Smartwatch

The Fossil Gen 6 wearables are smartwatches that have leaked extensively in terms of putative specs and design choices, although the OEM has been able to keep the date of their unveiling a mystery thus far. However, it has now released an email to its subscribers that drops heavy hints that the devices will make it to a launch before September 2021.

Google may have sparked some dissatisfaction by announcing YouTube Music for wearables, then confirming that it is compatible with smartwatches capable of running the latest Wear OS 3 version only. A mobile security analyst has tried what is probably one of the most effective work-arounds for this potential problem, but ultimately came up unsuccessful in this effort.

While the expected announcement of the Apple Watch Series 7 is still a few weeks away, Chinese copycats have already started selling smartwatches that precisely replicate the design of Apple's latest wearable. Even though the marketing images look great, these cheap knockoffs from China are often of inferior quality.

Honor unveiled the Watch GS 3 a few weeks ago, with the company highlighting the smartwatch's industry-leading heart rate monitor. While the company has not launched the Watch GS 3 yet, it has finally shown how the wearable looks in the flesh.

According to a new report, Apple plans to adjust the sizes of the Apple Watch this year. Reputedly, the company has decided to release larger models, with the 38 mm size of previous Apple Watch generations not set to return.

The Fitbit Charge 5 has arrived and for just US$179.95. The new Fitbit Charge is thinner than its predecessor, while retaining week-long battery life and adding more health-tracking functionality. The Fitbit Charge 5 even has a brighter display that is a colour AMOLED panel, too.

YouTube Music has arrived on Wear OS, bringing offline downloads to the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. There are numerous drawbacks to Google's music service on Wear OS though, including performance issues and the inability to stream anything.

A marketing video for the Fitbit Charge 5 tracker has been leaked onto social media. The promo clip reveals a lot of pertinent details about the Fitbit Charge 5, including its price, release date, and key features. These include a built-in GPS, ECG app, EDA sensor, and a host of tools for keen fitness users.

The Galaxy Watch4 and 4 Classic still have a few days to go before reaching their new owners. However, that has apparently not stopped them from receiving an OTA update already. This new firmware is rated to optimize stability and performance on the new wearables as they start to go to work tracking a user's health.

Haylou has announced another new smartwatch, following the RS3 earlier this year. The Haylou RT2, also called the Haylou LS10, has a chic design, IP68 certification and a reasonably large battery, among other features.

Xiaomi has only released the Mi Band 6 NFC in China so far, with the non-NFC model the sole option for fans outside of the company's home market. A new certification suggests that Xiaomi could be about to bring the Mi Band 6 NFC to more markets, though.

Zeblaze has started selling the GTR 2, a successor to the affordable GTR. The 44 mm smartwatch has a 1.28-inch display, a Bluetooth 5.0 modem and is compatible with Android or iOS devices.

Chargeasap has launched successors to its super-charged Flash power bank via Indiegogo. The OEM asserts that the new Pro series incorporates its forebear's best attributes, a 100W USB-C Power Delivery (USB-PD) 3.0 output suitable for MacBook Pros included, albeit with upgrades such as more type-C ports and a very Apple-specific variant this time around

Mobvoi, for one, has announced a fresh app update many more of its newer and higher-end wearables. This latest version of WearOS (2.0) expands the eligibility to use Pay (new interface and all) to users in more countries. The update also unlocks Messages on a watch's screen in full, as well as Tiles for apps such as Spotify.

The unofficial concept renders confirm previous rumors which predicted that Apple's new smartwatch would receive a drastic redesign. The purported boxy appearance is quite plausible since it is reminiscent of the latest generation of iPhones.

Xiaomi will allegedly resurrect the Mi CC line of smartphone soon. The all-but-abandoned series is slated to gain new variants with high display refresh rates and potentially premium-grade rear cameras. They are also now said to debut alongside a Mi Watch successor with a brand-new Qualcomm platform.

Fitbit has unveiled new band options for its Sense and Versa 3 smartwatches. Nine new bands are available, including two that Fitbit has called leather scrunchies. The Fitbit Sense is now available with a silver stainless steel watch body, along with a Sage Grey watch band.

A release date for the M1X MacBook Pro laptops and tidbits about the iPhone 13, Apple Watch Series 7, AirPods 3, iPad mini 6, and ninth-generation iPad have been offered up in Mark Gurman’s latest newsletter. He predicts that Apple will hold multiple virtual events to cover all the upcoming product launches.

OPPO has had a new patent for potential next-gen wearables granted in its native China. It is intended to allow the accessories in question to authenticate the user by reading their veins rather than their fingerprints or faces. This form of biometric recognition could thus be added to a future Band or Watch from this OEM.

Renders of the Fitbit Charge 5 tracker have been leaked, showing off the fitness and health-related accessory in a choice of three colors. The most noticeable upgrade over the Fitbit Charge 4 is the color display, and it seems the Fitbit Charge 5 release date has also been teased in the new marketing renders.

Honor has unveiled the Watch GS 3, a stylish smartwatch that will be available in three colours. Reputedly, the Watch GS 3 has an industry-leading heart rate sensor too, although many details are up in the air currently.

Google will not be bringing YouTube Music or its updated Google Maps app to Wear OS 2 smartwatches. Instead, older Wear OS devices will receive overhauled Google Pay and Messages apps. Thankfully, Spotify has come through with offline playlist support for Wear OS 2 smartwatches.

The Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic may be running Wear OS 3 under their One UI Watch 3 UI, but you must have a Samsung smartphone to use ECG and BP functionality. The new smartwatches are also incompatible with the Wear OS app, and they will not work at all with an iPhone or a recent Huawei device.

