There are a lot of faces to choose from, but which one(s) is the most stylish? Whether you are here because you want something pretty, cool, funny, or useful, you will find it here.
1. Imgur Spiral Watch Face
Some of the negative reviews in Google Play came from users who tried to download this to their phone, when it’s meant for a watch. It’s a simplistic and fun way to watch your workday “load”. You have the option to tell the time via loading arcs or to place a digital watch face in between two outer rings. It does technically work with square smartwatches, but may look best on round wearables because circles go well with, well, circles. Download: Imgur Spiral
2. Black Metal HD Watch Face
Black Metal HD Watch Face is a sleek option that can provide both form and function. Its background resembles a more metallic version of an old-fashioned record. As part of Android Wear 2.0’s additional features, you can display Google Fit stats, battery-life, weather conditions, and more. It’s not necessarily the most dazzling on the eyes; but maybe it’s just right, because a lot of people really like this watch face. Download: Black Metal HD Watch Face
3. Facer
Facer is one free app with thousands of watch faces to choose from, and if none of those thrill you, you can create your own. Some of my favorite faces on Facer include Folds, Zen Garden, Digitless V2.0 in Seafoam, I Love this Town, Beautiful Conic Pain, Rose Gold Scallop, and too many more to list. Think Google Play Store, but devoted to watch faces. All of the faces named could hold their own on this list of the best watch faces for Android Wear. That just goes to show just how awesome Facer is. Download: Facer Watch Faces
4. DosFace
If you aren’t afraid of getting nerdy, here’s a fun throwback to a time before the graphical user interfaces you use today. Whether round or square, this watch is perfect for any shape of smartwatch. DosFace comes with some customization options, such as: themes, a 24-hour format, the ability to change the prefix, and ambient mode. You’ll have to pay for it though; no freebie version. Download: DosFace
5. Pujie Black Watch Face
The great thing about this watch face is the high level of customization offered. You have a choice between one of the many watch faces in the catalog, or designing your own. Pujie Black also has launcher functionality to give you fast access to your apps. You can tell the time using the analog or digital watch faces, and keep tabs on the weather, battery life, fitness, and calendar events. Download: Pujie Black
6. Ultra Watch Face
Ultra is simple, yet fun and interactive. The free version comes with informative and customizable features such as: screen time, weather, 24-hour format, watch and phone battery status, and watch hand color. The premium version really adds quite a lot, including: an interactive menu, background texture options, music player, app shortcuts, animations, and more. That many features might sound overwhelming, but Ultra does pull it off—and it still looks like a watch. Download: Ultra Watch Face
7. Weareal. Realistic Watch Faces
If you want to keep people guessing whether you have a physical watch face, this is the watch face for you. It even responds to rotation. Or should I say watch faces (plural), because there are plenty to choose from that all have a metallic glow and reflection simulation? The watch faces are 3D, animated, and can be analog or digital. Weareal is battery friendly—stats are provided on Google Play that indicate that power consumption only increases by 1-5%—and will let you know if your battery is getting too low. It will also show the temperature and Google Fit steps. Download: Weareal. Realistic Watch Faces
8. Minimal & Elegant
The name says it all, and the glow animation you see every time you activate your watch screen is a nice touch. Don’t agree? Well, there’s 30,000 other options to choose from that all strive for simple stylishness, so surely you can find a few that suit you. Then, if you still want to further tweak your watch face, you can—colors, fonts, type of information displayed, etc. There’s plenty to love that earns this watch face a spot among the best Android Wear watch faces. Download: Weareal. Realistic Watch Faces
9. Watch Face Modern Classics
A modern take on a classic watch face, this one is sure to catch the eyes of everyone in the room. Watch Face Modern Classics is very functional as an old-fashioned watch—it’s very readable to tell the time. But it also is capable of more modern functions, such as a battery indicator, weekday display, date information, and current weather. It looks great on both round and square watches. Download: Watch Face Modern Classics
