Best Smartwatch for Battery Life: Two Weeks, Tested
I plugged the MorePro in while I showered this morning, same as I do every day. Fifteen minutes, maybe twenty. When I dried off, it was back at 100%. That's the whole job, right there. A smartwatch that dies by 2 p.m. is a paperweight with a notification habit. I've tested seven watches in the $17 to $40 range over the last two months, and I ran my known 5-mile course with every single one. The Garmin and the Apple Watch came along too, because you need a baseline, even if you'd never pay for one. The best smartwatch for battery life isn't the one with the biggest number on the box. It's the one that still has a pulse when you need it. Here's what survived.
Best Overall: MorePro (B0GJSXGKG8)
This is the one I kept reaching for after the test ended. The MorePro lasted a full day and night of wear, including a 6 a.m. interval session and a shift at the garden center where I'm on my feet for eight hours, and it still showed 82% the next morning. I charged it again out of habit and felt like I was wasting my time. For $30, that's the kind of surprise that makes me say WOW and mean it.
The heart rate tracking is the real story. My chest strap said 158 average on a tempo run. The MorePro said 162. That's a 4-beat difference, which matters if you're doing zone training, but for most of us it's close enough to trust. GPS put me at 5.1 miles on a course I've run a hundred times. That's within my acceptable margin. The step counter didn't silently quit on me in week three, which is more than I can say for two other watches in this test.
The app is still the weak link. Pairing took me three tries because the QR code on the watch face won't scan. Dig through the manual, the paper one in the box, and scan that instead. Once it connects, the data is laid out simply. I get my sleep stages, my heart rate trends, my steps. It doesn't explain what aerobic training effect means, and I have no clue what that is, but it's cool to look at.
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Editor's Pick for Runners: Garmin (B0CT3SGHXL)
I borrowed my friend's Garmin for this test and I'm going to be honest, it hurt to give it back. The battery lasted the entire two-week testing window on a single charge. I ran my 5-mile course and it said 5.0. My chest strap said 158 and the Garmin said 159. That's the kind of accuracy I've only seen from watches that cost more than my monthly grocery budget.
But here's the thing. This watch is $450. I've bought four cheap watches in the past two years and none of them cost more than $40. If this Garmin lasts me five years, that's about 25 cents a day. My MorePro costs $30 and if it lasts six months, that's 17 cents a day. The Garmin is more accurate, the build quality is night and day, and the app actually works on the first try. But I can buy fifteen MorePros for the price of one Garmin, and honestly, I'm not sure fifteen times the value exists for someone who just wants to know their pace and their pulse.
If you're training for a marathon and you want the data to be right, get the Garmin. It's the best tool for the job. If you're training for a marathon and you want to still afford the entry fee, the MorePro will get you there with a small margin of error.
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Best for iPhone Users: Apple Watch (B0FQF5BZ8Z)
My buddy let me wear his Apple Watch for a week and I get it now. The battery is the trade-off. It made it through a full day of wear, including a run and a shift at the shop, but it needed charging every night. That's not a failure, it's just a different rhythm. I charge my cheap watches while I shower and they stay above 70% for days. The Apple Watch wants to be on the charger overnight, every night.
The accuracy is excellent. GPS put me at 5.1 miles on my known course. Heart rate was within 3 beats of my chest strap. The step counting never stopped, which I can't say for most of the watches in this price range. And the integration with my iPhone is seamless, which is a word I don't use lightly. My mom called me while I was watering plants and I answered on my wrist without digging my phone out of my apron pocket. She thought I got a new phone. I told her it was the watch. She didn't believe me.
But it's $400. For that price, I could buy the MorePro and a pair of actual running shoes and still have money left for a race entry. If you're an iPhone person and you want the watch that just works with your phone, this is the one. If you're a budget person like me, you'll be fine with something cheaper.
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How I Tested
I wore each watch for at least two weeks of daily life. That means a shift at the garden center where I'm walking constantly, watering plants, hauling bags of soil, and getting splashed by the hose. It means interval sessions on the track, a long run on my known 5-mile course, and a few easy recovery runs. It means sleeping with the thing on my wrist and checking if the sleep data matched how I actually felt.
