The best hybrid smartwatches for women by Malarie Gokey on Mar 14, 2018, 4:20 PM The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase. 
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Hybrid smart watches look like normal analog watches but they are full of smart features like activity tracking, sleep monitoring, and notification delivery. I've tried dozens of hybrid watches over the years, and the Kate Spade Holland Hybrid is my favorite in terms of style. Not everyone wants a smartwatch, but a lot of women are interested in tracking their fitness and keeping up with their notifications. Although you can get a Fitbit or another fitness tracker to keep tabs on your activity, those devices still stick out like a sore thumb. Hybrid smartwatches bring subtlety to the wearable world. They look like normal analog watches, but they are just as smart as most fitness trackers and high-tech smartwatches. The first hybrid watch I ever wore was the Withing Activité. It had a simple, elegant white watch face with a subdial to track my activity and a wonderful brown leather strap. I could track my sleep and my activity with it, plus, it had an awesome silent alarm to wake me up more peacefully. Withings has since been bought by tech brand Nokia, and the Activité has become the Steel and the Steel HR, which we recommend later in our guide. Today's hybrid watches are smarter than the first one I ever wore. Now, many of them buzz with notifications, have programmable functions to trigger actions on your phone, and some even track your heart rate. Lots of fashion brands have gotten into the game, too, so you can choose from dozens of styles. We've rounded up the best hybrid watches you can buy in a range of sizes and styles. Design is subjective, so go for the one that strikes you as the best. Most of these watches have identical feature sets. SEE ALSO: The best smartwatches you can buy The best hybrid watch overall  Why you'll love it: The Kate Spade Holland Hybrid Smartwatch has the cutest face of any hybrid I've worn, plus it tracks activity, monitors sleep, and has programmable buttons. Of all the hybrid watches I've tested, the Kate Spade Holland is most in tune with my personal style. I tend toward whimsical, classic, elegance, and this watch has all of that in spades. It's also slimmer and smaller than most of the competition, so it feels more like a normal women's watch. The watch face is made from Mother of Pearl and it has a smattering of cute stars across it. The hour and minute hands are pink and end in stars.The hours are marked by little crystals, with the 3,6, and 9 marks in the shape of stars. At the top of the watch is a tiny arced cutout with numbers so you can see at a glance how close you are to achieving your activity goals. To complete the design, there's a little, "hooray!" in the top center of the watch face that celebrates with you as you meet your goals. It is, in a word, adorable. The three buttons on the side of the case are programmable, so you can set them up in the app to show you your activity progress, to open the selfie camera on your phone, to control your music, or to ring your phone when it gets lost. As mentioned, the Holland tracks your sleep and activity, but it also has a silent alarm and can buzz with notifications for select apps or contacts. You can get the watch in several color combinations: silver with a metal bracelet, rose gold with a metal bracelet, gold with a metal bracelet, gold with a brown leather strap, and rose gold with a navy blue leather strap. The strap is very dainty and slim, too, making the watch look delicate. It runs on a replaceable watch battery, so you never have to charge it, but you do have to replace it every six months or so. The more notifications you allow, the shorter your battery life will be, so be mindful. The app is easy to use and you can see all your stats there in detail when you sync your watch. Setup is simple and syncing is effortless. I never had any problems with this watch, nor have the few reviewers on Kate Spade's website, where is has almost exclusively 5-star reviews. Kate Spade also makes a great full smartwatch, which I love, and another hybrid watch. You can see them all on Kate Spade's website here. Pros: Super cute design, slimmer than other hybrids, great app, programmable buttons, good activity and sleep tracking, notification support for many apps, no charging Cons: Expensive, style isn't for everyone __________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________
The best hybrid watch that's waterproof  Why you'll love it: Fossil's Q Neely looks gorgeous while it tracks your activity and sleep, plus, it's waterproof enough to swim with. If you want an analog watch with smarts, look no further than Fossil's line of hybrid watches. My personal favorite is the new Q Neely with a rose gold casing and tan leather strap. Its subtle design is classic Fossil, and it fits in with any outfit. The hours are marked by simple lines instead of numbers, giving it a minimalistic look. The Q Neely is also one of the slimmest hybrid watches Fossil has made yet. It's much less bulky than the original Q watches, making it perfect for smaller wrists. The Neely is even water resistant up to 5 ATM, so you can get even swim with it if you want, though water will obviously ruin the leather strap. The Q Neely comes in three different color combinations, including the aforementioned rose gold and tan color palette, a lovely purple-red cabernet color, and silver and black leather. You can easily swap the 16mm straps with any other compatible watch bands — all you need is the same spring mechanism. Fossil offers a huge selection of straps for about $25 each. One of the best things about the Q Neely is the way Fossil uses the watch face to communicate information in a subtle way. There’s a small sub dial in the center of the watch face where you can see how close you are to meeting your fitness goals. When you meet your goals, the watch hands do a celebratory dance around the screen as your watch vibrates. You can also program the hands to alert you when your most important contacts text you. When my mom texts me, the watch hands go to 1. The three side buttons can also be set to open the selfie camera on your phone, control your music, or call your phone to help you find where you put it. Even though it has all these high-tech features, you don’t have to charge the Q Neely, and thesimple watch battery inside is easy to replace after your six-to-12 months of battery life runs out. Fossil has many other Q hybrid watches in different styles, so if this one isn't your cup of tea, you can also check out the other options. Related brands like Skagen and Kate Spade also have great hybrid watches Pros: Gorgeous design, great activity and sleep tracking, notifications, an easily programmable smart button, and you never have to charge it Cons: You have to replace the watch battery every six months
The best hybrid watch from a tech company  Why you'll love it: The Nokia Steel HR has a tiny display to show you your metrics and a heart rate monitor to keep you healthy, plus, it's a gorgeous watch. Thanks to Nokia, Withings' Activité lives on, although it has a new form to go with the name. The Nokia Steel HR has the same classic good looks as the original hybrid from Withings, and it incorporates a tiny, circular display to show you your stats just like the Withings Steel HR did before the rebrand to Nokia's name. I loved this watch the first time I saw it because I'm a tech geek at heart. If you kind of want a smartwatch, but you don't think you can handle a full display and all the bulk that comes with it, the Nokia Steel HR is for you. It's a slim, classic looking watch with a nice steel case and a variety of watch straps to choose from. The watch face comes in white or black, but I prefer the black one because the screen looks less obvious on that model. Not only does it have that nifty little display in the top center of the watch face to show your stats in real time, it also has a heart rate monitor built in. Fitting a heat rate sensor into this slim, relatively small casing is an absolute marvel. The Steel HR isn't noticeably thicker than any of the watches in our guide, but it holds much more technology inside its slim case. To get started with it, you sync up with the HealthMate app and decide what metrics you want to see on the tiny screen. You can see your activity, distance traveled, calories burned, heart rate, sleep metrics, and even who's texting or calling you. Everything works like a dream and this is absolutely the watch for anyone who wants the metrics of a fitness tracking — including heart rate — and the looks of a classic Swiss watch. Of course, that extra sensor and screen do eat more battery, so you do actually have to charge this watch with a magnetic charger instead of simply replacing a battery. It's the price you pay for more features, though. The only quibble I have is that you can only be notified about calls and texts. Unlike all the other watches in our guide, the Steel HR can't get notifications from apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and others, which is a bad thing if you use those alternative apps. Pros: Heart rate monitor, small display for metrics, tracks sleep and activity, notifications, great design Cons: App support is limited, you have to charge it
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