Tested: The Best Hybrid Smartwatches To Stay On Track (2024)

There’s no denying the utility that wearing a smartwatch brings to our day-to-day routines, between their support for wrist-based push notifications and their ability to track our level of activity. However, the futuristic aesthetic isn’t for everyone — least of all those traditionalists who are still hung up on the idea of embracing quartz over mechanical movements. Thankfully, a number of brands have had the wherewithal to design watches that marry classic style with modern tech, effectively giving you the best of both worlds without the eyesore that comes with a large LCD screen. Below we’ve broken the process down for you, testing our favorite hybrid smartwatches and bringing you our picks for the best of the bunch.

How We Tested

As much as some added connectivity increases a watch’s capabilities, it also complicates things for you as the buyer. That’s because you can’t limit your considerations to case materials and dial designs — you also have to take into account features like battery life and built-in sports modes. To make matters worse — smartphone support is likely to vary significantly from model to model, with some allowing you to do little more than adjust the time and others enabling in-depth data transfer. Needless to say — it can be quite daunting to choose the best hybrid smartwatch for your needs.

For our endeavors, we’ve used our expertise in the watch space to compile a list of the best hybrid smartwatches around. To make our list, we looked at our favorite players, as well as models we’ve heard a lot about over the years, taking into account function, durability, connectivity, and aesthetics. From there, we sourced samples for testing, wearing each model for a few days and playing around with their features and accompanying phone apps. We looked at comfort, wrist presence, user-friendliness, and how much success they have with fulfilling the particular need they’ve set out to fulfill. After a couple of weeks, we’ve settled on the list before you.

Key Features To Keep In Mind

Case Material: For the most part, smartwatches will come in either stainless steel or resin cases, with a few titanium options out there as well. Stainless steel is great for durability and cutting costs, while both resin and titanium will be a bit lighter in weight –– although the latter is largely more expensive than its steel or resin counterparts.

Band: A watch’s band shouldn’t be overlooked when it comes to comfort and durability. Silicone and rubber are popular options in both regards, giving a nice stretch to your daily wear, as well as some natural water resistance. Although, these won’t be quite as breathable or versatile as, say, a steel bracelet. Steel and other metal bracelets are popular options for their ability to be worn in a myriad of occasions. However, they’re usually difficult to adjust on the fly, unless it has some sort of elastic feature.

Connectivity: When it comes to buying the best hybrid smartwatch for your needs, you should first consider how much added functionality you require. For instance, if you’re only after a barebones step counter, almost anything will do — it’s pretty much standard across the board. But for those who are looking for a more detailed readout of their daily activity, it’s best to limit the potential choices to those that offer features like GPS mapping, caloric consumption, and sport modes. And that’s not all — some hybrids will even support smart notifications, giving you text message readouts and event reminders in real-time. Ultimately, there’s a world of hybrid smartwatches out there, and you can have very little connectivity or quite a lot.

Battery Life: Like their fully connected counterparts, many hybrid smartwatches will eventually need to be recharged. The good news is that they’re considerably longer-lasting, with the most battery-hungry amongst them still boasting a solid week-long runtime. It’s worth noting that given the diversity of the market, some hybrid smartwatches will need their battery replaced at the end of its life — it has a finite power supply. That being said, these such offerings tend to be more basic in their smart support, meaning they’ll keep ticking for months or even years at a time. If you’re someone who has a hard time keeping your devices charged, the latter option will likely be better for your needs — even with its various compromises.

Water Resistance: Most standard smartwatches are intended for active use, meaning that they’re typically built with a good dose of element-proofing and a soft silicone band. However, with hybrids, you’ll find everything from dress watches to divers, making it a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to their water resistance. Many lower-priced or leather-banded options will only come rated to about 50 meters deep — a figure that really means they’re not safe for much other than everyday splashes. But let’s face it. You wouldn’t want to ruin that croc skin strap by submerging it in water anyway. On the other hand, there are some hybrid smartwatches that offer a water resistance of 100 meters or more. These tend to be your sportier in style, be they cheap daily drivers or braceleted chronographs.

