Refurbished Smartwatch Buying Guide: Apple, Garmin, Galaxy Watch and Pixel Watch Compared

Your phone picks the brand, not the design. An Apple Watch pairs with an iPhone, Galaxy Watch and Pixel Watch pair with Android. Obvious, probably. It's also an annoying mistake: the watch is in perfect working order and still refuses to pair.

The Samsung row deserves a second read: per Samsung the watch pairs with Android phones, but ECG and blood pressure only work with a Samsung device. Buy a used Galaxy Watch for the health sensors while carrying a Pixel phone and you get a different watch.

Sorted briefly, per the manufacturers:

• With an iPhone: Apple Watch. Samsung says the Galaxy Watch isn't compatible with iOS, Google says the Pixel Watch 3 doesn't support iPhones.

• With a Samsung phone: Galaxy Watch, and only here do ECG and blood pressure work, per Samsung.

• With another Android phone: Galaxy Watch without ECG and blood pressure, or Pixel Watch 3 (Android 10.0+, says Google).

• Garmin: not checked in this research.

Strap and case: the condition grade is a retailer's own definition

"Very good" isn't a standard, it's a house label. On its general condition page, asgoodasnew describes its own "sehr gut" (very good) as micro-scratches you can't feel with a fingernail, and "gut" (good) as visible scratches you can (asgoodasnew, German page, as of 19.09.2026). refurbed sorts comparable stock into Premium, Excellent, Very good and Good (refurbed, German page, as of 19.09.2026). Rebuy runs from Excellent down to Heavily used (Rebuy, German page, as of 19.09.2026). Same words, different definitions behind them.

Never compare two grade names across retailers; compare the description underneath. How the tiers line up at the big providers is laid out in condition grades at Refurbed, Back Market and rebuy. Whether stepping up one grade is worth the money depends on the premium: what one condition grade actually costs.

On straps there's an extra wrinkle Apple raises itself: not every Apple Watch band is meant for water (Apple Support, German page, published 16.09.2026). A used strap isn't a purely cosmetic detail if you swim.

Sensors: "tested" means tested by the retailer

On its German smartwatch page, asgoodasnew says it checks all sensors (heart rate, ECG, GPS, SpO2) and measures battery capacity (asgoodasnew, as of 19.09.2026). That's a retailer commitment. It isn't an independent measurement.

Independent accuracy testing does exist for new devices. Stiftung Warentest checks heart-rate accuracy with three amateur athletes against a chest strap, and its database holds 182 devices (test.de, German page, 15.04.2026). That test says nothing about the watch a refurbisher ships you. Honestly, none of the sources we read say how an individual reconditioned unit reads.

The update window: the date you have to go looking for

A watch that drops off the update list looks exactly the same the next morning.

For the Pixel Watch 2, Google's guaranteed minimum runs out in October 2026 (Google, as of 19.09.2026), shortly after the date of this article. That doesn't make the watch scrap, and Google doesn't say updates stop then. It just shows how quickly one of these windows can close.

Samsung's picture is murkier still: SamMobile reported on 01.08.2026 that the newest Galaxy Watches get five OS upgrades. Older models stay on the old four-generation policy for now, per SamMobile. Whether they get the extension, Android Authority (23.07.2026) says Samsung hasn't said.

Battery: what "at least 80 %" actually covers

Apple is the only one documenting a readout on the watch itself: Settings, Battery, Battery Health, then maximum capacity relative to when it was new (Apple Support, as of 19.09.2026). For Galaxy Watch, Pixel Watch and Garmin we found no comparable readout on the manufacturer pages we read. That doesn't mean none exists, only that it isn't documented there.

What you get instead is a promise. asgoodasnew states a battery minimum of "mind. 80 %" (at least 80 percent; asgoodasnew, as of 19.09.2026) and says on its smartwatch page that it replaces worn batteries before sale (as of 19.09.2026). refurbed's own condition page puts the floor at ≥80 % for devices other than smartphones, with Premium at 90 %+ (refurbed, as of 19.09.2026). That's the threshold at which the retailer lists a device, nothing more.

How retailers mean their battery percentages is the topic of our piece on battery health percentages on phones, which covers iPhones, not watches.

Short, because we have a whole guide on it. Apple lists SE 3, Series 9 through 12, and Ultra 2 through 4 for watchOS 27 (Apple, as of 19.09.2026). That makes the Series 9 the oldest Apple Watch on the current list.

One example from asgoodasnew's stock, condition "sehr gut" as the retailer defines it, as of 19.09.2026. On the price basis: asgoodasnew advertises a voucher code (REMADE) on its product pages. Whether the price in the card below already includes it is stated on the retailer's product page, not by Refurbito.

Apple Watch Series 9 GPS 45mm Aluminium mitternacht Sportarmband mitternacht M/L

Series generations, activation lock and case sizes are covered in our refurbished Apple Watch guide.

Garmin is the odd one out here. In the Venu 3 manual, Garmin gives no update deadline, and we did not check phone compatibility. The update route and the reset below also come from that manual. The card underneath shows a Venu X1, and we read nothing about that model. The manual does describe the reset in detail, and it matters for a second-hand purchase.

