There’s no shortage of smartwatches available in 2015, but no so many feature a built-in GPS. Not even the Apple Watch is GPS-enabled, much to the disappointment of many outdoor fitness going Apple fans. Smartwatch manufacturers are already having a hard time with battery life, and GPS is heavy on the battery, so it’s not surprising that not too many of the current generation have them onboard.
There are quite a few cheap Chinese import smartwatches that have GPS, but here we’re only focusing on recognized brands with proven track records.
This 2015 guide concentrates on wrist-worn wearables that can be classed as smartwatches, in other words they can download apps and watch faces, and deliver features such as smart notifications, music control, and call functions.
There are numerous other GPS watches out there, such as the TomTom Cardio Runner, Polar V800, Nike+ SportWatch, but they are very much dedicated to sports, so we’re not including them in this lovely list, which by the way is in no particular order.
Best 5 Smartwatches With Built-in GPS 2015
Samsung Gear S2 3G
The Gear S2 3G is Samsung’s latest wearable installment. Like the original Gear S it has a rich feature set, in fact, the new Gear S2 is probably the richest of the lot. If it ran the Android Wear OS I reckon it would be the most popular smartwatch, with exception to the Apple Watch which has sales figures that have smashed all the Android watches put together.
The Gear S2 3G has an impressive 1.2″ Super AMOLED touchscreen display with a resolution of 360 x 360 (302 ppi).
The Samsung Gear S2 3G supports 2G and 3G networks and works as a standalone device. It can either be paired with your smartphone or function independently. Unlike the original Gear S which has a Nano-SIM, the Gear S2 3G has an embedded e-SIM, the new standard in mobile devices which enables you to change network providers without the need to get a new SIM card.
Onboard is an impressive suite of sensors: gyroscope, accelerometer, barometer, ambient light, heart rate monitor and GPS. To use the GPS you need to be connected to the internet. Samsung have taken the Gear S2 a step further than most by equipping it with NFC, making it compatible in stores that accept Samsung Pay.
The Gear S2 3G features a rotating bezel similar to the Apple Watch’s Digital Crown. The rotating bezel is an alternative way to control the watch other than the touchscreen where trying to press tiny icons can get on your nerves. The rotating bezel can be used to zoom and adjust levels, plus scrolling through apps and notifications.
The Gear S2 3G runs Samsung’s home-grown OS Tizen. Tizen is a growing ecosystem with some big name partner apps. Tizen’s voice assistant S Voice is Samsung’s answer to Google Now and Siri. 1,000 Tizen apps were specially designed for the circular Gear S2.
The Samsung Gear S2 is compatible with Android 4.4 or higher, but in contrast to the original Gear S it’s not limited to Samsung Galaxy smartphones, although your smartphone does need to have at least 1.5GB of RAM.
The Gear S2 3G has a battery life of up to 2 days, but that depends on usage. If you’re using the GPS and 3G calls frequently then expect less.
It has a water-resistant rating of IP68.
Available to add to your Verizon data plan.
Samsung Gear S
The Samsung Gear S is the best smartwatch out there in terms of the amount of features it has, and some people may disagree, but I love the way it looks. It leaves behind the look of the traditional watch for the look of the future. If you would have imagined a smartwatch 15 or 20 years ago, your mind would have probably conjured up something like the Gear S.
The display on the Gear S is pretty splendid! It’s a 2 inch 360×480 (300 ppi) curved, AMOLED touchscreen that contours around your wrist. It has vibrant colors, plenty of contrast and great brightness.
The Samsung Gear S supports 2G and 3G networks and works as a standalone device. It can either be paired with your smartphone or function independently with its own Nano SIM card. If you do use it as a standalone it will have its own number separate to your smartphone.
Aswell as basically being a smartphone on your wrist and having a built-in GPS, the Samsung Gear S is packed with activity tracking sensors, such as Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Ambient Light, UV Sensor, Barometer and heart rate monitor. It also features sleep tracking.
Samsung elected to equip the Gear S with their own OS Tizen, but don’t let that put you off! You’ll be happy with the available Opera Mini web browser and the Nokia Here app for navigation, plus there’s a growing number of apps for Tizen and more devices will be using it soon. The Samsung Gear S is also compatible with Samsung Galaxy Smartphones running Android 4.3 or higher.
The Gear S’ battery life isn’t the greatest. It’s supposed to be 2 days, but that’s optimistic as it’s more like 1 day. However, the Gear S charger is actually a portable power bank and will give you a full charge whilst you’re on the move.
The Gear S has an IP67 waterproof rating, which means it should survive a dunking at 1 meter for up to 30 minutes.
• Samsung Gear S
Garmin Vivoactive
The Garmin Vivoactive marks a new generation of Garmin wearables. In the past, wrist-worn wearables from Garmin have been dedicated to sports and navigation, but now they’re starting to integrate smartwatch type features.
The Vivoactive has a 1.13 x 0.80 inch, color, LCD, touchscreen display. It’s not the brightest screen in the world when you’re indoors, but when you take it outdoors it looks great as the colours respond to natural light.
The Vivoactive is a hybrid smartwatch/fitness tracking/sports watch. It brings your typical fitness stats, such as steps, calories, elevation and automatic sleep monitoring, and mixes them with sports modes, like golf, cycling, swimming and running, plus the benefit of the world’s leading GPS manufacturer. Throw these features together with smart notifications; email, Twitter, Facebook, texts and calls, and you’ve got a pretty nifty wearable!
It can be used to control the music playlist on your smartphone. It uses an AVRCP Bluetooth profile to control music, so your music app needs to be compatible with AVRCP.
There’s no built-in heart rate monitor, instead it pairs with Garmin’s dedicated HRM’s.