10. Muzei
Turn your watch face into a work of art, quite literally. This watch face is like taking a tour through an art museum, only your watch is the background, with a digital clock in the foreground. Famous artwork is delivered to you daily on your smart watch and comes with personalization options. And if you want to be the developer, Muzei is not only open source, it also offers a simple API (Application Programming Interface) to allow you to build your own wallpaper source code—http://api.muzei.co Download: Muzei
11. Behance
Behance is a personal favorite. These watch faces are the epitome of cool and creative, and I truly believe that part of that is due to community-sourcing. In other words, the app comes with six watch faces, but users/designers can also submit their work for you to choose from. It seems similar to the same spirit in which Android conducts business, and with more freedom comes more differentiation and choices. Download:Behance
12. Modern Times by Pluto
Some watch face designs just rise to the top, as demonstrated by Modern Times Watch Face. It also helps that it offers a customizable ambient mode, and display indicators for watch and phone battery life, as well as the date. Not to mention that it’s free. As one user put it, it’s “chic and simple.” Download: Modern Times
13. Radii
What causes the concept of time to exist? We may think of time in terms of how short our lunch break is, but this watch face is a pleasant reminder of some of the physical elements that actually produce time as we know it (not to be confused with space and time theory): our planet rotating on its axis and orbiting the sun. Radii simulates our planetary system by placing a star in the center, indicating the hour; while a sphere rotates around its striped orbit, representing minutes. The face displays the date, time, day, and battery life; and comes with 8 color themes and customizable options. We have a few space-themed options on our list of the best Android Wear watch faces, but we think that is only appropriate. Download: Radii
14. Mustache Watch Face
Mustache is a fun watch face that comes with fitness data, an interactive display, and shortcuts to launch several apps. There are also 12 premium themes, options for ambient mode, second hand color, and active mode duration. What’s also awesome is that the developer is very responsive to requests and to fix your problems. So we mustache you a question: if you haven’t installed Mustache, why not? Download: Mustache Watch Face
15. Pear
Is your mind more at ease with a cluttered room or a clean one? If you answered clean, consider going for a more minimalistic face like Pear. Round or square, it supports all watch shape types. Pear also provides different options for styles of watch faces, and has full support for complications. Download: Pear
16. DC: Dangerous Cats
Comic book characters, cute cats, and interactive animations—there’s a lot to love about this watch face. The watch face sports a battery level indicator, current day and date, and two different ambient modes. DC supports all Android Wear watches, round or square, but does not support Samsung Gear, Samsung Gear S, S2, or S3. If you don’t want to commit to buying yet, the developers offer their Boost! Watch Face Collection to try out for free first. Download: DC: Dangerous Cats
Download: Boost! Watch Face Collection
17. Historic Women
Everyone knows who Miley Cyrus and Kim Kardashian are, but when it comes to women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM fields), too often they fade into obscurity. Celebrate smart women making a difference with these five custom illustrations displayed on your smart watch. This includes space scientists and computer scientists, and proves that being an actress and inventor aren’t mutually exclusive (Looking at you, Hedy Lamarr). You also get quotes from said women, but if you are looking to customize or edit this watch face you are going to be disappointed. Nonetheless, the concept and the design earn this watch face a spot on the list of the best Android Wear watch faces. Download: Historic Women
18. Ghost Studio
These watch faces are magnificent. And if you Samsung Gear users have been feeling left out, you can find solace that the S2 and S3 are supported by Ghost Studio. The watch faces are created by real watch and jewelry designers. Luxurious and realistic, these will make even your most fashion-oriented friends jealous. Download: Ghost Watch Faces on Twitter
19. Krona Sunlight
