Garmin watches are discounted fairly regularly these days, but deals on the flagship Fenix range are still the ones that tend to make me pay attention.

Shop all Garmin deals at H.Samuel

This one especially caught my eye, as H.Samuel has taken a huge chunk off the price of its exclusive version of the Garmin Fenix 8, bringing one of the best Garmin watches down into considerably more approachable territory.

The model in question is the 47mm Garmin Fenix 8 with an AMOLED display, slate grey finish and black silicone band. H.Samuel specifically describes it as an exclusive colourway, and it carries the model number 010-02904-01.

That's worth pointing out because Garmin's regular slate grey and black 47mm AMOLED model uses a slightly different 010-02904-00 model number. Visually, the distinction between the two is certainly subtle, but if you want this particular H.Samuel version, you won't find the exact same SKU everywhere else.

More importantly, you aren't getting a cut-down version of the Fenix 8. This is Garmin's full-fat adventure watch, complete with its bright AMOLED touchscreen, built-in LED flashlight, speaker and microphone, offline maps and multi-band GPS.

It also offers the enormous selection of sports, training and recovery features that has made the Fenix series such a firm favourite among runners, cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts. Training Readiness, Training Status, advanced workout tools and navigation features are all present, while the 10 ATM water rating and dive functionality mean it's built for significantly more than tracking the occasional 5K.

Battery life is another major reason I'd still choose a Fenix over most conventional smartwatches. Garmin quotes up to 16 days in smartwatch mode for the 47mm AMOLED version, or seven days with the always-on display enabled.

There is now a newer Fenix 8 Pro in Garmin's line-up, but the big additions there are LTE and satellite connectivity. If you don't need to send messages or trigger an SOS without your phone, the standard Fenix 8 remains an incredibly capable multisport watch.

I've seen the regular Fenix 8 47mm fall close to this price before, but I haven't found this particular H.Samuel-exclusive model cheaper.

The Garmin Fenix 8 Exclusive Colour 47mm is available from H.Samuel for £549.99, down from £789.99, which works out as a saving of £240 or 30%.

If, when you hear the words “Suunto” and “watch” in the same sentence, your brain automatically fills in the letters “GPS,” we should clear something up: the Suunto Core 2 isn’t a GPS watch, or a smartwatch or any kind; it’s an outdoor watch.

Can’t all watches be worn outdoors, you ask? Well, yes, but this watch offers quite a bit more than the old Casio that you used to time your track workouts in days gone by…and a lot less than other Suunto models like the Vertical 2, Race 2 or 9 Peak Pro. So what’s it all about?

The Suunto Core 2 is the upgraded version of the Finnish brand’s original ABC watch (that stands for Altimeter, Barometer, Compass), which came out back in 2007. With those tools, you can use it for basic navigation and telling time, but nothing more.

Now granted, the original release was four years before the first Garmin watch came out, and it was the same year that the very first iPhone was released, so we can forgive them for not thinking of adding GPS capability, a heart rate monitor or an AMOLED screen back then.

Fast forward to 2026, however, and Suunto still hasn’t budged on those details. The Suunto Core 2 is still geared towards bushcraft enthusiasts, and the key upgrades include a higher-contrast LED dot-matrix screen, red and green backlight, storm alerts, Bluetooth, a simple step counter, moon phase tracking and a more durable build. You can sync it with your Suunto app for updates, but the app itself won’t show any data.

It’s a rugged outdoor watch, and it’s clearly aimed at those who want to properly get off grid when they head out into the wild, but also quite like having a few field tools at their disposal without digging around in their backpack.

I’ve tested quite a few Suunto watches, and the Vertical 2 is one of my favourite GPS watches ever, but I have to admit to being a bit stumped when this arrived. I’ve grown to really appreciate the merits of a good GPS watch for hiking in recent years (hello, Garmin Fenix 8 and aforementioned Suunto Vertical 2).

Without colour maps and tracking, was there really enough here to get my teeth into? Over the past month, I’ve had it out in the hills of western Scotland and the trails of Chamonix to see if I can appreciate a simpler approach to adventure watches.

Suunto Core 2 review

Price and availability

The Suunto Core 2 was released in July with an MSRP of £155 / $199 / €199 and is available in one colour: black. At this time, it seems to be sold out on Suunto’s website, but it is available on Amazon.

The price is a substantial discount from the original Suunto Core, which had an MSRP of £199, although that’s now generously discounted thanks to the new release.

It doesn’t really make sense to compare this to the pricing of a GPS watch, I know, but I do think it’s worth pointing out that these days you can find fully loaded smartwatches like the Amazfit Bip 6 much cheaper at under £80, while you can get your hands on Garmin models like the Instinct 2 or Forerunner 55 for under £150, so I can’t make a case for buying this for economic reasons alone.

The fairest comparison is the Casio Pro Trek PRG 270-1, which is a little pricier at £184 and also a no-frills ABC watch.

Design and build quality

Back in 2007, I was living on the Upper East Side on New York and my outdoor adventures tended to revolve around taking the train to Long Island, so I never had the opportunity to test the original Core. Therefore, my comparisons here are based on the information from Suunto, but the upgraded model is very well built with a large 48mm display made using reinforced composite with a rotating stainless steel bezel.

The 1.3” Corning Gorilla Glass display is an upgrade over its predecessor’s mineral crystal, and is apparently 40% brighter, but I must admit I find it really quite dim during daylight hours. This isn’t helped by the fact that I only seem to be able to get it to light up for five seconds at a time.

The silicone strap sits comfortably on my wrist and has lots of adjustability, but the case sits quite proud of my wrist at a chunky 14.84mm thick, making it difficult to wear with long sleeves. It looks the part of a tactical, rugged adventure watch and therefore also looks quite silly on my small wrist. Given that it’s not packed with tech, it seems to me they could make a smaller and slimmer version available, but what do I know about watch-making?

It has five buttons, much like a Garmin: one to turn on the backlight (which annoyingly only works for a few seconds), a back button, one to switch between the outdoor modes (Altimeter, Barometer, Compass, and Tools) and the final two to toggle up and down. It’s reasonably intuitive, but I couldn’t help wondering why a watch that does so little needs so many buttons?

App compatibility

The Core 2 is designed to work independently of the Suunto app, but it has Bluetooth, so you can pair it. As far as I can tell, this allows you to easily change the time when you move into a different time zone, and lets you run software updates; however, after a hike or run, there is no record in the newsfeed, so if you’re looking for a more distraction-free approach to metrics, you might prefer a fitness band like the Garmin Cirqa or Amazfit Helio Strap.

Field tools

The three main tools to explore are the altimeter, barometer and compass. As a hiker, I rely on an altimeter quite a bit, especially if I end up climbing in thick fog and want to gauge how close I am to the top.

It’s useful, but the one on my Core 2 started giving me inaccurate readings, first telling me I was at 329 metres above sea level when I was at home in Glasgow, which is roughly 64 metres (210 feet) above sea level.

I manually updated it, but the next day it said I was 29 metres below sea level. After a software update, it now shows accurately, but it strikes me that in a more rudimentary watch, the exact thing I want to be free of is bugs and software fixes.

Meanwhile, the barometer, which isn’t something I typically use, seems to be roughly in line with my Garmin Fenix 9 Pro and Suunto Vertical 2 watches. I really like the idea of the storm alerts, which detect sudden drops in air pressure and sound an alarm, but sadly I haven’t received one yet.

The compass was reasonably easy to calibrate the first time, and seemed to hold calibration well until I did the software update. It has a small orienteering arrow at the top of the display, a digital magnetic needle that appears when the compass is in use, and two glow-in-the-dark lines (that aren’t very visible in the dark) on the rotating bezel that serve as the Direction of Travel Arrow.

It’s all fairly straightforward to figure out if you’re used to using a compass. However, when my slightly long-sighted partner tried it, he found that he couldn’t see the arrows at all, which is an issue.

After several years of using a GPS watch to navigate, I felt a little rusty, so I first took a bearing with my Silva Expedition compass to remind myself of the steps, then replicated it with the watch, and was pleased to see it was pretty accurate.

That said, I don’t think it’s a true replacement for a see-through compass that you can place on a map for really precise navigation, more a handy backup in a pinch. Because the screen only lights up for a few seconds, I also question how useful it would be compared to a regular compass and headtorch when navigating at night.

Speaking of the new display, it lets you choose between red and green backlight. Thanks to recent upgrades in GPS watches like the Garmin Fenix 9 Pro and Amazfit T-Rex Ultra 2, both of which have a green light option in the torch, I now understand the difference: red light is kinder on your eyes; green light makes it easier to see obstacles.

I’m not sure this is as useful in a backlight versus a torch, and on the Core 2, the difference is nearly indistinguishable to my eyes in daylight, but at night the display is much easier to see (if only it would stay lit). Maybe they should forget about display options and add a torch instead?

The main display shows useful information like the temperature, and I love being able to see sunset and sunrise times, particularly now that the days are starting to shrink.

Honestly, my favourite thing about this watch is having the moon phases on my wrist – I love being outdoors at night during the full moon, and I can see this being helpful information for fishing, too.

Health and fitness tracking

Without a heart rate or blood oxygen monitor, there’s not much tracking the Core 2 can do, but it does have a basic step counter. Because the Suunto app doesn’t log any activity data, it’s a little hard for me to compare the steps with another watch, but the total steps from a recent trail run were on par with what I’d expect for the distance.

Battery life

If I sound a little nonplussed about this watch, it’s because I am, but it has one clear advantage over GPS watches: you never have to charge it. Ever. This Core 2 is powered by a CR3032 coin cell battery for a mammoth 15 months, at which point I expect to receive an alert telling me to change it. That is all. No range panic here, thank you.

Verdict

In a world where we expect the kitchen sink from our watches, it’s a little difficult not to view the Suunto Core 2 as lacking. Taken on its own, it mostly does what it says, even if the screen is quite dim and the compass is only for those with 20/20 vision.

Clearly, I’m not the target audience for this watch, but I still have a hard time imagining who might be. The people in my life who hate the thought of a constantly buzzing watch and much prefer analogue adventures would probably prefer using a regular watch and an actual compass.

But if you’re a bushcraft enthusiast in the market for a tough watch with some tools that let you leave your phone at home and don’t mind paying more than you would for a basic smartwatch, I’d say this is one of only two options out there.

Also consider

If you’re looking for a more basic adventure watch, I’d actually recommend you check out the Coros Nomad, which doesn’t give you annoying notifications or an obnoxiously bright screen, but does have the addition of colour maps.

Circular has never been short of ambition when it comes to smart rings, and at IFA 2026 in Berlin, the French wearable brand is having another go with what looks like its most convincing hardware yet.

The new Circular Ring 3 Series comes in two versions, the Circular Ring 3 Pro and Circular Ring 3 Slim, and it's not just about different looks, either.

Both are smaller than the outgoing Circular Ring 2, bring back the company’s distinctive haptic vibration system, and both add NFC for contactless payments.

Circular says the new rings are the first to combine comprehensive health monitoring with secure contactless payments in a single wearable.

Supported Visa and Mastercard cards can be used by tapping the ring against a compatible payment terminal without a smartwatch or phone in sight.

Circular experimented with vibrations on its original smart ring, but the feature disappeared from later models.

It now returns with support for silent wake-up alarms, medication reminders, health alerts and guided breathing exercises.

Two rings, two very different priorities

The Circular Ring 3 Pro is the flagship and packs in a broader selection of health features.

These include single-lead ECG with AFib detection, blood pressure trends, glucose trend estimates, advanced sleep analysis and the usual assortment of heart rate, HRV, SpO2, temperature and activity data. Circular claims up to 12 days of battery life.

The Ring 3 Slim lacks ECG and blood pressure tracking, but offers sleep, heart rate, HRV, SpO2, skin temperature, and activity monitoring, plus NFC payments and haptics. Battery life is quoted at up to 10 days.

The Slim measures just 5.9mm wide and 2.35mm thick, with weight starting at approximately 1.9g depending on size.

The Ring 3 Pro is 6.8mm wide and weighs roughly 3–4g, while the previous Ring 2 measured 7.8mm across.

Both new rings are available in sizes 6–14, offer 50-metre water resistance and support wireless charging.

Circular is also updating its Kira app, which uses AI to analyse ring data and provide personalised wellness insights and recommendations.

The big unanswered questions are price and when you'll actually be able to buy one.

Circular is showing both Ring 3 models at IFA Berlin, but says it won't announce pricing, availability, or pre-order details until the coming months.

Head over to Circular for more info.

There’s no shortage of Apple Watch lookalikes, but Huawei’s latest square smartwatch has something rather unusual hiding inside its strap.

The new Huawei Watch D3 was unveiled today alongside the Watch GT 7 Series, flagship Watch 6 Series and FreeBuds Neo earbuds, but for me, it’s comfortably the most interesting product of the bunch.

That’s because the D3 can take actual blood pressure measurements using an inflatable airbag built into its strap.

It works much like a conventional cuff, compressing the wrist as an internal pump inflates and deflates the airbag to determine systolic and diastolic blood pressure.

That’s fundamentally different from what Apple currently does, which can identify patterns that may suggest hypertension using its optical heart-rate sensors.

However, they don’t directly measure your blood pressure or give you conventional blood-pressure readings.

Adding Huawei’s system to an Apple Watch would presumably require a substantial rethink of the strap and associated hardware, which is why this could remain one area where the D3 has a considerable advantage.

Huawei has also worked hard to make the technology look less... medical.

While previous iterations looked a bit clunky, the D3 deliberately borrows heavily from Huawei’s much more conventional Watch Fit family, almost fully disguising its special cuff design.

It's 11.3mm thick and weighs 40g, with Huawei shaving 8g and roughly 2mm from its predecessor.

The inflatable strap is narrower too, while the display measures over 1.9 inches and reaches a claimed 3,000 nits.

More than a clever cuff

The Watch D3 supports 24-hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring, taking automated readings during the day and while you sleep.

Its blood pressure function has CE marking under the EU Medical Device Regulation.

One of the most interesting additions in this generation is pre- and post-exercise blood pressure measurement.

The watch can now take readings immediately before and shortly after exercise so users can see how their blood pressure responds to exertion.

Huawei says the D3 still manages up to six days of battery life despite housing the pump, while Health Glance can gather up to 11 health indicators in around a minute.

The Watch GT 7 Series is probably the brand's biggest mainstream launch this September.

Huawei has given its sports watch a noticeably more outdoorsy look this year, but some of the cleverest changes are happening under the hood.

A new positioning system combines GPS with the watch’s accelerometer and gyroscope to estimate movement when satellite reception disappears.

Huawei says this can improve route recording through tunnels and tree cover, while also reducing GPS polling during ultra-long activities to save battery.

