Smartwatch

The third-party Apple charger blends in well with all your Apple products and it gets the charging job done almost as fast as a cable despite some minor design setbacks.

More and more Android OEMs are also releasing wearables these days; now, it seems that Vivo is about to join them. A Twitter leaker claims to have found images, apparently derived from a "patent", showing that this company has designed its first-gen smartwatch.

According to a report published in a medical journal, a patient's Apple Watch successfully detected a serious anomaly missed by diagnostic hospital equipment. However, when the individual pointed out ECGs matching the health issue in question generated by her wearable to doctors, it was apparent treatment was in order.

An XDA contributor claims to have "exclusive" access to info on Realme's 2nd-gen wearable. This product will apparently simply be called the brand's Watch, as with other OEM's answer to Apple's device of this category. The new leak apparently consists of renders and several UI snapshots.

Following a lengthy wait, Amazfit has released its first smartwatch with a curving display onto the market. Well, more or less: it is being offered as a reward as part of a new Indiegogo campaign. The device starts for US$149 and is currently slated to ship in August 2020.

Apple Watch is by a long way the world’s most popular smartwatch and it is now five years old. To mark the occasion, one of the former lead designers for the Watch has taken to Twitter to reveal some behind the scenes details never before revealed.

Samsung has reportedly had a new product certified with the MIIT regulator in China. Based on its model number, it is likely to be a full-screened wearable. Therefore, a successor for the Galaxy Watch Active 2 may be in the offing.

Update: Amazfit has finally announced a launch date for the X: April 28, 2020. This 92-degree curved wearable was first introduced as a concept device in 2019. Now, however, it is ready to become a reality via its upcoming Indiegogo campaign.

Samsung's Galaxy Watch Active 2 just got certified by South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) to measure blood pressure. It works by reading input data from the wearable's heart rate sensor and comparing it with pre-calibrated values measured via a traditional cuff-based blood pressure monitoring system. The feature will be available to everyone by Q3 2020.

Adequate hand hygiene is one of the everyday measures recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to help combat Covid-19. Accordingly, Samsung has developed the ‘Hand Wash’ app for its watches. It promotes this activity through regular reminders, a tracker and a corresponding watch-face.

We have now reached a part of April 2020 increasingly regarded as "iPhone SE 2 Week"; however, this has not stopped the new Apple Watch rumors coming thick and fast. They now point to a new form of authentication for this device, as well as the ability to detect anxiety as well as blood-oxygen levels in the user. There may also be new case-variants in the offing.

The Watch GT 2 has been well received, but the lack of blood oxygen saturation monitoring was an oversight. Now, the smartwatch can finally use its Sp02 sensor courtesy of a software update, six months after launching.

The Xiaomi subsidiary Haylou, pronounced "Hello", has released a new smartwatch, the Solar. While the Haylou Solar is not a solar-powered smartwatch as its name suggests, it still packs some impressive tech for ~US$20.

The market for smartwatches is associated with an estimated 43.87 million unit shipments in 2018. However, this number is now thought to reach a possible total of 108.91 million by 2024. This growth may be driven by an increased demand for health- and fitness-management, as well as standalone connectivity, in these wearables.

Interested in a smartwatch but put off by the price? Well, Fossil is currently offering some stonking discounts on its Sport and Gen 4 smartwatches. Featuring a waterproof design, Wear OS, a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100, GPS, 4 GB of storage and iOS compatibility, the Fossil Sport can be bought for US$99, £89 or €99 depending on where you live. You can take over 50% off a Gen 4 smartwatch, too.

Xiaomi has posted some details about the upcoming Mi Fan Festival event that is taking place in China on April 3. The Chinese manufacturer revealed that over 100 million Xiaomi wearables had been shipped between 2014 and 2019 and that new wearables will be unveiled at the Festival. This could be a subtle hint that the Xiaomi Mi Band 5 is about to be launched.

Oppo launched its first smartwatch, predictably called the Oppo Watch, on March 6. Now, the Apple Watch clone with an EKG sensor is now celebrating its sales and market launch in China alongside the Find X2 Pro Lamborghini.

Samsung's latest smartwatch has an electrocardiography (ECG) sensor, but it is deactivated at present. The OEM had projected that it would be working via a firmware update in the first quarter of 2020 (1Q2020). However, it now seems it's going to miss this deadline.

The well-known power accessories brand Aukey has launched the Graphite Pro 15W, a wireless charger that has won a 2020 iF Design Award for its futuristic form-factor. It integrates vents, a fan and "aviation-grade aluminum" to keep it cool during use. This device has been released alongside a slimline new power bank.

The Watch GT 2e has leaked online in all its 46 mm glory. Due to be unveiled alongside the Huawei P40 series, the GT 2e will feature a 1.39-inch AMOLED panel and a Kirin A1 SoC. The smartwatch comes with 16 MB of RAM, 4 GB of storage and a battery that Huawei promises will last up to 14 days between charges.

Huami is a wearables OEM that has recently made a name for its own brand, Amazfit. Besides this, it also has a role as an ODM to other brands such as Xiaomi to make their smart accessories. The company has reported a year-on-year (YoY) growth of no less than 72.4% in terms of shipments for 2019.

Launching in China on March 21, the OPPO Watch Series is making its way to Europe. Priced at approximately US$220, the OPPO Watch comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2500 processor, 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage. Watch out for those bezels, though.

Swiss luxury watch maker Tag Heuer has launched its third-generation Connected smartwatch. The most notable change, in addition to a more refined design, is a switch from an Intel chipset to Qualcomm’s 2018 Snapdragon Wear 3100 SoC.