I’ll admit that a watch face dedicated to monitoring the weather isn’t my first go-to, but this one is actually decent-looking and is able to show you the forecast for the next 12 to 24 hours in a way that isn’t overbearing in this small space. It is hands down my favorite weather watch face. At a glance, you can see how the weather will unfold, and compare today’s conditions with those of tomorrow. So, when someone asks “Is it going to be a hot one today?” you can just glance down at your wrist. Download: Krona Sunlight Watchface
20. Bubble Cloud Wear Launcher Watchface (Wear OS)
Use this watch face to keep all your smart devices coordinated: there are also versions available for your phone and tablet. Bubble Cloud wasn’t initially on my list, but I warmed up to it quickly when I saw how many users were completely satisfied with it. It is a launcher with an extended watch face, so the launcher may be used independently alongside any other watch face. It’s an intelligent launcher/watch face in that you can allow the bubbles to grow larger with use, making your more frequently used items stand out. Although it didn’t attract me to begin with, its functionality makes it one of the best Android Wear watch faces. Download: Bubble Cloud Wear Launcher Watchface
21. ustwo Watch Faces
ustwo Watch Faces provides both quantity and quality, with a large number of free and great-looking faces. Some faces offer customization options, even allowing you to design your own. The inspiration for these watch faces is actually vintage aircraft instruments. For instance, HUD is an analog watch face modeled after jet-fighter heads-up displays. Download: ustwo Watch Faces
22. Snyper—F117 Tourbillion Black
Here’s another watch inspired by equipment, but this one is based on the gear used by elite forces. To be specific, it is meant to be the embodiment of the world’s greatest snipers. It is powered by Facer, which offers about 15,000 other watch faces if you get bored with this one. But if you are going for a tough military look, Snyper should hit the spot. Download: Snyper—F117 Tourbillion Black
23. Timr
Although it reminds me a little bit of a ruler, the simple design works. The portion of the face that resembles a measuring stick is actually where you can watch the seconds go by. With a long-press of the screen, you can customize the color, and you also get to decide whether you want the 12 or 24 hour format. You’ll find the date at the top, and the hours and minutes in bold right below. Download: Timr
24. Space & Time Watch Face
Some say it’s off-center. Some say it consumes too much battery. Others take issue with the functionality of ambient mode–but there is no dispute about this: this simple, but artistic watch face has a great design. Whatever faults it may have, the cute little spaceship animation seems to make up for. Download: Space & Time Watch Face
25. Tag Heuer
Taking a page directly out of Swiss watchmakers playbook, and doing it extraordinarily well, Tag Heuer has created a masterpiece. You can also use the app to create your very own face, with your own photos if you please. A Tag Heuer watch face affords whatever type of smartwatch you own a touch of class. A new interactive theme has rolled out, but has been met with only modest praise, as the people who dropped $2,000 on the Tag Heuer smartwatch itself have (understandably) high expectations. Compared to other watch faces, Tag Heuer deserves a spot on the best Android Wear watch faces. Download: Tag Heuer Connected
26. Street Art
I have been criticized for making purchasing decisions based on looks rather than function, but when it comes to watch faces, why not? Street Art provides a free, cool, and pretty art show–the kind you might find painted on buildings. And it changes every hour. Some have complained that there need to be more configurable options, but if you don’t get tired of seeing the same art on the walls of your city block or feel the need to change it, you’ll enjoy Street Art. Download: Street Art
27. Furious Watch Face
Fair warning: this one is not intended for those who are easily offended. But for the rest of us, it’s fun. I actually hear Samuel L. Jackson reading the time in my head when I see these watch faces. Customize the color of the background and text if you to, and hide the messages when your grandma is around. Download: Furious Watch Face
Verdict
It sounds a little funny to say it, but Android Wear watch faces can truly be breathtaking. And this list is just the tip of the iceberg, with so many more options in Google Play. Android Wear is gaining in popularity, albeit slowly, and Wear watches aren’t just for tech-lovers anymore. Fashion lovers can enjoy too—like having a new watch (face) every day—and for every outfit and occasion. Which one is your favorite watch face? Don’t see it here? Let us know in the comments.