The Vivoactive runs Garmin’s own OS. The companion app, Garmin Connect is compatible with Android, iOS and Windows. The Vivoactive also works with Garmin Connect IQ, a new platform driving Garmin’s new breed of wearables forward, giving you access to watch-faces, applications and widgets.
The Garmin Vivoactive is advertised with a battery life of 3 weeks in Activity Mode, and 10 hours in GPS mode. I used the GPS for an hour or so everyday, and get about 6-7 days between charges.
It has a water-resistant rating of 5 ATM (50 Meters), and has a dedicated swim mode.
• Garmin Vivoactive
Sony Smartwatch 3 SWR50
Sony’s third installation of their Smartwatch series has a minimal design, that is, on the outside anyway. As you would expect the SWR50 offers way more features and power than its predecessors.
The Sony Smartwatch 3 SWR50 has a 1.6-inch, 320 x 320, LCD, color, touchscreen display. It’s not the brightest or most vibrant smartwatch display in the world, and it’s not the best in sunlight. That shouldn’t put you off though, as the SWR50 is one of the most complete smartwatches around.
The Sony Smartwatch 3 is currently the only Android Wear smartwatch with a built-in GPS. It also houses an accelerometer, gyroscope, ambient light sensors, digital compass, but there’s no heart rate sensor. It is also the only Android Wear smartwatch with NFC.
Smartwatch 3 will receive notifications such as emails, texts, incoming calls and personal reminders. As it’s Android Wear, you can ask it pretty much anything and get instant replies from Google Now. The voice recognition will also translate your voice into a text message. It also features a standalone music player that pairs with a Bluetooth headset.
With the Android Wear OS, the SWR50 is compatible with plenty of apps, and has a decent and growing selection of watch faces to download.
It has an IP68 water-resistant rating, which means it can withstand dunkage of up to 2 meters for 1 hour.
The battery life of the Sony Smartwatch 3 SWR50 is around 2 days, unless you’re using the GPS, in which case it’s less than a day.
• Sony Smartwatch 3 SWR50
Fitbit Surge
The Fitbit Surge is a smartwatch/fitness tracker hybrid. It has been dubbed by its makers as a “Super Watch” and is their most expensive wearable so far.
The Fitbit Surge has a 1.2 inch, monochrome (black and white) LCD, touchscreen display. It’s always on, and has an available backlight. The touchscreen is very responsive and has virtually no lag. It’s perfectly legible indoors and outdoors, and responds very well to sunlight.
The Surge uses 3-accelerometers, digital compass, 3-gyroscope, altimeter, built-in GPS and a PurePulse™ optical heart rate sensor, to track your steps, calories, distance, floors climbed, and continuous heart rate.
Aswell as typical fitness tracking, the Fitbit Surge offers automatic sleep tracking and numerous indoor and outdoor modes. It’s more oriented towards fitness, but does bring some smartwatch features. It delivers smart notifications to your wrist, but only texts and incoming caller ID. It can also be used to control the music playlist on your smartphone.
The Fitbit app is rich in features and can be integrated with other popular fitness apps. It’s compatible with Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.
The Fitbit Surge has a water-resistant rating of 5 ATM (50 Meters). Although it has a 5 ATM rating Fitbit don’t recommend it for swimming.
It has a battery life of 5 – 7 days without GPS, and up to 5 hours with GPS switched on.
• Fitbit Surge
Garmin Fenix 3
The Garmin Fenix 3 offers more sports and fitness monitoring modes than a mere mortal would ever need! It tracks steps, calories burned, distance, elevation and sleep. The Fenix 3 features multiple bike profiles and running dynamics, such as cadence, pace, Vertical Oscillation, Ground Contact Time, auto lap, race predictor, recovery time. It also has a Ski/Board mode with an Electronic compass, and tracks your swimming metrics with the ability to recognise different strokes.
The Fenix 3 features a 1.2-inch, 218 x 218, Technicolor display, but unlike the Vivoactive it isn’t touchscreen.
There’s no doubt that the Fenix 3 is more about sports than smartwatch, but it will deliver text, call and email notifications. It also features Music control, Find My Phone, VIRB remote, and vibration alerts.
The Fenix 3 uses Garmin’s own OS, and the Garmin Connect app with the IQ platform. It is compatible with Android, iOS and Windows.
The Fenix 3 has a battery life of up to 50 hours in UltraTrac mode, 16 hours in GPS mode and up to 3 months in watch mode.
Just in case you were planning on visiting the Titanic, the Fenix 3 is Water-resistant up to 100 meters.
• Garmin Fenix 3
Like This Article? Why Not Try…
Best Smartwatches You Can Buy Right Now
Best Smartwatch Alternatives To Android Wear
Best Smartwatch: Android Wear Battery Life Comparison
We are very excited about our new watch faces which have been carefully crafted for Android Wear omitsis-barcelona.com. The first one was called “Eixample”, inspired by this stunning quarter of Barcelona, and now we have added to our collection. We are very proud of all of them and we would be happy to know your opinion. You can also see our videos here:
We very much like the Omitsis-Barcelona watch faces. They are elegantly designed and kind to the battery. Looking forward to more!
Thank you very much!
its a shame the Garmin Fenix 3 isn’t touch enabled
We have a inquiry about the post, where can i make contact with
the person responsible?
Just follow the Contact link at the top or bottom of the page.
Seems an interesting list but could you include reviews and feedback on GoClever products? They have 4 different smartwatches with different sensors. Two of them offer a week or more of battery life. If I understood well some of them also have different sensors so that they can independently monitor walking distance ecc.
i think Samsung Gear S is the best watch available on market.. Thanks for the post…