Smartwatches have long had many health-tracking features, but there’s a growing trend in the market for smartwatches with blood oxygen monitors (pulse oximeter) to track the oxygen saturation in your blood.
I primarily use a smartwatch for its health and fitness tracking, so I see the appeal of a smartwatch that monitors your blood oxygen. So I’ve been researching the market to find the best devices with pulse oximeters and have shared everything I found in this guide.
My top pick is the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 because it’s a great all-around watch that you can wear for any occasion. It has an accurate SpO2 monitor and other health trackings such as heart rate and ECG. The rotating bezel makes it a breeze to navigate, plus you can store music on it, use it to make calls, and respond to notifications directly on the watch.
Quick Picks:
Please keep reading for my complete breakdown of the best smartwatches that measure your blood oxygen, including an FDA-approved model, budget picks, and one with two-week battery life.
What You Need to Know About Blood Oxygen Monitors in Smartwatches
A blood oxygen monitor (also known as a SpO2 monitor or a pulse oximeter) measures the oxygen saturation of your blood.
You can use this to measure how well the heart is pumping oxygen through your body and detect conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and congenital heart defects.
A pulse oximeter must be approved as a Class II medical device by the FDA to be used for medical diagnosis. However, most pulse oximeters in smartwatches (except for Fitbit) have not received approval from the FDA as they have been positioned as informative rather than for medical purposes. This means you shouldn’t rely on them to diagnose or monitor health conditions.
So what else can an SPO2 monitor be used for? Well, they are particularly useful for endurance training, especially at altitude, where you can assess how well your body is coping with the atmosphere. They are also helpful in monitoring your sleep quality and can help detect sleeping disorders such as sleep apnea.
Best Smartwatches that Measure Blood Oxygen Levels
Best Overall: Samsung Galaxy Watch 3
Pros/Cons:
Accuracy rivals medical grade devices (although not FDA certified)
8GB of offline music storage
The rotating bezel makes it fast and easy to navigate
Battery life will only make 2 days
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 3 is their latest flagship smartwatch and the only one in their range to offer bloody oxygen monitoring via an SPO2 sensor.
The blood oxygen data is integrated into the Samsung Health app, one of the better health apps on a smartphone. You’ll find your SpO2 readings under the Stress tab, where you can also take a spot reading.
Although the watch has not gone through FDA approval for its SpO2 monitor, a report by Medrxiv found that the same monitor found in Samsung’s S9 flagship smartphone did meet the accuracy required for such approval.
The Galaxy Watch 3 runs Tizen, Samsung’s open-source smartwatch operating system used in their wearables and other smart home gadgets. Even with third-party apps installed, the platform is speedy to navigate, aided further by the watch’s 1GB of RAM.
Thanks to 8GB of offline storage, you can store offline music and connect your headphones directly to it for tether-free use. It also has GPS, NFC for making contactless payments via Samsung Pay, and the ability to install third-party apps (although a more limited selection of apps than Google’s WearOS or Apple’s watchOS).
The best feature of this watch is Samsung’s signature rotating bezel used to navigate the user interface. With so many features and the ability to add third-party apps, you have to scroll through a fair amount of menus, however, the rotating bezel makes light work of this, and the feedback makes it easy to choose the right option.
🏆 #1 Best Overall
- WHY CHOOSE AKUMAKA G62 SMART WATCH? ① Stylish Design: Chic silver finish that complements any outfit; ② Bluetooth Calls & Messages: Stay connected hands-free; ③ Health Monitoring: Track heart rate, SpO₂, sleep, and BP in real time; ④ Fitness Modes: Multiple sports tracking to meet your goals; ⑤ Long Battery Life: 1000mAh battery for extended use; ⑥ Free App Support: Easy setup and detailed health insights; ⑦ Wide Compatibility: Works with Android and iPhone
- Elegant Smart Watches for Women: This smartwatch comes with a silver metal frame and a 1.83" HD screen, which is elegant and stylish overall. 2 different styles of watch bands (1 metal, 1 silicone) are perfect for work, casual wear and special occasions. In addition, there are more than 200 watch face styles to choose from, and you can also upload photos to customize your unique watch face
- Continuous Health Monitor: With the latest touch chip CST816D, high-sensitivity G-sensor STK8321 and PPG heart rate sensor HX3918 built in, AKUMAKA smart watches can monitor heart rate, blood oxygen, blood pressure and sleep accurately. The sleep tracker turns on automatically at night, and the other three can be measured automatically or manually at any time
- Bluetooth Calls Messages Notifications: After connect your phone and smartwatch, you can easily make and answer calls directly on your wrist, without holding your phone all the time. The watch will also receive real-time messages or app notifications from SMS, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and so on. Bluetooth alerts is convenient, but note that you can't edit or reply to messages from your smart watch
- 5ATM Fitness Watch with 110+ Sports Modes: As a daily wearable activity tracker, it keeps recording your steps, distance and calories burned, and no need to take it off even if you sweat, wash your hands or it rains. This fitness watch supports 110+ sports modes, of which 8+1 sports modes are built into the watch system. No matter you like outdoor or indoor workouts, it will help you stay active and fit
Runner Up: Ticwatch Pro 3
Pros/Cons:
The dual-screen display gives a battery life of 3-5 days
Dedicated TicOxygen app for monitoring SpO2
Make and receive calls
Next up is the Ticwatch Pro 3 from Mobvoi. This is one of the best WearOS smartwatches on the market and the only one that currently has a pulse oximeter. As Google’s own software doesn’t yet have blood oxygen monitoring built-in, they have created a TicOxygen app that comes pre-installed to take readings.
