Best smartwatch under £1,000

Why this one

Every review of this watch argues about training metrics. Almost none of them say the obvious thing: it is the best-looking smartwatch you can buy under £1,000, and for most people that is the reason they actually want it. The case is grade 5 titanium, brushed rather than polished, so it dulls gracefully instead of collecting scratches that catch the light. The front is flat sapphire, edge to edge, which is why it looks like a watch face and not a screen bolted to a wrist — the raised plastic lip that gives most sports watches away is simply absent. The orange action button is the one piece of colour on an otherwise monochrome object, and it is the detail that makes the design work. Natural or black titanium; both are quiet. Two honest drawbacks. At 49 mm by 44 mm it is a large, deliberate object — on a slim wrist it dominates rather than complements. And it is useless with an Android phone, which no amount of titanium fixes.

What it beat

• Garmin epix Pro (Gen 2)Wins on battery and maps by a mile, and looks like the tool it is.
• Samsung Galaxy Watch UltraAnswers the Apple design directly and does not land it; the case reads cheaper.
• Google Pixel Watch 4Prettier than most Android watches, far smaller presence and less material.
• Apple Watch Series 11Cheaper and slimmer, but aluminium and a curved front — the thing that makes the Ultra look expensive is missing.

Specification