PhoneArena 2023 Smartwatch Awards: The best and most innovative ones

PhoneArena 2023 Smartwatch Awards: The best and most innovative ones،

As the year comes to an end, we take a look back at the best portable devices released in 2023.

Innovation in the smartwatch space is happening at a slower pace, but there is a lot of competition and this year in particular has been great for certain segments of the market like sports watches. We also saw some unexpected new features and a few other devices, so let's not waste time and see which watches and wearable features you should know about.

Best Innovation — Double Tap

PhoneArena 2023 Smartwatch Awards: the best and most innovative

As far as innovative new features go, we weren't expecting this one.

Apple introduced Double Tap as one of the key innovations in its latest Apple Watch Series 9. Previously an accessibility feature that few people knew about, Double Tap has moved to a more mature form and become a common way to navigate on the watch.

It wasn't as revolutionary as we hoped and there were some limitations. The biggest one has to be that you have to flick your wrist first to turn on the screen before the double tap will work.

However, in some scenarios it was absolutely brilliant and definitely looks like the future. Having the ability to operate your watch without ever touching it is really very promising.

Best hybrid watch – Withings ScanWatch 2

When it comes to hybrid watches (those that hide a certain intelligence in a classic format), the competition is once again tough, but one brand stands out and has launched new devices this year.

The best is the new Withings ScanWatch 2.

It looks sleek, as you'd expect from a classic watch, but it has most of the advanced sensors of a modern smartwatch so it can track your health and fitness.

Buy it for the looks, but also for the incredible multi-week battery life.

Best Sports Watch – Garmin Forerunner 265

If you've ever been curious about sports watches, you know that they come with these pixel-memory monochrome displays that don't have the vibrant colors of an OLED display, not even close.

That finally changed this year, as many smartwatches arrived with a full OLED display.

Garmin has notably released three new relatively affordable models, all with an OLED screen: the Forerunner 265/965, the Venu 3/3s and the Vivoactive 5.

Of these, the Forerunner 265 is best for the more sporty as it supports dual-band GPS, but all others also have the same very nice new menu system and multi-day battery life (expect about 4 to 5 days with the always-on screen enabled).

Best Smartwatch – Apple Watch Series 9

Finally, when it comes to smartwatches, the reward goes to the Apple Watch Series 9.

But honestly, we're a little sad to see that the competition didn't do enough and that Apple was able to remain the dominant force despite almost nothing new in this new Series 9 watch.

Samsung watches are your next best option, and while they're more affordable and some have a cool rotating bezel, the latest Galaxy Watch 6 lacks accuracy when it comes to heart rate and GPS tracking, and sleep phase tracking is interrupted for months.

The Apple Watch remains the gold standard for accurate heart rate measurements, sleep tracking data, and virtually everything else related to health and fitness.