To boost its snow sport prowess, the GT 7 can now download maps for more than 3,000 ski resorts, track individual turns and even estimate the G-forces generated while carving.

It also adds an indoor skiing mode that relies on onboard motion sensors rather than GPS.

Cyclists gain climb planning, gradient information and warnings when approaching sharp turns too, while Huawei has finally added a Physical Readiness score that factors in metrics including sleep and HRV.

The Watch GT 7 starts at £280 (~$378 / €326 / AU$528), with the GT 7 Pro from £380 (~$512 / €443 / AU$717), and both are available to order from today. The Watch D3 costs £400 (~$540 / €466 / AU$755) and goes on sale on 23 September.

Google has announced a special edition of the Fitbit Air, partnering with The Pokémon Company for the – deep breath – Google Fitbit Air Special Edition Pokémon Sleep.

The new tracker comes with a bespoke Pokémon design – including a custom silk label that puts a cute little, sleeping Pikachu on your wrist.

Combining all the goodness of the Fitbit Air with the fun of the Pokémon Sleep app, this new special edition fitness tracker should encourage better sleep habits while providing plenty of fun along the way.

Starting with the core of the Fitbit, this provides a lightweight route to 24/7 tracking, gathering data about your steps, activities, heart data and sleep. Because the Fitbit Air is just a band rather than a watch, it's less intrusive when sleeping – and there's no screen to distract the wearer.

The Sleepy Blue colour makes this version standout a little, but the tracking that it offers will sync to Google Health as normal. That's how we make the jump into the Pokémon Sleep app, which gamifies sleep – a great way to reinforce healthy sleep behaviours.

You'll have to link Google Health (which replaced the Fitbit app) to Health Connect or Apple Health, depending on whether you're using an Android or iPhone. Then, Health Connect or Apple Health can be connected to the Pokémon Sleep app.

That will see your real sleep data feeding into Pokémon Sleep which is where the fun starts.

Pokémon Sleep uses real sleep data to unlock rewards in the app, making sleep an interactive experience. As you sleep, Pokémon will gather in the app, letting you complete your Sleep Style Dex.

The type of sleep you have – and the length – will reflect the Pokémon that appear, so you can continue to collect them all while sleeping. Your Sleep Score will be used to generate Drowsy Power for Snorlax and the higher the Drowsy Power the more Pokémon you'll see.

Of course, you don't have to use the Pokémon Sleep app (it's available for use with other devices), you can just get the special edition Fitbit Air Pokémon edition because you like the design and you're a Pokémon fan.

Preorders for the new version of the Fitbit Air are open in the US, with shipping from 15 September. It's priced at $129.99, so it's $30 more than the regular Fitbit Air.

Garmin has released another sizeable software update for some of its most popular smartwatches.

Public Beta Version 18.27 is rolling out to the Garmin Forerunner 570, Forerunner 970, Venu 4, Venu X1 and Vivoactive 6, with Garmin now listing the update as available to members of its Public Beta programme.

The company says the update addresses a potential issue that could cause unexpected display behaviour and inconsistent gesture response.

Garmin has also fixed an issue that could prevent the always-on display setting from taking effect, along with a problem that could stop button tones from sounding.

Version 18.27 addresses a bug that could cause alert tones to fail to play when Garmin's Incident Detection feature is triggered.

The sound of software problems

Audio accounts for a surprisingly large chunk of the latest update.

Garmin says it has fixed problems with music failing to pause properly when the selected music provider is set to control your phone, as well as an issue where volume adjustments in the music app might not work correctly.

The company's Phone Assistant functionality also gets some attention.

One fix addresses voice commands failing to be recognised, while another tackles a problem where the assistant could stop working after being interrupted by an incoming call.

Garmin's Spectator Messaging feature gets two fixes. Audio messages should no longer be cut off before they finish playing, and Garmin has also tried to make them easier to hear when music is playing at the same time.

Golfers haven't been forgotten either, with Beta 18.27 fixing a delay that could occur before the score prompt appeared.

The release also includes a handful of other minor fixes and updated translations, but no new features this time around.

In other words, this is very much a housekeeping update, albeit one that addresses quite a few irritating problems.

As this is Public Beta software, you'll need to be enrolled in Garmin's Beta Software Programme to get it. Once enrolled, you can check manually from Settings > System > Software Update > Check For Updates.

One important caveat for Venu 4 owners: Garmin says the ECG app is disabled in the current beta software and recommends staying on the stable software if you want to keep access to ECG.

The feature is expected to return towards the end of the quarterly beta cycle, before the software becomes a full public release.

[via NotebookCheck, Garmin Forums]

Garmin’s screenless wearable was rumoured for what felt like forever before the brand finally announced the Cirqa in July 2026. Of course, I was otherwise engaged, as is often the case when Garmin launches a new product, so I didn’t start testing the new screenless wearable until a couple of weeks ago.

As a longtime Garmin watch fan, I have been waiting for years for the company to launch a screenless wearable, but I thought it would be a smart ring, not a Whoop- and Polar-rival band. There is nothing wrong with bands, but given the popularity of models like the Oura Ring 5, I thought Garmin would bring out a finger wearable first.

I was wrong (not the first time), but I’m not disappointed. The Cirqa has some personality and does what a screenless wearable should do: passively track your health and fitness. Better still, it gives you access to the company’s polished ecosystem for a lot less than your average Forerunner or Fenix.

All that said, the Cirqa suffers from the same issue as other casual Garmin wearables: the algorithm caters more to athletes than everyday people. Still, it’s hard not to like the Cirqa. If you have a Garmin watch but don’t like wearing it to bed, the Cirqa might be a good accessory. It’s also beneficial for people who do resistance training and often handle kettlebells.

Garmin Cirqa review

Price and availability

The Cirqa was announced in July 2026 and is available to buy now at Garmin UK, Garmin US, Garmin EU and Garmin AU for £180 / $200 / €200 / AU$299. It comes in two sizes (S-M and L-XL) and four colours, including Black, Captain Blue, French Grey and Mauve. It’s one of Garmin's more affordable wearables and is on par with watches like the original Vivomove.

Design and build quality

The Garmin Cirqa is essentially a heart rate sensor with a vibration motor attached to a strap. The removable module itself measures 27 x 47 x 9mm and weighs just 14.8g with the smaller S-M strap. The L-XL strap makes the setup marginally heavier at 21.2g, but it’s quite light overall.

The case is made from fibre-reinforced polymer, the same material most Garmin watch cases use. The 24mm-wide fabric strap attaches using 14mm quick-release pins. The smaller strap fits wrist circumferences between 120 and 200mm, while the larger fits 145 to 240mm. You can also pair the module with an optional upper-arm band.

The Cirqa uses Garmin’s Elevate Gen 4 optical heart-rate sensor. It’s not the latest Gen 5 hardware used by watches such as the new Fenix 8 Pro or the Forerunner 970, although this particular implementation also supports skin-temperature tracking.

It has 128MB of onboard memory (for data, not music), Bluetooth and ANT+ connectivity, and a 5 ATM water-resistance rating, making it suitable for swimming.

Features

The sensor can also track blood oxygen (a.k.a. Pulse Ox) and includes an accelerometer, but no built-in GPS. Like cheaper fitness trackers, the Cirqa uses connected GPS from a paired smartphone to track outdoor position.

The band can continuously monitor heart rate every second and feed data into familiar Garmin metrics, including HRV Status, Body Battery, stress, sleep, Training Readiness, and Training Status. It also supports advanced sleep tracking, nap detection and respiration monitoring.

Performance

It’s hard to talk about the Cirqa band's performance, as it’s essentially the same as other Garmin wearables that use the Elevate v4 heart rate sensor. It has no screen or GPS, so it mainly tracks your vitals and sends them to the Connect app, where the algorithm makes sense of it all.

I have Active Intelligence, part of Connect+, Garmin’s paid subscription service. As a result, the algorithm provided activity summaries and suggested workouts based on my activity. The Cirqa band tracks workouts (e.g. walks) automatically and takes them into account.

Now, the issue is that even though I walked loads during the testing period, my sciatica prevented me from doing any proper workouts like runs or cycles. Even though I reached over 650 intensity minutes in a week, my Training Status still said I was in ‘Recovery’.

Not sure about you, but doing that much walking a week does count as workouts for me and the algorithm, but Garmin’s athlete-centred training features don’t seem to care, which creates a strange situation where you’ll continuously feel you’re not exercising enough while also doing quite a lot.

Another strange thing is that Active Intelligence requires an internet connection and won’t give you any info without it. Most companion apps, including Oura, will provide plenty of insights without data usage, so I don’t understand why Garmin can’t do the same.

As for data accuracy, there isn’t much to criticise. The Elevate v4 is more than sophisticated enough to track most of what you'd track with the Cirqa band. Sleep, stress, and blood oxygen all seemed okay to me compared to the Oura Ring 5 and the Ultrahuman Ring PRO, both of which I wore simultaneously.

Battery life and charging

Garmin rates the Cirqa for up to 10 days of battery life, which sounds good until you realise that on most wearables, the display eats up most of the battery power. Since the Cirqa doesn’t have one, even with the sensor being on most of the time, the band will last for well over a week.

My testing came close to Garmin’s official figure. I took the Cirqa off the charger at 100% when I started testing it, and it had dropped to 86% just over a day later. After a little over five days of continuous wear, there was still 40% remaining.

The battery finally reached 12% just over eight days after the test began. Based on that discharge rate, I would have expected the Cirqa to make it comfortably through a ninth day and potentially get very close to Garmin’s quoted 10-day maximum.

Charging is fairly quick, too. Starting from 12%, the Cirqa recovered almost 80% of its battery in 57 minutes. You probably won't need to charge it particularly often, then, and even a relatively short top-up should be enough to keep it running for several more days.

The Cirqa uses the same four-pin charger the company has used for years, so if you already have a watch, you should be able to charge your band with the same cable.

Verdict

The Garmin Cirqa is a comfortable, discreet and impressively long-lasting fitness tracker that makes Garmin’s excellent health ecosystem more accessible without putting another screen on your wrist. It works particularly well as a companion to a Garmin watch (and is a decent enough fitness tracker on its own), although the company’s athlete-focused algorithms still feel less accommodating to casual activity, and some of its smartest insights sit behind Connect+.

Casio has unveiled a new G-SHOCK that blurs the line between rugged surf watch and fitness tracker.

The GBX-H5600KI-5 is the fourth signature timepiece created with professional surfer and G-SHOCK ambassador Kanoa Igarashi.

It takes the already feature-packed GBX-H5600 G-LIDE and adds a distinctive new design inspired by one of Igarashi’s favourite training locations.

The GBX-H5600 launched earlier this year as the first G-LIDE model to feature a heart-rate monitor, bringing Casio’s surf-focused range closer to the capabilities of its G-SQUAD fitness watches.

Alongside tide graphs, moon data and sunrise and sunset information for thousands of locations worldwide, the watch tracks workouts, steps, sleep recovery and training metrics using Polar-powered algorithms.

For Igarashi’s fourth collaboration with G-SHOCK, Casio has given the square watch a unique finish inspired by the cliffs and rocky coastline around Ericeira, Portugal, where the surfer trains.

The brown mixed-colour resin bezel and strap are designed to recreate the look of the landscape, with purple accents representing the “magic hour” around sunrise and sunset.

Because of the unique moulding process, every watch features a slightly different pattern.

A lighter G-SHOCK

Casio has been dabbling with turning its classic watches into fitness trackers for years.

The Japanese brand teamed up with Polar to add smart features to its G-SHOCK watches through the Powered by Polar system.

Casio uses its own optical heart-rate sensor and accelerometer to collect raw data, then Polar’s algorithms/library turn it into training and recovery insights.

The GBX-H5600KI-5 features a lightweight carbon fibre-reinforced resin case back, reducing weight by around 18g compared with the previous heart-rate-equipped DW-H5600.

Despite the lighter construction, it retains the features G-SHOCK fans expect, including shock resistance, 200-metre water resistance, solar-assisted charging and a high-visibility MIP LCD display.

As a signature model, the watch is packed with Igarashi-specific details.

His signature appears on the watch face and case back, while the number “50” on the strap references his competition number on the World Surf League Championship Tour and the meaning behind his surname.

The Casio G-SHOCK GBX-H5600KI-5 is priced at $370 and will be available at G-SHOCK from September 2026.

If you’ve been waiting for a Garmin outdoor watch that doesn’t cost Fenix money, this could be the deal to watch. The Garmin Instinct 2X Solar has dropped to just £199.99 at Ernest Jones, saving £140 off its usual £339.99 price tag.

Shop all Garmin deals at Ernest Jones

The Instinct 2X Solar sits in a slightly different corner of Garmin’s ecosystem to the company’s premium Fenix and Epix watches. It focuses on being a tough, dependable companion, with a rugged fibre-reinforced polymer case, solar charging and a monochrome display designed to be readable in bright sunlight.

Despite its more utilitarian appearance, it still packs many of the features that make Garmin watches so popular with runners, hikers and outdoor enthusiasts. You get built-in GPS, extensive sports tracking, health monitoring, navigation tools, and a built-in LED flashlight.

The biggest selling point remains battery life. Thanks to Garmin’s Power Glass solar charging lens, the Instinct 2X Solar can last dramatically longer than most smartwatches, making it a great option for multi-day hikes, camping trips and anyone who doesn’t want to charge their watch every night.

Newer Instinct models are available, but the Instinct 2X Solar remains a very capable watch, especially at this price. If you’ve been tempted by Garmin’s adventure watches but couldn’t justify spending several hundred pounds, this is one of the easiest recommendations right now.

Hot off the back of launching a full swathe of Pixel 11 devices, Google appears to have revealed an unreleased product, with speculation it could replace the Fitbit Charge 6.

On an advert showing the range of Pixel devices, there's something that we've never seen before. While the Pixel 11 models are easily identified, along with the Pixel Watch 5, there's a slimmer device like a tracker, with a compact screen.

The Fitbit Charge 6 was launched in 2023 and exhibits a design that's more Fitbit than Google. It's a comprehensive tracker with a slimmer profile than the Pixel Watch, which leads us to think it's a logical replacement for the incumbent Fitbit.

What's interesting about this line-up of products is that the Fitbit Air (the most recent launch) isn't shown, which perhaps suggests that this isn't going to be a Fitbit branded device – perhaps it will carry Pixel branding instead.

The interface that it shows looks like a condensed version of the Pixel Watch, while the design fits in with curved-edge displays that we seen on Google's wearable devices.

The adverts were served up to Reddit users (via 9to5Google) and it's interesting to note that these both come from Google Australia. The device is shown in two forms, once with the strap spread out and once without.

That seems a little too deliberate to be an accident, with some speculation that the image was just thrown together with AI before being pumped out – which still might be the case.

