Looking for a Smartwatch for My Wife... Any Recommendations?

Seeking Advice
1

Hello, everyone. This community seems really helpful! I’m on the hunt for a smartwatch for my wife. It’s going to be our family’s first smartwatch. I’ve read some posts and done a bit of research, but honestly, I still feel a bit lost, so I thought I’d share my situation here.

My wife wants a smartwatch that’s pretty simple. One of the big reasons for getting one is to help us reduce phone screen time and just make life a little easier. We have a one-year-old and another baby on the way, so being able to check WhatsApp without pulling out the phone would be a big help while holding our child. Fitness tracking (not jogging though) and sleep tracking are also important features for her. I’m not sure how detailed these features can get, but she doesn’t need every little metric—just something practical that captures useful data would be great. We live in Germany, and she has a Samsung phone. Based on what I’ve read, brands like Amazfit and Huawei might be a good fit? I just checked out their websites, and even those two brands have a lot of different models… so I’m unsure where to begin. Is the Huawei ‘FIT series’ or the Amazfit ‘Essential Series’ any good? I’ve heard Garmin is nice too, but they seem pricier than what we’re looking for. I’m open to any suggestions.

Here are the key features I’m looking for:

  1. WhatsApp notifications (and other messages/emails) - typing isn’t practical, so just getting notifications would be enough (though sending voice messages could be a useful feature too?)
  2. Fitness tracking
  3. Sleep tracking
  4. Phone calls/audio calling (I’m not sure how well this works on watches… if it works well, she might use this feature, but it’s not a dealbreaker)

And here are my priorities:

  1. Good battery life
  2. Quality - doesn’t have to be high-end, but it should have reliable connectivity and responsiveness
  3. Compatible with Samsung phones
  4. Small size - nothing too bulky since she’s not a big person (she’s open to either round or square designs)
  5. No set price range, but we want something affordable with good value for money
2

I keep a list of smartwatches that fit small wrists. You can check it out here:
this forum/smartwatch/comments/19crd0v

And here’s one for slim models:
this forum/smartwatch/comments/199kgho

Sadly, not many options on both lists.

I recently got the H06 a few days ago. It’s pretty thin and small, plus it has a mic and speaker for calls through the phone.

They’re definitely affordable.

3

  1. Outside of Wear OS, it’s just notifications.

  2. What kind of activities is she interested in? Most smartwatches track steps, but some like Garmin can download workouts for things like yoga and let you follow them on the watch screen.

  3. The best options are Garmin, Apple Watch (only for iPhone), and Fitbit (this includes the Wear OS Pixel Watch). Amazfit and Huawei aren’t really known for sleep tracking, and their accuracy can vary for many users.

  4. If it’s connected to her phone and has a mic and speaker, she can make and receive calls. You’ll need to load numbers onto the watch unless it has Wear OS, which syncs with Google contacts (assuming you’re using Google contacts, not Samsung contacts). The cheapest Garmin with mic and speaker is the Venu 3.

  5. Battery life: Wear OS lasts about 1-2 days; Amazfit and Huawei depend on settings, but using HR monitoring with 1-minute frequency and stress tracking usually gives around 7 days. Garmin generally offers better battery life, so a Venu 3s, for example, can last up to 10 days (the 4s is the 41mm model; the Venu 3 is just bigger).

  6. If you stick to these brands, you should be good. Amazfit has a nice user interface, but they don’t have many smaller-sized watches—so you might need to search for a smaller case size model.

  7. If she’s not running Android Go and can install the connectivity app, you should be set (for Huawei, you might need to side-load the app depending on your country).

  8. Garmin and Huawei are good for this, and Huawei has a stylish 41mm model in their GT range.

  9. Amazfit gives the best value for money depending on your answers about activities and preferences, but they aren’t the most accurate. The Huawei GT offers a nice-looking option, and the Venu 3s gives you the best overall features but at a higher price.

4

You can find it here for €39,90