Garmin vívomove Trend

Best Budget Pick: Garmin has long served as the standard-bearer for the smartwatch segment, so it goes without saying that they’d put together a high-quality hybrid without costing more than it needs to. The vívomove Trend is a case in point, with stylish polished stainless steel housing, a domed sapphire lens crystal, a silicone strap, and a pair of AMOLED color displays. And unlike the other offerings we’ve included on our list, the vívomove also comes with a touchscreen, meaning it’s incredibly easy to operate from your either phone or your wrist. When you consider that it offers support for a wide range of functionalities — from contactless payments to chronograph timekeeping to Connect app syncing — it’s pretty easy to see why Garmin has the industry on lock.

Despite having shorter battery life than others, Garmin’s vivomove (and all of its smartwatch models) are top-notch when it comes to health and fitness tracking. Using GPS to track your speed and distance, the watch counts your steps, but also monitors things such as your heart rate and sleeping. Like other Garmin watches, the vivomove connects to the Garmin Connect phone app, which is fun to use as it gamifies the fitness experience. The touchscreen is a nice touch, and comes in handy compared to the other models on this list, which use pushers to toggle menus. Touchscreen in general is just more intuitive and immediate. One of the best-looking of the bunch when it comes to an actual style accessory on your wrist, the vivomove is one of the most intriguing Garmin options due to its sheer amount of style options.

The downside of this watch –– and it’s sort of a big one –– is that it’s not great as a time-telling device. The analog capabilities are a mere formality and completely illegible in low light. The hands and indices could use some sort of lume for nighttime. It probably didn’t help that we tested the all-black model. I also didn’t love the display’s on-off feature. Activated only when you raise your arm –– not great when you’re hand is in your lap or you’re driving –– you can’t simply look at the smartphone features or digital time at a glance. Even when they do turn on, there’s about a 1-second delay after you’ve raised your arm.

Verdict: Garmin is a fantastic smartwatch brand, and the vivomove Trend is proof of that. However, it’s also proof that Garmin is not necessarily an analog watch brand. While the hybrid smartwatch looks great and comes with some nice Garmin features (and a touchscreen), it’s more for people who like the idea of an analog watch from a style perspective, but without the practicality of actually using one as such.

Case Size: 40.4mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Band: Silicone
Battery Life: 5 days
Water Resistance: 50m

G-SHOCK Move DWH5600

Best Retro Hybrid Smartwatch: For its 40th anniversary, G-SHOCK decided to turn its very first watch from 1983 into a hybrid smartwatch. If you’re after one of the absolute toughest options available today, look no further than the Casio sublabel’s Move DWH5600. Thanks to its carbon fiber-reinforced resin case, it’s resistant to shocks and water up to 200m deep. Inside the retro-inspired design, the timepiece features an optical heart rate monitor, sleep monitor, blood oxygen level display, and an accelerometer for step counting. These readouts get more accurate and in-depth after you connect it to your smartphone. Likewise, its GPS capabilities allow you to benefit from its four sports modes, including running, walking, gym workouts, and interval training. You can get up to 35 hours on a charge, but even more with solar-assist.

Like all G-SHOCKs, the Move just feels incredibly sturdy on your wrist without feeling too rugged. The brand’s timepieces all feature that distinct design language, and this hybrid smartwatch is no different. Let’s also be clear that this is a digital hybrid smartwatch, as opposed to the analog selections in this guide. The readout of the time is digital, so when you have to scroll through menus or operate any sort of fitness functions, the screen completely changes to where you can no longer see what time it is. This isn’t a deal-breaker but just something to keep in mind.

My biggest complaint with the Move is the difficulty of pressing the four buttons on the case. I had to use my fingernail to push them, and it became quite a chore to toggle through the options, especially if I selected the wrong one and had to start over. On the other hand (figuratively), the Move is incredibly dependent on the smartphone app, which may not be optimal for people who like smartwatches to supplant certain phone features. It was difficult to manage certain features without first setting them up on the app. Likewise, some main menus on the watch, like the “Cardio Status” function, kept giving me “NO DATA” until I realized it needed at least three days of use to give a readout. Overall, the actual process of toggling through menus wasn’t very intuitive like it was on some of these other models. Perhaps the limitations of retaining that G-SHOCK feel restricted this from being easier to use.