We knew that Google was planning new Fitbit hardware in 2026 and that resulted in the Fitbit Air, but that might not be all that was planned. It could be that there's another device coming, with Google choosing to launch the more fully featured Pixel Watch 5, before turning its attention to a slightly more compact and affordable device.

The other thing to consider is that the Fitbit Charge was previously launched in September, so it could be that Google plans to stick to that date and get this new device out (let's call it the Fitbit Charge 7), so that it can get onto Christmas lists and benefit from Black Friday sales.

We don't have any other information about this device, but its appearance in this advert is certainly interesting.

Wearables have become remarkably good at telling us what has already happened. They know how far we ran, how high our heart rate climbed, how well we slept afterwards and, increasingly, how much strain that workout placed on our bodies.

Could a smartwatch eventually recognise that you are heading towards an injury before you feel the first warning signs, or notice that your body is fighting an illness before you wake up feeling terrible? And, if it can, how much should you trust what it tells you to do?

Samsung is already pushing its wearables in that direction, though the company is careful about where it draws the line.

“We’re never going to necessarily say, ‘You’re going to get sick, you’re going to get injured,’” Lee Dinham, Ecosystem Product Specialist at Samsung, told me.

Instead, he says Samsung wants the Galaxy Watch to recognise patterns in the data it collects and give users enough information to make a better decision themselves.

“We might say, ‘We’ve noticed that you’ve trained quite intensely over four days out of five,’” Dinham explains. “The data that we gather and the history suggest that if you keep training, there’s a higher chance that you will get an injury. So we would recommend that you maybe take a day off.”

Your watch might become increasingly capable of identifying the circumstances in which injury, illness or excessive fatigue become more likely, but Samsung does not want it to become a digital doctor issuing definitive instructions from your wrist.

Knowing when to back off

One of the clearest examples is Daily Cardio Load, introduced with the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and Galaxy Watch 9. The feature considers factors like heart rate and vigorous activity and compares your recent workload with your goals.

Someone preparing for an ultramarathon should naturally accumulate far more training load than someone exercising a few times a week to maintain fitness.

“When you actually set that feature up, you can tell it the goals that you want to achieve,” Dinham says. “That Daily Cardio Load will be tailored to what your goals are.”

In other words, a high training load is not automatically a bad thing. Dinham uses his own gym routine as an example. If his watch suggests his cardiovascular load is getting high, he might shorten the treadmill portion of his next session or reduce his overall workload.

However, he also makes an important point that can easily get lost as wearable recovery scores become more sophisticated: you still know your own body.

“If I find that actually my watch is telling me that I’m going over my cardio load and I actually feel really great, that means I probably need to change my goals in the Samsung Health app,” he says.

Plenty of us have looked at a recovery score in the morning and let an algorithm-generated number influence whether we train at all. As those recommendations become more persuasive, wearable guidance risks being interpreted as instruction.

Samsung insists that is not what it is designed to be. “We’re just there as a helping hand and giving users that guidance based on the data that watches collect,” Dinham says.

When data becomes advice

The challenge is getting more complicated because the amount of information modern wearables collect has exploded.

Samsung Health now includes sleep tracking, body composition, stress, blood pressure, ECG, Energy Score and training-load metrics alongside the more familiar activity data. That creates another problem, namely knowing which number you should care about.

Dinham says personalisation is becoming increasingly important here, both in how the information is displayed and in what Samsung chooses to recommend.

The Samsung Health app can be customised around goals such as sleeping better, eating better or improving general fitness, while users can remove information they do not want to see.

“I think the misconception is that we’re just telling you how many steps you’ve done or how many hours you’ve slept,” Dinham says. “Really, we’re giving you recommendations.”

Sleep, he said, is a useful example. Eight hours might look impressive on paper, but Samsung can also factor in sleep quality, sleep stages, bedtime consistency, and other signals before presenting its assessment.

That is where AI increasingly enters the equation, turning a pile of measurements into something intended to be understandable without a sports-science degree.

Your watch is not your doctor

There is inevitably a point where health guidance starts to resemble medical advice.

Samsung already offers features such as blood pressure monitoring, ECG and sleep apnoea detection that sit much closer to the medical end of the wearable spectrum than an activity score.

Dinham is keen to distinguish those regulated features from the broader wellness recommendations generated elsewhere in Samsung Health.

“A lot of the features that we have on our devices are guidance,” he explains. “Here’s the data we’ve gathered. Here’s what we think you should do.”

That distinction could become increasingly important as wearables start noticing subtle changes before their owners do.

Dinham highlights Samsung’s Vitals feature, which establishes personal baselines across several measurements. If skin temperature begins climbing over several nights, for example, the watch might flag the deviation and suggest taking it easy or prioritising sleep.

It does not diagnose an infection or claim that you are definitely becoming ill, but it might recognise that something has changed before you consciously notice it yourself.

“Without a wearable device, you’re not necessarily going to be able to feel [that] until it’s kind of a bit too late,” Dinham says.

For Samsung, that is where the wider opportunity lies. “The long-term vision with Samsung wearables is all about preventative health.”

A watch that knows what you’re running on

The latest hardware is also becoming better at understanding the context around exercise rather than simply recording it.

Samsung's Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, for example, puts greater emphasis on trail running, and Dinham says its accelerometers can analyse characteristics such as cadence, stride, and movement patterns to help infer what kind of terrain the wearer is crossing.

“If you’re going downhill and those strides are smooth, it will know that it’s more of a tarmac surface,” he explains. “If you’re going downhill and it is more bumpy, it’s going to know that that’s a dirt or a rock surface.”

That information can sit alongside elevation, GPS data and other workout measurements to build a more complete picture of what the athlete has actually been doing.

Samsung has also added hydration prompts, including recommendations to replace electrolytes after sufficiently demanding efforts, along with route navigation and dual-frequency GPS.

The interesting part is that watches are gradually gaining more context. A five-mile run is no longer just a five-mile run; the watch can increasingly understand whether it was fast, slow, mountainous or technically demanding, and whether it placed more strain on you than your normal training.

That context is what could make future injury-prevention features substantially more useful.

Five years from now

Dinham is understandably unwilling to predict exactly what Samsung's wearables will be doing several product generations from now, but he sees improving sensors and AI as the two forces likely to push health tracking forward.

“As those sensors get better, more accurate, [and] can track more things, we can gather more data [and] make more recommendations to our customers on what they do for sleep, nutrition [and] activity,” he says.

He also points towards closer links between wearables and healthcare providers as part of the longer-term opportunity. “It’d be great to be involved in real-time syncing with medical institutions and things like that, so you can get real-time feedback.”

That does not mean Samsung envisages your Galaxy Watch replacing your GP.

“We never want to say you never want to see your doctor again,” Dinham says. “But we definitely want to put things in place where you can reduce the need to see your doctor.”

That might ultimately be the more realistic future for wearable health. Your smartwatch may never confidently declare that an injury is coming next Tuesday or diagnose an illness while you are making breakfast, but it does not necessarily need to.

If it can notice that something about your training, sleep, temperature or recovery is drifting away from normal, then explain that change clearly enough for you to act on it.

This could be considerably more useful than another dashboard full of numbers. So, as things stand now, the watch provides the warning signs, but Samsung still wants you to make the final decision.

You only need to be in the same room as a Garmin wearable to know it has more features than you could ever use.

The options can be overwhelming, and even though I’ve been testing the best Garmin watches for years, I’m the first to admit that I’m not getting the most out of these tenacious timepieces when I’m on the trail.

Whether I’m trekking to Everest Base Camp with the Garmin Fenix 8 or going for an easy run out my front door with the Forerunner 570, I just upload a GPX file for navigation, choose my activity and bound off down the trail.

When I get to the end of an adventure, I know how far I’ve gone, how long it took me and what my heart got up to along the way. What else is there to know? Well, quite a bit, as I recently learned when I met up with Garmin’s product team for some wearable wisdom.

I travelled to South Wales for Love Trails, a five-day trail running festival where reps from the GPS watch giant were dishing out all the best advice for optimising your Garmin.

They strapped their flagship watch, the Fenix 8 Pro, on my wrist, gave me a tutorial on maximising its potential on the trails, then let me loose in the forests, causeways and beaches of the Gower Peninsula.

Over the next few days, I discovered features that help me get better fitness readings, navigate more precisely, and even take better care of my health on the trail. If your adventures take you off the beaten path, these are the Garmin functions I recommend you start using today.

Log your pack weight

Does your Garmin watch tell you that you’re losing fitness even when you’re hiking and trail running regularly and feeling great? That might be because it doesn’t know you’re carrying a heavy backpack, which could slow you down or raise your heart rate more than usual.

I typically carry anywhere from 2kg of water and supplies in my trail running vest to 10kg of overnight camping gear in my hiking backpack, and if I don’t let my watch know that, I’m essentially getting penalised with every weighted step I take.

Garmin’s Pack Weight feature debuted last year when the brand added the Rucking activity mode, but you can add your pack weight to Hike or Trail Running modes for more accurate metrics.

If you have a newer Garmin model with the Rucking or Weighted Activity feature (like the Fenix 8, Enduro 3, or Instinct 3), open your activity, scroll down to Settings, select Pack Weight, and enter your backpack's weight before you set off.

The next time you start that same activity, it will save that pack weight, so make sure you update it as needed.

Set up hydration and nutrition reminders

I always carry water and snacks on the trail, but I’m terrible at remembering to fuel regularly. Instead of waiting until I’m lightheaded, the Garmin team helped me set up hydration and nutrition alerts, and I think they are super valuable whether you’re hiking for pleasure or trying to set a trail running PB.

If you need reminders to sip and snack when you’re on the go, open the activity profile on your Garmin watch and scroll down to Settings, then Alerts, where you can add a new Custom alert.

Here you’ll find built-in options like Eat and Drink where you can set activity-specific reminders based on time or distance to make sure you don’t run out of gas.

My watch now buzzes every 30 minutes on a hike to remind me to drink water, and suggests I eat every 5k. For trail running, I adjust these alerts based on my intended distance and the weather. That little reminder helps me take better care of myself and cuts down on bonking or dehydration headaches.

Plot your route like a pro

In November 2025, I hiked a 70-mile trail from the Scottish borders to Holy Island over four days, and with limited daylight, every day was a race against time. I preloaded the route’s GPX file to save time, but I could have been more savvy.

Take Course Points, for example. I mistakenly thought that this feature was only for planning aid station stops during races, but it can be useful for planning any adventure.

If your Garmin watch has maps, create or upload a route, then tap Edit and choose Add Course Point. Here you can add waymarkers such as public toilets, places where you can refill your water bottle, scenic viewpoints or towns where you want to take a break and refuel.

You can specify how long you want to stop in each place, then once you’re moving, your watch can take all the guesswork out of things

Just because you’ve plotted your route to a T doesn’t mean you have to stick to it like glue. Sometimes I find a trail that looks better on the ground than it did on my watch screen, and in those cases it’s helpful to enable rerouting so you don’t spend the next two hours with your watch telling you you’re off route.

Open an activity, scroll to Settings, then head to Routing. Under Courses, select Use Map so your watch automatically reroutes when you deviate, using popular paths and trying to keep your total distance as close as possible to your original plan.

Enable ClimbPro for hilly days

By nature, trail adventures involve lots of up and down, and when you don’t know how long you have left on a climb, it can be easy to go too hard at first and then run out of steam. I’d overlooked ClimbPro as a feature for cyclists, but it turns out it’s valuable for hikers and trail runners too.

This function alerts you to an upcoming climb and tells you the distance and percentage grade so you can prepare mentally or physically. Once you start ascending (or descending), you can see how long you have left by looking at the handy colour-coded profile.

This feature only works when you’re following a pre-planned route, but it’s worth enabling it in your watch's Activities settings. Set it to When Navigating, and when you’re on a slope, you'll know if you need to whip out your trekking poles, adjust your pace, and manage your effort to stay motivated.

Use Garmin Share when you’re out with friends

It can be lovely to meet a friend who's planned an adventure and let them do all the planning and guiding, but for safety reasons, it’s a good idea for everyone to have the route available.

You can carry a map, of course, but if you’re both wearing a Garmin watch, sharing the route takes seconds and means you can pull it up if you get separated or your friend needs help.

With Garmin Share, you can send your course to anyone else wearing a Garmin watch. Press the Menu button, then scroll down to Garmin Share.

Here, you can either receive a file or select one to share with others. This clever tool is great for running and hiking clubs, and it lets me use other functions like ClimbPro and rerouting even when I’m following someone else.

And use LiveTrack when you’re solo

More often than not, I hit the trails solo, and I can be away for several days at a time. Until I got my Garmin InReach Mini 2, I relied on texting my loved ones each night when I arrived at my destination, but if things went wrong, that would have added hours between needing help and receiving it.

If investing in a satellite communications device isn’t right for you, most Garmin watches have a safety feature, LiveTrack, which you can activate in the Garmin Connect app on your mobile device or from your desktop.

This feature sends your (pre-selected) loved ones a unique link to track your real-time location, so in theory, someone always knows where you are. However, it relies on having your phone with you and it being in service, so it’s not a catch-all.

For those who really want to go off-grid, the Fenix 8 Pro is Garmin’s first watch with built-in satellite technology, and it might be worth the hefty investment for that feature alone.

Casio has taken one of the most recognisable digital watch designs on the planet and given it a surprisingly useful upgrade.

The new Casio F-B100W takes clear inspiration from the legendary F-91W, but adds Bluetooth connectivity and activity tracking, creating something that sits somewhere between a traditional digital watch and a basic fitness tracker.

It launched in Japan earlier this month for ¥8,800, where the initial allocation quickly sold out, and Casio has now listed the F-B100W in the UK as a new August 2026 model.

That makes it considerably more expensive than the standard F-91W, which you can still pick up for around £20, but you get much more functionality for the money.

Old-school outside, smarter inside

The biggest addition is a built-in accelerometer that automatically counts your steps throughout the day.

Your total appears directly on the LCD, alongside a small graph showing progress towards a daily target.

You can set targets between 1,000 and 50,000 steps, and a step reminder can nudge you if you've been inactive for too long.

Bluetooth also lets the watch connect to the Casio Watches app, where you can log activity data and adjust settings.

Smartphone connectivity enables automatic time correction, access to world time settings and a phone-finder function.

It also offers some useful sports features. The stopwatch supports lap and split times and can store up to 200 records, alongside a timer and five daily alarms.

It's certainly not trying to compete with a Garmin, Apple Watch or Fitbit.

There's no heart-rate sensor or GPS, but you do get basic movement tracking without another bright touchscreen strapped to your wrist or a device that needs charging every few days.

Despite the added hardware, the F-B100W remains just 8.8mm thick and weighs 26g.

Casio has even retained the F-91W's familiar strap design on the outside, while adding ventilation slits underneath for comfort.

