If your phone runs Android, and you’re interested in buying a smartwatch, your journey begins with answering a single fundamental question: Samsung Gear or Android Wear? Sure, there are other smartwatch platforms that work with Android phones, but Gear (perhaps best represented by the Gear S3) and Android Wear (represented by watches too numerous to mention) have the most mature ecosystems and refined hardware.

Google’s Android Wear platform has strong third-party app support, and if you opt for a Wear watch, you can choose from a wide variety of models in all shapes, sizes and styles. Samsung, meanwhile, has gone its own way with its Gear smartwatch lineup. These watches run Samsung software and adhere strictly to the Samsung ecosystem, but they also offer some benefits that Wear watches do not.

Smartwatches can be almost as complex and varied as smartphones, so you’ll want to consider the following criteria before you decide which platform is the right one for you.

NOTIFICATIONS

A quick glance at a regular watch tells you the time, but