Emergency guide to choosing a smartwatch

BarcelonaThe smartwatch market has long since ceased to be a race to see who has the biggest screen or the most sensors. Now the battle is on more subtle grounds: who understands you best, who monitors your health most effectively, and, especially, who lets you sleep with your watch on. This time I've tested the Apple Watch Series 11, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8, the Oppo Watch X2, and the Withings ScanWatch 2, four offerings that represent two very different philosophies about what a watch should do in the 21st century.

To start with, we need to distinguish between two worlds: on the one hand, the smartwatches conventional Apple, Samsung, and Oppo watches, which are small touchscreens on your wrist where you can receive notifications, reply to messages, interact with apps, and even pay for your coffee. On the other hand, the Withings (€350), a hybrid watch that maintains the classic appearance of an analog dial with hands, but hides a wide collection of health sensors beneath the stainless steel case. It's the option for those of us who want to wear a traditional watch, but don't want to give up monitoring our physical condition.

Among the three complete smartwatches, the Apple Watch is the natural choice for iPhone users: the integration is so seamless it almost seems like both devices share thoughts. Apple knows this and charges for it: €449 for the 42 mm model and €479 for the 46 mm. The Samsung (from €379, €289 on sale) and the Oppo (€349, €299 on sale) share WearOS, Google's operating system for watches, and work with most Android phones. However, the most advanced features of each brand are often only available if you marry a phone from the same family. A technological loyalty we know only too well.

The three smartwatches allow you to pay without removing your wallet: Apple Pay, Samsung Wallet and Google Wallet, respectively. You can also make and receive calls from the watch, as long as the phone is nearby. If you want to do without a mobile phone completely, Apple and Samsung offer variants with integrated 4G connectivity, for an additional fee of 120 and 99 euros respectively. The Apple Watch adds a walkie-talkie Between watches of the same brand, for those nostalgic for the last century.

From electrocardiograms to sleep apnea

If anything justifies bringing one of these devices beyond the convenience of checking the time without taking your phone out, it's the health features. All four watches offer electrocardiograms, atrial fibrillation detection, and sleep tracking with sleep phase analysis. They also detect sleep apnea, the disorder that causes you to stop breathing for seconds while you sleep and often goes unnoticed until your partner complains about snoring.

All four incorporate skin temperature sensors, although with different approaches. The Apple Watch only measures temperature while you sleep, taking samples every five seconds to establish a nightly baseline that can then be used to predict ovulation periods and improve menstrual cycle predictions. Samsung also offers temperature tracking linked to the menstrual cycle. Oppo goes further, with continuous monitoring that measures skin temperature throughout the day. The Withings not only establishes a personal baseline but also issues alerts when it detects overheating during exercise, a particularly useful feature for preventing heat exhaustion.

The Samsung stands out for offering blood pressure measurement directly on the wrist, a feature that could be very practical if it weren't for the fact that the watch has to be calibrated every month with a conventional arm blood pressure monitor. In other words, you have to have a blood pressure monitor at home to be able to use the watch's blood pressure monitor. Ironic, but it's always better than not having one, as is the case with Oppo and Withings. The Apple Watch is capable of detecting episodes of hypertension, but this feature is disabled in Europe due to the back-and-forth between Apple and the EU.

Each of the watches is linked to a mobile app where you can consult the data, see the progress, and even share it with your doctor. But there are differences: while Samsung offers everything for free—including a curious training function that suggests a personalized program after running for 12 minutes—Apple and Withings reserve the most comprehensive analyses and health recommendations for subscribers to their paid service. Subscription capitalism has also reached healthcare.

Oppo, for its part, stands out for the variety of activity types it can record: from running and swimming to walking the dog, shooting stars, or playing darts. I wonder who needs a detailed record of their dart-throwing performance?

The big unfinished business: autonomy

The big problem with modern smartwatches is the battery. Or rather, the lack of it. The Apple Watch Series 11 lasts 24 hours with the screen always on, meaning it needs to be charged daily, preferably during the day if you don't want to take it off to sleep. Samsung stretches this to 30 hours on the standard model and 40 hours on the Classic version with a rotating bezel. Oppo, thanks to a dual-processor architecture and a silicon-carbon battery, lasts up to three days with intensive use.

But the undisputed champion is the Withings: up to 30 days without charging. A whole month. It's the triumph of simplicity: no built-in GPS (it depends on the phone), limited connectivity, and, above all, a tiny monochrome OLED screen that only displays basic notifications. The price of freedom from the charger is giving up almost everything that makes it smart. smartwatch.

It's also worth noting that only Apple and Samsung offer Catalan among the languages on the watch and in the app. Oppo and Withings force you to settle for a dominant language.

Choose the technological universe

In the end, the choice will depend more on your technological ecosystem than on objective features. Loyal Apple customers will opt for the Watch Series 11 without hesitation: the integration is flawless, although the battery life is limited. Android users can choose between Samsung—the most complete, with the best app and advanced health features—and Oppo, which offers the best battery life of all Android-based watches, in exchange for giving up Catalan and cellular connectivity.

And then there's the Withings, compatible with iOS and Android but with even more shortcomings than the Oppo. Its appeal is different: several weeks without seeing the charger and the look of a conventional watch. For some, this will make the difference. For others, it will be like going back in time. In any case, the future of smartwatches continues to be conditioned by batteries that don't last long.