1. Apple Watch
Price: from £299 inc VAT for the Sport, 38mm edition
The Apple Watch has done the unthinkable – it's made smartwatches cool. Beautifully designed, with a control system that really works, a heart-rate monitor and the fabulous "Taptic Engine", it's the smartwatch iPhone users everywhere should buy, and the smartwatch that'll make everyone else want to buy an iPhone. The only bugbear? Battery life could be much, much better. Click here to read our Apple Watch review
2. LG Watch Urbane
Price: £180 inc VAT
Let's be honest, the LG Watch Urbane won't be to everyone's tastes. The styling is big, bold and in your face – there's not a hint of subtlety to the Urbane's all-metal design. That said, this Android Wear smartwatch gets a lot right. Battery life is great, and the round OLED screen is bright and clear. The clincher? While it launched at over £200, the price has dropped down to around the £180 mark, which makes it even more appealing. Click here to read our LG Watch Urbane review
3. Motorola Moto 360 2
Price: £229 inc VAT
Motorola granted all our wishes with the Moto 360 2. The old TI OMAP processor from the previous model has been replaced by a far more capable Snapdragon 400, and the result is a far snappier, longer-lasting wearable. The Moto 360 2 also now comes in two sizes – 42mm and 46mm – which makes it more suitable for daintier wrists. The huge range of straps and customisable options make it the prettiest Android Wear device by a long stretch. Click here to read our Motorola Moto 360 2 review
4. Samsung Gear S2
Price: £249 inc VAT
Samsung has thrown down a gauntlet in terms of design with the Gear S2, a gorgeous looking watch with a rotating bezel. It comes in two variants: Standard with a smooth, minimalist design and Classic with a more traditional watch-like style. It may come with Samsung’s Tizen wearable OS, but the Gear S2 will also work with most Android devices – making Samsung’s next smartwatch a definite contender.
5. Pebble Time
Price: £179 inc VAT
The Pebble Time certainly isn't perfect, but, with a battery that lasts a week, an all-new colour screen and software that has taken a step forward, it's an improvement on the bulky Pebble and the retro Pebble Steel. It's nowhere near as slick and appealing as the Apple or Android equivalents, but now that it works with both iOS and Android smartphones, it's one of the most practical smartwatches around, if not the most attractive. Click here to read our Pebble Time review
6. LG G Watch R
Price: £190 inc VAT
The Android Wear to truly set our collective hearts aflutter was the LG G Watch R – it brings a diving-watch-style design to the Android Wear platform, and it's dashingly handsome. It has some flaws, but, with superb battery life, it's a more practical option than some of the competition. It's also something of a looker; we'd give it the fashion-conscious nod overLG's Watch Urbane. Click here to read our LG G Watch R review
7. Pebble Steel
Price: £149 inc VAT
The Pebble Steel has since been superseded by the Pebble Time, but it still makes a highly practical smartwatch. The battery lasts a week and, although its austere looks might not be to everyone's taste, it carries out the job of delivering notifications to your wrist with aplomb. Better still, now that the Pebble Time is here, the price has dropped. Look out for some seriously tempting bargains. Click here to read our Pebble Steel review
8. Motorola Moto 360
Price: £150 inc VAT
It's had its thunder well and truly snatched by the Moto 360 2, but the Motorola Moto 360 remains a gorgeous-looking smartwatch. It runs Android Wear and has a very bright screen, a heart-rate monitor and an ambient-light sensor that allows it to adapt to dark and light conditions without user intervention. The price has been reduced to as little as £120 (although you'll have to be quick to snap up it up at a bargain price), so it may be worth considering if you see it going for a song. Click here to read our Motorola Moto 360 review
9. Sony SmartWatch 3
Price: £170 inc VAT
It might have been one of the first wave of Android Wear smartwatches, but the Sony SmartWatch 3 left a real impression on the Alphr team. Built by a company that has more experience with wearables than most, the SmartWatch 3 boasts a handful of key features that could make all the difference: the transflective screen sends battery life soaring, and the design, while plain and simple, works well on a wrist. It's not the best-looking wearable, but it's got it where it counts. Click here to read our Sony SmartWatch 3 review
10. Asus ZenWatch
Price: £200 inc VAT
The Asus ZenWatch brings a touch of class to the world of Android Wear. Competition is hotting up in the good-looking Android Wear smartwatch category, but the ZenWatch cuts a supremely stylish dash. With a bit more stamina, it would have been one of our top choices; as it is, however, it's probably only worth buying if you can find it for a particularly tempting price. Click here to read our Asus ZenWatch review
11. Sony SmartBand Talk
Price: £100 inc VAT
Sony's SmartBand Talk combines fitness tracker and smartwatch features at a very appealing price. Battery life is better than many rivals, thanks to its energy-saving E Ink display, and, although it doesn't have the app-based ecosystem of the Pebble or Android Wear devices, it does the core job of displaying notifications well. It also doubles up as a sleep- and exercise-tracking device. You can even take a phone call on it in an emergency. Click here to read our Sony SmartBand Talk review
12. Garmin Vivoactive
Price: £168 inc VAT
The Vivoactive joins Garmin’s family of sports GPS watches. With the ability to download apps and customised watch faces from the Connect IQ store, as well as basic notification support, the Vivoactive is as versatile as sports wearables come. There are limitations – it lacks a built-in heart-rate sensor, for example – but, since the Vivoactive supports the ANT+ wireless protocol, it connects to third-party heart-rate, speed and cadence sensors, and the transflective screen technology means that battery life regularly tickles the one-week mark. If your focus is more on fitness than nifty apps it’s a great choice.
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