I’ve reviewed smartwatches and trackers for over a decade - these are my current picks for form, function and female-focused features
There was a time when wearables didn’t consider the smaller wrist. Many smartwatches and fitness trackers had chunky designs, minimal color options, and large displays. If that’s your vibe, then lucky you. If it’s not, thankfully there’s more choice for the best smartwatch for women these days.
Several smartwatches and trackers now offer much slimmer builds, and wider color choices and they also have features specifically targeted at women, with cycle tracking, stress tracking and some even highlighting fertility windows.
I’ve been testing smartwatches and fitness trackers for over 10 years and I’ve worn everything from the Apple Watch Ultra 2 to the Garmin Lily 2 in the last few months.
These are my top picks of the best wearables specifically for women, not just offering more feminine looks, but features that cater specifically towards women too.
Quick wearables for women picks:
- Best wearable for women: Oura Ring 4
- Best smartwatch for women with iPhone/iOS: Apple Watch Series 10
- Best smartwatch for women with Samsung phones: Samsung Galaxy Watch 7
- Best smartwatch for women with Android phones: Google Pixel Watch 3
- Best smartwatch for women athletes: Garmin Venu 3S
How we tested
Wareable has reviewed these smartwatches individually already, but we asked expert women’s tech expert Britta O’Boyle to wear each one again — and re-test female-first features. Britta evaluated the women’s health features, period tracking capabilities, and insights – which take longer to evaluate than simple health tracking features. She also tested all the main wellness, health, and smart features, as well as assessing each for comfort, wearability, and design.
Oura Ring (Gen 3/4)
Sizes: 4-15
Colors: Silver, Black, Brushed Silver, Stealth, Gold, Rose Gold
Tracks: Steps, heart rate, blood oxygen, respiratory rate, heart rate variability, female cycle tracking, stress tracking, sleep tracking, Readiness Score, Sleep Score, Cardiovascular Age, Resilience
Compatibility: iOS and Android
Price: From $349
Stepping away from the smartwatches and moving to a more discreet form of fitness tracking – the smart ring is a great option for health tracking. There are a few smart rings on the market now – including Samsung with its Galaxy Ring – but it’s Oura that flies the flag for women. Incredibly, women make up nearly 60% of the user base – which is unprecedented for a consumer tech product.
It’s the Oura Ring 3 I’ve used so that’s the model that got this smart ring in this list, though the Oura Ring 4 has recently launched offering a couple of extra features and more accurate fitness tracking. The design is largely the same, however, and it still runs on the same platform.
The Oura Ring 4 has completely replaced the Oura Ring 3, with a sleek, uninterrupted design that comes in a range of color options from silver and black to gold and rose gold. I’m a personal fan of gold as it looks like a fashion ring rather than anything smart. The Oura Ring 4 is made from titanium and lighter than the Oura Ring 3 that’s on my finger, but even the Ring 3 is barely noticeable. So much so that the only time it comes off is for showering and charging.
Design aside the Oura platform is excellent. For such a small device, it’s amazing how much data the Oura Ring collects, from stress and sleep tracking to heart rate and body temperature. Data is presented in visually appealing cards in the Oura app, with summary cards on the main Home tab, and more detail on the Readiness, Sleep, Activity, and Resilience tabs. Even the detail is user-friendly though, with color-coded bars telling you when a certain element is ‘Good’, ‘Optimal’ or when you need to ‘Pay attention’. It is highlighted red when it’s paying attention, making it easy to see the outliers.
Like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and the Google Pixel Watch 3, you get a Readiness Score with Oura, made up of various contributing factors, like sleep, sleep balance, body temperature and heart rate variation. I particularly like stress tracking – I’ve found it to be very much in line with how I felt – and I like the extra features like Resilience and Cardiovascular age.
Cycle tracking is good too – with prompts to log as you approach your period, Oura was the first wearable to work with the Natural Cycles app too, giving you extras like green days and red days based on your temperature and whether you’re trying to avoid conceiving or you’re trying to. And Oura has added a new Fertility Insights feature – which uses the temperature sensor to advise when you’re most fertile. I’m not trying for a baby, but it’s great to see a wearable designed for women first.
