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Smartwatches have not failed, but they have not become indispensable either. In a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted February 17–23, 2026, about four in ten said they owned a smartwatch; a majority did not. The clearest explanation in a separate survey of non-owners was not one fatal flaw: many simply did not see enough reason to buy one.
The biggest obstacle is that many people do not see a need
Among 1,087 technology enthusiasts who did not own a smartwatch, CCS Insight asked for their main reason. The most common answer was “don’t need one,” selected by 42%. Price came next at 28%. The survey is useful for understanding those respondents, but it is not an estimate of all U.S. adults. Its results also should not be confused with Pew’s broader ownership finding: the surveys answer different questions and use different populations.
| Stated main reason | Share of CCS Insight non-owner sample |
|---|---|
| Don’t need one | 42% |
| Too expensive | 28% |
| Planning to buy one soon | 11% |
| Don’t like how they look | 8% |
| Too big | 6% |
| Poor battery life | 4% |
| Other | 2% |
CCS Insight’s survey results make “I don’t need one” more informative than it might sound. A phone already handles calls, messages, navigation, music, weather, calendars, alarms, and fitness apps. A watch puts selected functions on the wrist, but that is a convenience upgrade, not necessarily a new capability someone needs.
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That distinction explains the value hurdle. A smartwatch is usually a second interface to a phone, and it asks its owner to pay for it, set it up, charge it, and decide which alerts deserve wrist space. For people who already reach for a phone without much friction, the added convenience may not justify the added device.
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Price makes a marginal benefit harder to justify
Cost also appears prominently in a separate peer-reviewed study published in npj Digital Medicine. Among respondents recruited through a patient advisory group, 31% cited cost as a reason for not owning a wearable, while 22.4% cited a lack of interest in tracking. These results are not a nationally representative estimate, and “wearable” is broader than smartwatch alone, but they point in the same direction as the CCS Insight poll: a device has to feel useful enough to earn its price.
The purchase price is only part of the calculation. A Bluetooth or Wi-Fi watch does not automatically require a separate carrier plan; an LTE model may incur carrier charges if the owner wants cellular service. Some features may depend on subscriptions, and bands or chargers can add costs. A compatible phone and account may also be necessary for setup or particular functions.
As a concrete U.S. price reference, Samsung’s MSRP sheet effective June 2026 listed the Galaxy Watch8 at $349.99 for the 40mm Bluetooth model and $379.99 for the 44mm Bluetooth model. The respective LTE models were $399.99 and $429.99. The same sheet listed the Watch8 Classic at $499.99 Bluetooth or $549.99 LTE, and the Watch Ultra at $649.99. These are manufacturer suggested retail prices, not a promise of current store pricing; promotions and actual prices can change.
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Samsung’s June 2026 U.S. MSRP document illustrates why “smartwatch” covers very different spending decisions. A buyer should compare the specific features they will use, not assume a higher-priced model will create a need that was not there before.
Battery life is a real trade-off, but not the leading poll answer
Only 4% of the CCS Insight non-owner sample selected poor battery life as their main reason. That makes charging a weaker explanation in that poll than perceived need or price; it does not show that battery life is unimportant to every buyer.
Charging can be a deal-breaker if a person wants overnight sleep tracking but must charge the watch overnight, or if they use GPS, cellular service, an always-on display, and frequent workouts. Endurance depends on model, size, settings, and use. A fitness watch designed around training and longer intervals between charges may suit someone better than an app-heavy smartwatch, but the exact trade-off is model-specific.
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Style, distraction, and data concerns matter to some buyers
A watch is also something you wear
In the CCS Insight sample, 8% said they disliked how smartwatches looked and 6% thought they were too big. Those answers ranked below need and cost, but appearance is not a trivial issue for an item worn all day. Some people prefer the design, craftsmanship, or sentimental value of a traditional watch; others do not want a glowing screen or a sporty, technology-forward accessory on their wrist.