Battery life is rated at approximately two years from a replaceable CR2016 battery.

That's a considerable drop from the roughly seven years offered by a standard F-91W, but two years without charging still makes most smartwatches look rather high-maintenance.

The Casio F-B100W is listed on Casio's UK website now, with availability expected soon. The black and green versions are expected to cost £55.

[via HiConsumption]

Among Google's mass of new Pixel mobile products revealed today, 12 August 2026, there's also an upgrade to its wearables.

The all-new Google Pixel Watch 5 is the key new reveal, which will bring blood pressure and insulin resistance reports as part of its health suite.

However, the Fitbit Air will gain the very same upgrade from next month, so from September owners of the fitness tracker will also benefit.

As part of Google's Health Guardian expansion, blood pressure monitoring will create reports based on data models to assess your readings – and identify potential vascular issues worth investigating.

The insulin resistance report works in the same way, using data models to assess your readings to determine recognisable signs of prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, or other issues to be further investigated by a health professional.

Pixel Watch 5

But let's focus on the Pixel Watch 5's other features – as this newly announced smartwatch is now even more proactive with your health, brings more advanced GPS, and a new Workout Builder.

Google is keenly promoting its Gemini AI voice control system in all its new products, including the Pixel Watch 5, which can present proactive suggestions based on the context of what you're doing. It even offers offline Gemini.

The Pixel Watch 5's display maintains the same super-bright 3000 nit output as its Pixel Watch 4 predecessor, adding At a Glance cards into this software build, plus new Generative Watch Faces for a more personalised finish.

Route mapping in urban environments is said to be twice as accurate as before, too, as Google has utilised map topographies to include building reflections and other oddities to guide GPS to be as accurate as possible with your routing – something runners will no doubt appreciate.

The new Workout Builder is a first for this generation, too, bringing weight and rep tracking to the Pixel Watch, complete with rest timers, audio cues and ability to programme your workouts as relevant.

Sleep tracking has been improved, too, bringing the most comprehensive tracking and recovery details to date. Health Guardian also brings a new Breathing Emergency feature.

The Pixel Watch 5 will go on sale from 20 August, with a price from £369 in the UK, $399 in the USA, and AUS649 in Australia.

Garmin's entry-level running watches have always been sought after, which might explain why there is hardly ever a discount on them. All the more reason to get excited over this Forerunner 70 offer, which makes the wearable the cheapest it's ever been.

Shop all Garmin deals on Amazon

Amazon has dropped the Black model to £186.59, down from its £219.99 RRP. That’s a saving of £33.40, or 15%, and the lowest price we’ve seen for Garmin’s beginner-friendly running watch.

The Forerunner 70 sits at the accessible end of Garmin’s running line-up and is specifically designed for newer runners who want useful training and health data without stepping up to one of the brand’s increasingly expensive performance watches. Garmin itself describes it as an easy-to-use GPS running watch for tracking training and overall health. Garmin

The Forerunner 70 has a bright AMOLED touchscreen, wrapped in a lightweight 43mm case, while retaining Garmin’s familiar physical controls. Battery life stretches to up to 13 days, so it still comfortably outlasts most mainstream smartwatches between charges. Amazon

You also get 80+ sports apps, built-in GPS and HRV Status, plus Garmin’s usual collection of everyday health and fitness tools. Safety and tracking features are included as well, while its 5 ATM water resistance means you don’t need to baby it around water. Amazon

There are considerably more advanced Garmin watches available, but that’s arguably missing the point. The Forerunner 70 packages the features most runners actually need into a straightforward, modern-looking watch without bombarding beginners with the more specialised metrics found further up the range.

At £186.59, it makes even more sense, especially if you want to get into running with Garmin without spending £300 or more.

Garmin is preparing another free software update for the Fenix 8, with fixes targeting some particularly frustrating problems encountered during workouts and everyday use.

Beta Version 23.22 is now being distributed to watches enrolled in Garmin’s Public Beta programme.

Despite the lengthy changelog, this is primarily a reliability update and not one packed with new training or navigation features.

The most noteworthy change for runners is a fix for an issue that could cause pace and speed data to drop out, especially during interval training.

Losing real-time pace information is inconvenient on any run, but it is particularly disruptive during a structured session when each interval may have a specific speed or intensity target.

Garmin is also addressing a problem that could cause its flagship outdoor watch to reboot sporadically.

Other fixes target resets while viewing the Morning Report or receiving an audio spectator message, as well as a crash that could occur when incident detection was activated.

Tuning up

The update also includes several smaller quality-of-life improvements.

Garmin says it has fixed a volume slider that could bounce around and become unresponsive in the music controls, as well as an issue that prevented audio spectator messages from playing while music was paused.

Voice output should also work more reliably after receiving a spectator message, while silent mode should now be correctly honoured when Activity Focus Mode is enabled.

Morning and Evening Reports have been adjusted to time out properly rather than remaining on screen indefinitely.

The software introduces a prompt explaining that watch face selections made during Boat Mode will only appear after Boat Mode has been disabled.

Quatix 8 users should also regain the ability to change and customise watch face styles.

Version 23.22 applies to Garmin’s current family of premium outdoor watches, including the Fenix 8, Fenix 8 Pro, Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED, Enduro 3 and Quatix 8.

At the time of Garmin’s announcement, the beta had reached around 20% of eligible Public Beta participants.

Enrolled users can check manually by opening the watch’s main menu and heading to System, Software Update, and Check for Updates.

[via NotebookCheck, Garmin]

It shouldn’t be too long before we see iOS 27 arrive in its final form. The upcoming software update for iPhone is currently available as a public beta, but it is expected to land around the same time as the next iPhone models. With previous patterns taken into account, that should be sometime in the first half of next month.

A number of new features will arrive with iOS 27, including a Liquid Glass slider so you can increase or decrease the transparency. There will also be new EQ settings for AirPods and photo editing features.

Now another new feature has appeared on the latest beta (via 9to5Mac) – iOS 27 is bringing GymKit to iPhone and AirPods Pro 3.

How does GymKit work with iPhone?

GymKit was first introduced for Apple Watch back in 2017, enabling compatible gym equipment to connect and securely share data with Apple’s smartwatch with a tap.

The Apple Watch provides the heart rate data, while the equipment fills in the other trackable details – such as incline on a treadmill, for example.

With iOS 27, GymKit is expanding to iPhone and AirPods Pro 3. This means that while anyone with an Apple Watch will still likely continue to use that, if you forget your watch at home or your battery is dead, you can still track your training. Compatible gym equipment can use heart rate data from AirPods Pro 3 while relying on your iPhone as the workout computer.

Having tried it out on the beta version, 9to5Mac said that while the exercise ring didn’t update when working out without an Apple Watch, it caught up when the smartwatch was put back on after. The Fitness app also updated with the right data.

Without AirPods Pro 3, the iPhone disconnected from the GymKit machine as there was no heart rate source. Also, when the site tried to start GymKit from iPhone with an Apple Watch on, it was pointed back to the Workout app on Apple Watch.

However, the setup of using an iPhone to connect to a GymKit machine was reportedly simple, with a quick tap like Apple Watch requires. That was followed by the selection of Indoor Run or Indoor Walk when connecting to a treadmill.

Apple notes during setup: “After the workout, data is stored privately and securely on iPhone and removed from the equipment.”

Remember, you will need a GymKit-compatible machine at the gym, a supporting iPhone and Apple AirPods Pro 3 with the heart rate permission turned on in settings. You’ll also need to be running iOS 27, which for now, is beta only.

However, this is all very promising for those who don't have an Apple Watch or have left theirs at home.

Casio’s wonderfully strange Ring Watch could be evolving into a fully fledged wearable, complete with health sensors and smartphone notifications.

The new CRW-H001 builds on Casio’s miniature digital watches that went viral at launch and adds biometric tracking and Bluetooth connectivity.

The reported feature list includes everything you'd expect from a modern health tracker, including heart-rate, blood-oxygen and body-temperature monitoring, alongside sleep, recovery, step and calorie tracking.

Walking, running and cycling activities are also said to be supported.

Unlike most of the best smart rings, the CRW-H001 retains its tiny digital display, allowing you to check the time without opening a companion app.

It might be an obvious feature, perhaps, but one missing from rivals such as the Oura Ring 5 and Ultrahuman Ring Air.

A miniature vibration motor is said to deliver notifications for incoming calls, messages and alarms.

The ring is also said to come in only three sizes (9, 10 and 11).

The Casio smart ring we’ve been waiting for?

Casio’s existing Ring Watch has become a cult gadget by shrinking a functional digital watch down to finger size, but it offers none of the health features associated with a modern smart ring.

Adding activity tracking and notifications would turn that novelty into a far more useful everyday wearable, albeit one considerably less discreet than the usual screenless ring.

That said, the quirky look of the Ring Watch is what made it popular in the first place, so it would make no sense to remove it now.

There is, however, a reason to temper your excitement: Designboom's article says the model is "available exclusively in China."

However, Casio China only lists the existing CRW-001 Ring Watch, not the health-tracking model. For now, anyway.

If and when the CRW-H001 finally arrives, it might become one of the most interesting smart rings of the year.

A health tracker that also looks like a tiny 1980s Casio watch? Yes, please.

RingConn first announced its third-generation smart ring at CES 2026, but the ring is finally available to buy. There’s a special partnership running over the summer, too.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, as well as RingConn’s own fifth birthday, RingConn has partnered with Warner Bros Home Entertainment for a campaign based on being an “Everyday Hero”.

US customers who currently buy a RingConn Gen 3 will receive a Lord of the Rings-themed charging case pouch (you need to be one of the first 3,500 buyers). And if you don’t make it into those first few thousand, you’ll get a digital movie code to redeem any three films from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies.

What features does the RingConn Gen 3 offer?

In terms of the smart ring itself, its headline feature is vascular health tracking, coupled with smart vibration alerts, next-generation sensing and up to 14 days of battery life.

For vascular health tracking, you’ll see a sliding scale between Stable, Slight and Noticeable, determined by the ring monitoring nighttime patterns, daily habits, and manual inputs.

In terms of the vibration alerts, the RingConn Gen 3 directly vibrates on your finger to flag health alerts, sedentary reminders and low battery in a bid to reduce reliance on phone notifications.

With vibrations turned off, the battery life is claimed to be two weeks, which would be the latest Oura Ring 5, though with them turned on, you’re looking at between 10 and 12 days.

Elsewhere, the titanium ring offers sleep apnea pattern insights, women's cycle predictions and continuous tracking of SpO2, respiratory rate, skin temperature and stress, all without a subscription. It ships in five finishes, spans sizes 6 to 15, and comes with a new universal wireless charging case.

If you want to be in with a chance of getting one of those LOTR pouches though, you had better get a wriggle on. Prices start at $349 on the RingConn website.

Samsung Galaxy Watch users will soon be able to access Strava Routes on their wrist through Samsung Health, thanks to a significant expansion of the two companies’ partnership.

Strava will be pre-installed on new Galaxy Watches sold globally, beginning with the latest Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.

Buyers of either smartwatch will also receive a 60-day trial of Strava’s subscription service, which unlocks a complete selection of premium training and route-planning features.

More importantly, Strava Routes will be integrated natively into Samsung Health later this year, giving you on-wrist access to routes created through Strava without relying solely on the separate Strava watch app.

Strava and Samsung haven’t fully explained how the integration will work, including whether routes will synchronise automatically or which older Galaxy Watch models, such as the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, will be supported.

However, the companies say the Samsung Health integration will begin rolling out globally to Galaxy Watch users in the coming months.

Finding a better way around

Strava Routes uses activity data from the company’s enormous user community to generate courses suited to different sports, distances and preferences.

Strava Premium subscribers can also create their own routes and download them for navigation in areas without a reliable data connection.

The feature could make Galaxy Watch more competitive with outdoor watches from brands such as Garmin, Suunto and Coros, where route creation, synchronisation and on-wrist navigation are already important parts of the experience.

Its arrival is particularly timely after Strava expanded its hiking tools in June.

The recent update introduced improved route planning, navigation and trail-discovery features, reflecting the company’s efforts to become more useful beyond running and cycling.

Samsung is also placing greater emphasis on personalised fitness services across its wearable ecosystem.

Alongside the Strava announcement, the company revealed that iFIT’s Tailor personal trainer will use sleep, heart-rate and recovery information recorded by Galaxy Watch to generate adaptive workouts through Samsung Health.

The two integrations arrive with the new Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.

The Watch9 is Samsung’s everyday health-focused model, while the Ultra2 adds an 800mAh battery, trail-running metrics, hydration guidance and support for recreational diving.

Strava says the Routes integration is the first of several improvements planned for Samsung users, although it hasn’t revealed what will follow.

Strava Routes requires a paid subscription once the complimentary 60-day trial has ended.

Read more about the integration at Strava.

Samsung is adding an AI-powered personal trainer to Samsung Health that can turn data collected by a Galaxy Watch into personalised workouts and weekly training plans.

Created through a partnership with connected-fitness company iFIT, the new feature combines Samsung’s health and recovery insights with iFIT Tailor, the brand's AI fitness coach.

Tailor builds training plans around your goals, current fitness, workout history, available time and location.

According to the company, it can recommend anything from strength and HIIT sessions to cycling, yoga, Pilates and mindfulness, drawing on workouts created by iFIT’s team of 180 trainers.

The feature can also continually adjust its recommendations as you complete workouts, recover or change your routines.

Samsung says information already captured by Galaxy Watch, including sleep, heart rate and recovery data, will feed into its Fitness Index and help the coach decide what the user should do next.

That could make the partnership considerably more useful than a conventional library of follow-along workout videos.

A coach that travels with you

The feature can also account for where you are training and how much time you have available.

iFIT says Tailor can generate an appropriate workout for home, travelling or when you're heading out onto a trail.

Progress milestones, activity streaks and achievement recognition will of course be included to encourage consistency, while the plans will remain available through Samsung Health on compatible Galaxy devices.

Samsung and iFIT unveiled the expanded integration alongside the new Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.

The Watch 9 is positioned as Samsung’s everyday health and fitness smartwatch, while the more rugged Ultra 2 introduces an 800mAh battery, specialised trail-running metrics, hydration guidance and support for recreational diving.

There are, however, two catches. iFIT Personal Trainer will require a paid iFIT membership and is not included as a free Samsung Health feature, although monthly and annual subscriptions will be available directly through the app.

The initial rollout will also be limited to India, South Korea and the US later this year.

Samsung and iFIT say other markets covered by their partnership will receive the feature during 2027, meaning Galaxy Watch owners in the UK will have to wait a little longer to try it.

For more information, visit iFIT.

Ultrahuman has pushed what it calls its "biggest platform update ever" – which includes a number of new features and a redesigned app for owners of its smart rings.

