Wearable

Samsung has two new wearables in store for us, the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch Active 4. Both smartwatches are expected to be launched sometime in Q2, 2021, and will likely be the first Samsung devices to run WearOS instead of Tizen.

Oppo released its Band fitness tracker last year in China, where it is available in two styles. However, the company has finally decided to bring the affordable device to a wider audience with a global launch, which is planned for March 8.

The Amazfit T-Rex Pro has featured in an unboxing video that shows off all of the features of the upcoming military-grade smartwatch. The T-Rex Pro utilizes software based on real-time operating system (RTOS) and features a BioTracker 2 PPG optical sensor and SpO2 blood-oxygen level measurement all for €169.90 (US$203).

Razer is known for gaming audio peripherals; however, its new Anzu product is something else altogether. They are of the smart-glass type that incorporate personal speakers for the wearer's audio, which, as the OEM claims, will reach the user's head with reduced latency and increased immersion. They are available in Razer's store from now for US$199.99.

The Apple Watch, Huawei Watch GT and Galaxy Watch lines helped their respective OEMs maintain their leading positions in the smartwatch space in 2020. This was a year in which the market showed relatively little growth, although its premium segment enjoyed a "significant" uptick.

Qualcomm offers a range of products that support or serve mobile wireless audio, ranging from its aptX technology to the entire 8-series of mobile SoCs. Now, it has announced that this panel of technology has a new, unified platform: Snapdragon Sound. It will also act as a badge to signal to the consumer that its specs are present in a given product.

Razer partnered with Conservation International for the Sneki Snek plushie, the sales of which go toward protecting forestry in various locations worldwide. The mascot has now achieved its initial goal of saving 100,000 trees in this manner, which means the OEM has new merch based on the character to launch at its upcoming RazerStore Live event.

Initial findings within One UI 3.1 have seemingly confirmed rumours that Samsung plans to switch to Wear OS this year. According to kernel source code, Samsung is working on a new Galaxy Watch or Galaxy Watch Active device codenamed Merlot that runs Wear OS.

Motorola's next smartwatch will feature the latest Snapdragon Wear 4100 SoC, which remains criminally under adopted by Wear OS smartwatch manufacturers. The circular smartwatch will also support GPS, NFC and 5 ATM water resistance.

Images and specs for the Amazfit T-Rex Pro rugged smartwatch have been leaked, indicating that the new Amazfit wearable is likely to be launched soon. The Amazfit T-Rex Pro looks very similar to the non-Pro model but offers at least one new color choice, greater water resistance, and access to the BioTracker 2 PPG health utility.

Nothing is the name of Carl Pei's new tech start-up, his first since leaving OnePlus in 2020. It has been introduced as based in London; however, it also now has an Indian presence. It is to be led by Manu Sharma, formerly a Samsung executive. Pei projects that he will "play a pivotal role for our growth in India".

Huami is a wearables OEM that has built a market leadership worldwide, mainly through the popularity of its Amazfit devices. Now, the company has announced that it will be known as Zepp Health from now on. This wholesale re-brand is intended to consolidate its position across all its businesses going forward

Xiaomi has recently launched the new Redmi AirDots 3 true wireless headset with Bluetooth 5.2 support. The third-generation Redmi earbuds utilize a Qualcomm QCC3040 chip solution to provide the best audio performance, with aptX audio technology being part of the package. The price in China for the Redmi AirDots 3 is 199 yuan (US$31).

A new version of the TTGO T-Watch is here, and it comes with a microphone. The additional component allows Lilygo's smartwatch to be controlled by voice input, improving its versatility. The new version of the TTGO T-Watch retails for under US$30.00 on AliExpress.

The Zeblaze Vibe 3S HD offers a round display, good battery life and plenty of other features. However, it is also an unashamed copy of the Garmin Fenix 6 Pro.

Carl Pei's new start-up, Nothing, has announced that it has a new founding partner: teenage engineering. This Stockholm-based group has been involved in "craftsmanship" and industrial design for 10 years now, and is possibly best-known for its OP-1 synthesizer. Pei claims that its involvement in Nothing has resulted in a "product roadmap" that is "true to the company's vision".