This is in addition to the broad range of other apps that come bundled with the watch from Mobvoi, including TicZen for stress monitoring, TicBreathe for guided breathing exercises, and TicHearing, which measures environmental noise.
The pulse oximeter isn’t the only area that the Ticwatch Pro 3 outperforms the other WearOS watches on the market. It also features their signature dual screen with an overlaid LCD screen on top of the smartwatch screen.
The LCD screen shows the watch face similar to the display you’d find on a traditional digital watch. The underlying smartwatch screen will turn on instead when you use the smartwatch functions.
This is beneficial for the battery life as the LCD screen uses far less power. For this reason, the Ticwatch Pro 3 has a battery life of 3 days with regular usage or up to 5 days with light usage. This is almost double the battery life of any other smartwatch running WearOS.
Best for iPhone Users: Apple Watch Series 6
Rank #2
- 【Bluetooth 5.4 Calling & AI Voice Assistant】This women's smartwatch is equipped with a Bluetooth 5.4 chip, built-in microphone and speaker, enabling call making and receiving without a SIM card. It pushes calls, text messages and social notifications (Facebook/WhatsApp/Instagram) in real time, ensuring no important info is missed. The built-in AI voice assistant supports hands-free operations like weather query, alarm setting and music control—convenient and hassle-free.
- 【1.85-inch HD Touch Screen & 200+ Custom Watch Faces】Featuring a 1.85-inch ultra-clear TFT touch screen with 240*284 high resolution and 95% screen-to-body ratio, montre intelligente delivers exquisite image quality and sensitive touch response, with clear visibility even in direct sunlight. Through the Da Fit APP, you can choose from 200+ stylish watch faces or customize your own, creating a unique wearing style effortlessly.
- 【24/7 Health Monitoring】This smart watch for women continuously tracks heart rate, SpO₂, sleep (deep/light) and stress levels via advanced sensors. Fitness tracker provides practical health suggestions to help you improve your overall well-being.
- 【120+ Sports Modes & IP68 Waterproof】This watches for women supports 120+ professional sports modes (running, swimming, yoga, etc.), suitable for all indoor and outdoor fitness scenarios. The upgraded high-precision DSP sensor records core fitness data in real time (calories, distance, duration, steps), helping you reach fitness goals efficiently. With IP68 waterproof certification, it resists splashes, sweat and short-term immersion—no need to take it off when washing hands or in the rain. Note: Not suitable for swimming, diving, surfing, hot showers and other water activities.
- 【Long-Lasting Battery & Wide Compatibility】Equipped with an energy-saving chip and 350mAh large-capacity battery, it fully charges in just 1.5 hours. One charge supports 7 days of heavy use, 12 days of daily use and up to 30 days of standby—say goodbye to frequent charging. Montre intelligente femme is fully compatible with iOS 9.0, Android 7.0 and above, matching most mainstream mobile phone models.
Pros/Cons:
New always-on display
Integrates with Apple Music, Apple Pay, and Siri
Large range of third-party apps
Only works with iPhones
Battery life of 18 hours
If you’re an iPhone user, then the Series 6 Apple Watch is a great choice. It’s the latest generation of the Apple Watch with the new blood oxygen app.
Whilst most blood oxygen monitors found in smartphones use a green light to measure oxygen saturation, the Apple Watch has green, red, and infrared LEDs that work together to compensate for natural variations in skin color (source).