Available from today, 23 July, the update introduces the "UltraSphere" a new centrepiece for the app and decision engine that helps you make fitness choices without needing to plough through your own data first.

It will generate options for you as "Next Best Actions", which you can then choose to enact. These will be based on the numerous readings from an Ultrahuman ring, including sleep, recovery, HRV, skin temperature and more.

Actions will also take into account your location and even the weather outside. So you might be advised to "get light" – ie. step outside for a few minutes – or "cut caffeine" in order to get better sleep.

Ultrahuman claims this is a more intuitive way to interact with its app, rather than having to wade through your own data and make your own plans. That's possible still, of course, but the 60-plus suggestions might cut down time and effort.

What else is added with the Ultrahuman Emerald platform update?

The update also brings a "fundamental change" to the way your Ultrahuman ring works. All processing is performed on the ring itself, so insights and Next Best Actions will be available to you when offline – such as on a plane.

There is also better workout tracking for both the Ultrahuman Ring Pro and Ring Air. It is now more accurate so should better detect your workout automatically. There are are new heart rate algorithms too.

Finally, the brand's VO₂ Max fitness marker has also been improved. The algorithm now takes into account a study by Ultrahuman of over 100 athletes.

There are a wide array of other tweaks and user experience improvements that will be found right across the updated app, but those are the headline additions and improvements.

The Emerald update is free to all Ultrahuman users.

With the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, Samsung is putting forward a compelling reason for tech companies not to rush a new version of their gadgets every year.

If the brand’s new smartwatch is anything to go by, skipping a year does mean the next iteration of the wearable can be significantly different, so much so that it might even entice people who own the previous version.

So what’s the fuss about? The new Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 received some big updates, including a thinner case, lighter strap, and larger battery, and it also has a much brighter screen than before – in fact, it’s probably the brightest of all smartwatch displays out there. The watch now uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear Elite processor for buttery-smooth performance.

Features have also been upgraded. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 can do turn-by-turn navigation like Garmin watches, track elevation, and provide hydration guidance based on estimated sweat loss. Plus, it now has dedicated diving support, courtesy of Mares. Best of all, the watch still looks pretty cool and performs even better.

Best smartwatch of 2026? Well, it’s not all sunshine and lollipops, but Samsung is certainly trying to better its hardware and software. Should you upgrade if you have an older Samsung watch, and is it worth jumping ecosystems if you have – let’s say – an Apple Watch Ultra 3? Let’s find out.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 review

Price and availability

The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 was announced on 22 July 2026, the same day pre-orders for the watch opened. The wearables will go on sale on 7 August for the recommended price of £649. EU, US and AU prices and availability TBC. The watch comes in two colours, Titanium Silver and Titanium Grey.

For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra retailed for £599/ $649.99/ AU$1,299 at launch, but can now be bought for as little as £400. The Apple Watch Ultra 3’s recommended retail price is $799 / £749 / AU$1,399 / €899, a fair amount higher than the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.

The 44 mm version of the also brand new Galaxy Watch 9, which comes in either Graphite or Silver colour, sells for £349, while the smaller 40 mm version (colour options: Graphite and Cream) retails for £319.

Design and build quality

The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 follows the original Ultra’s blueprint, retaining Samsung’s distinctive “cushion” design, which I like quite a lot. This combines an angular, rounded-square titanium case with a conventional circular display, allowing the screen to look like a traditional watch face while also giving the wearable a unique look.

Case

The 47 mm titanium case is said to be 12% thinner than before, despite the much larger 800mAh battery it houses. For context, the original Galaxy Watch Ultra measured 47.4 x 47.1 x 12.1mm and weighed 60.5g without its strap.

My Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 sample registered 61g on the scales, suggesting Samsung has reduced thickness without making the watch body itself significantly lighter.

I should add that my kitchen scales can’t measure 0.5 grams, so it’s entirely possible that the new watch is exactly the same weight.

(For the record, Samsung didn’t provide a spec sheet or feature list for the review. I will update it once I get hold of them.)

Strap

The new strap makes a more noticeable difference: it weighs 24g on my scales and is claimed to be 25% lighter than its predecessor. The material also feels genuinely softer and more pliable, helping the large watch sit more comfortably against the wrist.

Numerous perforations provide ample adjustment and should improve airflow during exercise, while Samsung’s Dynamic Lug System allows the strap sections to be released using buttons on the underside of the case.

Controls

The three-button layout is back, located at the right edge. It includes the circular Quick Button, distinguished by an orange surround, which provides immediate access to frequently used outdoor and exercise functions. The two flatter buttons above and below handle the usual Home and Back duties.

There is no mechanically rotating bezel, although the fixed bezel gives the display a useful degree of protection and supports Samsung’s touch-bezel navigation.

The numbered markings and orange index add to the watch’s technical, outdoorsy appearance. The bezel itself is touch-sensitive and can be used to navigate menus.

Display

The circular AMOLED display is protected by a sapphire crystal lens, but peak brightness has risen to a whopping 5,000 nits, which exceeds the original Ultra’s and the Apple Watch Ultra 3’s already impressive 3,000-nit maximum.

Other design details

Samsung positioned the original model as its toughest watch, equipping it with 10ATM and IP68 water resistance, MIL-STD-810H certification and an operating range of -20°C to 55°C.

The Ultra 2 is clearly cut from the same rugged cloth, although its final durability ratings will need to be confirmed once Samsung publishes the complete specification sheet.

Health tracking

The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 carries over the extensive health toolkit of its predecessor, including continuous heart-rate monitoring, blood oxygen saturation, sleep and stress tracking, ECG readings, blood-pressure monitoring, and BIA-based body-composition analysis.

That is not necessarily a problem. Samsung Health is exceptionally polished, and both the phone app and watch interface present a considerable amount of information without becoming difficult to navigate. I particularly enjoyed the on-watch body-composition measurements, but sleep tracking was arguably the most impressive part of my testing.

Sleep tracking

I wore the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 alongside the Oura Ring 5, my current benchmark for consumer sleep tracking. Neither can be considered as accurate as a clinical sleep study, but comparing their results provides a useful indication of consistency.

The two devices produced remarkably similar results. The sleep window difference was only 7 minutes, and the total sleep time difference was only 10 minutes (over nearly 9 hours).

The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 detected 32 minutes of awake time, while Oura reported 33 minutes. Deep sleep differed by only five minutes, with Samsung recording one hour and 17 minutes and Oura measuring one hour and 22 minutes.

REM and light sleep showed larger differences, but since sleep stages are all guesswork across wearables, it certainly isn’t a deal-breaker. Sleep latency was 17 minutes according to Samsung and 10 minutes according to Oura.

Both measured an average sleeping heart rate of 48 bpm, while average blood oxygen saturation differed by a single percentage point: 96% on the Galaxy Watch and 97% on the Oura Ring.

That degree of agreement is excellent for two consumer wearables using different form factors and algorithms. It does not prove that either device correctly identified every sleep stage, but it gives me confidence in the Galaxy Watch’s estimates.

Samsung also provides plenty of depth. Alongside sleep duration and stages, the app shows movement, overnight blood oxygen saturation, skin temperature deviation, average heart rate, and respiratory rate.

It offers bedtime guidance, seven-day trends and sleep-consistency analysis, although its presentation is more clinical and less interpretive than Oura’s. The Ring does a better job of connecting sleep to concepts such as efficiency, restfulness, sleep debt, body-clock alignment and readiness.

Snore detection is available, but it relies on the paired phone being positioned near the bed and connected to a charger. That makes it considerably less seamless than the watch’s other overnight measurements.

Body composition tracking

The on-watch body-composition feature uses bioelectrical impedance analysis to estimate skeletal muscle mass, fat mass, body water, body fat percentage, BMI, and basal metabolic rate. To take a reading, you enter your weight and place two fingers against the watch’s buttons while keeping your arms away from your torso.

I compared its results with my Withings Body Comp smart scales. The measurements were taken two days apart, so changes in hydration, food intake and other variables prevent this from being a controlled comparison. Nevertheless, the directly comparable results were impressively close.

The Galaxy Watch estimated my body fat at 17.5%, compared with 18.1% from the Withings scales. Samsung calculated 14.2kg of fat mass (vs 14.6kg on the Withings) with a recorded weight of 80.8kg. A difference of 0.6% is reassuringly small.

Muscle figures cannot be compared directly because Samsung reports skeletal muscle mass, whereas Withings reports it as a percentage. Both devices are also consumer BIA products – not clinical body-composition scanners – so individual readings should be treated as estimates.

Sound exposure tracking

Sound Exposure is one of the genuinely new health additions. It uses the watch’s microphone to estimate cumulative exposure to environmental noise and shows how much of the recommended daily allowance has been consumed.

Samsung Health divides the result into OK, Caution, and Unsafe categories. It also displays the average sound level, periods above 80dB, and exposure trends over the previous seven days.

On one day, the watch recorded an average of 77dB and a cumulative exposure of 101%, which it says was “unsafe”. This was caused by the window of my car being down for approx 4 hours while driving on the motorways – the wind clearly made quite a racket in the car.

Samsung stresses that the figures are estimates affected by device use and fit, and that they are intended for general wellness rather than professional hearing assessment.

Other health features

Elsewhere, the Ultra 2 records heart rate variability, respiratory rate, skin temperature deviation, blood oxygen levels, and other overnight signals to establish a personal Vitals baseline.

Samsung Health also provides Heart Health and Vascular Load scores, the latter of which compares overnight cardiovascular strain against the user’s baseline.

ECG, blood pressure, irregular heart rhythm notifications, sleep apnoea detection, stress monitoring, AGEs Index, and menstrual cycle predictions complete one of the most extensive health suites available on a smartwatch.

Health feature gripes

There are some familiar frustrations. As mentioned above, snore detection only works when the paired phone is positioned near the bed and connected to its charger. Certain regulated health functions also require a SIM card so Samsung Health Monitor can establish which country the device is being used in.

Samsung also talks extensively about AI, but its broader health ecosystem still lacks some tools found in other apps. Food logging from a photograph, for example, would make nutrition tracking much less of a hassle.

Also, while the software is polished, there is bloatware everywhere on the phone that’s required for all the watch functions to operate properly, which I could live without.

Fitness tracking

The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 supports more than 100 exercise types, ranging from everyday walking and strength sessions to multisport events, open-water swimming and trail running. Outdoor tracking is backed by dual-frequency L1 and L5 GPS, with support for GPS, Galileo, Glonass and BeiDou satellite systems, plus onboard elevation and compass sensors.

Samsung says the new Snapdragon Wear Elite processor improves positioning accuracy and efficiency, particularly in challenging environments such as cities, forests and mountains. The watch also offers personalised heart-rate zones, VO₂ max estimates, cardio-load analysis and automatic exercise recognition.

It is a comprehensive package, although the depth of its training analysis remains closer to a premium general-purpose smartwatch than a dedicated Garmin or Coros sports watch.

Automatic exercise recognition

Automatic exercise recognition also works impressively well. The watch can detect walks and less conventional activities after approximately 10 minutes. (It even recorded half an hour of morning housework as exercise, estimating that I had burned around 200 calories.) Running detection is faster, taking roughly four minutes to recognise that a session has begun.

It’s worth noting that auto-logged outdoor workouts, such as walks, don’t trigger the GPS, so if you want to record your route, you’d best start the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 manually.

Samsung’s algorithms can nevertheless be demanding. Despite completing 16,000 steps on one particularly active day, the watch informed me that my cardio load was insufficient. General movement contributes to daily activity, but the system still expects vigorous exercise before awarding a favourable cardio-load score. Is the watch trying to kill me?

I appreciate that the WHO recommends daily moderate-to-vigorous exercise, but surely the algorithm could just determine that multiple walks and 10k+ steps a day are fine? Oh, well.

Trail running

The new trail-running profile records duration, distance, calories, speed, pace, elevation, gradient and heart rate. It covers the fundamentals, but it is not nearly as detailed as the trail-running tools found on comparable Garmin watches.

Samsung is positioning the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 as a serious adventure watch, yet its data and analysis still align more closely with those of a mainstream smartwatch.

Sweat-loss estimation is interesting, although “estimation” is the operative word. The figure is not generated in real time, either, and you have to run for at least 20 minutes and burn 90 calories before the watch produces a result.

Following a hot 45-minute trail run, it estimated that I had lost almost one litre of fluid and recommended drinking 1.5 litres to replenish it. That is potentially useful guidance, but it feels almost too hardcore for the relatively basic analysis surrounding it.

GPX and turn-by-turn navigation

I have not yet tested GPX imports or turn-by-turn navigation, although completed routes can be exported from Samsung Health as GPX files. It is also worth remembering that GPX route guidance and elevation information were already available on the original Galaxy Watch Ultra.

Diving

I was unable to test the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2’s new diving functionality, but it represents one of the watch’s most significant adventure-focused upgrades. Samsung says the dedicated diving app launches automatically when the watch enters the water and records real-time depth, dive duration and water temperature.

A separate app developed with diving-equipment specialist Mares is due later this year, adding more advanced guidance such as descent speed, recommended time at a given depth and safe-ascent information intended to reduce the risk of decompression sickness.

Battery life and charging

The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 has an 800mAh battery, representing a substantial 35% capacity increase over the original Ultra’s 590mAh cell. In my testing, however, the larger battery did not produce an equally dramatic increase in real-world endurance.

Starting from 100%, the watch reached 11% after 57 hours and 10 minutes. This period included a 45-minute trail run, a 42-minute GPS-tracked walk, a manually tracked 20-minute circuit workout and almost two hours of automatically detected walking, housework and other activity.

Based on these results, I estimate a total battery life of approximately 64 hours, or just over two and a half days, with the always-on display enabled. That just about exceeds Samsung’s 60-hour claim for the original Galaxy Watch Ultra under the same display setting.

My testing also included more than three and a half hours of recorded activity, including two GPS workouts, making the result particularly encouraging. The improvement is nowhere near the 35% increase in battery capacity, but the Ultra 2 appears capable of lasting longer than its predecessor under demanding mixed use.

Charging

Charging performance is adequate rather than particularly fast. Starting at 12%, the watch reached 62% after 35 minutes and 100% after 70 minutes. It was initially estimated that the process would take 1 hour and 21 minutes, with an average charging input of around 5W.

More testing is required to see how the watch fares without the always-on screen, and without GPS workouts logged during the discharge period. Also, Samsung hasn’t provided me with specifications, so I don’t know how my results compare with the official numbers.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is a superb flagship smartwatch and a meaningful hardware upgrade over its predecessor.

Its dazzling 5,000-nit display, smoother performance, more comfortable strap and larger battery all improve the everyday experience, while sleep and body-composition tracking performed impressively against my Oura Ring 5 and Withings scales.

