How much a smartwatch can do without your phone

Setup, app installs, software updates and the long-term history of your data all go through the maker's phone app. An Apple Watch needs an iPhone to set up; Samsung and Google watches need an Android phone. Out of Bluetooth range, a watch without LTE still tracks workouts and health and tells the time; whether notifications still arrive depends on whether the maker relays them over Wi-Fi, which the app-platform watches can and most sport watches cannot.

9 watches here come in an LTE version: Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4, Apple Watch SE 3, Samsung Galaxy Watch9, Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2, Samsung Galaxy Watch8 Classic and others. LTE lets the watch take calls and messages and stream with the phone at home. It needs its own line from a carrier, and the carrier, not the watch maker, sets that price.

For a run without the phone, three features matter: GPS (all of them), music stored on the watch (28 watches) and contactless payment (22). 6 watches have LTE, music and payments together.