced rate of 1Hz. This implies that certain Watch Faces can now show seconds via the always-on display.
Additional improvements include a new charging coil that can quickly charge your watch from 0% to 80% in just 30 minutes, compared to 45 minutes for the Apple Watch Series 9, and the ability to play media through the speaker.
Although the redesign of the casing and the new display are the only noteworthy features, this is unquestionably the best mainstream Apple Watch available at the moment. It’s a close call between this and the Ultra 2 for best overall model, but we believe the Ultra 2 outperforms it in terms of design and battery life.
4. Apple Watch Series 9
If it ain’t broke, don’t repair it. The Apple Watch Series 9 was a very minor update to the Apple Watch 8. You get a few new features like hands-free gesture controls, the S9 chipset, a brighter screen, and an enhanced Find Devices feature that, regrettably, only works with other devices that can support Ultra Wideband (read: iPhone 15 and later), even though its battery life is still mediocre and it looks the same as the previous model.
While the automobile crash detection tool might save your life (though hopefully you’ll never need it), the processor somewhat increases performance. Additionally, WatchOS 11 offers all the advantages, including enhanced interval training capabilities and superior fitness metrics.
Therefore, it’s definitely worth looking into if you can get an Apple Watch Series 9 at a reasonable price. Prices have dropped as low as $279.99, £299, or AU$499 during major sales. Therefore, it might be worthwhile to fork up more cash for a more costly Series 10 or to forego the less expensive Apple Watch SE if you find one at those costs (or less). The remainder of this review is unchanged from its original publication.
5. Apple Watch 6
Naturally, the Apple device 6 ranks well on our list since it remains a powerful device even after the debut of the Apple Watch Series 10. Blood oxygen monitoring and the still-respectable Apple S6 chipset are new features in this edition.
Although the battery life of the Apple Watch 6 is improved by this additional efficiency, it still isn’t as long as we would like, particularly now that you can track your sleep, a feature that was first accessible on this model but is also available as a software update for other models.
The Apple Watch 6 comes in a few additional colors (compared to when it was first released), including a dazzling red hue, and the screen has also been slightly improved over earlier models. Nevertheless, this is essentially the same as the Apple Watch 5—just a marginally better and more costly substitute.
The cost is the primary factor to take into account when purchasing a new Apple Watch. Apple consistently maintains a variety of smartwatches, including older models as more reasonably priced alternatives to the more recent models.
It’s also important to consider features like always-on screens, more sophisticated sensors, and updated software with even more recent tools on some of the more recent Apple Watch models.
Availability is the final factor to take into account. Third-party merchants typically provide a wider selection of Apple watches, but depending on where you are, you might not be able to find them all.