Samsung Health remains one of the most comprehensive and polished wearable platforms available. New additions such as Sound Exposure, trail running and automatic diving support broaden its appeal, although its training analysis and navigation tools still lack the depth offered by comparable Garmin and Coros watches.

The £649 price is also hard to ignore, especially since the original Galaxy Watch Ultra can now be found for considerably less. If you have one and it’s still functional, you might not need to rush the upgrade unless the brighter display, improved battery life, or diving features are especially appealing.

For anyone with an older Galaxy Watch who wants Samsung’s best wearable, however, the Ultra 2 is the obvious choice. It is not quite the ultimate outdoor watch Samsung wants it to be, but it may be the most complete Android smartwatch of its generation.

After months of leaks and speculation, Garmin has officially unveiled the Cirqa Smart Band, its first screen-free fitness and health tracker.

The new wearable combines Garmin’s familiar health, sleep and training tools with a low-profile fabric band designed to be worn around the clock.

There is no display, with all recorded data presented through the Garmin Connect app.

It is an increasingly popular formula already used by the Whoop MG, Polar Loop and Amazfit Helio Strap, but unlike some of its rivals, Garmin has opted for a non-subscription model.

(I should add that it's an increasingly unusual model even from Garmin not to attach at least some ongoing cost to its wearable.)

Familiar intelligence

Despite its relatively discreet appearance, Cirqa supports many of the advanced metrics usually associated with Garmin watches.

It continuously monitors heart rate, stress, Body Battery, Pulse Ox and skin temperature, while its sleep tools cover sleep stages, naps, respiration, HRV and personalised guidance on how much rest you need.

Training readiness, training status, VO2 max, workout benefit and recovery time are also included, making Cirqa much more than a basic fitness tracker.

More than 80 activity profiles are available on the band, and you can start your favourite activity by using the single button on the side.

Garmin says the Cirqa band can also automatically detect and classify various activities without any input.

The brand also added that the Cirqa will learn from the activities you confirm or correct inside Garmin Connect, allowing its automatic classification to become more accurate over time.

Made for the Garmin ecosystem

There is no built-in GPS, although Cirqa can use a connected phone to map outdoor runs, walks and rides.

LiveTrack location sharing is supported through the Garmin Connect app, too.

Cyclists can pair the band with a compatible Garmin Edge computer to display live heart-rate data during a ride.

Garmin will also sell a separate armband, providing an alternative fit beneath a cycling jersey or during sleep.

Perhaps most importantly for existing Garmin users, health and training data can be synchronised across devices.

That means you could wear a Garmin watch for workouts and navigation before switching to the less conspicuous Cirqa for sleep or everyday tracking.

The band costs £180 / $200 / €200 / AU$300, comes in two strap sizes and promises up to 10 days of battery life.

The Cirqa is hardly inexpensive, especially when several screen-free rivals are now available.

However, access to Garmin’s extensive training ecosystem without a mandatory monthly or annual fee could make it one of the strongest Whoop alternatives yet.

It will be available directly from Garmin UK, Garmin US, Garmin EU and Garmin AU from 24 July in seven colours, including Citron Grey, Mauve, French Grey, Dark Olive, Captain Blue, French Blue and Black.

Most outdoor watch manufacturers are currently competing to offer brighter AMOLED displays, more detailed maps and increasingly sophisticated health insights.

Even though the brand has launched several modern smartwatches, including the Suunto Race 2 and Suunto Run, Suunto’s latest release takes a decidedly different approach.

The Core 2 is an old-school outdoor watch built around a monochrome LED display, physical buttons and a replaceable coin-cell battery.

There is no GPS, heart-rate sensor, or app-packed smartwatch interface, but it can run continuously for up to 15 months without needing a charge.

It is the successor to the original Suunto Core, launched in 2007 and subsequently adopted by hikers, outdoor professionals and tactical users.

The new model preserves its predecessor’s chunky tool-watch aesthetic while introducing several practical hardware upgrades.

Its essential outdoor functions come from an updated altimeter, barometer and compass (ABC) sensor suite.

The watch can track altitude, ascent and descent, monitor atmospheric pressure and provide offline directional guidance using a magnetic compass with bearing lock.

Suunto has also added automatic pressure filtering, designed to reduce false storm warnings, along with an alarm that alerts the wearer to a rapid drop in barometric pressure.

Back to (outdoor) basics

The 1.3-inch dot-matrix LED display is said to be 40% brighter than the original Core's and is now protected by Corning Gorilla Glass.

You can switch between red and green backlighting, while a raise-to-wake function illuminates the screen without requiring a button press.

Water resistance has risen substantially from 3 ATM to 10 ATM, meaning the Core 2 is rated to withstand pressure equivalent to a depth of 100 metres.

Its reinforced composite case measures 49mm across and 14.8mm thick, while the watch weighs 56.5g before the 22mm silicone strap is added.

Other functions include sunrise and sunset times, moon phase information, cumulative elevation, daily step tracking, dual time zones, a stopwatch, a countdown timer, and alarms.

Bluetooth connectivity is included, although its role is deliberately limited.

Pairing the watch with the Suunto app enables automatic time synchronisation, step data transfers, and over-the-air firmware updates.

The Suunto Core 2 will be available globally from 21 July 2026, followed by a US launch on 20 August.

It is priced at $199 in the US, €199 in Europe and $155 in the UK, with AU pricing yet to be confirmed.

Head over to Suunto for more information.

Fitness trackers have come a long way, but they're all limited by one simple problem: they only measure what they can reach. Whether it's a smartwatch or a chest strap, sensors can shift during exercise, lose contact with your skin and struggle to collect consistently accurate readings. Researchers at Penn State think they have a much better solution – one you paint directly onto your body.

The team has developed a conductive ink that works like face paint, allowing custom electronic tattoos to be applied almost anywhere on the skin. Once dry, the paint forms highly sensitive electrodes capable of monitoring the electrical activity produced by your heart, muscles and brain, all while being more breathable and comfortable than traditional adhesive sensor pads.

Unlike conventional medical electrodes, the paint can be mixed with different pigments to create colourful designs, making the technology feel more like wearable art than medical equipment.

The researchers also say the material bonds closely with the skin, helping it maintain accurate readings even during movement and perspiration – exactly where today's wearables often struggle.

That opens up some fascinating possibilities. For fitness enthusiasts, these temporary tattoos could provide more accurate ECG heart monitoring or detailed muscle activity tracking during training. They could also help athletes fine-tune performance without having to wear multiple straps, patches or bulky sensors.

The medical applications are even more exciting. The same paint-on electrodes can capture EEG brain signals, EMG muscle activity and detailed ECG readings that could help doctors identify irregular heart rhythms or even detect the warning signs of a heart attack earlier than consumer wearables can today.

The researchers also believe the technology could improve the control of robotic prosthetic limbs by reading muscle signals more precisely.

Plus, the tattoos aren't permanent. They can be washed away and reapplied whenever needed, making them far less intimidating than implanted devices while remaining far more versatile than today's disposable electrode patches.

There's no word yet on when – or if – this technology will make its way into consumer products. But as fitness trackers continue to evolve beyond the wrist, a colourful electronic tattoo that looks more like body art than medical equipment suddenly doesn't seem so far-fetched.

Garmin has released another beta software update for its newest running watches, continuing the rapid pace of improvements following the launch of the Forerunner 570 and Forerunner 970.

The previous Beta 18.12 release introduced features such as "OK, Garmin" voice activation and several new software additions.

The new Beta 18.14 version is almost entirely focused on bug fixes and overall stability.

There are 18 changes in total, including fixes for several music playback quirks.

Garmin has addressed issues that could cause music to continue playing over spectator messages, an unexpected increase in volume after an alarm, incorrect playback information, or a brief switch to the watch's speaker after Bluetooth headphones disconnect.

The company has also changed the default behaviour so button tones are automatically disabled when fitness headphones are connected.

The update also improves Garmin Coach reliability by eliminating a bug that could cause the training days displayed on the watch to differ from those in a Garmin Coach plan.

Another resolves problems when selecting rest days for Garmin Coach and Daily Suggested Workouts.

Garmin says it has also fixed crashes that could occur during Indoor Climb activities, as well as resets that could occur when saving Indoor Rowing workouts.

There are additional fixes for alarm behaviour, touch controls during water sports, headphone volume, Touch Lock false unlocks and a handful of translation updates.

It's not the most exciting update of the year, but it's another sign that the company is keen on refining its wearables years after their release (well, in this case, a year).

For anyone using Garmin Coach, training indoors or listening to music directly from the watch, Beta 18.14 should make the overall experience noticeably smoother.

Public Beta Version 18.14 is now rolling out to members of Garmin's Beta Program, although the company says only around 20% of eligible users will receive it initially as part of a phased deployment.

If you're enrolled in the programme, you can also trigger the download manually by heading to Settings > System > Software Update > Check For Updates.

[via NotebookCheck, Garmin Forums]

There are numerous Garmin watches in circulation at this point, but one of the strangest ones I've tried is certainly the Instinct Crossover Solar, which adds a pair of luminous hands to the digital display that are fully visible in the dark and move around when you interact with the display.

Shop all deals in Garmin's clearance sale

Back in the day, when I reviewed it, I wasn't sure why we needed such a smartwatch, but since then I've come to appreciate the wearable's quirkiness. It is a unique watch with a long battery life and access to Garmin's outdoor features and ecosystem – and now it's a whole lot cheaper than when it came out!

Interestingly, the deal is at Garmin, of all places, and not just that, but it undercuts even Amazon, which is pretty much unheard of. The Instinct Crossover Solar is currently listed as £340.85 at the online retail giant, which, according to my elementary maths skills, is a gazillion pounds more than £230.

As for the tech, thanks to Garmin's RevoDrive technology, the luminescent hands automatically recalibrate after impacts and move out of the way whenever you interact with the display.

It's built to MIL-STD-810 standards for thermal and shock resistance, offers 10 ATM water resistance, and uses a sunlight-readable monochrome MIP display with Power Glass solar charging. Under ideal conditions, battery life stretches to up to 70 days in smartwatch mode, with virtually unlimited runtime in Battery Saver mode.

Despite its retro styling, the watch packs Garmin's full suite of outdoor and fitness tools, including multi-GNSS positioning, an altimeter, barometer and compass, plus heart rate, Pulse Ox, sleep tracking, Body Battery, stress monitoring and VO2 Max.

There are built-in profiles for running, hiking, cycling, swimming, strength training and more, alongside Garmin Pay, smartphone notifications, TracBack navigation and Training Status.

Summer's here, which is when most people, myself included, realise just how unfit they've become over the past year. Part of the reason we can't stay on top of our collective fitness regimens is a lack of accountability. However, there is an easy fix for that: just get a fitness tracker.

Modern activity trackers can track everything from steps and heart rate to sleep and stress, all without feeling imposing on your wrist. Better still, one of the best models, Fitbit's Charge 6, is currently the cheapest it's ever been, meaning that you'll be able to start tracking your fitness transformation for less.

The Fitbit Charge 6 might not be the newest fitness tracker on the market, but it's still one of the easiest recommendations for anyone who wants powerful health and fitness tracking without committing to a full smartwatch.

It packs Google's ecosystem into a slim, lightweight design, with Google Maps for turn-by-turn directions, Google Wallet for contactless payments and YouTube Music controls all available from your wrist.

It also supports more than 40 exercise modes and can connect to compatible gym equipment via Bluetooth to display heart rate in real time. Battery life is another highlight, lasting up to seven days on a single charge, while built-in GPS means you can accurately track outdoor runs, rides and walks without taking your phone.

Sleep tracking, stress monitoring, ECG support and Fitbit's Daily Readiness Score round out a comprehensive wellness package.

Garmin has rolled out a small but potentially important software update for the Fenix 8 Pro, addressing one of the biggest complaints reported by some owners in recent weeks.

While System Software 22.39 isn't packed with new features, it fixes a possible battery drain issue that could make a noticeable difference for affected users.

According to Garmin's official release notes, the update includes just two changes: a fix for "possible battery drain" and another for "possible issues when doing voice calls."

It's a brief changelog, but one that follows reports from some Garmin watch owners who experienced unusually high battery consumption after previous firmware releases.

The company hasn't revealed what caused the issue or how widespread it was, so it's worth noting that not every user was affected.

More than a maintenance release

The timing is also good news for anyone thinking about buying Garmin's flagship outdoor smartwatch.

The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro AMOLED (47mm) is currently available at Very for £869, £160 below its £1,029 RRP.

It's not quite the lowest price we've seen, but it's still one of the strongest deals available on Garmin's premium multisport watch.

The Fenix 8 Pro sits at the top of Garmin's adventure watch range and packs just about every feature an outdoor enthusiast could want.

Alongside comprehensive fitness and health tracking, it offers full-colour offline mapping, multi-band GNSS, advanced navigation tools, training readiness, endurance and hill scores, and Garmin's extensive suite of recovery and performance metrics.

The 47mm model also features a bright AMOLED display protected by a sapphire crystal lens, a titanium bezel for added durability, built-in LED flashlight, speaker and microphone for calls and voice commands, and LTE connectivity for additional safety and communication features.

Combined with Garmin's excellent battery life (now improved) and regular software support, it remains one of the most capable outdoor smartwatches you can buy.

[via NotebookCheck, Garmin Forums]

It's no secret that smart rings are quickly becoming the en vogue choice for those looking to track their health and wellbeing. Gone are the days when smartwatches were the popular choice, as droves of users flock to something more discrete and unobtrusive.

By and large, these companies also have a subscription element, which can drastically alter the overall cost of using one. Enter the Leep Ring – a British designed smart ring with the key difference of no monthly fee.

I've been putting the device through its paces over the last couple of months to see what it's all about.

Leep Ring app

On the face of it, there's really not much which can't be tracked on this device. You'll get detailed access to sleep insights, step tracking and other activity metrics, heart rate and blood oxygen and stress tracking.

That's all accessible with the brand's app, which has been the biggest upgrade in my time using the device. When I first kitted up, it was a little lacklustre, and didn't seem to be as well-designed as it could be.

Since then, the app has updated and it now feels a lot more premium and intuitive. The layout includes buttons at the bottom for sleep, stress and activity, as well as a tab for articles and insights from the brand.

There's also a home button in the centre, which gives an overview of the sleep and activity sections, and a heart section which doesn't appear anywhere else. Personally, I'd prefer that to be on the base menu level, rather than the articles, which could be hidden elsewhere for those really searching.

I'd also like to see more consistency in how the widgets in the app work. Clicking some of them takes you to graphs and deeper insight, while others aren't clickable. It takes some memory to recall what sends you where.

Leep Ring design

As for the ring itself, there's not too much to write home about. It's crafted from titanium to ensure a lightweight wearing experience, and is just 2.22mm thick. That's impressive, and ensures it sits nicely on the finger without weighing you down.