The watch can either take a spot check of your blood oxygen or, with ‘background measurements’ turned on, it can periodically take a reading to provide readings across the day. It will attempt to take readings when you aren’t moving. Both spot readings and background readings can be seen in the Health app on your iPhone.
That’s not all that’s changed in the latest Series 6 device, it’s much faster than before, thanks to a new S6 SiP processor, which Apple claims improves app launch speed by 20%. It also introduces an always-on display and brings the digital crown with haptic feedback that Apple launched in the Series 5.
The biggest downside to the Apple Watch is that you can only use it with an iPhone, so it’s best avoided if you have an Android phone. However, if you have an iPhone, the watch integrates seamlessly with the rest of Apple’s Ecosystem, making it easy to access Apple Music, Apple Pay, and Siri.
As always with Apple, design plays a huge role, and the watch looks seamless and is comfortable to wear. The Series 6 comes in a choice of aluminum, stainless steel, and titanium with several band color choices.
Best for Battery Life: Amazfit GTR 2
Read our full Amazfit GTR 2 Review
Pros/Cons:
Premium looking design at an affordable price
Realistic 10-day battery life
Make calls from the device via the built-in microphone and speaker
Lift-to-wake can take a couple of seconds to wake the screen
The final watch on this list is the Amazfit GTR 2. This is the second Amazfit that I’ve included in these recommendations, however, the GTR 2 is a premium device from the up-and-coming smartwatch brand.
Unlike the Bip U, this device has a circular display and has upgraded from a plastic design to a stainless steel body, giving it a more luxury feel. The AMOLED screen is bright and works well when outside.
It has an always-on display, 3GB of onboard music storage, and a built-in microphone and speaker that allow you to take calls from your phone directly on your watch. However, you will still need your phone in range, as the watch doesn’t support a cellular connection.
The design is ideal for everyday use, but there are also a ton of fitness features too. For example, there is GPS for tracking your runs, 12 different sports tracking modes, and the blood oxygen monitor.
Battery life is where this smartwatch excels over the others shared here with a claimed 14 days from the manufacturer, although it is closer to a week when using multiple features on the watch in our tests.
As the watch does not have an always-on display, you’ll need to rely on the lift-to-wake action, although there is a slight delay of around 2 seconds for this to work.
Rank #3
- 【24/7 Health Data Monitoring】The Women's Smartwatch Will Monitor Your Heart Rate, Blood Oxygen, and Stress all the time (CE/FCC certified for accuracy), giving you better health protection. This fitness tracker also automatically records your sleep and provides a detailed sleep quality analysis report. The VeryFit app allows you to view past health data analysis, facilitating the development of healthier sleep habits.
- 【Keep in Touch & Alexa Built-in】This bluetooth smart watch allows you to Make/Answer/Reject Calls on the go. Also, receive notifications from your smartphone on your wrist such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, WhatsApp and more. What's more, the smart watches for women and men (ideal as a thoughtful gift for V-Day, Father's Day, Mother’s Day, birthdays, or graduations) come with the Alexa voice assistant, with voice commands you can set alarms, check the weather, control music. (THE WATCH CAN NOT SEND MESSAGES, or TEXT BACK)
- 【100+ Sports & IP68 Waterproof】Supports over 100+ sports modes on the fitness watches for women. With its step, distance, and calorie burned tracking capabilities, whether you're swimming, walking, running, yoga, playing rugby, baseball, basketball or even mountain climbing, it’s ideal for fitness enthusiasts or anyone maintaining an active lifestyle. With an IP68 waterproof, the android smart watch allowing you to wear it while washing hands or in the rain. or during water sports like swimming without worry
- 【Outstanding Battery Life & Versatile Functions】Powered by a high-capacity 300mAh battery, the activity trackers and smartwatches fully charges in just 2 hours for 7 days of daily use, magnetic charging design, more convenient and stable. It is compatible with iOS 9.0+ (including iPhone 17/16/15/14/13) and Android 6.0+ smartphones. The smart watch for iphone compatible also equipped many other strong functions, such as weather forecasts, alarm clocks, remote camera , music control, and do-not-disturb mode—perfect for work-life balance
- 【1.8" Touch Screen & 100+ Dials】The womens smart watches features 1.8" HD touch screen with high sensitive, bring you a different visual feast. Express your personality with 100+ free watch faces and fully customizable watch faces using your own photos. Smart watch is compatible with android and iPhone, works seamlessly with most iOS 9.0+ & Android 6.0+ smartphones, ideal for fashion-forward women who value style and functionality
FDA Approved: Fitbit Versa 3
Pros/Cons:
Pulse Oximeter approved by the FDA
Industry-leading sleep score
Alexa and Google Assistant built-in
Some advanced reports require Fitbit Premium subscription
Fitbit is the only smartwatch manufacturer that currently has its pulse oximeter approved by the FDA (Source) This means that they have proven the accuracy of the device compared to other medical-grade pulse oximeters that would usually clip onto your finger when being used by a medical professional.