Verdict: G-SHOCK has several options within the Move series, but the DWH5600, while giving you a ton of retro appeal, is far from a phenomenal smartwatch. While text alerts can be nice, features like the stopwatch, moon phase data, and even certain GPS functions can be accessed on other non-smartwatch G-SHOCKs. it’s also important to note that the company’s other Move watches, like the GBD200 or the GBA900, may provide more of a traditional smartwatch feel if you don’t need the retro angle (and the GBD200 is based on the 5000 series digitals). Unless you love the look of the original 5600 from 1983 and want some extra fitness features, you may not be fully satisfied with this as your go-to smartwatch.

Case Size: 51mm
Case Material: Bio-based resin
Band: Bio-based resin
Battery Life: 35+ hours (plus solar)
Water Resistance: 200m

Citizen CZ Smart Hybrid

Best Everyday Hybrid Smartwatch: There are watch brands and then there are smartwatch brands, and rarely do the two overlap. Among the more notable examples comes from one of the kings of everyday timepieces. Following up its divisive first-gen model, Citizen’s second-generation CZ Smart Hybrid imbues more of a design ethos this time around, trading in the ambiguous, if not indecisive, aesthetic for a much sportier one. Paired with a silicone strap, the 44mm black ion-plated stainless steel housing features an impact-resistant crystal and blue 60-second bazel. The quartz movement with 18 days of battery life powers the analog hands and an array of fitness features, such as step tracking, heart rate monitoring, and sleep monitoring. You can connect it with the Citizen Connected app to see your stats in-depth and to receive notifications. What’s more, you can change the style of your dial to your liking, including its color and configuration.

The first thing you’ll notice with the CZ is the paper-like screen, which is super easy on your eyes, compared to some other models. When it’s dark, you can also tap the screen twice for a short-lived backlight, which is a nice touch. In terms of customization, there’s no better on this list than this hybrid smartwatch from Citizen, with a plethora of options for home screen layout, as well as the default displays that stay on underneath the analog hands that tell the time. This ranges from battery life to total steps to heart rate to the date, and everything in between. If you can get it to work properly (I couldn’t), the CZ can even keep the scores of your favorite sports team on the home screen. However, the watch is merely splash-resistant, so keep hiking and outdoor use fairly limited.

As is the issue with many products that provide you with too many options, the learning curve for the CZ is quite steep. It does a lot –– including connecting with your phone’s own health app –– but it can be overwhelming at first, especially if you plan for this to take the place of your full-blown Apple smartwatch. Likewise, the accompanying phone app needs a bit of work. It’s not the most user-friendly app in the world and could afford to be more intuitive with its menus and toggling methods. Also, it’s important to note that the CZ would likely be better as a touchscreen rather than one that uses pushers as the sole scrolling mechanism. I’m no digital engineer, but it feels like this could be possible considering the larger face size and plethora of capabilities. We would pay good money for a collaboration between Citizen and Garmin.

Verdict: In reality, the Citizen CZ is a really good hybrid smartwatch, but in theory, it’s fantastic. Most, if not all, of its flaws could be corrected with future editions (the brand is currently on its 2nd-gen version now), such as its very low water resistance, confusing phone app, and lack of touchscreen capabilities. A really good everyday watch with a lot of versatility, the CZ just takes some time getting the hang of.

Case Size: 44mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Band: Silicone
Battery Life: 18 days
Water Resistance: Splash resistant

Withings ScanWatch 2

Best Overall Hybrid Smartwatch: When it debuted back in 2014, the Withings was one of the first-ever hybrid smartwatch manufacturers to hit the market — a true game-changer. Since then, the company has become a pioneer in the category, cracking the code to figure out how to provide wrist-based technology while still giving watch enthusiasts something to gush over. With its luxurious appearance, the sub-$400 ScanWatch 2 is the brand’s flagship acts like an analog timepiece but also comes with some meaningful health-based features. It can track your body temperature, detect AFib, check your blood oxygen level, and essentially give you a full health readout. For users who want even more, you can unlock the Withings+ subscription service for around $10 per month. Style-wise, there are four cases to choose from and three dial colors. Not to mention, you can select from a wide range of strap types.