Some code allegedly derived from an as-yet unreleased version of iOS also reportedly offers insight into watchOS 7, software that may debut with the next Apple Watch. It hints at additions such as sleep tracking and a new mode for its Infograph watch-face. On that note, new custom faces may be possible in this version.

Luxury goods maker Montblanc has launched its latest smartwatch alongside its first pair of premium wireless headphones. The new Summit 2+ builds on the same platform as its predecessor but is now larger while its new luxury Smart Headphones will appeal to well-heeled travelers.

The hands-on video that has recently surfaced online shows a smartwatch with slightly curved sides and bezels that seem to be a bit bigger than shown by the unofficial renders that were leaked not long ago. This smart wearable is set to launch in China on March 21 with a starting price of almost US$220.

The OPPO Find X2 is yet to be launched. However, the prolific leaker Roland Quandt claims to have some real-life renders of the phone. They match earlier tips that show a phone with a single punch-hole selfie camera and 3 rear-facing ones. This fresh leak also purports to show this phone's new colorways.

SQFMI has launched a new smartwatch. Called the Watchy, the device is equipped with an E-ink display, four buttons and has a vibration motor. An accelerometer and a real-time clock are onboard too, along with Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi support.

The constantly growing smartwatch market is getting another competitor, Timex. With the Ironman R300, the company has created a cheap smartwatch that supports GPS and multiple fitness tracking options. Timex promises that the Ironman R300 should last an impressive 25 days between charges, too.

IDC India has released its report on the wearables market in this country for the last quarter of 2019 (4Q2019). It reveals that the 'audio' category of these electronics had the highest share for that period, overtaking band-type devices compared to 4Q2018. Xiaomi had the greatest share in the latter sector, whereas Apple's AirPods clearly dominated their own sub-segment.

Casio has announced the release of titanium-cased versions of its PRO TREK outdoor watch line-up. They are also Bluetooth devices that feature Smartphone Link, which allows them to connect to the wearer's mobile device. This allows the user to view information such as steps taken, route logs or altitude.

OPPO has already let it be known that it will launch its first ever smartwatch soon, and that it has taken profound design cues from Apple. However, the OEM has yet to mention anything about the new wearable's software. A well-known Weibo tipster purports to spoil this by posting a new image of what looks like the device running Google's Wear OS.

Xiaomi fans can breathe a sigh of relief for the Mi Watch is officially coming to Europe, a representative has confirmed. The Wear OS smartwatch is powered by a Snapdragon Wear 3100 SoC, 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of eMMC flash storage.

Mobvoi has launched the TicWatch Pro 2020 on Amazon.com. It has a RAM upgrade, but sticks with the same SoC, design and battery life. Then again, as it still includes a dual display, it should still offer impressive longevity as a wearable.

The Apple Watch remains the world's most popular smartwatch series, although its design has largely remained the same over the years. How about one with a round display? Well, that is what one designer has dreamt up, and some people are digging the design.

An OPPO executive has teased its upcoming first-generation smartwatch, revealing that it looks quite like those made by Apple. This device is also to have "3D glass", which may be used to help the wearable's face curve downwards towards its case. It is also now known to have a gold finish.

The YHE BP Doctor is a new smartwatch that can measure blood pressure, along with oxygen saturation levels and heart rate variability. All this functionality should make the YHE BP Doctor capable of providing important information about your own health.

After meeting earlier this week to discuss the viability of Mobile World Congress 2020, the GSMA has decided to cancel MWC 2020 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus outbreak. Multiple companies have stated they would not be in attendance due to the epidemic earlier this month. In response, the GSMA has outright cancelled MWC in its entirety.

WhatsApp has secured approval to roll out a new facet of its service in India. It is a new payment platform that has just been approved by the relevant authories. This may help the Facebook-owned app compete effectively with others such as Google Pay/Tez and Paytm in the country.

Chargeasap, the company responsible for the Infinity Cable, has introduced another new product via Indiegogo. The Flash power bank is described as based on Tesla graphene-battery technology, which allows it to fill up at a maximal rate of 150 watts (W). It also purports to deliver 100W USB-Power Delivery (USB-PD) through a type C port, and that's not all.

Apple's Smartwatch outsold all Swiss watchmaker brands combined by 3 to 2 in 2019. Younger consumers prefer smartwatches, a shift that has continually driven sales away from Swiss watchmakers over the past five years. Still, considering their luxury status, it's unlikely that Swiss watchmakers will disappear overnight.

After over four years since its release, Samsung is still supplying the Gear S2 smartwatch with software updates. The latest set not only offers significant battery life improvements but also deliver an improved and clean-looking UI.

Qualcomm has released its first earnings report for the year 2020. The quarter (1Q2020) saw no less than US$5.1 billion in revenue for the chipmaking giant. This is a 5% improvement compared to 1Q2019. In addition, the company's latest pre-tax earnings saw a year-on-year increase of 69%.

The Honor MagicWatch 2 is now available to purchase on Amazon, with prices starting at ~US$210. The 46 mm smartwatch is available on Amazon DE and Amazon UK, with Honor promising up to fourteen days battery life for the device.

While the Huawei Band 4 Pro is slightly more expensive than other fitness wristbands, it also comes with a few extra features: An integrated GPS, AMOLED display and in some countries, even NFC functionality. Here, we summarize our test results.

According to a new leak, Redmi - which is usually known as a smartphone brand - will launch a fitness tracker soon. It may be of the kind that fits into a silicone wrist-band, and may also have a front-facing capacitive button. This device may have been certified for use in India already.