The only mark of design flair is a diagonal cut-out section, which has a practical application, too. That sits on the inside of your finger, to ensure the sensors are correctly placed, but adds a touch of minimalist design in the process.

The brushed finish follows a similar theme – smart, but not overly eccentric.

Leep Ring battery life

One thing which all screen-free wearables need is a good battery, and this model is present and correct there. The ring itself is said to be good for eight days, with the case offering a further 60 hours.

In my testing, I've found that to be broadly right. The ring lasts around a week before I get range anxiety and pop it into the charging case, but the case has proven to be a significant gamechanger. I've only charged the case once, and it's still going strong, which is a significant achievement.

My one gripe here is that the notifications around battery life simply aren't that good. In fact, I only ever seem to get them when I open the app, which is really rather pointless. I'd much prefer for the app to push a notification properly when I hit, say, 10% battery.

Leep Ring verdict

If you've been reading my reviews for a while, you'll know I'm hardly the most sporting member of the T3 team. But that doesn't mean I don't want to be able to keep track of my health and fitness, which is exactly why a device like this makes sense.

Would I continually pay a monthly fee for more features? Not a chance! But I'll buy this once and enjoy a little extra peace of mind when it comes to my wellbeing. That's enough for me, and it may well be enough for you too.

I thought it was a bit strange for Amazon to launch its latest event a week before payday until I realised the pay weekend fell on 4th July, which obviously enjoys priority in the US. With both now behind us, it's time to take deals seriously, starting with this Forerunner 570 offer at John Lewis.

Shop all wearable deals at John Lewis

As far as I can tell, the watch has never been this cheap before, even at Amazon. It dipped to £410-ish last December, but the current £400 price certainly is as cheap as the watch gets – at least for now. With marathon-training season in full swing, now is the time to get a new watch that can actually help you strain smarter.

The 47mm Garmin Forerunner 570 strikes a sweet spot between performance and everyday usability, packing many of the company's latest training features into a lightweight 50g case.

Its 1.4-inch AMOLED display is the brightest ever fitted to a Forerunner, offering crisp visuals and excellent readability, while the aluminium bezel gives it a more premium feel than previous mid-range models.

The watch uses Garmin's latest multi-band GPS and Elevate Gen5 optical heart rate sensor for improved accuracy during training.

It provides advanced metrics including Training Readiness, Training Status, wrist-based running power, running dynamics, VO2 Max, race predictions and recovery insights, alongside Garmin Coach and Garmin Triathlon Coach plans.

The running watch also adds a built-in speaker and microphone for taking calls, using your phone's voice assistant and issuing voice commands directly to the watch.

With support for music storage, Garmin Pay, incident detection and up to 11 days of battery life in smartwatch mode or 18 hours in GPS mode, the Forerunner 570 is designed to be a capable companion for both daily wear and serious training.

It’s been a couple of years since Samsung launched the Galaxy Ring, and now the company has confirmed it is working on a follow-up.

The current version was made available back in July 2024, competing with the likes of Oura and Ultrahuman by offering a lightweight, concave design made from titanium and no monthly subscription. It’s Android-only, meaning it isn’t compatible with iPhone. And while it will work with Google phones or other Android phones, it plays nicest with Samsung smartphones and smartwatches – understandably so.

The Galaxy Ring 2 might work with iPhone

However, in an interview with Forbes, Samsung’s senior vice president and head of the digital health team, Dr Hon Pak, confirmed the second generation of the smart ring was in development. He told David Phelan: "We are working on the next generation. I can tell you that."

Unfortunately, Pak didn’t reveal timings or any specifications for what we are presuming will be called the Samsung Galaxy Ring 2, though he did hint that iPhone compatibility might be on the cards this time around.

When Phelan asked about iOS compatibility, Pak’s response was: "I’m smiling, but I can’t say anything.

"I think you’ll be very pleased with some of the releases and the upcoming news,” he added.

Hon also told Phelan that he believed the biggest current differentiator in smart rings wasn’t necessarily the hardware, suggesting that most of the sensors are the same.

"If you look at the comparison of other rings, regardless of the competitor, the sensors are not that different right now," he said.

"It’s really about what services you create on the top layer. It’s really the software differentiation that you see."

He added: "One device doesn’t cover all things. Our approach is connected ecosystem, connected devices, that give people choices."

While we will have to wait a little longer to find out when the Samsung Galaxy Ring 2 will officially appear, it’s good news to hear the company is at least working on one.

The Galaxy Ring was great when it launched two years ago, but Oura’s recently announced Ring 5 is significantly smaller and lighter, giving it the title of world’s smallest smart ring – so things are moving in this field.

Samsung is set to hold it’s next Galaxy Unpacked event on 22 July, so we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for more information on the Galaxy Ring 2 at that. Maybe it'll just be teased for now.

I’m way overdue with this Garmin Fenix 8 Pro review. I tested the MicroLED version of Garmin’s flagship wearable when it came out and have worn the AMOLED version a lot since then, but somehow I never found the time to put my thoughts into words. Turns out, you can’t forever put off doing things!

Not like writing what’s admittedly the best Garmin watch (well, the most feature-rich, anyway) is a huge burden. I’ve always loved using Garmin products, and the Fenix line has always held a special place in my heart, thanks to its rugged build and excellent mapping functionality.

That said, it almost feels like the Fenix 8 Pro came a bit too soon after the Garmin Fenix 8. Don’t get me wrong, it was an important launch – the world’s first microLED smartwatch! – but from a features perspective, it offers little that is tangibly different from its predecessor.

Sure, inReach Messenger is nice, and so is the MicroLED panel, but otherwise, you’re getting the same sensors and, most importantly, almost the carbon copy of the Fenix 8 user experience, especially if you opt for the AMOLED model.

I certainly wouldn’t throw away my Fenix 8 to get a Fenix 8 Pro, but even with that, it’s hard to deny that the Fenix 8 Pro is the best outdoor watch right now, all things considered. If you have an older Fenix and are keen on staying in the Garmin ecosystem, you’ll love the Fenix 8 Pro. Should you get one? Let’s find out.

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro review

Price and availability

The Fenix 8 Pro was launched in September 2025 and is available to buy now at Garmin UK, Garmin US, Garmin AU and Garmin EU.

The AMOLED version is available in 47mm and 51mm sizes, and starts at £1,030 / $1,200 / AU$2,100 / €1,300. The MicroLED option comes in one case size only (51mm) and costs a whopping £1,500 / $1,700 / AU$3,400 / €1,800.

The MicroLED retailed for more at launch, but Garmin has since permanently dropped the price to entice more people to get the watch. It’s still a huge investment, but there are often deals on the AMOLED version. Recently, Amazon knocked the price down to £726 in the UK.

Design

The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro is available in 47mm and 51mm case sizes, pairing them with a fibre-reinforced polymer case with a titanium rear cover, while the sapphire edition adds a lightweight titanium bezel and scratch-resistant sapphire crystal lens.

You can opt for Garmin's familiar AMOLED screen or the brand's first-ever MicroLED display. Both offer the same resolution and user interface, but the MicroLED panel delivers significantly higher brightness – up to 4,500 nits – making it exceptionally easy to read in harsh sunlight.

In direct sunlight, the MicroLED looks almost as if the graphics have been printed onto the glass, with outstanding visibility from virtually any angle.

The AMOLED model, meanwhile, peaks at around 2,000 nits, which is commendable but not necessarily on par with some rivals, including the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and the much more affordable Amazfit T-Rex Ultra 2. That said, the Fenix 8 Pro is still among the brightest displays you'll find on a sports watch.

The Fenix 8 Pro is rated to 10 ATM, making it suitable for swimming, freediving and recreational scuba diving, while redesigned leak-proof buttons improve reliability during underwater activities. Unlike other brands (e.g., Huawei Watch Ultimate 2), Garmin doesn’t advertise the Fenix line as a dive-first smartwatch, likely because it has its own dive watch line (the Descent line).

An integrated LED flashlight, complete with white and red light modes, returns for everything from pre-dawn runs to campsite chores. The watch itself can also shift to red mode (the screen), which is handy for after-hours watch staring. You can also set the watch to automatically switch to red shift mode after sunset.

Like the standard Fenix 8, the Pro includes a built-in microphone and speaker for Bluetooth phone calls, voice assistant support and offline voice commands, while Garmin's QuickFit strap system makes it easy to swap bands without tools. It all adds up to one of the most capable and best-built adventure watches currently available.

Features

If you've used a recent Fenix 8 or Enduro 3, very little about the Fenix 8 Pro will surprise you. That's not a criticism; Garmin has spent years building arguably the most comprehensive fitness and outdoor ecosystem on the market, and this generation is more about refinement than reinvention.

The only genuinely headline-grabbing addition is support for Garmin inReach messaging over LTE, allowing users to send and receive messages via the satellite communicator without carrying a phone, provided they have a compatible inReach subscription.

Prices start at £7.99 / $7.99 / AU$11.99 / €9.99, which is way more than the Oura subscription, for example, and it ‘only’ lets you message people when there is no reception. As such, this feature is only really useful for people who spend a lot of time off grid and require the ability to communicate with others who aren’t (unless the whole team have Fenix 8 Pro watches).

Health tracking is handled by Garmin's latest Elevate Gen 5 optical heart rate sensor, which debuted in May 2023 on the Garmin Fenix 7 Pro and the now discontinued (and very cheap) Garmin Epix Pro (Gen 2). It supports 24/7 heart rate monitoring alongside Pulse Ox, skin temperature tracking, ECG, respiration, stress tracking, Body Battery, HRV Status and advanced sleep analysis with Sleep Coach and nap detection.

Training features are equally extensive, with Training Readiness, Training Status, Daily Suggested Workouts, Endurance Score, Hill Score, Race Predictor and Garmin Coach all returning. The Fenix is the brand’s top outdoor watch, and as such, the UI prioritises mapping and navigation, but you can find all other training, health and smart features in the menus.

Strength training has also continued to improve, with automatic rep counting, muscle maps and guided workouts making it genuinely useful in the gym, while support for dozens of activity profiles means everything from trail running and ski touring to paddleboarding and open-water swimming is catered for.

The built-in microphone and speaker enable Bluetooth phone calls when paired with a smartphone, while voice assistant support lets you interact with Siri or Google Assistant if that’s what your heart desires.

I’ve never been too keen on chatting with my watch (or phone or smart speaker, the latter of which I don’t have), but given the price and the flagship nature of the Fenix 8 Pro, this is a feature Garmin must include.

The company also includes offline voice commands, allowing you to start activities, set timers or control certain watch functions even when you're away from mobile reception. Music storage, contactless payments via Garmin Pay, smartphone notifications and access to the Connect IQ store round out the experience.

Mapping, navigation and accuracy

Navigation has long been one of the Fenix series' biggest strengths, and the Fenix 8 Pro continues to set the benchmark. It comes preloaded with TopoActive maps, detailed road and trail mapping, ski resort maps and golf course data, while downloadable regional maps ensure you can plan routes and navigate without needing a phone signal.

There aren’t many watches I would trust for offline maps and route planning in uncharted areas, but Garmin watches have never let me down. Maps can be downloaded via the Connect app, and the map options are clearly labelled (e.g., United Kingdom and Northern Ireland). It’s a system that works and has been working for a long time.

Features such as ClimbPro break down upcoming ascents, NextFork shows the distance to the next trail junction, and Up Ahead lets you see upcoming aid stations, summits or points of interest. None of these is new, but they are part of the ever-so-extensive Garmin training ecosystem.

Dynamic round-trip routing remains one of my favourite features, generating surprisingly sensible running and cycling routes directly on the watch, while turn-by-turn navigation makes it easy to stay on course without constantly referring to your wrist.

The Fenix 8 Pro supports multi-band GNSS across GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, QZSS and BeiDou. It features SatIQ (now called Auto Select), which automatically switches to the most sensible GNSS method to conserve battery life. For example, it might switch to single-band in open areas and to maximum-accuracy mode in the forest. The brand doesn’t disclose how this feature works, despite my efforts to find out over the years.

Across months of testing, I found GPS tracks to be consistently clean, with little evidence of corner-cutting or wandering, even on heavily tree-lined trails and urban routes between tall buildings.

As for the Elevate Gen 5, Garmin’s wrist-based heart rate monitoring has improved significantly over the past few years, and during steady-state runs, long hikes and strength workouts, the Fenix 8 Pro tracked closely with a chest strap.

As with almost every optical sensor, short, high-intensity intervals can still produce the occasional lag, but for the vast majority of users, the onboard sensor is accurate enough that a chest strap becomes optional rather than essential.

Battery life and charging

Battery life has always been one of the Fenix range's defining strengths, and while the Fenix 8 Pro continues that tradition, there's now a much clearer distinction between the AMOLED and MicroLED models. If endurance is your top priority, the AMOLED version remains the one to buy.

Garmin rates the 47mm AMOLED model for up to 15 days in smartwatch mode (or eight days with the always-on display enabled), while the larger 51mm AMOLED stretches that to 27 days (or 15 days always-on).

Even in the most demanding multi-band GNSS mode, you're looking at up to 30 hours on the 47mm and 53 hours on the 51mm, giving you more than enough endurance for everything from marathon training to multi-day hiking trips.

Despite using what many expected to be a more efficient display technology, the first-generation MicroLED panel is considerably more power-hungry than Garmin's AMOLED screen.

Officially, the 51mm MicroLED model lasts up to 10 days in smartwatch mode (or just four days with the display always on), dropping to 34 hours in multi-band GNSS mode. That's still respectable by smartwatch standards, but it's a noticeable step backwards for a Fenix, especially one carrying such a significant price premium.

In practice, I found Garmin's estimates to be realistic. As with every Fenix before it, battery life varies widely depending on how you use the watch. Daily GPS workouts, frequent GNSS / map use, pulse oximetry (which I always turn off first thing), music playback (very bad for battery life) and LTE LiveTrack all have a measurable impact.

On the other hand, you have SatIQ, which does an excellent job of balancing accuracy and efficiency by engaging multi-band GPS only when conditions require it. Unless you're intentionally trying to drain it, the AMOLED model is still a watch you'll measure in weeks rather than days, which remains a rarity among flagship smartwatches.

Charging is unchanged (pun intended). The Fenix 8 Pro uses Garmin's familiar proprietary four-pin charging cable rather than adopting USB-C or wireless charging. While I'd still like to see Garmin modernise its charging solution, the cable is secure and reliable, and thanks to the watch's excellent endurance you'll rarely need to reach for it.

Verdict

The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro is, without question, the best outdoor smartwatch money can buy.

It combines class-leading navigation, outstanding training tools, reliable health tracking and exceptional build quality into a package that's as comfortable pacing a marathon as it is guiding you across a mountain range. The new MicroLED display is genuinely impressive, too, delivering brightness that no other sports watch can currently match.

