Travel time is any time of the year for many families and individuals, and that usually involves bringing along essential tech, including a wearable like a smartwatch. Sure, you probably already wear a smartwatch 24/7 at home. But a smartwatch can actually be an invaluable tool while travelling for a variety of reasons related to everything from health and wellness to communication, navigating an unfamiliar setting, even getting assistance. It’s important, however, to pay attention to the features that matter most, like battery life, GPS, durability, and health tracking.
In this article, I’ll explain why smartwatches can make summer travel easier, how best to use them to your advantage, and which is the best smartwatch for travel.
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Why a smartwatch is essential for travellers
A smartwatch can be like a personal assistant on your wrist while you travel. It’s a convenient way to keep on top of things like booking times for tours, appointments, and events. You can store event tickets and boarding passes in the wallet on a smartwatch, accessing them easily. When travelling by public transit, you can use the watch to easily tap and pay to get on the subway.
Once at your destination, you can use a smartwatch for navigation and location tracking, ideal if you’re walking to a destination and using walking directions form a companion app like Apple Maps or Google Maps. Some even afford access to offline maps, great if you’re going for a morning run and want to check out an unfamiliar trail by your hotel.
You can also keep on top of health and fitness metrics, including your daily steps, calorie burn, and sleep stats. The latest premium smartwatches ever have safety features like SOS and fall detection that can alert local emergency services or trusted contracts of a potentially dangerous situation.
Top smartwatch picks for travellers
Now comes the question: which is the best smartwatch for travellers? You can see our smartwatch buying guide for everything you need to know about smartwatches. But there are a few models that stand out across all price points and that are suitable to pair with all types of smartphones.
Apple Watch Ultra 2
The ultra-rugged design, advanced health features, and long battery life (relative to other Apple Watch models) makes the Apple Watch Ultra 2 the perfect travel companion for iPhone users. Compatible only with iPhone (and iPad), the Apple Watch Ultra 2 has features like dual-frequency GPS that travellers will appreciate to help you get around. It’s dive-proof as well if you’re headed out for water sports. With features like Apple Wallet, Apple Maps and Google Maps access, weather updates, phone notifications, even the option to trigger your phone’s camera from the Watch, it’s a traveller’s dream. Plus, there’s a version with Cellular connectivity for times when you want to leave your phone behind.
Garmin Fenix 8
Perfect for those who love to explore outdoors while travelling, the Garmin Fenix 8 boasts multi-band GPS with topographical maps, providing the best possible GPS accuracy whether you’re in a big city or a remote, rural location. With an impressive up to 28 days of battery life (92 hours in GPS mode) plus solar charging as an option, you can leave the charging cable back home – that’s one less thing to pack. It has a built-in flashlight, which can come in handy for outdoor adventures along with features like Garmin Pay for paying for items right from your wrist. It’s also ultra-rugged, meeting MIL-STD 810 standards for thermal and shock resistance, and with a dive rating.
Google Pixel Watch 3
Employing a simple and classic design, the Google Pixel Watch 3 is the perfect travel companion for those who don’t want something big and bulky on the wrist. Perfectly paired with a Google Pixel phone but compatible with all Android devices, it provides accurate tracking of everything from your fitness and activities to wellness metrics and sleep. It has tons of safety features, too, including car crash detection, emergency SOS, fall detection, and even loss of pulse detection (not yet available in Canada). Access offline Google Maps, control your Pixel phone camera from the watch, and access Google Wallet to pay for items on the go. Oh yah, did we mention it has built-in translation features, too, along with the option for a cellular connectivity with a plan?
Samsung Galaxy Watch8
The latest in the Samsung Galaxy line, the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 adds one feature in particular that travellers will appreciate: access to Gemini Live right from your wrist. Ask questions about landmarks in front of you or where the best spot for pizza is along your walking route in an unfamiliar country or area. Enjoy easy readability in direct sunlight with the 3,000 nits peak brightness along with dual-frequency GPS for help navigating around town. With an elegant design, it’s comfortable and lightweight, too.
HUAWEI Watch GT 5
A wonderfully affordable smartwatch for travellers, the HUAWEI Watch GT 5 can run for up to 14 days per charge: that’s two weeks! With dual-band GNSS, you can navigate all over and don’t worry about swimming or walking in the rain since it boasts 5ATM water-resistance. While you don’t get access to Google services nor a cellular option, this might be a worthwhile trade-off for its value price.
Amazfit Active 2
A great budget option that still offers premium features, the lightweight Amazfit Active 2 won’t break the bank but provides plenty of essential functions for travellers. It can run for up to 10 days per charge and offers a voice assistant in five languages you can access even offline. Along with AI assistance, you can access downloadable maps and turn-by-turn directions, great for walking, and contactless payments. With a water-resistant and durable design, it also has built-in GPS.
