Web browsing on a smartwatch was nothing but a far-fetched idea. Enter cellular smartwatches that have the hardware to connect to the internet and also to make calls and send texts.
Browsing the web on a wearable device is not as bad an experience as you think, but it is equally not as smooth as on smartphones. The small screens on most smartwatches are an insurmountable limitation and so is the inferior hardware.
And yet, a few pioneers managed to equip their watches with a solid tech. The latest Smartwatches by Apple, Samsung, and Mobvoi are equipped with a powerful processor, and enough memory to browse the internet.
Here, we have reviewed the best smartwatches with web browsing capability.
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Table of Contents
Top smartwatches For Web Browsing: Reviews
Samsung Galaxy Watch
Key Features & Specs:
- eSIM: Yes
- Size: 46 mm Version
- Weight: 63 g
- OS: Tizen by Samsung
- Display: 1.3″ AMOLED / 360 x 360 px / 328ppi
- Always-on Display: Yes
- Rotating Bezel: Yes
- Processor: Exynos 9110
- Storage & Memory: 4GB , 1.5 GB
- Speaker and Microphone: Yes
- Battery Life: 20-50 hours
- GPS: Yes with A-GPS, GLONASS
- NFC: Yes
- Voice Assistant: Yes, Bixby
- Water Resistance: 5 ATM IP68 + Military Grade 8100
- Sensors: Heart rate, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Barometer
Two Minute Review:
Samsung Galaxy Watch is the cheapest watch that can browse the internet. You will have to install a third-party browser available on the watch app store. Whereas in the latest watches, Galaxy Watch 3 and Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2, you have the browser preinstalled.
Here you will get all the necessary information to browse the internet on Samsung Galaxy Watch and the latest editions. You can bookmark webpages, and also open them on the phone if you find it too difficult to read on a small screen.
You can browse Wikipedia to Facebook, eCommerce stores for shopping, to airline check-in sites. The 1.3-inch screen is too small for a meaningful experience, but still, it better has something to view than nothing.
The watch has both a wifi connection and cellular connectivity to browse the internet. Plus, it has 1.5 GB solid RAM to make it as flawless as possible. The RAM is backed by Exynos 9110, the same chipset that is featured in the latest watches by Samsung.
The battery life is solid and would last more than 3 days with mixed usage.
Ticwatch Pro 4G
Key Features & Specs:
- eSIM: Yes (Verizon Exclusive)
- Size: 45 mm
- OS: Wear OS
- RAM & Storage: 1GB & 8 GB
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear™ 4100 Platform.
- Display: 1.4″ Retina AMOLED (454 x 454)
- Always on Display: Yes
- Sensors: GPS, Blood Oxygen, heart rate, Glonass+Galileo,
- Speaker and Mic: Yes
- Battery: 3 days
- Weight: 42.3 Oz
- Water and dust resistance: 10 ATM (up to 100m)
- Voice Assistant: Yes, (Google Assistant)
- NFC: Yes (Google Pay)
- Color: Shadow Black
- Strap Material: silicone (Other bands are also available)
- Connectivity: Bluetooth and GPS, 4G LTE
Two Minute Review:
The smartwatch is equipped with the latest processor by Qualcomm: Snapdragon Wear 4100 and by far it is the only WearOS watch with a powerful processor. Also, it is equipped with 1 GB memory and 8 GB storage capacity. So the hardware is pretty solid.
Also, it is a cellular smartwatch with 4G LTE capability. Alternatively, you have Wi-Fi connectivity to connect to the internet.
The Retina AMOLED display is pretty large at 1.4″ ensuring 454 x 454 px superior resolution. A higher resolution means more items could fit on the screen. However, the dual-screen tech makes its colors a little washed out.
It is a fast watch that wouldn’t lag on you. You can do even the silliest things like watching Youtube videos over an internet connection and it would stream seamlessly as fast as your Wi-Fi or LTE connection allows.
Ticwatch Pro 4G has a large battery inside, and therefore, the battery performance is solid. Even after browning the internet on Wi-Fi connection, making payments via Google Pay, and GPS usage while you are out on a run, it would have something left at the end of the day.
