So, you’ve got yourself a Samsung S8, great. Samsung is hands down one of the best brands out there in Android smartphones.
But, if you’re going to compliment it with a smartwatch, you have to ensure that the watch is compatible. Imagine spending over $100 on a smartwatch, or being gifted one, only to find that it won’t pair up with your Samsung S8. About all you could use it for is the time!
However, we’ve been checking out some of the best smartwatches out there that are compatible with the Samsung S8. And after much deliberation, we were able to handpick our top few favorites to review for you here today.
These reviews are unbiased, contain both pros and cons, and are coming up very shortly.
But we get that choosing one can be tricky, which is why we’ve also put together a handy buying guide that will walk you through some of the things to consider when making your decision.
And without further ado…
OUR TOP PICK
This is one of the newer Samsung smartwatches on the scene, having only come out in summer 2021.
First off, it does all the things a regular smartwatch does, it allows you to send and receive calls and texts, and it gives you all your smartphone notifications.
Plus, it also happens to be a great fitness tracker, too. It will automatically track a range of different activities, and it features incredibly accurate heart rate monitoring, and is even able to pick up circulatory problems.
And it can even assess your oxygen levels and track your heart and lung endurance.
You can also use it for contactless payments to pay for goods, listening to music, and it even features voice commands via the Bixby app.
Its water resistance is so good you can even take it swimming. And it features GPS, so you need never worry about getting lost again. And you can bring up directions for wherever you’re headed.
It runs on the Wear operating system, but don’t worry, it’s still perfectly compatible with your Samsung S8 smartphone.
It’s available in a range of different colors and sizes.
Pros
- Send and receive calls & texts
- Get all your smart notifications
- Amazing as a fitness tracker
- Makes contactless payments
- GPS to track your location
- Excellent water resistance
Cons
- Some customers were unimpressed with the battery life
EDITORS CHOICE
Talk about flying off the shelves!
There have been well over 45,000 ratings for this watch on Amazon, and that’s just from customers who bothered to leave a rating.
Better yet, the average customer rating still comes in at a whopping 4 and a half stars out of 5, even after so many individual ratings.
It does all the things a regular smartwatch does, it allows you to send and receive calls and texts, and it gives you all your smartphone notifications.
Plus, it also happens to be a great fitness tracker, too. It features advanced sensors to automatically track your activities.
It will track your pace, your heart rate, your stress levels, and your sleep. It will even give you a warning if your heart rate is too high or too low.
You can also use it for contactless payments to pay for goods, listening to music, and it even features voice commands via the Bixby app.
Its water resistance is so good you can even take it swimming. And it features GPS, so you need never worry about getting lost again. And you can bring up directions for wherever you’re headed.
It runs on the Tizen operating system, but don’t worry, it’s still perfectly compatible with your Samsung S8 smartphone.
The band is available in a range of different colors. And the display is available in a range of different sizes, namely 40 mm, 42 mm, or 44 mm.
Amazon occasionally has deals on this particular watch. Simply click on “Check price” to see if there happens to be a deal on now.
Pros
- Send and receive calls & texts
- Get all your smart notifications
- Doubles as a fitness tracker
- Makes contactless payments
- GPS to track your location
- Excellent water resistance
Cons
- Although the battery can last over a day on a full charge, it’s not quite as long as other models of Samsung smartwatches
BEST VALUE
Now, this smartwatch may not be as recent as the watches we’ve been reviewing so far, but then the Samsung S8 isn’t particularly new either.
And besides, this watch has had some excellent customer ratings and reviews.
It does all the things a regular smartwatch does, it allows you to send and receive calls and texts, and it gives you all your smartphone notifications.
Plus it also happens to be a great fitness tracker, too, it will track your activities, your heart rate, your calorie balance, and your daily progress.
Moreover, you can also use it for personal fitness coaching during your workouts.
It also features not one but two global navigation satellite systems, specifically GPS and Glonass.
That way, you never need to fear getting lost. And it will work out your mileage on your runs and hikes.
And it has some extra bonus features too. For example, you can use it with Samsung Pay to make contactless payments right from your wrist.
But better yet, you can also use it to control compatible smart devices and appliances. For instance, you can use it to turn lights on and off, or to lock doors.
It has excellent battery life, and you can often go for days without having to recharge it.
It runs on the Tizen operating system, but don’t worry, it’s still perfectly compatible with your Samsung S8 smartphone.
It’s available in two great color options, namely midnight black, and blue.
Amazon occasionally has deals on this particular smartwatch - simply click on “Check Price” to see if there happens to be a deal on now.
Pros
- Send and receive calls and texts
- Get your smartphone notifications
- Fitness tracker with coaching
- Features two GPS systems
- Make contactless payments
- Control compatible appliances
- It has excellent battery life
Cons
- Some customers have had minor issues with the text to speech function.
RUNNER UP
Now, this is the perfect Samsung smartwatch for music lovers!
This bundle deal comes complete with a pair of top quality Samsung Galaxy Bluetooth earbuds.
And you can use them to listen to music that you stream on your favorite music apps, wirelessly via the watch over Bluetooth.
You can listen to music for up to a whopping 22 hours before the earbuds need a recharge. And 3 minutes of recharge time is enough to play a whole hour of music.
