Gallery: Top LTE smartwatches

Smartwatches with LTE connectivity are a step-change in the capability of these devices, because they are able to access the internet or make calls without the need to connect to a smartphone via Bluetooth or wi-fi.

There are currently very few smartwatches that actually offer this capability, largely because adding this functionality risks bulking up the device and draining the tiny battery even faster. However, many see the addition of LTE, and making smartwatches independent of smartphones, as the key to unlocking mainstream acceptance.

Apple's Watch Series 3 range -- as seen here -- features an LTE model, which means that smartwatches you can talk on, even when your smartphone is at home, could be about to make a big breakthough.

Dick Tracey would be pleased.

This is Apple's forthcoming Apple Watch 3 with LTE. It's virtually the same size as the Watch 2, but features a faster processor, an improved wi-fi/Bluetooth chip, and a display that doubles as a multi-frequency antenna. The watch uses the same number as the iPhone thanks to an electronic SIM, while its 70 percent faster dual-core processor means that Siri can talk rather than appear as on-screen text.

Apple said the W2 custom wireless chip offers 85 percent faster wi-fi and promises to be 50 percent more power efficient for wi-fi and Bluetooth.

Sensors include a new barometric altimeter and the Watch 3 offers up to 18 hours of battery life across a mix of Bluetooth, LTE and wi-fi. However, a one-hour LTE call could be enough to drain the battery completely, so don't dump your iPhone just yet. It's going to be available at launch in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland the UK and US.

Find more detail of the Apple Watch Series 3 here.

This is Samsung's Gear S3 Frontier LTE smartwatch: read the ZDNet review here.

Specs

Weight 2.2 oz/63g without bands

Display 1.3", 360x360 at 278ppi Super AMOLED touchscreen

Operating system OS Tizen 2.3.2

Processor 1GHz, Dual Core (Exynos 7270)

Storage & RAM 4GB internal storage / 768MB RAM

Connectivity Bluetooth / LTE / WiFi

Battery 380mAh Li-ion, typical usage up to 3-4 days

Sensors Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyro Sensor, Heart Rate Monitor, Ambient Light Sensor

This is Samsung's Gear S3 Classic LTE smartwatch.

Specs

Display 1.3-inch, 360x360 at 278ppi Super AMOLED touchscreen

Operating system OS Tizen 2.3.2

Processor 1GHz, Dual Core (Exynos 7270)

Storage & RAM 4GB internal storage / 768MB RAM

Connectivity Bluetooth / LTE / WiFi

Battery 380mAh Li-ion, typical usage up to 3 days

Sensors Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyro Sensor, Heart Rate Monitor, Ambient Light Sensor

This is the LG Watch Sport; here is the ZDNet review of the LTE LG Watch Sport.

Specs

Weight 3.15 ounces

Operating system Android Wear 2.0 (Feldspar)

Display 1.38-inch P-OLED 480 x 480 pixels 348 ppi

Processor 1.1GHz Qualcomm® Snapdragon Quad-Core MSM8909w

Battery 430mAh (talk time up to 2 hours 3G, standby time up to 1.45 days)

Storage & RAM 4GB (up to 2GB usable) / 768MB RAM

This is Huawei's LTE Watch 2: you can read read ZDNet's review of the non-LTE version here.

Specs include a 1.2-inch circular AMOLED display at 390-by-390-pixel resolution (326ppi) with Gorilla Glass protection.

Other specs

Storage & RAM 4GB Flash + 768MB RAM

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 2100

Operating system Android Wear 2.0

Sensors 6-axis A + G sensor, 3-axis Compass, Heart Rate Sensor, Barometer, Capacitive Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor

Battery 420mAh