Samsung Galaxy Active 2
Key Features & Specs:
- eSIM: Yes
- Size: 44 mm Version
- Weight: 42 g (1.48 oz)
- OS: Tizen by Samsung
- Display: 1.4″ AMOLED / 360 x 360 px / 328ppi /Always-on Display
- Storage & Memory: 4GB , 1.5 GB
- Battery Life: 20-50 hours
- GPS: Yes with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
- NFC: Yes
- Voice Assistant: Yes, Bixby
- Water Resistance: 5 ATM IP68 + Military Grade 8100
- Sensors: Heart rate, Electrocardiogram, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Barometer, Ambient light, altimeter
Two Minute Review:
Samsung Galaxy Active 2 has a web browser built into the watch. The best part about Samsung Watches is that they are not Verizon Exclusive and support many carriers like Sprint, T-mobile, and AT&T. Cellular connectivity allows this watch to make calls without having the phone around.
Samsung watches have its in-house built Exynos instead of Snapdragon chipset by Qualcomm. It is pretty fast but not faster than the latest Snapdragon Wear 4100. Want to know the difference? follow this link: Snapdragon Wear 4100 vs Exynos 9110
It comes in two variants the smaller 40mm variant is unsuitable for web browsing, whereas the large 44mm variant has a 1.4-inch screen size and a crisp AMOLED display. 360 x 360 px resolution is a bare minimum to read items on the screen. The touch bezel of the watch, one of its distinctive features, navigates through the web browser and allows you to bookmark links.
Also, Samsung Galaxy Active 2 offers a decent battery life of 2 days with mixed usage. Internet browsing coupled with GPS and NFC usage will significantly bring down the battery life.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 3
Key Features & Specs:
- eSIM: Yes
- Size: 45 mm Version
- Weight: 53.8 g (1.9 oz)
- OS: Tizen by Samsung
- Display: 1.4″ AMOLED / 360 x 360 / 328ppi
- Always-on Display: Yes
- Storage & Memory: 8GB , 1 GB
- Battery Life: 20-50 hours
- GPS: Yes with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS
- NFC: Yes (Samsung Pay)
- Voice Assistant: Yes, Bixby
- Water Resistance: 5 ATM IP68 + Military Grade 8100
- Sensors: Heart rate, Electrocardiogram, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Barometer, Ambient light, altimeter, SpO2
Two Minute Review:
Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 also has the same web browser built into it. We forgot to mention one thing, you can download third-party browsers too. Most of them are paid and available on the galaxy app store for wearable devices.
Galaxy Watch 3 has almost similar features as in Samsung Galaxy Active 2. But it has only 1GB RAM though with 8 GB storage instead of 4GB in the latter. The watch also has a rotating bezel to navigate through the internet.
Other than browsing the internet, you can perform more practical tasks on both watches. You can make contactless payments via Samsung Pay, make calls, send texts and emails and control IoT devices via a built-in voice assistant: Bixby.
There is a big difference in price, so if you are looking for an affordable watch for web browsing Samsung Galaxy Active 2 is more suitable.
Apple Watch Series 6
Key Features & Specs:
- eSIM: Yes
- Size: 44mm Version
- Weight: 47.1 g (1.66 oz)
- OS: watchOS 7.0, upgradable to 7.1
- Display: Sapphire crystal glass | 448 x 368 pixels (~326 PPI density) | 1.78 inches, 10.0 cm2 (~60.0% screen-to-body ratio) | Retina LTPO OLED, 1000 nits (peak)
- Always-on Display: Yes
- Storage & Memory: 32 GB and 1 GB
- Battery Life: Up to 18 h (mixed usage)
- GPS: Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS
- NFC: Yes, Apple Pay (Coverage: 41 countries worldwide)
- Water Resistance: 50m water resistant
- Voice Assistant: Yes, Siri
- Wireless Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wifi, and LTE
- Fall Detection: Yes
- Sensors: Blood oxygen sensor, Electrical heart sensor, Third-generation optical heart sensor, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Ambient light sensor
Two Minute Review:
From Apple Watch Series 3 to Series 6, all watches have an LTE edition that costs nearly $100 more. Plus, they have Wifi connectivity. So can the Apple watch browse the internet? Yes, it can, but only in the latest versions that support WatchOS 5.