Despite this approval that gives them a clear advantage over the competition, Fitbit still advises that their watches are intended for general wellness and discourage their use for managing any health conditions.
Fitbit is known for its industry-leading sleep score, which takes lots of data sources to provide a score and suggestions to improve. It uses time awake/asleep, how much REM sleep you got, and your heart rate. Fitbit has not yet added blood oxygen levels to be a factor in this score.
However, the watch will still track your blood oxygen levels while you’re sleeping and display average and SpO2 ranges on your watch face when you wake up. This is important because significant fluctuations in your blood oxygen at night can be indicative of asthma or sleep apnea.
Fitbit even has a dedicated SpO2 Signature clock face, this allows you to cycle through blood oxygen stats, among other vital measures easily.
Aside from these key health and fitness features, the Versa 3 has many apps that will come in handy for everyday wearing. For example, it has both Alexa and Google Assistant for issuing voice commands, Fitbit Pay for contactless payments, and a limited selection of third-party apps such as Uber.
Budget: Amazfit BIP U
Rank #4
- 【Crystal-Clear Communication】AEAC smartwatch delivers clear call quality with high-definition speakers and microphones. Built with an AI assistant, it enables smooth voice commands and hands-free calls.
- 【Comprehensive Health Monitoring】The AEAC smartwatch tracks vital health metrics—blood oxygen, heart rate, stress, and sleep analysis—providing you with valuable insights for enhanced well-being.
- 【Long-Lasting Battery】Enjoy up to 10 days of use on a quick 2-hour charge. Will monitor your heart rate, steps, activity routes, and calorie burn around the clock, offering a complete view of your health and fitness.
- 【110+ Sports Modes & Waterproof】With 110+ sports modes, this fitness watch supports a wide range of activities, from yoga to swimming. Its 3ATM water-resistant design ensures reliable performance in wet conditions.
- 【1.32" AMOLED Touchscreen】Display offers sharp visuals and smooth responsiveness. Choose from 200+ watch faces or personalize with your own photos, making the watch uniquely yours.
Pros/Cons:
Very affordable smartwatch
5-7 day battery life
Detailed health and fitness tracking via Zepp app
Cannot make contactless payments
No GPS for tracking your running routes
If you’re on a tight budget but still want to get a smartwatch with a blood oxygen monitor, you’re in luck, thanks to the new Amazfit Bip U.
This watch was crowned our favorite budget smartwatch because it packs in many features while still keeping a sub-$100 price tag. It excels at health and fitness tracking, in addition to the blood oxygen monitor, there’s also a heart rate monitor, sleep tracking, and sports modes for tracking your workouts.
Amazfit is known for having a great battery life in their products due to their lightweight proprietary operating system. Being at the budget end of their range, this one has a reduced battery capacity compared to the others in the range but still manages to last 7 days with light usage or 5 days with regular use.
There are some drawbacks to the device, for example, there is no GPS for tracking your running routes, nor is there an NFC chip, so you can’t make contactless payments with the device. But, if you’re just looking for some great fitness tracking and your daily fitness goals presented neatly in an intuitive app, the Bip U is ideal.
Best for Fitness: Garmin Vivoactive 4
Pros/Cons:
The pulse oximeter can monitor blood oxygen through the night
Training plans that adapt based on your performance
Onboard music storage and NFC
Garmin’s background in fitness trackers is evident from the features in their smartwatches. Their Vivoactive range sits nicely in-between fitness tracker and smartwatch with lots of handy features to monitor your health and fitness. Their latest flagship, the Vivoactive 4, also adds a pulse oximeter into the mix.
The pulse oximeter was first introduced in the earlier Vivoactive 3, but Garmin has continued to improve upon the usability in the Vivoactive 4, it can now monitor your blood oxygen throughout the night too. The watch can then alert you if it detects large changes in your blood oxygen throughout the night, this is a symptom of sleep apnea, although the watch will not specifically tell you this as it does not have FDA approval.
The pulse oximeter on the Vivoactive 4 will show your blood oxygen percentage alongside your current altitude, this is helpful for endurance exercise to see how your body reacts to the changing environment.
