Wearable

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.

GoPro has announced its first full-year financial report since it switched to an online retail and subscription-based business model. The customers in question are now just over 760,000 in number, beating the company's most ambitious goal for the year. This may suggest that the action-cam's brand new strategy works, although that is not the full story of GoPro's 2020.

More details have surfaced about Apple’s mixed reality headset including an impression of what it looks like and its eye-watering price tag. If you thought that Apple jumped the shark with the pricing of the Airpods Max at US$500, it pales in comparison to what could be an eye-watering US$3,000 price tag for its new headset.

With the S2, Lenovo has created an affordable smartwatch that includes a lot of features. The Lenovo S2 has a 1.4-inch touchscreen, a real-time heart rate monitor and a purported battery life of up to 7 days.

Samsung marketed the latest generation of their Galaxy Buds with a number of new modes, an Ambient Sound mode being most prominent among them. It is a form of ANC with environmental awareness mixed in. The TWS earbuds' latest updates should improve the hand-off between these two modes.

Sony has released its financial performance report for October to December 2020. They show that the company shipped approximately 4.5 million PS5 units during that time, compared to about 1 million phones. It also posted 208% greater operating profits year-on-year (YoY), even though there were also 2% less sales for this quarter.

SQFMI has released the Watchy on Crowd Supply, having sold out of the open-source smartwatch on Tindie. The Watchy, which was an e-Paper display, can be ordered from US$50 and will begin shipping in May. SQFMI is offering the Watchy with CNC and injection moulded cases this time around.

The Huawei Watch GT 2e has received a new feature courtesy of its latest software update. Huawei also claims that the update improves system stability and fixes some known issues that the Watch GT 2e had.

MediaTek has posted an arguable win by securing a contract with Apple to supply it with components for next-gen audio accessories. Then again, these products are not future AirPods, but those of the Beats series instead. This would be the first incidence of this product line not being made with completely in-house hardware.

Xiaomi has lodged a complaint with a US court against the same country's government for placing it on an investment blacklist earlier in 2021. The company asserts that the action against it is unwarranted, as it is based on an association with the Chinese military which (according to Xiaomi) does not in fact exist. This, in turn, has apparently affected its ability to do business in the electronics market as usual.

SQFMI has brought its open-source smartwatch to market, and for just US$44.99. The Watchy features an e-Paper display and features an ESP32 processor.

The tipster Digital Chat Station claims to have found new premium phones from Meizu on the 3C regulatory website. One might be called the 18 and support 30-watt (W) charging, while the other might be a 40W 18 Pro. However, despite these specs, it is said that the company will follow Apple and Samsung's example in leaving the necessary power bricks out of their retail boxes.

The FCC has published another Amazfit smartwatch certification, albeit one that currently goes by two names. The smartwatch, which has model number A2013, is either the T-Rex Pro or the T-Rex 2. Regardless, the upcoming smartwatch will have a round screen, GPS, automatic training detection and will support music playback.

The Huawei Watch GT 2 has gained some new features courtesy of its latest software update, despite its release in October 2019. The latest firmware, which Huawei has called v1.0.11.20, is a 24.11 MB download and is rolling out to smartwatches now.

Wireless smart tags for possession-tracking seem to be one of the major trends for mobile device OEMs in 2021. According to a new patent application discovered on the CNIPA database, OPPO may be the next to jump onto this bandwagon. Its new Bluetooth tag looks much like that of Samsung's, although there are no indications as yet that the two would work in the exact same way.

The Samsung Health Monitor app has finally acquired the CE mark of approval in Europe. This means that the Galaxy Watch3 can finally use its electrocardiogram (ECG) and blood-pressure monitoring features, as can the Galaxy Watch Active2, across the European Economic Area (EEA). This is also true of the UK, UAE, Chilean and Indonesian markets.

A first leak of Xiaomi Mi Band 6-related specifications has offered up a goldmine of information about the upcoming budget fitness tracker – apart from its release date and probable price. However, Xiaomi’s habits with previous Mi Band launches and the state of the wearables market offer up some useful clues for predictions.