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A wrist alert may save a trip to a pocket, but it can also make every message harder to ignore. Someone already trying to reduce phone interruptions may not want another device competing for attention. The useful question is not whether a watch can mirror notifications, but whether the wearer can limit alerts to the few that genuinely benefit from arriving on the wrist.
Privacy concerns are real, but not the top stated reason in the cited study
In the patient-advisory-group study, privacy concerns ranked fifth among reasons for not owning a wearable and were cited by 12% of respondents. The study also found variation across demographic groups. That figure should not be taken to mean privacy is unimportant; it means it was not the leading response in that sample.
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Wearables can collect sensitive information such as heart rate, sleep, exercise, and location, and data may sync to an account or cloud service. Practices vary by manufacturer, feature, settings, and region. Before enabling a feature, check what it records, where information is stored, how it can be shared or deleted, and whether the benefit is worth that collection. The cited study does not establish that smartwatch makers generally sell health data to advertisers.
Health and fitness readings are useful as signals, not diagnoses
Tracking can help a person notice patterns, maintain motivation, or compare activity over time. It is not the same as clinical measurement. Step counts can differ between devices; wrist heart-rate readings can be affected by fit, movement, and exercise type; sleep stages are estimates rather than direct measurements of brain activity; and calorie-burn figures are approximations.
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Who is likely to get real value from a smartwatch?
The strongest case is for someone who can name a recurring task the watch will improve. That might be structured training, safer outdoor activity, discreet alerts, or accessibility—not simply owning the newest device.
- Regular runners, cyclists, swimmers, and other structured exercisers may value workout recording, GPS, and training tools that are easier to access on the wrist.
- People who often keep a phone in a bag or pocket may appreciate quick, selective alerts, timers, navigation prompts, or music controls.
- People with a specific safety use may benefit from features such as emergency calling, fall detection, or location sharing when supported by their model, phone, region, and service. Verify those details rather than assuming every watch includes them.
- People who rely on accessibility features may find haptic alerts, voice interaction, or on-wrist controls helpful.
- People who already enjoy tracking routines may use reminders and activity trends as a practical aid, provided the data is motivating rather than stressful.
Phone and ecosystem compatibility should be checked before buying. Google says Pixel Watch 4 works with most Android phones running Android 11 or newer; feature availability can still vary. Apple Watch is part of Apple’s iPhone ecosystem, so check the specific model’s current requirements. Samsung health and AI functions can depend on compatible Galaxy hardware or a Samsung account.
Google Pixel Watch 4 compatibility information · Apple’s current Watch lineup · Samsung Galaxy Watch8 product information
When a tracker, traditional watch, or nothing is the better choice
- Choose a fitness tracker if the goal is primarily steps, workouts, sleep, and basic activity trends, while longer battery life, lower cost, or fewer distractions matter more than apps, calls, and wrist messaging.
- Choose a traditional watch if timekeeping and personal style are the point, or if software updates and charging feel like drawbacks rather than benefits.
- Keep the phone-only setup if the phone already covers the needed tasks and wrist alerts, health data, or safety features do not solve a specific problem.
Some people stop wearing a watch after the novelty fades, notifications become tiresome, charging disrupts routines, or tracking creates anxiety rather than motivation. Those are practical possibilities, not abandonment rates measured by the surveys above. A useful pre-purchase test is to identify what the watch should do on an ordinary week and whether that use would survive beyond the first few weeks.
What the polling does—and does not—say
Pew’s finding that about four in ten U.S. adults own a smartwatch is a measure of adoption, not a diagnosis of why everyone else has not bought one. CCS Insight’s ranking gives a reason breakdown for a defined group of technology-enthusiast non-owners, while the peer-reviewed study represents respondents recruited through a patient advisory group and asks about wearables more broadly. Together, they support a qualified conclusion: many people have not found enough value to adopt a smartwatch, with cost and disinterest in tracking also prominent. They do not prove that consumers broadly dislike the category or that one objection explains every non-owner.
Sources: Pew Research Center, U.S. adult smartwatch ownership survey; CCS Insight, Consumer Devices Survey results; npj Digital Medicine, wearable ownership study.
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