Apple Watch Series 2: Comparing the competition

But not all smart watches are equal. Some are for fitness, some focus on music and some, like the Apple watch, are all-round performers.

1. Apple Watch Series 2

From £369, out next week

Last year’s Apple Watch set the standard for smart watches with its slick interface and attractive design. The new models look similar to the old ones with the same immaculate build quality but have more features and increased performance. A whizzier processor makes everything faster because there’s nothing worse than a watch that keeps you waiting.

The focus on fitness now includes an inbuilt GPS chip so you can map your run flawlessly and don’t need to have your iPhone with you to do so.

Best of all, the new Watch is swimproof. As you tell the Workout app you’re going swimming it locks the screen and counts laps. The one part that isn’t watertight is the speaker. To sort this — and only Apple could come up with such a neat solution — when you finish your swim the speaker vibrates to expel any water, so it still functions.

A new operating system — also available as a free update to first-generation Watches from next week — promises faster app launches, easier ways to customise Watch faces and more. It includes new apps such as the excellent Breathe, which encourages mindfulness through simple breathing exercises that last just 60 seconds.

2. Samsung Gear S3

Around £350, out next month

Best for screen size

Fancy a smart watch with a round case? Look no further. A circular touchscreen is a technical challenge, but Samsung has pulled it off. The Gear S3 has a colour-rich, 33mm display that’s always on so the time is constantly visible. Even so, the battery lasts almost two days.

The outer bezel rotates, just like a regular watch, and moves with a satisfying smoothness. It has a function, too — turning it scrolls through features and answers or ends calls. The S3 even has a electronic sim card in it so it doesn’t need a smartphone nearby to function fully. And it has plenty of functions: it will have access to 10,000 apps from day one.

3. TomTom Touch

£129.99, out soon

Best for fitness monitoring

The first fitness tracker to measure body fat and muscle mass — so you can see whether those hours at the gym are delivering results. There’s a heart-rate monitor and, as you might expect from a fitness-oriented watch, the Touch measures activity — such as steps and calories burnt — and your sleep too. The battery lasts five days.

4. Withings Activité Steel HR

£179.95, out in October

Best for traditionalists

Of all the smart watches this is the most like a traditional timepiece because it has, you know, real hands. A smaller dial has a hand that winds round as you hit your steps target. A tiny digital screen shows data such as calories burnt, smart alarms and even notifications from your phone.

It’s water-resistant and automatically recognises when you’ve started swimming. It also monitors your heart-rate and assesses sleep quality. Battery life is 25 days between charges.

5. Sony FES Watch U

No release date or price

Best for fashion fans

This is only a concept but it’s tremendously cool — one for the most modish of tech lovers. It’s a smart watch with an “epaper” display, the same as on the Kindle, which covers both the face and strap.

It’s only black and white but it looks great. Change the look of the watch face with one button press and the pattern on the strap changes, too. It has a classy metal frame, strong glass and three-week battery life.

6. i.am+ dial

From £49.99 on contract, out now from three.co.uk

Best for music lovers

The dial, designed by Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am, is undeniably hefty so it won’t suit everyone, but it has a lot to offer — especially for music fans. Tell the dial’s voice-controlled assistant (called Aneeda) what you want to listen to and it’ll play it through the dial’s funky Bluetooth headphones.

Access to millions of tracks is included in the tariff and you don’t pay data charges for streaming them, either. Like the S3, this gadget has a sim card inside, so no smartphone is needed. It works as a wristbound satnav, though this burns through the battery fast. Aneeda is a characterful assistant who speaks back to you (unlike Siri on the Apple Watch). It needs daily charging.