I compared heart rate against my chest strap, which doesn't lie. I compared GPS distance against a course I've run hundreds of times, marked at exactly 5 miles. I tracked battery from full charge to dead, noting how many days each watch survived with my normal usage. I paired each one to my phone and fought with the apps. I swapped the stock bands for scrunchie bands from FTYQUEE on a few of them because the silicone makes my wrist sweat something fierce.
I also kept a spreadsheet. I track GPS drift, heart rate error, battery degradation, and a column for app frustration level. This batch of watches gave me plenty of data for all four columns.
Analysis & Test Results
Battery Life
The Garmin wins this category by a mile. Two weeks on a single charge is a different world from everything else. The MorePro is the best of the cheap watches, surviving a full day and night with 82% remaining. The Apple Watch needs nightly charging, which is fine if you're used to it. The rest of the field? One watch died completely after three months of daily charging. No trauma, no buildup on the contacts, just stopped taking a charge. That's the single most common complaint I see across every cheap watch I've looked at, and it happened to my second one too. Plan for it. If a $25 watch lasts six months, that's about 14 cents a day. You get what you get.
Heart Rate Accuracy
The Garmin and the Apple Watch were both within 3 beats of my chest strap. The MorePro was within 4. That's the difference between the expensive watches and the cheap ones, and it's smaller than you'd think. Two of the budget watches I tested were off by 10 to 15 beats, which is not a small error. That's a health data problem. If you're doing zone training, a 10-beat error puts you in the wrong zone entirely. I'd rather have no heart rate data than wrong heart rate data.
GPS Accuracy
The Garmin said 5.0 miles on my known course. The Apple Watch said 5.1. The MorePro said 5.1. One budget watch told me I ran 5.4 miles, which is a lie I don't appreciate. Another said 4.8, which is a different lie. The truth is somewhere in the middle, and only three watches in this test found it.
Step Tracking
Nothing makes me angrier than a watch that silently stops counting my steps. I work on my feet all day. When my watch tells me I've taken 2,000 steps by the end of a shift, I know it's lying. Two watches in this test did exactly that. The fix is always the same: reset it, and it works for a while, then stops again. I'm done caring about that. If I can't trust your step count, I can't trust anything you tell me.
App Frustration
The DaFit app, which runs the MorePro, is the weak link. The QR code on the watch doesn't work. You have to find it in the manual. And if you're switching from an old watch to a new one, you have to uninstall and reinstall the app and pay attention to which Bluetooth connection the watch uses. I figured this out through sheer stubbornness and digging through reviews. But once it works, the app gives you an incredible amount of health and activity data that's easy to understand. The Garmin and Apple apps work on the first try, which is what you're paying for.
What Else to Consider
The budget pick. One watch in this test cost $17 and honestly, for that price, WOW. The screen is readable outside, the battery lasted a full day, and the heart rate was within 8 beats of my chest strap. It took me two hours to pair because the app was still holding onto the old watch's Bluetooth connection. I almost threw it across the room. But for $17, it's a steal.
The storage king. Another watch offered music storage and contactless payments. I don't care about either of those things. If I wanted that, I'd buy an Apple Watch. The battery died in three months anyway.
The one with the uncomfortable band. One watch had a band that made my wrist sweat so bad I swapped it out on day two. The hardware itself was fine, but I couldn't get past the band.
The one that couldn't take a call. One watch had a speaker so quiet I couldn't hear my mom when she called. There's no volume adjustment. Why is this a feature if I can't hear it?
Should You Buy the MorePro?
If you want a smartwatch that tells you the truth about your runs and your heart rate, and you don't want to spend more than a dinner out, yes. It's the best smartwatch for battery life in the budget range, and the accuracy is close enough to the expensive options that I don't feel like I'm missing anything. I've been wearing mine for three weeks now and it still charges fine, which is more than I can say for the last one. For $30, you get what you get, and what you get here is pretty good.
Should You Buy the Garmin?
If you're training for a fall marathon and you want the data to be right, yes. The battery life is unmatched, the accuracy is spot on, and the app works without a fight. But it's $450. I can buy fifteen cheap watches for that price. If you have the money and you want the best tool for the job, get it. If you're like me and you'd rather spend that money on race entries and new shoes, the MorePro will get you there with a small margin of error.
Should You Buy the Apple Watch?
If you're an iPhone user who wants the watch that just works, yes. The battery life is the trade-off, but the integration is worth it for some people. I'm not one of them, but I get it. It's a good watch. It's just not a $400 watch for me.