HP has just confirmed it has secured "a definitive agreement" to buy HyperX, heretofore best known as Kingston's gaming-accessories division. That company's co-founder and CEO, John Tu, calls the move "a brighter future for HyperX", while its new owner is "thrilled" to admit it to its "family".

The new AR Smart Viewer Reference Design glasses from Qualcomm integrate the Snapdragon XR1 SoC, BOE micro-OLED binocular displays and Goertek hardware, plus dual monochrome cameras that enable six-degrees of freedom head and hand tracking with gesture recognition. OEMs can also include an 8MB RGB camera for remote assistance functionality.

More news about the Xiaomi Mi Band 6, which will likely be known as the Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6 for the global market, has been discovered via the Mi Fit app. It seems the Mi Band 6, which is expected to come with a built-in GPS, will allow wearers to reply to SMS messages and may even offer increased functionality for popular messenger services.

Samsung has added some new features to the Galaxy Watch 3 and the Galaxy Watch Active 2, its current flagship smartwatches. Unfortunately, one such feature requires you to have a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, which seems unnecessary.

Recent leaks have supplied possible evidence of a successor to the popular, affordable Mi Band 5. Now, a new tip asserts that the wearable has been registered with Indonesian and Indian authorities, suggesting it may debut soon in those markets, at least. It also seems to spill the 6's model number, if no additional specs for the putative fitness tracker.

A Sony executive has just confirmed that the PlayStation 5 (PS5) is getting its own virtual reality (VR) system after all. It will consist of a next-gen headset and controller, which will apparently be informed by everything the OEM has learned since debuting this form of gaming on the PS4. Furthermore, the controller may also be DualSense in nature.

A new leak about the WF-1000XM4 has fleshed out some of the details about Sony's upcoming TWS earbuds. Apparently, the WF-1000XM4 will be Hi-Res Audio Wireless certified, which points to the adoption of Sony's high-resolution LDAC codec. The earbuds will support ANC too and up to 18 hours use between charges.

More evidence of Samsung's foray into the augmented reality (AR) market has emerged, in the form of a new video that might be marketing material for its first-gen Glasses. They are apparently pitched at use-cases such as gaming and content consumption as well as virtual conferencing and presentations. They may also work as sunglasses and have a virtual DeX modes.

Huawei has introduced its latest TWS earbuds alongside its new Mate X2 foldable. The accessories are definitely the more affordable of the two; nevertheless, they have high-end specs such as active noise cancellation (ANC), wearer detection and up to 10 hours of battery life. They have an AirPod-clone look, albeit with a new style of charging case and 3 color choices.

According to a new report, Samsung has two new Galaxy smartwatches in development, model numbers SM-R86x and SM-R87x. These smartwatches may be Samsung's first to run Android since 2013, with a pivot to Wear OS apparently on the cards, too.

The first sighting of the Sony WF-1000XM4 may have appeared online. The WF-1000XM4 looks radically different compared to the WF-1000XM3, which Sony released in 2019.

Rollme has just launched the Hero, its latest smartwatch with a completely bezel-free display. This is joined by a nano-SIM card slot for 4G/LTE connectivity in this wearable, not to mention up to 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Not only that, but it boasts an unusually large 1,600mAh battery rated for up to 10 days on power-save mode.

Realme has announced that its second-gen Buds Air will launch in India on February 24, 2021. It has also confirmed multiple leaks about these TWS earbuds in teasing their specs prior to this event. They include the (expected) ANC, as well as the fact that they will have 10mm "Diamond class" drivers, improved battery life and a low-latency Gaming Mode.

The GSMA has announced that it is currently considering running its flagship conference live and in Barcelona once again, albeit with up to 50,000 in-person attendees. Meanwhile, its Chinese counterpart, MWC Shanghai, is slated to begin on February 23, 2021 with 20,000 such attendees and in accordance with anti-Covid-19 health checks. Its success may determine whether MWC 2021 will return to something like "normality" this year.