Activity tracking could be better – though the Oura Ring 4 is set to have helped in this area. Overall, the Oura Ring is a discreet and excellent wearable that I’d highly recommend if you are after something to track your health, but without taking over your wrist.
Read Wareable’s full Oura Ring 3 review | Oura Ring 4 first impressions
Apple Watch Series 10
- Sizes: 42mm and 46mm
- Colors: Aluminium – Silver, Rose Gold, Jet Black / Titanium – Natural, Gold, Slate
- Tracks: Steps, heart rate, blood oxygen (not in US), respiratory rate, heart rate variability, female cycle tracking, Sleep Apnoea, Vitals, Training Load, sleep tracking
- Compatibility: iOS
- Price: From $399 / £399
The Apple Watch Series 10 did a couple of things this year for the 10th-anniversary model. The first was increasing the sizes to 42mm and 46mm, therefore increasing the displays too, and the second was slimming down the case by around 1mm. The slimmer casing makes quite a big difference when on (much to my surprise), sitting much neater on the wrist, and the increase in display size means the 42mm model is more than adequate.
The color options of the Watch Series 10 are great too – with the Gold titanium option my particular favorite. The Rose Gold and Jet Black aluminum models are lovely in the flesh too though, and you can make any of them stand out with the various strap options. I can recommend the Milanese Loop strap, which looks gorgeous on it, though I recommend a Sport Band for exercise.
When it comes to features, the Apple Watch Series 8 and later all have a wrist temperature sensor, allowing for more accurate cycle tracking, as well as linking to the Natural Cycles app if you want a little bit extra on this front. The latest watchOS software – watchOS 11 – also brings a new way to track pregnancy, something I really wish it had done back when I was pregnant. I had to use a separate app on my iPhone to get what I wanted, but it’s pretty much all there now.
The software – which isn’t just available on the Watch Series 10, but on older models too – also adds Training Load and Vitals this year. The new Vitals app is particularly good for spotting when something is a little out of sorts, and Training Load is good for highlighting if you’re exercising too much or perhaps not enough. I also like sleep tracking on the Apple Watch – with the Series 10 also offering Sleep Apnoea detection. All the stats and trends appear in the Health app, though some can also be found in the Fitness app on iPhone and Sleep app on the watch itself.
I’d love an all-round energy score or readiness score that is decided based on the range of stats and data the Apple Watch Series 10 collects, a sleep score would be great too and I’d like to see some dedicated stress tracking. The Apple Watch Series 10 is a great all-rounder overall though, offering accurate fitness and sleep tracking, easy-to-understand data, and good cycle and pregnancy tracking.
Read Wareable’s full Apple Watch Series 10 review.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7
Sizes: 40mm and 44mm
Colors: Green and Cream (40mm) / Green and Silver (44mm)
Tracks: Steps, heart rate, blood oxygen, respiratory rate, heart rate variability, female cycle tracking, Sleep Apnoea, blood pressure, stress tracking, sleep tracking, Energy Score, Sleep Score
Compatibility: Android 10.0 and later
Price: From $300 / £289
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is probably the chunkiest option of my picks, but I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised when I reviewed it and that’s part of the reason it has made the cut.
The bulky build has character, and while the 40mm model still feels significantly larger on the wrist than the likes of the 42mm Apple Watch Series 10 equivalent, it still looks good. The display is glorious, with plenty of punch and vibrancy, and the interface is fluid and easy to use.
The Green color option is quite different in the world of smartwatches, and there are good strap options too with rubberized sport bands, fabric options, and metal Milanese options if you’re looking for your watch to be a little smarter for the office or an event, for example. Once again, I would recommend the Sport Band for exercise, though I am partial to a metal option for everyday wear.
As with Samsung’s phones this year, the company has taken to artificial intelligence (AI) to offer a little helping hand when it comes to some of its features. You get an Energy Score every morning, which offers an indication of your capacity for the day, along with Wellness Tips to help make small changes to improve that score and your Sleep Score.