A report out of South Korea has claimed that both Apple and Samsung are preparing to include a blood glucose monitor in their upcoming 2021 smartwatch releases. This means that an Apple Watch 7, Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, or Galaxy Watch Active 3 could end up being fitted with a vital, and non-invasive, sensor for checking glucose levels.

The Redmi Watch - or Mi Watch Lite for global markets - has been spotted on the BIS regulatory documentation, hinting that it will launch in India soon. It is slated to be the Redmi-branded version as it has been registered under that name. By any name, it has a 1.4-inch square face, 5ATM water resistance and up to 9 hours of battery life.

The first details of the Xiaomi Mi Band 6 have been posted online, and it seems likely there will be a global variant called the Mi Smart Band 6. The upcoming activity tracker has all the features that the Mi Band 5 offers but with additional utilities, such as SpO2 tracking (blood oxygen level measurement) and Alexa support. The Mi Band 6 may have a larger display too.

The Realme Buds Q are TWS earbuds that launched for about US$30 in 2020. Now, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has inadvertently confirmed that their second generation is likely to launch soon. They have been registered as Bluetooth devices with black and fluorescent green colorways.

As TSMC pushes ahead with their plans for 3nm FinFET lithography, Samsung's reportedly investing over US$10 billion in an Austin, TX facility to take their own 3nm manufacturing strategy forward.

Huawei has trademarked the name 'Nova Watch' in China. Undoubtedly, this suggests that the Chinese company plans to release at least one smartwatch as part of a new series soon. Huawei reserves Nova for its mid-range smartphones, so it may have a new midrange smartwatch in the offing.

The OnePlus Watch is coming to India, according to a new regulatory certification posted by a well-known tipster. It has been presumed that this wearable would have a round face; however, the new registration specifies 2 variants with different model numbers. Therefore, a square-faced option from OnePlus might be back on the cards.

Realme's first-ever smartwatch was an Apple Watch clone, whereas its second had a round face and a Pro variant. A new FCC registration reveals the OEM has gone back to a square face for its next wearable. It has an on-trend blood oxygen monitor, as well as "dynamic" heart-rate tracking and IP68 ingress-protection.

Huawei has updated the Watch GT 2 Pro once again, this time with general system stability improvements. The update follows the release of the New Year Edition that Huawei announced last week. There is a New Year Edition of the Watch Fit, too.

Carl Pei is well known as the co-founder of the successful smartphone brand OnePlus. However, he has since left this company with plans to start another. It will launch on January 27, 2021; in the meantime, Pei has tweeted that he is giving 10 MacBook Airs with the new M1 chipset away, presumably to drive hype for his own new products.

The High Court of Seoul, South Korea has sentenced Lee Jae-yong, who had held a key role at the electronics giant Samsung, to 2.5 years in jail. The court has ruled that the executive has been involved in leveraging political influence to lock down power within the company. Its decision will reportedly be appealed at a later date.

The OPPO Band is a 2020 fitness tracker with a blood-oxygen sensor that launched in China for about US$31. Now, it has reportedly acquired an EEC certification, which suggests that it may go on sale in Russia soon. Therefore, this could this be the first of further global releases for the device.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 has a new firmware update that brings part of the OEM's virtual group-workout initiative to the wearable. It also now supports SmartThings Find, which might help an owner recover a missing unit, as well as Samsung's hand-washing app.

Can smartwatches help to diagnose cases of Covid-19? According to a couple of new studies, they can. The research applies to the Apple Watch and other wearables associated with heart-rate monitoring, as they might record the variations in this metric that might indicate the presence of the virus, even in asymptomatic patients.

Realme is a brand that has built its appeal on affordable mobile and personal audio devices. Initial leaks suggest it is going to keep this going in 2021 with the launch of the C21 smartphone and the Buds Wireless 2 Neo. They are slated to be the successor to the cost-effective C11 and to be neckbuds rather than TWS earbuds respectively.

The Galaxy SmartTag is a new consumer-grade electronic tracker from Samsung. It has a versatile array of use-cases, from potentially protecting bags from theft to finding lost pets. It is rated for up to 6 months of use per charge, and for ultra-wide-band (UWB) technology, which helps with its AR Tracking feature.