OnePlus Watch 2
The OnePlus Watch 2 might not be as feature rich as the OnePlus Watch 3, but it’s still a solid option at a mid-level price that affords incredible battery life given all the features packed inside. Running for up to about four days per charge but you can extend that to up to 12 days with Power Saver mode that limits some functions. You get access to all your essential Google apps since it’s a Wear OS watch. It meets military-grade durability with both an IP68 and 5ATM rating. Access maps, wallet, calendar, and more, and leverage enhanced built-in GPS.
How to choose the right travel smartwatch
With so many options, how do you choose the right travel smartwatch to meet your needs?
Device compatibility
Device compatibility is, of course, the most important factor. If you have an Android phone, for example, you won’t be able to use the Apple Watch. If you have a Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, or OnePlus phone, you might want a smartwatch to match to get a seamless experience. To remain agnostic while still getting a seamless app experience, Garmin, Amazfit, and Fitbit are the best options.
Personal travel needs and preferences
The first thing you want to do is assess your personal travel needs and preferences. If you’ll be doing a lot of walking, for example, a smartwatch with long battery life, built-in GPS, and access to maps and turn-by-turn navigation will be important; bonus if you can access the maps offline. If you’re going to a foreign country, on-device real-time translation is a plus. So is built-in AI to be able to inquire about landmarks, nearby locations, and other useful details.
Evaluate essential features
It’s not just about where you plan to travel but what you plan to do. If you tend to go on adventurous trips where you’re partaking in extreme sports or outdoor activities like hiking, an ultra-rugged, water-resistant smartwatch is the best option. For urban exploring, a smartwatch with advanced GPS is useful. Travelling internationally? Consider battery life and advanced smarts like real-time translations and remote camera triggers.
Preparing your smartwatch for travel
Once you have the right smartwatch, there are a few things to do to prep for your travel.
Download maps and playlists: If the watch supports downloading maps, find the ones you’ll want, like local running trails close to your hotel, and download them in advance. If the watch has storage for music, download favourite playlists so you can enjoy them while walking, running, or hiking without draining your phone’s battery.
Add local eSIM: You might be familiar with eSIMs for your smartphone, which allow you to use a local number at your destination. If you have a smartwatch with cellular connectivity, some allow for eSIMs, too. This will allow you to continue to enjoy features without your phone nearby using a local carrier connection.
Set up Wallet: If you don’t have the mobile wallet set up on the watch, do this in advance. It can be a huge timesaver when hopping on the subway, taking a train, or even paying for items on the go, like drinks, street foods, and ice cream.
Enable safety SOS: Especially if you’re travelling alone, or for those with health concerns, enable safety SOS. This ensures you can get help in the event of an emergency. Trusted contacts at home can also be alerted if anything is amiss.
Power-saving hacks: Learn how to manually put your watch into battery saver mode for the times when you don’t need all the features. This will help extend battery life. Consider doing things like turning off the always-on display to further help conserve your smartwatch battery.
Must-have travel accessories
It’s not just about the smartwatch itself. It’s useful to bring along additional accessories to ensure you get the best experience possible with it while travelling.
Chargers and docks: Bring a multi- or single-device charger or dock along to keep the battery powered up at all times. Note that depending on the smartwatch, it may need a proprietary charger.
Portable power bank: Plug the smartwatch charger into a portable power bank to keep the watch recharged even on the go. These are useful to keep your smartphone and other devices like earbuds charged as well.
Rugged straps: Consider swapping out your regular watch band for a more rugged smartwatch strap or band.
Screen protectors and cases: Yes, there are screen protectors for smartwatches, too, that protect the glass from cracks, scuffs, and scratches. For fuller protection of the sides of the watch face, there are also smartwatch cases.
Smartwatches: never travel without one!
When I travel, my smartwatch is one of the essential items I bring along, ensuring its fully charged before I walk out the door to head out for a trip. It helps in keeping track of activity and steps; isn’t it satisfying to see how much you walked while on vacation? But they also come in handy for other reasons. A smartwatch can be your navigation device, your mobile wallet, even your remote camera shutter. It can help you learn more about the things around you and better communicate with locals in another language. This wristworn smart device can even help keep you safe.
Assess your needs, the types of travel you most frequently do and the types of activities you do while away and you’ll be able to determine the perfect smartwatch companion.
Find your perfect travel companion at Best Buy. Check out a wide range of smartwatches at all price points at Best Buy Canada.