The Galaxy Watch 3 may yet receive an upgrade to One UI Watch 3, Samsung's version of Wear OS 3. Samsung thinks so, at any rate, as it has stated as much in a new advert.

Samsung has unveiled the Exynos W920, its latest crack at a wearable chipset. The Exynos W920 is the first 5 nm SoC for wearables and supposedly offers a significant improvement in CPU and GPU performance compared to the Exynos 9110.

Fossil has confirmed the name of its next smartwatch, and the first in a year. The Gen 6 will debut in the autumn and will be 'way more way faster' than its predecessors.

A well-known leaker claims to have found out that OnePlus is making a new, special-edition version of its first-gen Watch. Unlike the gaming theme of the last, this one is apparently Harry Potter-themed. Then again, availability in only 1 market has been mentioned thus far.

The Xiaomi Mi Smart Band 6, also known as the Mi Band 6, has recently received a useful feature thanks to the latest firmware update for the activity tracker. Users of the Mi Band 6 wearable will be able to use the smart band as a basic flashlight as long as version 5.3.0 of the Mi Fit app is also installed.

Multiple Galaxy Watch 4 series product slides have leaked online. The slides offer a considerable amount of details about the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, which will both be available in two sizes. The slides also provide another look at One UI Watch, the replacement for Tizen.

The Cubot ID206 looks an awful lot like an Apple Watch, albeit with Amazon Alexa integration. The ID206 has a heart rate sensor too, along with a 1.7-inch display and 5 ATM waterproofing. The sub-US$55 smartwatch is available in two colours, too.

The Zeblaze Stratos is a rugged smartwatch with plenty of features for its budget launch price of US$79.99. Not only does the device support multiple GPS modes, over 120 exercise modes and SpO2 monitoring, but it also has a 1.32-inch display and 5 ATM water resistance. Zeblaze claims that the Stratos should last up to 25 days between charges, too.

Qualcomm looks like it is preparing a new Snapdragon Wear chip to coincide with the launch of Google and Samsung’s Wear OS 3. The new chip appears to carry the Snapdragon Wear 5100 branding that would make the successor to last year’s Snapdragon Wear 4100.

The Apple Watch Series 7 release date appears to be nearing as no less than six new model references have appeared in filings for the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC). While it’s expected the Apple Watch Series 7 will get a new design and an updated processor, the inclusion of a blood-sugar sensor in an Apple Watch is still likely years away.

Some details of a Xiaomi Mi Band X have leaked online, and it seems the Chinese company is looking to add something extraordinary to its hugely successful smart band lineup. The Mi Band X will apparently have a wraparound display and do without watch straps, utilizing a magnetic bracelet clasp for wearing and taking off.
Update: Xiaomi PR states the Mi Band X is a "virtual product" used in marketing training.

A potential Fitbit Charge 5 tracker has turned up in a single image that reveals the device has a color display. The overall design of the possible Fitbit Charge 5 is distinctly different to that of its predecessor. The tracker in this leaked image has the codename “Morgan” and is expected to at least feature NFC payment support.

Although it does not take big steps forward in terms of design, the Oppo Watch 2 comes with solid improvements over its predecessor on the inside. With 1 GB of memory and 8 GB of internal storage, the new smartwatch sports a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4100 processor and is the first product to ship loaded with ColorOS Watch 2.0.

Google has revealed that upcoming Wear OS smartwatches from Mobvoi, Fossil and its subsidiaries will not launch with its 'new unified platform'. Instead, new models will only receive Wear OS 3 next year, unlike those released by Fitbit and Samsung.

Fossil wants to launch the 'best possible' smartwatch later this year, or 'best possible' considering the constraints of Wear OS at any rate. Presumably, Fossil means the Gen 6, which it has teased will run not only Wear OS 3.0, but also hardware from Qualcomm.

Smartwatches could soon be capable of measuring blood sugar, blood pressure, blood alcohol and hydration levels. The innovations come courtesy of Rockley Photonics, which has announced a biometric sensor that is small enough to fit within a smartwatch chassis.

Qualcomm has announced that it will devote further investment and effort to its wearables business. This involves Ecosystem Accelerator Program, a new initiative to bring manufacturers, service providers, developers and vendors in order to improve innovation, collaboration and commercialization in the sector. Its provider claims that over 60 leading companies in the market have already signed up for it.

OPPO's eponymous Watch is a high-end wearable that has options with on-device ECGs. Now, it officially has a second generation, slated to launch at the end of July 2021. It is slated to integrate the latest Snapdragon Wear 4100 SoC, which will help run a dual OS system designed to stretch screen-on time.

Zepp Health has announced a new function for its popular Amazfit wearables at its 2021 Next Beat Future of Health conference, which it calls "Blood Pressure Measurement on the Wrist". It is based on an algorithm that estimates this metric using a given wearable's optical sensors.

Zepp Health, formerly Huami, has now made its replacement for its current Amazfit OS official. It is rated to be much lighter, smoother and more battery-friendly than its predecessor. Consumers might find it on next-gen wearables powered by the new Huangshan 2s SoC, slated to be enhanced in terms of graphics and power efficiency.

New Realme Band 2 renders have turned up showing how different the fitness tracker looks in comparison to the original Realme Band wearable. The good-looking Realme Band 2 is expected to feature blood-pressure monitoring and possibly SpO2 measurement as well.

The Watch Live is the OEM ZTE's first-gen health-focused wearable. It is an Apple Watch clone with a blood oxygen sensor, all-day heart rate tracking and an IP68 rating. Its maker has now released it to its global website for just under US$40.