The earbuds have two main settings. You can either listen to your music alone, or you can switch on Ambient Aware 2, so you can also hear oncoming traffic etc.
Of course, you can also use them for more “basic” features like calls, texts, and notifications.
And it does a great job of it too, since there’s special technology to not only pick up your voice, but also isolate it from outside noise, so your voice comes through loud and clear.
It also doubles as a fitness tracker. There are a whopping 7 different activity modes it can track for you, and it can also monitor your sleep cycle and quality, and stress levels.
And the recordings of your heart rate can even be imported into a PDF report that you can share with your doctor to keep an eye on your heart health.
Moreover, this watch also has military grade durability and water resistance.
And it features GPS, so you need never worry about getting lost again. And you can bring up directions for wherever you’re headed.
Pros
- Comes with top quality earbuds
- Offers up to 22 hours of music
- Send and receive calls & texts
- Get all your smart notifications
- It has military grade durability
- And it features GPS to boot
Cons
- Because you’re buying the watch with the earbuds included, this really bumps up the price
RUNNER UP
Don’t be fooled by the photo! The watch in the photo looks very much like a regular analogue watch, but we can confirm that it is in fact a digital smartwatch.
The clock face presented is just one of the many clock faces you have to choose from.
This watch has some great features. Once paired up with your Samsung S8 via Bluetooth, you can use the watch to receive phone calls and talk back to the caller.
You can also use it to receive text messages, and although you cannot type a message back, you can instead use its voice to text capability to reply instead. Neat huh?
It also works as a fitness tracker, and is able to find your heart rate through your pulse, track your steps, track your sleep, track your exercise, and track calories burned.
It also features GPS, so wherever you go in the world, you can track your location and never have to feel lost. Perfect for those who like to jog or hike.
And that’s not all. You can also use the watch to store photos and music, so you can listen to music wherever you happen to be, even if your Samsung S8 isn’t nearby.
And because it's Bluetooth enabled, you can listen wirelessly via Bluetooth earpods.
It has an impressive battery life, and you can go for days without having to recharge it (depending on usage, of course).
And it’s highly water-resistant to boot.
It runs on the Tizen operating system, but don’t worry, it’s still perfectly compatible with your Samsung S8 smartphone.
It’s available in two different screen sizes, 42 mm, which is significantly cheaper (read bargain) and is available in Midnight Black, or 46 mm, which costs over $100 more but is available in silver.
Pros
- You can make and answer calls
- You can send and receive texts
- It also works as a fitness tracker
- It features GPS to track location
- You can store music and photos
- It has an impressive battery life
Cons
- Doesn’t come backed by a warranty
- You can’t use it to do send emails
- International version does not have Samsung Pay
Buying Guide
As promised, here’s your buying guide. It’ll walk you through the key points to consider before you buy. It makes for a handy checklist. Here goes.
Does It Have To Be A Samsung Smartwatch?
Your new smartwatch does not necessarily have to come from the Samsung brand in order to be compatible with your Samsung S8.
However, we do recommend going with the Samsung brand so that you can take advantage of the Samsung Galaxy Wearable app to connect your smartwatch to your Samsung S8 smartphone. As well as other Samsung apps available on the Galaxy Store.
If you decide to get yourself a smartwatch outside of the Samsung brand, you must ensure that it uses a compatible operating system. Which leads us nicely onto our next section.
What Operating System Should I Be Looking For?
Your Samsung S8 runs on the Android operating system. And when this article was written, all Samsung S8 smartphones should have received an update so that the version they run on is now Android 8.0.
This means that your Samsung S8 will work with any smartwatch that runs on Android 8.0, or earlier versions of the Android operating system.
But that’s not all. Your Samsung S8 is also compatible with the smartwatch Wear OS (operating system).
Features
“Basic” Features
The best smartwatches are the ones that will not only notify you when you have an incoming call or text, but also enable you to respond.
Fitness Tracking
These days, most smartwatches also double as fitness trackers, and are able to carry out basic heart monitoring through your pulse, track your steps, track calories burned, and more.
It makes sense to buy a smartwatch that already has these features built in as opposed to having to buy a fitness tracker separately.
GPS Tracking
Some smartwatches also feature GPS. This can be handy if you like to go hiking or traveling to different places and unfamiliar surroundings.
Contactless Payment
If you’ve gone out for a run/walk and haven’t got your wallet with you, you can still grab yourself a drink while you’re out if you have a watch that offers contactless payment. And it saves digging around forever in your purse.
Aesthetic
When you’re buying a Samsung smartwatch, where the aesthetic is concerned, you only really need to think about the appearance of the strap.
This is because you can change the appearance of the watch face using the Galaxy Wearable app.
Value For Money
Smartwatches can really vary in price, even within the same brand. That is why it’s important to check prices as you go along.
We would argue that “cheaper” does not necessarily translate as better value for money. If you were to go with a well established, quality brand for your smartwatch, you’re less likely to run into issues with it.
If you want to go for a brand like Samsung, you may find that a second hand, refurbished model is more affordable than a brand new one. If you find yourself on Amazon, they tend to have some on there.
From a young age, I have always had a big interest in technology, and this blog is an extension of that interest. Through this blog, I hope to provide others with all of the information they need regarding tech options to consider, and things such as compatibility. Some of the different items I will be discussing include headphones, smartwatches, and how to fix common issues.
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