Energy Score is calculated based on activity over the last day, sleep over the last seven days, sleeping heart rate on average and then sleeping heart rate variability. I loved it, and while I was told in an interview at Unpacked that it was “version 1.0” and it would only get “better and better”, it’s a score that’s easy to understand and a good indicator of what you should be doing that day.
Cycle tracking is on board here too, and it’s easy to add data from the Galaxy Watch 7 itself, rather than always having to open up Samsung Health on your Galaxy phone or Android phone. You can easily see when your next period is due, as well as add symptoms quickly using the Daily Log on the watch, with the interface simple to use and easy to read. The Galaxy Watch 7 can also track stress and measure blood pressure, offering a full suite of fitness and health features that are easy to use.
Charging could be faster on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, battery life could be better and I’d love to see compatibility with the iPhone. It’s a fantastic smartwatch if you’re looking for something with a slightly chunkier build and superb fitness features though.
Read Wareable’s full Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 review.
Google Pixel Watch 3
Sizes: 41mm and 45mm
Colors: Polished Silver, Champagne Gold, Matte Black
Tracks: Steps, heart rate, blood oxygen, respiratory rate, heart rate variability, female cycle tracking, stress tracking, sleep tracking, Daily Readiness Score, Sleep Score, Stress Score, Sleep Profile
Compatibility: Android 10.0 and later
Price: From $349
The Google Pixel Watch 3 is Google’s third smartwatch, offering a pebble-shaped design that is simple and sophisticated. It’s not as chunky as the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 or the Garmin Venu 3S, but it’s still larger on the wrist than the smaller Apple Watch Series 10. I reviewed the Matte Black with Obsidian Active Band, though I would choose a Champagne Gold option if I had the choice as it’s a little softer.
There are plenty of extra strap options too so despite the Pixel Watch 3 coming with an Active Band by default, you’ll find two-tone leather options, slim metal options, and material options, allowing you to change up the look quite easily. The Pixel Watch 3 strap mechanism could use some work – it’s not overly user-friendly – but once you figure it out, there’s a good selection of choice with the additional straps.
Fitness and activity tracking is great on the Google Pixel Watch 3, which mainly comes down to the Fitbit integration that is finally done properly here compared to half done on the Pixel Watch 2. Fitbit has always been excellent at presenting data in an easy-to-interpret way and that’s not changed despite the Google acquisition. Everything in the accompanying Fitbit app is clear and concise, giving you a good overall view of your health.
There’s cycle tracking and symptom logging, though there’s no extra integration with apps like Natural Cycles, like the Apple Watch and Oura Ring offer, despite the multitude of sensors on board the Pixel Watch 3. Stress tracking is great though and Fitbit has always been superb at sleep tracking, nailing it long before many others had even started offering it. The Daily Readiness Score is also a favorite of mine, giving you an indication of where you’re at for that day – similar to Samsung’s Energy Score. There are Cardio Load and Target Cardio Load scores too, that help guide you on what you should be doing, and the impact of exercise on your body.
Like Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7, I’d love to see iPhone support for the Google Pixel Watch 3 given Wear OS used to offer it, but if you have an Android device, and specifically a Pixel one, the Pixel Watch 3 is a great smartwatch with accurate tracking and simple stats that are easy to understand.
Read Wareable’s full Google Pixel Watch 3 review.
Garmin Venu 3S
Sizes: 41mm and 45mm
Colours: Soft Gold, Slate, Silver (41mm) / Slate, Silver (45mm)
Tracks: Steps, heart rate, blood oxygen, respiratory rate, heart rate variability, female cycle tracking, stress tracking, sleep tracking, Body Battery
Compatibility: iOS and Android
Price: $449.99 / £449.99
Garmin has long been the key player when it comes to running watches and sports watches, but what about watches specifically for women? Well, the company does offer the Garmin Lily 2 (the successor to the Garmin Lily that launched in 2021), which is specifically designed for women, though it’s not the Garmin I would pick. It’s got a small and discreet design, but it misses out on some of Garmin’s top features, and the Venu 3S has softer vibes than some of the other models in Garmin’s lineup, plus a range of features.
