 Smartwatches are going to be the next big thing, keeping us connected, looking good, and making us feel like we're living in the future. At least that's the promise. But though all of the many smartwatches you can buy right now make those promises, few if any actually deliver. A good smartwatch does three things. It tells you the time easily, so you don't have to constantly look at your phone. It gives you notifications on your wrist, so you don't have to constantly look at your phone. And it looks good while doing it, so you don't feel like you're wearing a computer on your wrist everywhere you go. Everything else that many smartwatches attempt to do is just extra. Some count your steps, some can be controlled with your voice, and some can run a variety of apps right on your wrist. But the best smartwatches focus on those core features, and don't worry too much about the extra stuff. If you're looking to buy a smartwatch right now, the best option for the most number of people is the Pebble Steel. The Steel is compatible with both Android and iOS, doesn't cost a fortune, and looks good on almost anyone's wrist. The Steel's always-on LCD display makes it easy to check the time indoors or out, and its battery life of five days or more is hard to beat. You get notifications for email, texts, incoming calls, and more, and you can control your music right from your wrist as well. Pebble does have an app store to add more functionality and custom watch faces to the Steel, and it can count your steps as you walk. But neither of those things are as important as the core functions the Steel gets right, which makes it my top pick. If you're looking for more from your smartwatch, like the ability to talk to it, or send messages from your wrist, or run a variety of apps, Motorola's Moto 360 is the best option among the many Android Wear watches you can buy today. The 360 looks great, it's comfortable to wear, and it's not as large or cumbersome as many other Android Wear watches. It has a color display that's visible outdoors as well as indoors, voice controls to quickly reply to messages without touching your phone, and a built-in heart rate monitor and step counter. The Android Wear platform offers a ton of apps to add more functionality to the Moto 360. But if you're an iPhone user, none of this is available to you. You can't even use the Moto 360 for basic time and notifications. Though Google has rapidly updated and improved Android Wear since its debut earlier this year, it's still not as stable or reliable as the Pebble, and it requires more setup and tinkering from you to get it working best. The Moto 360's display isn't always on by default, requiring more effort to check the time, and its battery life is less than half that of the Pebble's on a good day. Fortunately, you can charge it on almost any Qi wireless charger, in addition to Motorola's special dock. The rest of the field is dominated by other Android Wear watches from other manufacturers. The second best option is LG's G Watch R, which is very similar to, if not quite as good looking as the Motorola. It really comes down to personal preference between the two, but most people I've spoken to prefer the looks of the Moto 360 over the G Watch R. The G Watch R has a nicer display and slightly better battery life, but you can only charge it with LG's dock, so it's not as convenient as the 360's wireless charging. Samsung also has its Gear 2 smartwatch that doesn't run on Android Wear, but uses Samsung's own software platform. That limits it to only Galaxy smartphones, and greatly reduces the number of third-party apps you can install on it. There really isn't a good reason for anyone to buy a Gear 2 at this point. If you're on a tight budget, Pebble also offers its classic watch at half the price of its steel. It does all of the same things as a steel, but it's plastic, so it doesn't look or feel as nice as the steel does. There are other smartwatches that work with both iOS and Android, like MetaWatch's M1, Progetto's POP, and the Martian Notifier, but none of them work as reliably as the Pebble, or they cost significantly more. Many people probably don't have a need for a smartwatch, but if you're looking to buy one right now and you're not interested in waiting to see what Apple and other manufacturers bring next year, the Pebble Steel is the best smartwatch you can buy.