There are two options. "Werksstandards wiederherstellen" (restore factory defaults) resets settings and the user profile but, per Garmin, keeps the activity log along with downloaded apps and files. "Daten löschen u. Einst. zurücksetzen" (delete data and reset settings) wipes all user data including the activity log, the Garmin Pay wallet and stored music (Garmin manual, German manual dated December 2025, translations ours). If a Venu 3 arrives with somebody else's runs still in the log, that points to the first option having been used.

A listing from the same retailer, a Venu X1 in condition "sehr gut" (as of 19.09.2026):

Garmin Venu X1 41mm schwarz (010-02980-02)

With the Galaxy Watch, two things hang on the phone. Samsung names the Watch5, Watch6, Watch7 and Ultra as not compatible with iOS devices because they rely on Google Play services, and ECG and blood pressure run solely through the Samsung Health Monitor app, which Samsung says is available on Galaxy devices only (Samsung, page updated 30.04.2025).

That page is older than the newest models: Samsung's Galaxy Watch overview (German page) now lists a Galaxy Watch9 and a Watch Ultra2 (as of 19.09.2026), but the text we retrieved gave no compatibility or update details for them.

For the update window, see the table above: up to four years per the 2022 announcement, with no per-model end date. A careful buyer only counts on updates promised in writing.

And a Galaxy Watch6 with LTE at asgoodasnew, condition "sehr gut" (as of 19.09.2026):

Samsung Galaxy Watch6 silver 44mm LTE Sport Band silver

On the pages we read, Google is the one manufacturer here that names a date: Pixel Watch 3 updates "until at least October 2027", three years from Google Store availability. It's a minimum commitment rather than a shutoff date.

Fitbit has turned into an account question. Per Google Health Help (German page), access with an old Fitbit account ended after 19 May 2026, and anyone who wants to keep using Fitbit needs a Google account (Google, as of 19.09.2026). Google's English help page says the Fitbit app became the Google Health app (Google, as of 19.09.2026). With a used Fitbit it's worth asking the seller what they say about account setup.

One observation that applies strictly to the day we looked: on asgoodasnew's smartwatch overview on 19.09.2026, no Fitbit-branded device was listed, and the product page for the Pixel Watch 3 showed it as out of stock. Both can change at any moment; it's a snapshot of one retailer page, not a verdict on the market.

All figures as of 19.09.2026, each taken from the provider's own page (links in the last column). And please don't compare the grade names across columns, for the reason above.

On returns: "21 Tage Widerrufsrecht" is Rebuy's own phrasing. The statutory withdrawal period is 14 days (§ 355 BGB), and per our article on the topic, shops grant longer periods voluntarily. If you plan to use the return window, check who pays the return shipping first.

asgoodasnew's 30 months is a good illustration of why a number alone tells you little. The warranty terms exclude "Verbrauchsmaterial, z. B. Batterien oder Akkus" (consumables such as batteries), along with broken displays and water damage. The warranty only applies if the device is registered within 30 days of purchase; otherwise "gilt ausschließlich die gesetzliche Gewährleistung" (only the statutory warranty applies; translations ours, from the German terms at asgoodasnew, as of 19.09.2026). For a used smartwatch that sits on your wrist all day and charges every night, that takes battery wear and water damage off the table.

None of that touches your statutory rights. Under German law, for used goods the limitation period for defect claims cannot be shortened below one year (§ 476 (2) BGB, gesetze-im-internet.de), and a voluntary warranty comes "in addition" under § 443 BGB. The distinction is written out in warranty or statutory warranty, the providers' periods in our refurbished warranty guide.

Apple first, because that's where it gets expensive. Apple advises checking before purchase that the watch is no longer linked to the previous owner's account. The test is simple enough: if setup asks for the previous owner's Apple Account password, activation lock is still on. On cellular models the previous owner also has to have removed their plan (Apple Support, published 14.09.2026).

On the Venu 3, only the second reset option wipes all user data, per the manual, as above. On Pixel Watch, Google routes you through Settings, System, Disconnect & reset, and recommends erasing the eSIM and cancelling the watch plan (Google, as of 19.09.2026). Samsung's path is Settings, General, Reset; that page describes the Watch5 and was last updated 03.09.2026 (Samsung, German page).

On the pages we read, it stays open whether water resistance after years on a wrist still holds the way it did at the factory. Apple's German page says the water resistance is "nicht dauerhaft" (not permanent), can "mit der Zeit abnehmen" (diminish over time) and "kann nicht erneut überprüft oder wiederhergestellt werden" (cannot be rechecked or restored; translations ours) (Apple Support, published 16.09.2026).

Google puts it similarly for Pixel Watch: the rating applies as the device leaves the factory and will diminish through normal wear, repair, disassembly or damage (Google, as of 19.09.2026). We found no such statement from Samsung or Garmin on the pages we read, so we're not putting those words in their mouths. How the same question plays out on phones once the case has been opened for a repair is covered in is your phone still waterproof after repair.

The three examples above are one retailer's offers on one day. They're not a best-of list and not a complete selection.

If you already know which model you want and you're set on a refurbished smartwatch, compare the offers on Refurbito by condition and warranty length, and only then by price.