Apple doesn’t have a Safari App built into its smartwatches, but it introduced in watchOS 5, Apple the support for WebKit. The latter is designed to allow you to view content from the web right on your wrist.
Although there are limited paid and free third-party apps available on the WatchOS store for web browsing, the best way to browse the internet is through apps like Mail and Messages. You will have to send yourself a link to the webpage and then click on the links in the messages app to browse the web.
You can load all kinds of websites on the Apple Watch, from Wikipedia to restaurant sites for finding menus, to airline check-in sites. It’s essentially a full browser that’s been miniaturized for the wrist.
Apple Watch Series 6 has got a fast processor and a 1.4-inch Retina OLED display, and unlike other Apple Watches, it does support youtube videos or any video content. Mobile-friendly websites work best on the Apple Watch Series 6.
Web Browsing would drain the battery faster, and Apple already is notoriously chided for its poor battery performance. Fortunately, Series 6 supports magnetic charging for user’s convenience. Also, it charges pretty fast. (supports fast charging too)
Fossil Gen 5
Key Features & Specs:
- eSIM: Yes (By Verizon Wireless)
- Size: 45 mm Version
- Weight: 100 g (3.52 oz)
- OS: Wear OS by Google
- Display: 1.28″ AMOLED / 416 x 416 / 328ppi /
- Always-on Display: Yes
- Storage & Memory: 1GB , 8GB
- Processor: Snapdragon Wear 3100
- Battery Life: Up to 18 hours
- GPS: Yes
- NFC: Yes (Google Pay)
- Water Resistance: 3 ATM
- Voice Assistant: Yes (Google Assistant)
- Connectivity: Wifi, Bluetooth, LTE
- Sensors: Accelerometer, Altimeter, Ambient Light, Compass, Gyroscope, Off-body IR, PPG heart rate, GPS
Two Minute Review:
The LTE version of Fossil Gen 5 was released this year but it is Verizon exclusive. Wifi connectivity was available in the original Fossil Gen 5, and if you are on a budget, you should pick the latter.
Surely, you can browse the internet via third-party apps, mostly free. However, the browsing experience is not as good as it is on Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 and Ticwatch pro 4G. Why?
First, it is featuring a 3 years old processor. Second, it has got a small display. The 1.28″ AMOLED display offers 416 x 416 px high resolution but the overall real estate is too small for a meaningful experience.
Like Ticwatch Pro 4G, you can browse the internet to access social media sites, Wikipedia, eCommerce stores, and airline websites. You can even watch Youtube Videos on the Video tube app, available on the WearOS store.
Like Apple watches, WearOS watches are notoriously chided for their poor battery life. But Fossil has managed to prolonged the battery life by introducing several modes in the device. You can prolong it as long as 3 days with mixed usage.
Best Smartwatches For Web Browsing: FAQs
Can You Browse The Internet On A Samsung Galaxy Watch?
Yes, you can. The watch has third-party apps to browse the internet. Both LTE and Non-LTE versions can browse the internet as they have Wifi connectivity.
Can I Browse The Internet On An Apple Watch?
Yes, you can.
All Apple watches that support WatchOS 5 or above can access the internet via message and mail app. There are many paid and free third-party apps available on the WatchOS store for it.
However, you cannot stream youtube videos or browse adv-laden heavy web pages on most watches. However, Apple Watch Series 6 is an exception. You will have to pay for the third-party apps to watch videos on it as there is no built-in app for it.
How To Clear Search History On Apple Watch?
To clear your browsing history and cookies on Apple Watch, follow these steps:
- Press the Digital Crown.
- Tap Settings and choose General from the list.
- Tap Website Data.
- Tap Clear Website Data.
How Do I Erase My Internet History On Galaxy Watch Active 2?
To clear your browsing history and cookies on Galaxy watch 3 or Active 2, follow these steps:
- Unlock your Galaxy Watch Active 2 SAMSUNG
- Tap on the Browser icon
- Tap on the More key on the right upper corner.
- Find and choose History in order to erase browser data.
- Tap on the ‘Clear browsing data.’