The Best Smartwatches for Seniors in 2026

Medical Guardian has long been one of our favorite medical alert providers, and its latest smartwatch, the MGMove, lives up to the company’s name. Combining an urgent response feature with communicative apps for caregivers, this watch is one of the best smartwatches for seniors.

Out of all the smartwatches I’ve tested, the MGMove had the quickest response time: just 10 seconds. While the difference between 10 and 30 seconds — the longest response time, from the Kanega Watch — may not seem like a lot, every second counts in an emergency situation.

The main features of the MGMove are urgent response calls, weather information, step counting, and a messaging app, which allowed me to chat with my friends and family through text and voice messages.

The MGMove also has a reminder feature. With this, I could log in to the Medical Guardian portal (available on smartphones and computers) and schedule reminders on the MGMove. For example, I set a daily 8 a.m. reminder to take my medication. Each morning, my watch would vibrate at 8 a.m., reminding me to take the medication.

The MGMove device itself costs $199.95, which is pretty average when it comes to smartwatches. Then, you’ll pay for your monthly subscription, ranging from $38.95 – $42.95 per month (depending on if you’re paying monthly, quarterly, or yearly). Unfortunately, if you want the messaging and reminder features to be enabled on this watch, you’ll have to pay an additional $5 per month.

>> Learn more: Medical Guardian Costs

Surprisingly, the MGMove upcharges for fall detection, so if you fall and you’re unable to press the emergency button or message a friend or family member, you may not be able to get the help you need unless you pay an additional $10 per month for the service.

The MGMove combines the communication features of a smartwatch with the safety features of a medical alert device, giving users a highly useful device. If fall detection is not needed, then this option may be your best choice.

To learn more about this watch, read our full MGMove review.

Bay Alarm Medical is one of the most trusted medical alert companies, so naturally, when the company came out with a smartwatch, I was intrigued. Its SOS Smartwatch combines all the features of a GPS medical alert with the sleek profile of a modern smartwatch. It even includes fall detection for an extra monthly fee.

>> Further reading: Bay Alarm Medical Review

In our tests, the SOS Smartwatch had the second-fastest response time, with our calls being answered in an average of 16 seconds. Given the average for the group was about 19 seconds, it gets in at just below that, providing quick emergency services when I need them. Additionally, because the watch uses a 4G LTE network, I had fast speeds.

The SOS Smartwatch had all of the features I’d expect from a smartwatch, like a dedicated SOS button, weather information, step counting, and fall detection. Because the watch comes with GPS built in, when I pushed the SOS button as a test, the Bay Alarm monitoring center was able to accurately report my location, whether it was in my home or by the local train station.

The SOS Smartwatch costs $159.20, followed by a monthly subscription charge of $34.95. If you want to add fall detection, you’ll have to pay an additional $10 per month. In our experience, this feature was worth it. In our test falls, the SOS Smartwatch was able to accurately detect 90 percent of them.

While the SOS Smartwatch can last up to 18 hours without needing a charge, in theory, I found that it lasted only six hours when I was using it more. This is pretty disappointing battery life, especially compared to the Kanega Watch, which lasted 32 hours on a single charge.

The SOS Smartwatch is one of the safest choices on this list, with the fastest response time: just 16 seconds. The only drawback is the relatively short battery life, which ranges from six to 18 hours. If you want longer battery life, check out the Kanega Watch, which also has fall detection.

To learn more about this smartwatch, read our full SOS Smartwatch review.

The Apple Watch SE 3  is the Cadillac of smartwatches, encompassing the powers of both a medical alert device and a souped-up smartphone. From my Apple Watch, I could FaceTime friends, receive text messages, log my heart rate and sleep cycles, and do other things. The primary downside is that you’ll need a separate cellular connection to use this watch.

First things first: The Apple Watch SE 3 does not have urgent response calling like the other smartwatches on this list. Although it does have an emergency response button and fall detection, placing calls with these will, by default, call 911. With this in mind, I could not place test calls on my Apple Watch.

That said, I could test its fall detection, which worked pretty well, accurately detecting eight of my 10 test falls. Additionally, I appreciated that I could adjust the fall detection feature to contact my mother instead of 911. This could be very useful for people with loved ones nearby.