While it’s a good smartwatch for women, as we’ll come onto, it’s still quite basic for sports tracking. If you want proper athletic analysis, try the Forerunner 265S.
Back to the Venu 3, it comes in 41mm and 45mm options – as usual, I would opt for the 41mm, but that depends on what you like, of course. There are a range of color options too, though the Soft Gold is the one that won me over, specifically with the French Grey strap. Garmin offers some extra straps too, though none are particularly smart so if you want a smarter look, you’ll need to look at a third-party strap or accept that this is more for if you want a sporty vibe on your wrist.
One of the best things about the Garmin Venu 3S is that it will last longer than a day. I regularly achieved a week with the Venu 3S, including my workouts. That makes it the best test here.
The Garmin app is a little dated in appearance compared to others, but there’s plenty of data to dive into.
There’s cycle tracking and pregnancy tracking too, with the ability to log daily symptoms and get cycle predictions. What is good about Garmin however, is you’ll get information about exercise and nutrition based on different stages of your cycle, helping you to understand what your body might need based on the hormone shift.
The Venu 3S also has stress tracking, it’s great for running if you’re a runner and it offers Garmin’s Body Battery too, which is one of my favorite Garmin features. Body Battery is slightly different from the Energy Score from Samsung and Daily Readiness Score from Fitbit on the Pixel Watch in that it depletes throughout the day depending on what you do, rather than offering a one-time score every day. It’s impossible to get it back up to 100%, but it is interesting to see how different things affect you throughout the day – and you’ll notice it’s not usually hard workouts that see the Body Battery percentage drop. Instead, it’s when your heart rate is high but you’re not moving.
The Garmin Venu 3S is on the larger side of the wearables on this list, but if you’re looking for a sportier look with superb fitness and health features, it’s a highly recommended option.
Read Wareable’s full Garmin Venu 3S review
Smartwatches for women FAQ
Before you buy a wearable, make sure it is compatible with your smartphone. For example, Apple Watch is only compatible with iPhone, while Google’s Pixel Watch 3 and Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 7 are both only compatible with Android phones. If you have a Samsung phone, you get extra features with the Galaxy Watch 7 compared to the Pixel Watch 3 and vice versa if you have a Pixel phone, so keep that in mind too. The Oura Ring and Garmin Venu 3S are both compatible with iOS and Android so less restrictive.
All the wearables I picked above come in different size options, which I detailed in the bullets for each. For smaller wrists, generally, I would recommend the smaller watch cases, but you may want a larger screen so that’s partly my personal preference. You want any smartwatch you pick to be comfortable, day and night because many of the features they offer require you to wear them 24/7. With the Oura Ring, you will need to ensure the size is right otherwise it won’t work properly so get a sizing kit and follow the guidelines, including wearing the plastic tester ring for 24 hours, before you place your order.
Most wearables these days offer many of the same features, like heart rate tracking, SpO2, step counting, sleep tracking, and plenty more. Some offer extras, like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and its blood pressure monitoring for example, while others have features like Sleep Apnoea detection. If there are specific features you want, such as the ability to detect atrial fibrillation or stress tracking for example, then make sure the device you are choosing does that.
As with any purchase, it comes down to the individual. However, the quality and accuracy of women-based insights such as fertility or menstrual cycle tracking is a big differentiator. Style and comfort on smaller wrists also play a big part.
We consider anything around 42mm or smaller to be truly unisex, in smartwatch terms. In the classic watch market, women’s sizes are usually 40mm or less.
The Apple Watch is the best all-round smartwatch, with great health and fitness features as well as useful smarts such as Apple Pay. But if you’re a serious runner, then Garmin will suit you better — and its watches usually have a week of battery life compared to just a single day on an Apple Watch.
Smartwatches are usually good for a few years. They’re prone to getting scratches and marks, but they aren’t made obsolete quickly. An example is that the Apple Watch is replaced every year, but the Series 5 (from 2018) is still getting the latest watchOS 11 updates and new features.