The Vivoactive 4 gets my pick as the best fitness watch with a pulse oximeter, this is thanks to advanced fitness tracking, animated onscreen workouts, over 20 preloaded sports to track, and the Garmin Coach app. The latter is particularly great as it provides personalized training plans that dynamically adjust based on your performance as recorded by the watch.
There is also a large selection of third-party apps you can install, most of which are fitness-related. Unlike the previous generation, the new Vivoactive 4 has onboard music storage so you can download tracks and listen to them tether-free during your workout.
💰 Best Value
- 2.06" Military-grade Dustproof and Scratch-Resistant Display: The V10 smart watch features high-strength glass that has passed rigorous dust and abrasion tests, withstanding the impact of rocks and sand during mountaineering and rock climbing. The screen remains crystal clear and pristine. Constructed from high-strength aluminium alloy, the smart watch men offers exceptional wear resistance and impact protection.
- Built-in GPS Tracker and 100+ Sports Modes Fitness Watch: This fitness trackers comes equipped with GPS to more accurately determine your location for outdoor activities such as hiking, cycling, or traveling, allowing you to navigate safely without the need for additional equipment. This smart watches for men supports over 110 sports modes with accurate activity tracking. Achieve standardized exercise and keep track of your exercise anytime, anywhere.
- Built-in Voice Assistant and Bluetooth Calling: The mens watch has a built-in voice assistant, HD speakers and microphone, supports voice command operation, and can set alarms, check the weather, control music and other functions. Smart watches for women uses the latest Bluetooth 5.3 technology allow you to answer, reject, and dial calls directly from the digital watch without taking out your phone. (message replies are not supported)
- All-day Heart Rate and Sleep Monitoring: Android smart watch equiped with high-performance optical sensors, giving you better health protection. This smartwatch continuously monitors your heart rate and blood oxygen levels throughout the day and automatically monitors your sleep state (deep sleep, light sleep, and waking up), providing comprehensive health monitoring. In addition, the women watch also supports female cycle tracking.
- IP68 Waterproof, Long Battery Life & Magnetic Charging: With an IP68 waterproof rating, the waterproof watch can endure splashes, sweat. The smart watches is equipped with a 380mAh large capacity battery. One charge can meet 7 days of daily use, and the standby time is up to 30 days, saying goodbye to frequent charging. Thanks to its magnetic fast-charging cable, it takes only 2.5 hours to fully charge.
Best for Outdoor Sports: Coros Vertix
Pros/Cons:
Tough watch suitable for extreme conditions
Quick access to blood oxygen readings
Great battery life of 60 hours with full GPS
SpO2 recordings not saved in the app for tracking
No music storage
I mentioned in the introduction that bloody oxygen monitors are very useful for monitoring training at high altitudes. If that’s your reason for purchasing a smartwatch with a blood oxygen monitor, then the Coros Vertix is an excellent pick.
Coros will be a familiar brand to any elite runner or endurance athlete as their performance sports technology has played a role for many years.
This watch is suitable for almost any environment you can think of. It has a Sapphire screen that makes it very scratch resistant, it has an operating temperature of -4°F to 140°F, and it’s 15ATM rated, which means you can use it up to 150m underwater.
The watch runs its own proprietary operating system which is very much geared towards adventure sports tracking. This means it is missing some of the everyday features you might like from a smartwatch, such as music storage or NFC for contactless payments.
As for the SpO2 monitor, this can be quickly accessed by long-pressing the lower right button. When you’re at high altitudes, a gauge will appear to advise whether the reading is of concern or not.
The downside to the SpO2 monitor is that it’s only a spot check, and the readings are not saved within the app as with other models here. This means you cannot look at your blood oxygen over time, which the watch would benefit from in the future.
One final thing worth mentioning about this watch is the battery life which can last an incredible 45 days with regular usage or 60 hours with GPS on. If you’re an outdoor fanatic, this is well worth investing in.
Tips to Get a Good Blood Oxygen Reading on Your Smartwatch
Here are some key tips to ensure you are getting blood oxygen reading on your smartwatch that is as accurate as possible:
- Rest your arm on a surface with your palm facing downwards while you take a reading.
- Make sure the watch is not loose on your wrist.
- Ensure the watch is sitting flat on your wrist and ensure your wrist bone isn’t obstructing the pulse oximeter.
- If your hands are cold, you’ll get a better reading if you rub them together beforehand to get a bit of warmth. This is helpful if taking a reading at higher altitudes.
- If you have a tattoo on your wrist, try to ensure this is not directly under the pulse oximeter, as the saturation of the ink can make it difficult to get an accurate reading.