Garmin has unveiled the Enduro, a new smartwatch with up to 65 days of battery life. The Enduro has such long runtimes thanks to solar charging technology. Still, it is more than capable in other areas, including GPS tracking, NFC contactless payments and all the fitness functionality one could expect from a Garmin.

Google made its acquisition of the health-tracking household name Fitbit official in January 2021. As if to provide more evidence of this, the Mountain View's online shop now lists products from this brand alongside those of Nest, which it has also absorbed. Therefore, consumers can now buy devices such as the Charge 4 through this Store.

Xiaomi has added several features to the Mi Watch with this month's software update. One of the highlights is Amazon Alexa support, as is the inclusion of a camera shutter button. V1.2.52 is hitting devices globally now as an OTA download.

Realme is rumored to launch its second-gen Buds Air in India soon, in partnership with the Chainsmokers EDM group. These upcoming TWS earbuds have allegedly popped up on an OEM's app early, inadvertently revealing that they have active noise cancellation (ANC). They may also boast features such as Transparency and a Game Mode.

Images of the OnePlus Watch's probable design have been published online, courtesy of the German Patent and Trademark Office. The images show two designs, which are seemingly sports and luxury models of the same smartwatch.

The Deauther Watch V3 is an intriguing smartwatch. Based on an ESP8266 board, the device can hack Wi-Fi networks and can even create fake ones. The Deauther Watch V3 also has a 1.3-inch OLED display and is orderable for US$65.00.

The LS02 smartwatch from Haylou has a simple design and is aimed at price-sensitive buyers. The smartwatch, which has a 1.4-inch display and up to 20 days of battery life, is now orderable for US$25.99, or under US$20 if you are happy to have the device shipped from China.

The WhatsApp privacy policy change, in which the company will oblige users to agree to hand the data they have given it to Facebook, has caused controversy and virtual boycotts worldwide. However, the EU market is effectively immune to these changes. The Indian Supreme Court has argued that this should apply to all markets in which the messaging service is used.

NVIDIA secured an agreement to buy the often-essential chip-design company ARM for ~US$40 billion in late 2020. However, regulators are still scrutinizing it and its ramifications for the tech industry prior to approving it. Now, Qualcomm has sent an official notice of concern over the same with these bodies.

The market research group Above Avalon has studied the fortunes of the Apple Watch series up to 2020, and has put the number of its adopters at 100 million. This would make it the OEM's fourth biggest product, with iPhones, iPads and Macs the only lines to sell better than these wearables. Should this trend continue, they may in fact be able to overtake the PCs by 2022.

The Watch GT 2 series debuted in 2019, so it was only a matter of time before information about a new series of Huawei smartwatches appeared. According to a well-informed source, the Watch GT3 and Watch 3 will feature a host of impressive hardware, and will be part of a major Huawei hardware refresh this year.

The Gocomma W5 retails for a mere US$63.99, and yet it features LTE and GPS connectivity. The W5 has a 1.54-inch display and runs Android 9.0 Pie natively.

What Apple's mixed reality headset looks like remains a secret, but there have already been some hints about the so-called 'Apple Glasses. The designer Antonio De Rosa has taken up the topic and, based on previous leaks, has published photorealistic renders of how Apple's upcoming headset could look.

A new device from Realme has leaked via the regulator TENAA, suggesting that it will launch soon. Based on its model number (RMX3161), it is now thought that it will be the Narzo 30 (or, possibly the 30 Pro). The OEM is hyping the new phone already as a "fan-powered" product.

OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei recently unveiled his new company as being called Nothing, which, as he also had no new devices to launch at that time, was pretty apt. Now, however, Pei has confirmed that the new OEM will roll its products out soon, with true-wireless stereo (TWS) earbuds to start.

RedMagic is a brand based on Android gaming phones with the specs and design required for players in this arena. However, it is now slated to branch into smartwatches in 2021, something confirmed by a new FCC listing. It is a round-faced wearable with an AMOLED display and heart-rate monitor.

The S21 is a surprisingly comprehensive package, with Lemfo having equipped it with an LTE modem, GPS and a heart rate monitor, among other features. The S21 supposedly runs Android 10.0 and can access the Google Play Store too, for better or worse.