Friends often tell me they’re afraid to spend hundreds on a smartwatch because they’re worried their investment will be obsolete in a year. If that’s been holding you back, then this could be the best year to take the plunge in quite some time.

I’ve been testing the most popular smartwatch vendors’ latest offerings – the Apple Watch Series 8, Fitbit’s Sense 2 and the Galaxy Watch5 Pro from Samsung – and as a group, it is the most complete, refined crop I’ve ever seen.

They’ve all got advanced biometric sensors to better gauge fitness, sleep and stress. They’re all dustproof and water resistant down to 50 meters. They’ll wake you up, play music and keep you up to date all day. They’ll even help you wind down at night.

Best of all for the obsolescence averse, those are all refinements of existing capabilities. The flow of new features has slowed to a trickle. Which means that this season’s wearables aren’t just dust and water resistant. Practically speaking, they’re also buyers’ remorse-proof.

Of course, there are some key differences between them. Here’s what you need to know.

More: Apple Watch Series 8 review: Is it time for an upgrade?

How does the Apple Watch Series 8 stack up?

The Series 8 ($399 to $529 for 45mm, LTE) is a great watch. It’s both sturdy and elegant, with advanced biometrics for health and wellness. Communications are visually pleasing and intuitive. And the new watch faces are cool.

But in many ways, it’s the same great watch as its predecessor, the Series 7. The displays are identical for both the standard 41mm version and the 45mm option, which I’ve been testing. There’s no real boost in processor performance. Claimed battery life remains at 18 hours, the shortest of the bunch.

That said, there is a bare-bones low-power mode that will get you to 36 hours between charges. In my testing, I’ve had no trouble getting a full day out of the device in full-power mode. And fast charging will get you whole again in under an hour, just like the Series 7.