Samsung has added Pro variants to its Galaxy Buds series of TWS earbuds. They are rated for upgraded active noise cancellation (ANC), voice-call quality and 360° Audio. They can also switch automatically between different mobile devices from their OEM depending on what the user is doing with either one.

Amazfit has teased another member of the growing GTR 2 and GTS 2 family in the form of the upcoming Amazfit GTR 2 LTE. This latest addition will bring the total of smartwatches in this range to six SKUs. Fortunately, Amazfit has published a handy graphic to help shoppers choose from the diverse range of “fitness for all” smartwatches.

TCL's new product launches are mainly display-centric; however, it has also announced the expansion of its smart device ecosystem at CES 2021. They include the new Wearable Display, a name the OEM has seen fit to give its first pair of smart glasses. They are joined here by other devices such as the hybrid ANC-enhanced MOVEAUDIO S600 earbuds, the MOVETRACK PetTracker and the LINKHUB 4G/LTE Outdoor CPE.

The Amazfit GTR 2e and Amazfit GTS 2e smartwatches from Huami have now officially become available to customers in North America. Both watches are priced at US$139.99, with the main differences between them being design and battery life. The Amazfit GTR 2e and Amazfit GTS 2e come with a data sensor for blood-oxygen saturation measurement.

OnePlus has made its budget fitness tracker, the OnePlus Band official. The OnePlus Band uses a 1.1-inch AMOLED display and can continuously monitor heart rate and SpO2 levels. OnePlus says the band can offer a 14-day battery life on a single charge.

HP asserts that its new Elite-series earbuds are an enterprise-grade way of introducing wireless audio into your professional online conferencing set-up. They are rated for both passive and active noise cancellation (PNC and ANC), streamlined device-switching and fast case charging via USB type C.

Samsung has announced that it will launch the Galaxy S21 flagship series on January 14, 2021 in India. However, interested consumers in this market can now "pre-reserve" one of these phones ahead of this date with a special "VIP Pass". Doing so reportedly gets the buyer a free case worth the equivalent of ~US$52.

Lenovo has made an ambitious leap into the business end of AR glasses with the new ThinkReality A3s. Their lenses are 1080p displays for their potential mixed-reality (MR) or heads-up display content. They also have dual RGB cameras to orient this view, and come in smartphone- or laptop-tethered USB type C variants.

According to a report by the Japan-based publication, Apple suppliers in China are already working on a new iPhone SE version, alongside the AirPods Pro 2. While further details about the devices aren’t, we expect to hear more in the months to come.

Recently, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau made a public commitment to improved cameras in the upcoming 9 flagship series, thereby fanning rumors that these phones would launch with Huawei-esque Leica co-branding. However, a reliable tipster now seeks to quash this idea, claiming the original leak behind it is false.

A new app called OnePlus Health has reportedly appeared on the Google Play Store. It has ostensibly been developed to accompany the new fitness band and smartwatch coming soon from this brand. Tech bloggers claiming to have torn its APK down have posted faces and UI snippets for either device.

An owner of a Xiaomi Mi Band 5 fitness tracker has taken to Reddit to report about the gadget exploding while it was being charged. Apparently, it was the global version of the Mi Band 5 wearable and was not a copy or mishandled in any way. Issues likes this have been frequently reported in regard to smartphones, such as the notorious Samsung Galaxy Note 7 episode.

OnePlus has started officially teasing its upcoming fitness tracker that will feature useful tools such as SpO2 blood saturation monitoring and real-time heart-rate tracker. The alleged OnePlus Band price in India and its launch date have also been leaked along with some key specifications. The OnePlus Band is expected to cost around ₹2,499 (US$34).

Some recent leaks point to new TWS earbuds that are to accompany the Samsung Galaxy 21 series at the next Unpacked event. Now, an official webpage has confirmed that they definitely won't be introduced as the Buds Beyond. These Pros are said to have improved ANC at a higher price-tag on their release.

According to a slew of recent certifications, Samsung has a new product called the Galaxy Smart Tag in the works. It, as the name suggests, is a Tile- or AirTag-like gadget that can connect to a phone via Bluetooth in order to locate it, or the other way around. It might be ready to debut alongside the OEM's new flagship phones.