The biggest hassle when testing all of these smartwatches was the amount of setups I had to do. Getting started with any intricate piece of tech can be a mixture of excitement and frustration, but the Withings ScanWatch had the easiest, quickest setup of them all, and the most fun when it came to setting all my personal health goals and running tests like the ECG and blood oxygenation level check. Likewise, using the watch and toggling through its features was a breeze. With a single button that can push and scroll, as well as a more concentrated purpose, the health-focused smartwatch is the most user-friendly of the bunch. Yet, as an everyday watch, the ScanWatch soars as well, with the ability to delineate the different apps it notifies you about, from texts to Facebook to Amazon delivery updates. You can also turn off “Quicklook” feature, which activates the smart screen when raising your wrist. For those who like to be discreet about the fact that they’re wearing a smartwatch, this may be an attractive choice.

As for the downsides, the watch’s biggest flaw is its sapphire glass, which is a bit too reflective. When peering at the dial, my entire face can be seen in the reflection, which picks up other images clearly when I’m viewing it at an angle. As a watch, it doesn’t have a ton of wrist presence, but that may be by design. Regardless, it will be complementary to your style while blending in enough as a smartwatch.

Verdict: Aside from the reflective glass, the Withings ScanWatch 2 is an unbelievable hybrid option, with versatile style, a range of capabilities, and a comfortable on-wrist feeling to boot. For someone who doesn’t want to compromise an analog (or autonomous) lifestyle for a bunch of extra tech, this is simply the best option they can find.

Case Size: 38mm, 42mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Band: Fluoroelastomer
Battery Life: 30 days
Water Resistance: 50m

Kronaby Sekel 41

Best Dress Watch: Despite its ubiquity in today’s world, it’s difficult to accept a smartwatch as a viable option for dressy occasions. However, Kronaby’s Sekel 41 is a notable exception. With an eloquent sunray-brushed blue dial featuring a programmable subdial and a classy leather band, this 41mm smartwatch from the Swedish company is not digital like other hybrids but connects to both Apple and Android phones for step tracking, call rejection, phone finding, and more, all with its crown and dual pushers. In other words, there’s no digital screen to ruin the illusion.

Compared to the other hybrid smartwatches on this list, the Sekel is easily the most unique. Perfect for people who don’t want the distractions that come with push notifications and incessant vibrations, this timepiece lets you assign each of its three pushers to one of a host of different functions. For instance, you can make it so that when you push the top pusher, it pings your phone, mutes your phone, or plays/pauses music. It can also be used as a camera shutter button, a location pinpoint, or even a habit tracker (this is great for tracking how many glasses of water you drink or how many laps you’ve run around a track). As for the crown, it corresponds with the subdial –– which itself is programmable. The options here are as traditional as a second time zone to as smartwatch-focused as a step tracker, phone battery display, or temperature display.

Perhaps our favorite function of the watch is its ability to limit distractions. Especially when I’m working, I don’t love a lot of pings throughout the day. However, the Kronaby app –– which is super user-friendly, by the way –– gives you the ability to assign specific (or all) contacts or apps to different levels of haptic feedback. For example, I made it so when my wife calls/texts, the watch vibrates three times, while any Slack notifications will come through as two vibrations. The intensity of the vibrations can also be changed. On top of all these features, the Sekel looks beautiful with its sunray-brushed dial and sword-shaped hands and indices.

Verdict: In terms of meeting the needs of people who love the helpfulness of a smartwatch yet don’t want to lose that traditional style and analog nature of a wristwatch, the Sekel is the most useful. It looks fantastic and is incredibly fun to use. Like an actual watch, it blends utility with superfluousness, and in the best ways. Unfortunately, there’s no pulse or blood oxygen monitoring, but in terms of enhancing your day-to-day and actually improving your mental health a bit, the Kronaby Sekel is a second to none.

Case Size: 41mm
Case Material: Stainless steel
Band: Leather
Battery Life: 2 years
Water Resistance: 100m

MTM Black Titanium Status Watch

Best for Hiking: These days there are a lot of smartwatches made for the outdoors, but few hybrid smartwatches are as rugged as MTM’s Status Watch. With a decidedly tactical design, the black DLC-coated titanium timepiece gives you 100m of water resistance and comes with a NATO strap. Paired with your phone, the watch can view incoming calls and messages, and there are both WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity options. However, for life in the great outdoors, the Status weighs just 3.6oz and its OLED screen transforms into a real-time compass. Other features include pre-set timezones with over 60 included cities, programming for 5 alarms, and 25 hours of battery life on a single charge of its Lithium battery. Meanwhile, the analog time-telling function is operated via a Swiss analog movement. If something happens to your watch in the first three years, it’s back by a company warranty – although we don’t see how anything could happen.

