The best refurbished smartwatches

There’s a great range of retailers to choose from when sourcing a refurbished smartwatch in Australia. If you’re an iPhone user, you can visit the official Apple store for a range of refurbished Apple Watches. Refurbished Apple Watches are cleaned, tested and repacked in a new box with all the cables and relevant accessories. For price comparisons and non-Apple smartwatches, there are plenty of other retailers, too.

Reebelo has a range of smartwatches across iOS and Android ecosystems, offering 14-day returns and one-year warranties. Alternatively, there are smaller retailers like Phonebot and Ozmobiles, the latter of which offers a 12-month warranty, price-beat guarantee and 30-day returns. Green Gadgets also offers a selection of refurbished smartwatches. If you want more options, check out the Amazon Renewed listings or Kogan refurbished smartwatches.

According to Statista data, around 54% of Aussies use Android mobile phones with the other 46% using iOS handsets. When it comes to a smartwatch, there’s no need to choose between Android and iOS if you pick one that’s compatible with both. Take the Fitbit Sense Advanced Health, for instance. Not only does it let users choose between iOS or Android, it also offers great battery life (up to six days). As a Fitbit smartwatch, it’s also designed with some great health features, including skin-temperature monitoring and a multi-path heart sensor. It’s still a pricey refurbished investment and some have reported step-counter inaccuracies but consider this refurbished smartwatch as a great starting place for multiplatform comparisons.

Alternatively, Android users should consider a refurbished Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 for around the same price, while there are some great Apple Watch Series SE models at a similar price.

Xiaomi peripherals are a great starting point for comparisons if you’re after a cheap refurbished smartwatch. You can nab the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 for around $50, which makes it a great price point for first-time smartwatch users or kids. The Smart Band 6 has a lightweight and comfortable design, plus a unique elongated AMOLED display. Despite the cheap asking price, it still includes tracking features for heart rate and sleep monitoring, plus 30 fitness modes. Our favourite part is up to 14 days of battery life, which will have you reaching for the magnetic charger less frequently. Just bear in mind that the cheap price also means it’s not as fully featured or accurate in its reading as more expensive smartwatches.

For cheap alternatives, consider an Altius SW1315HN or, for under $100, a Fitbit Inspire or Fitbit Alta.

Multiplatform smartwatches give you more options if you’re thinking of shifting smartphone ecosystems. That said, if you’re an iPhone fan (and don’t mind investing), you really should consider an Apple Watch. The catch there is that even refurbished Apple Watches can cost around $1,000. That’s why we’re recommending rolling back a couple of generations and going with Apple Watch Series 6. What it lacks in battery life it more than makes up for with a gorgeous always-on display. The Series 6 has expected health-monitoring features but also has other convenience options, like a compass and dictation. At the time of release, it was one of the best smartwatches available, and it’s still a contender in refurbished form today.

Alternatively, invest more in buying a refurbished Apple Watch Series 7 or Apple Watch SE; conversely, save money by buying a cheaper Apple Watch Series 4 or 5.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 was a game-changer because it introduced an easy way to measure blood pressure. As someone who manages high blood pressure, using a smartwatch instead of a cuff is a more convenient solution. The main catch there is blood-pressure monitoring is exclusive to Samsung Health, which means you’ll want a Samsung smartphone (or you’ll want to be comfortable with tweaking for other Android phones). Locked-ecosystem gripes aside, the Galaxy Watch 4 has a great screen, plenty of apps (and associated functionality) and better-than-Apple-Watch battery life. The Galaxy Watch 4 is also very comfortable, charges quickly and is generally a solid all-round smartwatch.

Alternatively, invest more in a refurbished Google Pixel Watch if you have a Pixel smartphone or consider a Samsung Galaxy Watch 5.

While pretty much every smartwatch these days has baked-in fitness features, Fitbit has made a name for itself by offering some of the best ones. The Fitbit Charge 5 is an example of one of those, with a range of monitors to track pretty much everything including heart rate. Granted, some of the data is tucked away in the Fitbit app instead of available at-a-glance on the admittedly great display. One of the better features is up to seven days of battery life, which is great for a smartwatch that’s designed to fit in with your health goals and everyday use cases (like contactless payments).

Alternatively, pick any of the other smartwatches on this page for basic-to-advanced health tracking or any Fitbit smartwatch priced around the $200 refurbished price point.

Before you delve into the nitty-gritty of specific smartwatch features, you want to ensure you’re looking at options that are compatible with your smartphone. If you love Apple or adore Android, it may be better to consider a smartwatch built specifically for that ecosystem. Alternatively, find a brand like Fitbit or Xiaomi that works on both Android and iOS.

The next step is to think of the features you want. If you want a smartwatch that’s more watch than smart, you can grab a cheaper option between $50 to $200. The more features you want, though, the bigger the refurbished price. Health monitoring ranges from basic (steps) to advanced (blood pressure monitoring), but note that certain features may be locked behind a particular software ecosystem or even a subscription.

As with a normal phone, ensure the one you’re buying has the right size for your wrist. In terms of battery life, flagship Apple and Samsung smartwatches aren’t great. If you don’t want to recharge your smartwatch all the time, find a smartwatch that has days or even weeks of battery life.

We started our smartwatch round-up by sourcing the best retailers in Australia for refurbished models. Then it was a case of prioritising multiplatform smartwatches for most of our categories, but also acknowledging the popularity of iOS and Android for two specific categories.

With a long list of contenders, we used price and meaningful use cases to create a shortlist. Outside of the cheap refurbished category, it’s okay if smartwatches are pricier but we prefer models that are reasonably priced compared to increasingly expensive new-model flagship smartwatches.

Finally, we had a look at the features and battery life of the contenders to make our recommendations, ensuring we also acknowledged alternatives around the same price point or with similar features.