Best Medical Alert Watches

For active seniors who want a discreet medical alert device, a smartwatch is a great solution. Our favorite is the Apple Watch with professional monitoring from Lively. It has automatic fall detection and is more affordable than you might think.

If you're not an Apple fan or you’re looking for extra features, we’ve curated a list of other medical alert watches worth considering.

The only thing lacking in the Apple Watch is caregiver access, so your loved ones won't be able to see your GPS location or get alerts when you enter or leave specific areas. For the privacy-minded among us, that's actually a good thing.

But if it's safer for your loved ones to know where you are and whether you actually went to your doctor's appointment, then another fall detection watch might work better.

There is one workaround: you can set up the Apple Watch to share its location with emergency contacts when the SOS button is used. 

Check out our full Apple Watch review for more information about the settings you need to turn on for the best performance. We also explain how you can use the Apple Watch as a medical alert watch with no monthly fees.

The MGMove has way more going on than a clasp that didn't make me get into an awkward arm-wrestling match with myself.

There's a caregiver portal that lets loved ones see where you are and whether you've been active yet that day—which is actually an excellent layer of protection, since something's definitely wrong if you've taken 0 steps. 

There are medication and appointment reminders and text messaging options. Since the watch face is too small for a keyboard, you just talk to the watch and it turns your words into texts—a nice touch for people with arthritic fingers. 

Plus, Medical Guardian's monitoring center is Five Diamond certified, and their products are consistently some of the best we've ever reviewed. 

Their experience and track record makes them trustworthy but also means you'll feel the difference in your wallet. The MGMove is expensive right off the bat, and some of the perks we mentioned—like reminders—cost extra each month. Expect a bill close to $50 a month on top of the nearly $200 required to get the watch.

And there's no fall detection in the MGMove. That definitely knocked it out of the running for the best medical alert watch for seniors.

Nonetheless, we like this one. Learn more in our full Medical Guardian review.

It also has an auto-answer calling and two-way talk, allowing you to talk to them through the watch instantly. Top that off with complete waterproofing and a week-long battery life, you can track them even in the worst conditions. 

The biggest problem with Tranquil, however, is its steep price. Up front, the watch costs between $800 and $1,000. Add on the regular $55 per month fee (slightly lower if you pay for the year upfront), and Tranquil may be out of reach for most caretaker families. 

But if you can spend this kind of money to keep your loved one safe, we highly recommend Tranquil. It strikes a sweet spot between stylish, practical wearability and caretaking essentials. 

The Verizon Care Smartwatch watch is like the Verizon GizmoWatch 2 but for older adults. It lets you add 10 trusted contacts who you can call or text anytime, making it easier to check on the grandkids. But since the screen is too small for a keyboard, you can send only preloaded text messages from the Care Smartwatch.

Users can also share their location with contacts or call a caregiver for help during an emergency by pressing the SOS button. There’s no fall detection, but you can also set reminders for medications and appointments.

The Verizon Care Smartwatch also sends caregivers low battery alerts and inactivity alerts. 

The AngelSense Watch is new to the market. We haven't had a chance to test it yet, but we have high hopes thanks to our good experiences with AngelSense's flagship GPS tracker. 

It's not a professionally-monitored watch, so caregivers are the only ones who get alerts when the SOS button is pressed. There's a fall detection option currently in beta testing, so it's too soon to tell if that'll be a permanent feature in the AngelSense Watch. 

It comes with basic caregiving features, like location tracking, route history geofencing, and low-battery alerts. There's also an auto pickup feature that lets you talk directly to your loved one even if they're not able to answer. 

LifeFone is already one of our most trusted brands for medical alert sytems, so we were excited to try out the Safe Watch Active^®. We like that the watch includes extras like a step counter and heart monitor, but still keeps things simple. Best of all, you can add fall detection for just $5 per month—that's half of what you'll pay with most other brands. 

We were able to try out the Safe Watch Active and it was easy from start to finish. Setup was a breeze—the watch came pre-programmed and once it was fully charged, it was ready to go. I did a test immediately to see how the monitoring worked. Although it felt like it took a while to connect to the monitoring center, it was less than 30 seconds. Once I was connected, the monitor knew my name and our communication was clear and easy to hear. 

Overall, this is a very straightforward medical alert watch but it offers more than some others that are similar to a panic button in a watch package. I liked the fitness tracking, weather report, and how easy it was to use the emergency help button. My only complaint is the size of the device. It was pretty big for my wrist. That said, it wasn't heavy; however, I think a smaller person may find it a bit clunky if they have fine bone structure.

We expected to like the SOS Smartwatch because Bay Alarm Medical is one of our favorite medical alert companies. But this product was a dud. Our tests didn't go well, from navigating the touchscreen with difficulty to placing test calls that never went through. We're looking forward to testing a new one to give it a second chance.

The SOS Smartwatch appears to be from the same manufacturers as the MGMove and Sidekick Smart. If you like this design, we'd go with the MGMove—it has more features than the SOS Smartwatch anyway.

The BellPal Watch is no longer available.

No one will ever know that the sophisticated BellPal watch is actually a smart watch for seniors with fall detection. It features “smart” fall detection, meaning the sensors learn your typical movements and reduce false alarms over time.

The watch itself is available with a free lease, and the BellPal’s monthly subscriptions cost less than most competitors'. For around $20 per month, the SOS button will phone friends and family. Professional monitoring costs about $25 per month.

The BellPal has a couple flaws. It has no integrated two-way talk, so pressing the SOS button starts a call on your smartphone. Carrying around a smartphone and wearing this watch isn’t practical for people with memory loss. 

Second, the manufacturers recommend getting the battery replaced by a jeweler every four to six months. You’ll need to really stay on top of your to-do list for this to be a practical solution.

Finally, you have to commit to a 1-year contract.

The Apple Watch is a modern device with tons of other uses besides calling for help in an emergency. You're likely to wear it every day, and while we recommend the professional monitoring option through Lively, you can go the ultra-affordable route and contact 911 or loved ones instead.

We've crowned it the best medical alert watch overall, but the other options on our list are worth considering before you make that final purchase:

• MGMove: A little pricey but easy to put on and feature-rich with a nice caregiver app
• Tranquil Watch: Designed to help families living with dementia and Alzheimer's
• Verizon Care Smartwatch: Requires a 2-year Verizon contract but good for caregiver monitoring and connections
• Kanega Watch: No upfront cost if paid annually, but requires daily battery charging.

We prioritized standalone watches that don’t require a Bluetooth connection with a smartphone to place emergency calls—the risk of losing your phone is just too great. Battery life is also a huge deal when it comes to medical alert watches—they should last throughout the day, even if the watch is frequently used. 

Customization options earned brownie points from our team, whether that means choosing from an AT&T- or Verizon-compatible SIM card or selecting who gets called (caregivers, professional monitors, or 911) when the SOS button is pressed. We also considered cost, warranties, trial periods, and company reputation.

We conducted hands-on testing for the Apple Watch, Angel Watch, Bay Alarm Medical SOS Smartwatch, AngelSense Watch, LifeStation Sidekick Smart, and the Tranquil Watch. Our editorial team rated ease of setup and use, real-world battery life, audio quality, aesthetics, durability, weight, GPS accuracy, and companion app functionality (when applicable). 

Finally, we evaluated the best medical alert watches with the same criteria used to pick the best GPS medical alerts and the best fall detection devices. Visit those pages to learn more about our process.    

• Best Medical Alert Necklaces
• Best Wearable Senior Monitors
• Best Safety Devices for Seniors
• How to Choose a Medical Alert System
• Ultimate Guide to Aging in Place