The Apple Watch SE 3, aside from having automatic fall detection and an emergency SOS button, has the most health features of any smartwatch on this list (or on the market generally.) Take sleep monitoring, for example, which only the SE 3 has among the watches on this list. Because I was feeling tired during the day, I used the sleep monitoring to break down exactly how many minutes I was spending in REM, deep sleep, and core sleep.

I found out I was waking up multiple times per night, and the watch even gave me trends over the past two weeks. To improve my energy and mood, I set a sleep goal and turned on Sleep Focus Mode, which turned off the watch’s display around bedtime. I found that not using my device close to bedtime helped improve my sleep, giving me higher energy levels throughout the day.

The Apple Watch SE 3 costs as little as $249 for the 40 mm version with a rubber wristband. If you want the larger, 44 mm watch face or a stainless steel band, then you’ll have to pay more.

You’ll also want to factor in the cost of your service. With an Apple Watch, you have two options. If you have an iPhone, then your watch can piggyback off the service of your iPhone at no extra cost. If, however, you want your Apple Watch to work without an iPhone nearby, then you can purchase an additional cellular line. For example, Verizon currently charges $10 per month to add an Apple Watch to your existing plan.

>> Read more: The Best iPhones for Seniors

The biggest drawback of the Apple Watch SE 3 — as well as Apple’s products in general — is the price. Even the lowest-cost option, the 40 mm watch with a rubber wristband, costs $249, which is about $50 more than the second-most-expensive option, the MGMove. Not to mention that using the SE 3 requires an iPhone, which, if you don’t already have one, can range from $429 to $999 or more if you buy a new device. Apple certainly isn’t the most affordable option, although you get what you pay for in terms of features.

If you have a larger budget and want some features you don’t get with any other watch, like sleep monitoring, the Apple Watch SE 3 could be for you. It’s a great choice for someone already in the Apple ecosystem who owns an iPhone and doesn’t mind paying a little more for a more advanced device. However, if you don’t want to shell out nearly $250 for the device alone, more affordable options are the SOS Smartwatch.

Not only does the Kanega Watch have the longest battery life of any smartwatch I’ve tested (32 hours, to be specific), but it also features a unique system of multiple batteries that allowed me to keep wearing the watch, even while its batteries were charging. This, combined with its accurate fall detection, made the Kanega Watch one of our favorite devices.

While the Kanega Watch did have the longest response time of any watch on this list — an average of 30 seconds — this is still pretty fast among medical alert systems. For example, Life Alert took an average of two minutes to answer our test calls.

Elsewhere, I was impressed by the accuracy of this watch’s GPS and the volume of its speakerphone. When I placed a test call outside on a windy day, I was still able to hear the response agent tell me that my call was placed outside the Dunkin’ Donuts on Barton Street.

The Kanega watch allowed me to make an emergency call in three ways:

• Pressing the side button
• Automatic fall detection
• Voice command

To make a call using my voice, I had to say the wake words: Fred Astaire. Once I said this, I could tell my watch to place an emergency call and it would do so. While I found it somewhat awkward to say “Fred Astaire” out loud, I could see this feature being useful.

Another way the watch stood out was its “quick-swap” rechargeable batteries. While all of the smartwatches on this list have rechargeable batteries, the Kanega is the only option with extra batteries in the charger. When my watch ran out of juice after three days (the longest battery life on this list), I didn’t have to take it off and wait for it to charge. Rather, I simply swapped the batteries with the ones in the charger, ensuring that my watch could stay on 24/7.

There’s no way around it. The Kanega Watch is costly. This watch costs $299, followed by a monthly fee of $84.95. While these prices can be reduced if you pay annually as opposed to monthly, I can’t imagine many seniors would want to pay nearly $1,000 upfront for a medical alert watch.

High costs aside, the Kanega watch also lacks caregiver connectivity. While the watch can use medication reminders — which you set up over the phone — it does not have any type of messaging or location-tracking features for caregivers. If these features appeal to you, then I’d recommend the MGMove watch.

While it is relatively simple and costly, the Kanega Watch has a great battery life and an intuitive design. We should also mention its fall detection was particularly accurate. If budget is not your top concern, then this may be a good option for you.

To learn more about this watch, read our full Kanega Watch review.