If you’re going to strap one of these hybrid smartatches on your wrist for outdoor activities, the MTM Status will make you feel the most confident about its durability. Titanium is slightly less scratch-resistant than steel but also more resistant to heat and overall quite a robust metal. While it’s heavy and wide on your wrist –– which is admittedly annoying if you’re not used to it –– it’s that same bulkiness that helps keep it durable. Considering it’s made of titanium, however, the timepiece isn’t as heavy as it could be. But also, if it were made of a heavier metal like stainless steel, I’m not so sure this would have been a practical choice for anyone anyway. In terms of usability, the glove-friendly buttons on the side were satisfying to press –– possibly the best of all the pushers we tried. However, its biggest drawbacks come from how easy it is to use.

Unfortunately, we had some troubles with the overall connectivity of the MTM Status. Aside from a charging port that feels less than secure, the phone app itself is pretty bad. For starters, setting up my profile was a pain. It may seem small, but to input your birthday, you have to scroll (slowly) through the months backwards, starting with January 2024. I gave up after it took me 45 seconds just to get to 2020. Later on, when I searched for locations for navigation, the text was reading white against a white background, making it impossible to see what I was selecting. But worst of all, the actual time calibration (i.e., the way you ensure the hands on the watch are accurate to your time zone) was inoperable. It’s also important to note that if you’re over 300lbs, the watch’s fitness stats won’t accommodate you accurately. My phone is an Android, so I figured I’d try it out on my wife’s iPhone instead, but to no avail.

Verdict: The MTM Status watch may be made of rugged titanium and relatively lightweight for its size, but its overall function as a smartwatch is rough –– and that’s once you’re able to calibrate the time properly and get the compass to work. Even just as a smartwatch, this essentially serves as a text notifier, weather reporter, and step tracker. In theory, it’s a good hiking watch with navigation and compass features but it wasn’t working great for us, especially for the price.

Case Size: 45mm
Case Material: Titanium
Band: NATO
Battery Life: 25 hours
Water Resistance: 100m

Hybrid Smartwatch Comparison Chart

What Is a Hybrid Smartwatch?

Any timepiece that combines an analog dial with some sort of in-built app-connected capabilities can be considered a hybrid smartwatch. Although each individual offering is likely to vary in its level of smart integration, it needs to — at the very least — bring something other than time to the table. That’s because nowadays, even the most basic hybrids can track metrics like step count and activity goals. And while more advanced models will offer even greater functionality — such as heart rate measurement and sleep monitoring — in principle they’re very much the same. That is — apart from a small secondary display and some barebones button or crown operation, a hybrid should otherwise look and act like any regular ol’ wristwatch. For the vast majority of what’s on the market, the “smart” side will be controlled via your phone.

Honorable Mentions

If you’re looking for another hybrid smartwatch on the affordable side, you can consider the Fossil Machine Gen 6 Hybrid. It’s got some nice features such as heart rate monitor and phone connectivity, and boasts over 4 weeks of battery life. However, some remarked on its cheap feel and longevity issues.

The closest we’ve ever seen to a dive watch in smartwatch form, the Withings ScanWatch Horizon has 100m of water resistance, a rotating dive time bezel, and a bright lume on the hands and markers. It recreates the diver experience but brings along plenty of tech-focused features in the process. However, we weren’t able to get hands-on with a unit since we were informed that Withings is discontinuing the watch, superseded by the ScanWatch Nova.

If you want simply the best luxury hybrid smartwatch, turn to the Breitling Exospace B55, the brand’s first-ever connected chronograph. Courtesy of its in-house movement, the DLC-coated titanium timepiece provides a suite of smart features, including notifications for emails, texts, calls, and appointments, as well as loggable chronograph splits, a countdown system with vibrating alarms, and automatic world time adjustment. The chrono function is operated by a pair of pushers, like a standard stopwatch. Unfortunately, we were informed by Breitling that the Exospace was being removed from the line, but we thought we’d mention it here anyway.