It’s not worth upgrading to if you have the original Apple Watch SE, but if you’re looking for your first Apple wearable and you don’t want to spend too much money in the process, then there’s a lot to love about the Apple Watch SE 2. What really helps the TicWatch to stand out (particularly against the Pixel Watch) is its phenomenal battery life. Under the right circumstances, it’s entirely possible for the Pro 5 to get from Monday to Friday on a single charge which just absolutely decimates the competition in this area. Even the latest Samsung watches struggle to get past two-days of use. The Garmin Vivomove Trend has a fantastic design, offering a combination of an analogue case and a traditional watch-faced design with a discreetly hidden display. It can be found in four colours, Cream Fold, Slate, Peach Gold and Silver, giving customers plenty of choice when it comes to styling. It’s probably best to say right off the bat that if you have a Garmin Fenix 7 then there’s no need to immediately go out and upgrade to the newer Fenix 7 Pro. The reason being that the upgrades here are relatively small, but if you’re looking to buy your first high-end Garmin watch, or even just invest in a proper running watch to hit your fitness goals, then the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro is easily one of the company’s best. The hidden display sits at 1.01 inches with a 254×256 resolution, meaning that you will be missing out on the OLED and AMOLED displays on watches like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. We still found it to be fine for general use indoors, although we did need to adjust the brightness to be higher when used on particularly sunny days.

There has never been a better time to buy a smartwatch, with wearables available in all kinds of shapes and sizes at a variety of price points. You’ve also got elements like compatibility to consider. Apple Watches, for example, only work when paired with an iPhone, making them a poor investment for Android users. Android users aren’t safe either; the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic will work on any Android, but only Samsung phone users will be able to access the whole suite of features. Like all Garmin watches, it is waterproof up to 50 metres, meaning that you can keep it on while showering or swimming without needing to worry about damage. If you’re looking for a smartwatch for diving or other intensive underwater activities, you will want to invest in a device like the Apple Watch Ultra, which has an underwater rating of 100 metres. If you’re into ultra running, diving, or long-distance cycling then this would be a good choice as it can stand up to the environment and has much-improved battery life by comparison to the standard line of Apple Watches, lasting up to 60 hours when in low-power mode.The original Apple Watch SE was a great prospect for consumers, offering up the core watchOS experience at a significantly lower price than the mainline numbered Apple Watches. The Watch SE 2 continues that trend but this time it’s implemented a few of the latest high-end features whilst also bringing the price down slightly. The only real downsides are that its app offering is behind Apple and Google’s and Fitbit, unlike Garmin, asks you to pay a subscription to access all the post-workout analytics the Versa 3 offers, which feels a bit cheeky.

If you want a smartwatch that can actually go the distance to the point where you’ll almost forget that it even needs to be charged then the Vertix 2 is your best option by a country mile. While the Garmin Enduro 2 can last for up to 33-days on a single charge, the Vertix 2 trumps that with a staggering 60-day battery life in smartwatch mode. Yes, you read that right – two whole months.

The biggest upgrade for the SE 2 is the included S8 chipset, which is the exact same processor found within the far pricier Apple Watch 8. This means that you’re getting the same speedy performance of Apple’s latest wearable, so when it comes to day to day use, you’re not penalised by opting for the cheaper watch. There’s also the issue of seemingly-strong smartwatches not performing well in the real world, offering terrible battery life and poor build quality, despite having decent specs sheets.