The problem is that most of those strengths were already present on the Fenix 8. Unless you specifically want the dazzling MicroLED display or the ability to use inReach Messenger directly from your wrist, the day-to-day experience is remarkably similar. In short, the AMOLED Fenix 8 Pro is a refined version of an already excellent watch.

That's made more complicated by timing. With the Fenix 9 likely on the horizon, potentially bringing a new optical heart rate sensor and perhaps even combining AMOLED with Power Glass charging, the Fenix 8 Pro doesn't feel like the obvious long-term investment it might have six months ago.

Fortunately, it's now available well below its original launch price, making it considerably easier to recommend than it was at launch.

Even so, I'd still point most people towards the cheaper Fenix 8, which delivers almost the same experience for less money. But if you simply want Garmin's most capable adventure watch and don't mind paying for the privilege, the Fenix 8 Pro wears the crown. At least until its successor arrives.

I must confess, the Oura Ring 5 launch caught me by surprise. I’m used to the company tweaking its software and features for a while before moving on to launch new hardware. After all, there was a nearly three-year gap between the release of the Oura Ring Gen 3 and Oura Ring 4.

The new smart ring arrived less than two years after its predecessor (a year and eight months, to be precise), marking a much faster release cycle than we're used to from Oura. As a result, this is more of an evolutionary update than a revolutionary one, with a handful of notable hardware refinements rather than a wholesale redesign.

All of this makes reviewing the Oura Ring 5 something of a balancing act. With relatively few new features, I didn't need months to get familiar with the hardware or software. The harder part was deciding whether those refinements are enough to justify a new generation, especially in a smart ring market that's become far more competitive since the Ring 4 launched.

The good news is that the Oura Ring 5 is still the best smart ring on the market, but if you have the Oura Ring 4 (or the Oura Ring 4 Ceramic) and don’t mind its ‘heft’, there is no need to rush and order the new ring. What are the new features and how do they affect the user experience? Let’s find out.

Oura Ring 5 review

Price and availability

The Oura Ring 5 was announced in May 2026 and is now available to buy at Oura, starting at £399 / $399 / €429 / AU$649 for Silver and Black finishes, and rising to £499 / $499 / €529 / AU$799 for premium colours, including Gold, Stealth, Brushed Silver, and Deep Rose.

This makes the new wearable more expensive than its predecessor, which retailed for £349 / $349 / €399 / AU$569 at launch. These days, you can find plenty of deals on both the Oura Ring 4 and the Oura Ring 4 Ceramic, making them a lot more affordable.

Even though Oura’s products can be used without a subscription, you’ll need Oura Membership to enjoy the full benefits of the system. It costs £5.99 / $5.99 / €5.99 / AU$9.99 a month or £69.99 / $69.99 / €69.99 / AU$109.99 annually. Oura remains the only major smart ring brand to require a membership from its users.

Design and build quality

In the intro, I mentioned a “handful of notable hardware refinements,” which might have undersold the Oura Ring 5. The new ring is 40% smaller than the Oura Ring 4 and looks and feels very much like a standard jewellery ring when worn.

The Oura Ring 5 is 6.09mm wide and 2.28mm thick across its full size range, which makes especially larger models, including my size 12, look rather dainty. The ring comes in six colours, including two basic colours (Silver and Black), and four premium finishes (Brushed Silver, Stealth, Gold and Deep Rose).

The last two are either new (Deep Rose) or redesigned (Gold). I opted for the Deep Rose model to see how it looks in real life, and, more specifically, how it compares to the Rose Gold colourway it replaces. I’d say it looks more like a deep gold, slightly darker than your average gold jewellery but without the pink undertone of the Rose Gold version.

The Oura Ring 5 is not only slimmer but also a lot lighter than the Oura Ring 4. The weight range is 2.0–2.7g – compare it with the Oura Ring 4’s 3.3–5.2g. It’s worth noting that the new model comes in fewer sizes (6–13 vs 4–15). I’m sure a few Oura Ring users with larger / petite hands will be disappointed to hear this. The majority of Oura users will probably be fine, though.

The company redesigned the sensor paths, reducing the number from 18 to 12. Despite the fewer optical paths, the new ring is said to provide more accurate readings, thanks to the brighter LEDs and – I assume – a refined algorithm that analyses the data.

One thing I forgot to mention (and glad to see and feel the return of) are the notches inside the ring. The Oura Ring 4 was slimmer than the Oura Ring 3 and reduced the bumps to almost nothing.

Now that the Oura Ring 5 is even slimmer, the notches are back, making it much easier to rotate the ring into the correct position without looking. The bumps are nowhere near as pronounced as on the Oura Ring 3, but detectable enough to help you find how the ring should sit on your finger.

The brand says the Oura Ring 5's revised PVD coating is more durable than before, and my experience backs that up. Despite wearing it during kettlebell workouts, the ring emerged without any visible scuffs or scratches.

Features

Oura announced a few new features with the launch of the Oura Ring 5, but most aren’t available in all markets yet due to regulatory hurdles in certain countries. Chiefly among these is Health Radar, which continuously analyses multiple biometric signals to spot changes in your physiology before you notice symptoms yourself.

Health Radar builds on the older Symptom Radar feature but is much broader in scope. At launch, it offers Blood Pressure Signals, which examine long-term patterns that may indicate elevated cardiovascular strain, and Nighttime Breathing, which provides a rolling 30-day view of breathing disturbances during sleep.

It’s somewhat risky for Oura to offer blood pressure-related health features, given that Whoop got in trouble with the FDA for rolling out a similar feature in the US, but brand representatives were confident that Oura's approach is different. Living in the UK, I haven’t been able to test Health Radar yet.

Oura Advisor, the company’s AI chatbot, is now said to be more helpful. Admittedly, the brand focuses on women’s health improvements, but the bot can also give you more usable answers about other health metrics. I asked it why the app said I fell asleep too quickly (3-minute latency), given that I have a steady sleep schedule and excellent sleep scores, and it said there is nothing wrong with me. Thanks!

One area where Oura’s ecosystem has some serious catching up to do is activity tracking. Passive tracking is excellent, and the algorithm will recognise a bunch of popular sports, but historically, Oura Ring hasn’t been anyone’s first choice to track runs with. Now, the app can provide real-time heart rate and pacing feedback on runs via a smartphone widget.

This is commendable, but more of a first step rather than a replacement for Garmin watches. Of course, Oura never claimed it was coming after running watches, but the fact that the company now offers live tracking shows it’s aware of its system's shortcomings.

I imagine most Oura users run with their phones, so having access to live workout data is handy. However, the ring + smartphone setup won’t replace a watch for ‘proper’ training, not to mention the lack of training data, something the Oura ecosystem can’t provide.

As for passive health tracking such as sleep, the Oura Ring 5 is still my top choice. Stress tracking could be better (I ranted about this before), but even that issue won’t push the ring off my finger. There is also the community element; my wife always wants to know how our sleep compares and how many calories we burned during the same walk, for example, which makes me want to wear the ring.

As for accuracy, which Oura claims has improved with the fifth-generation ring, I found it difficult to notice any meaningful difference, purely because the Oura Ring 4 is pretty accurate for sleep tracking as is. Workout tracking is accurate enough, but as I mentioned above, only basic fitness data is being collected, which isn’t much to go on. The ring feels accurate for what it’s worth.

Battery life and charging

The company claims the Oura Ring 5 can last up to nine days on a single charge, depending on ring size and usage, and my experience suggests that's a realistic estimate.

Starting from a full battery, the ring still had 15% charge remaining after almost nine days of continuous wear, including 24/7 health tracking, sleep monitoring and workout logging.

While I didn't let it run completely flat (the app would prompt you to charge when the battery hits 15%), the results indicate the Ring 5 is more than capable of matching Oura's official figures under typical day-to-day use.

Better still, charging is remarkably quick. During testing, the battery climbed from 15% to around 50% in just 25 minutes, making it easy to top up while showering or getting ready in the morning rather than leaving it on the charger overnight.

Verdict

The Oura Ring 5 is an easy product to recommend, but perhaps not for the reasons Oura would like. It isn't a dramatic leap over the Ring 4, nor does it fundamentally change what the Oura ecosystem offers.

Instead, it refines an already excellent formula with a noticeably smaller and lighter design, a more durable finish and slightly longer battery life, all while retaining the outstanding sleep and recovery tracking that has made Oura the benchmark for smart rings.

Most of the headline software features are also rolling out to older rings, meaning existing Ring 4 owners aren't missing out on much. If you're happy with your current ring, there's little reason to upgrade, especially given the higher asking price and ongoing membership fee.

However, if you're buying your first smart ring, or upgrading from an older generation, the Oura Ring 5 is the one to get. No rival combines comfort, polished hardware, insightful health tracking and a mature app ecosystem quite as well.

Activity tracking still lags behind dedicated sports wearables, and the subscription remains a sticking point, but neither detracts from the fact that this is currently the most complete smart ring on the market.

Amazon is pricing its deals very differently this Prime Day. Historically, the brand dropped prices across all key categories at the beginning of the sale, making it easier for people like me to report on the offers, but, admittedly, not thrilling for people expecting new discounts every day of the sale.

Shop all Garmin deals in the Amazon Prime Day Sale

This year, the retailer is going down a different avenue. Seemingly, the idea is to drop the price almost imperceptibly every day, so products are cheaper but not too much, making people think they made a bad choice by jumping on an earlier discount.

This happened to the Fenix 8, and now the same pricing strategy is being applied to the newer Fenix 8 Pro, which is around £25 cheaper than it was at the beginning of Prime Day. Again, not a huge amount, considering the overall price of the watch, but substantial enough to make people think they are getting an even better deal.

The good news is that, even with the higher price tag, the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro is one of the few smartwatches that genuinely justifies its premium positioning. It's built for people who spend as much time outdoors as they do training, combining rugged construction with a feature set that few rivals can match.

The 51mm model uses a bright AMOLED display that's easy to read in direct sunlight and is protected by a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal lens.

Battery life remains one of Garmin's biggest strengths, lasting for weeks rather than days in smartwatch mode, while dual-band multi-band GPS delivers highly accurate tracking whether you're running through city streets, hiking in dense forests or navigating mountain trails.

As with the standard Fenix 8, you get downloadable TopoActive maps, turn-by-turn navigation, ClimbPro, ski and golf maps, plus Garmin's comprehensive suite of training tools, including Training Readiness, Endurance Score, Hill Score and real-time stamina tracking.

Health monitoring is equally impressive, with 24/7 heart rate, Pulse Ox, ECG support, sleep coaching and detailed recovery insights helping you decide when to push and when to rest.

Built-in speaker and microphone allow you to take calls from your wrist when connected to your phone, while Garmin Pay, onboard music storage and a built-in LED flashlight make the Fenix 8 Pro just as useful during daily life as it is on big adventures.

This Amazon Prime Day(s) is a real treat for smartwatch fans. We've seen plenty of Garmin deals, including the cheapest-ever Fenix 8 offer, but if you can't quite stretch your budget that much, I have an excellent alternative for you.

Shop all smartwatch deals on Amazon's Prime Day Sale

The Amazfit T-Rex 3 is currently under £200 and offers features similar to the Garmin, including long battery life, dual-band GNSS, offline Topo maps, an AMOLED screen, NFC payments, and 170 sports modes.

The Amazfit T-Rex 3 is one of the best-value outdoor smartwatches you can buy, especially at this price. It earned a T3 Award in 2025 for good reason, combining premium outdoor features with a price tag that undercuts much of the competition.

Built to military-grade durability standards, the T-Rex 3 is designed for hiking, trail running, climbing and pretty much any outdoor adventure you can throw at it. Its bright 1.5-inch AMOLED display reaches up to 2,000 nits, making it easy to read even in direct sunlight, and it boasts a stainless steel bezel and robust construction.

You get dual-band GPS with support for six satellite systems, downloadable Topo maps with turn-by-turn navigation, advanced training metrics, offline route guidance, and health tracking covering heart rate, blood oxygen, sleep and stress.

Zepp Pay brings contactless payments, and the watch can even store music for phone-free workouts. Battery life is excellent, lasting up to 27 days in typical smartwatch mode or around 42 hours with GPS tracking enabled.

I feel like at this point, everyone who wanted a Fenix 8 has bought one, as the watch has been steadily dropping in price for the last 6 months or so. The last time I reported on the brand's flagship smartwatch was 2 days ago, when it fell to its lowest-ever price of £567.15.

Shop all Garmin deals on Amazon (prices from £141.55)

Now, the Fenix 8 has fallen to an even lower price. At £555.15, it's 30% off RRP, which is a very tempting offer. If you bought one two days ago for £12 more, I wouldn't lose sleep over it; however, if you haven't, now would be the time to jump on board.

A 30% discount makes the Garmin Fenix 8 much easier to recommend, especially if you've been waiting for the top-tier Garmin watch to become a little more affordable.

Even at launch, it was one of the most capable multisport smartwatches money could buy, combining premium hardware with a feature set that few rivals can match.

The bright AMOLED display is the headline upgrade, delivering crisp maps, colourful workout screens and excellent readability in almost any lighting conditions.

It also packs Garmin's latest training tools, including Training Readiness, Endurance Score, Hill Score, advanced recovery insights, wrist-based running dynamics and personalised daily workout suggestions.

Beyond running, the Fenix 8 excels across hiking, cycling, swimming, strength training and outdoor adventures. Full-colour TopoActive maps, multi-band GPS, SatIQ positioning and turn-by-turn navigation make it a superb companion for exploring unfamiliar routes.

New additions such as a built-in speaker and microphone for calls and voice commands, plus dive-ready hardware with a 40-metre dive rating, help separate it from previous generations.

Just last week, I reported on an excellent Fenix 8 Pro deal at Goldsmiths that brought the price down to £895 and thought, "Hmm, that's a pretty good offer."

Shop all Garmin deals on Amazon

Fast-forward a few days, and I'm writing about another discount on Garmin's flagship smartwatch, this time at Amazon, where the Fenix 8 Pro has been slashed by nearly 30% off its RRP.

The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro LTE is one of the most feature-packed smartwatches Garmin has ever produced, combining advanced fitness tracking, outdoor navigation and smartwatch functionality in a rugged premium design.

The 47mm model features a bright AMOLED touchscreen protected by sapphire crystal glass and housed in a titanium bezel. The Fenix 8 Pro LTE includes multi-band GPS with SatIQ technology for improved positioning accuracy while helping preserve battery life.

It supports a huge range of activities, including running, cycling, swimming, hiking, strength training, skiing and triathlon, alongside Garmin's advanced training tools such as Training Readiness, Training Status, Endurance Score, Hill Score and daily workout suggestions.

Health monitoring is equally comprehensive, with 24/7 heart rate tracking, Pulse Ox blood oxygen monitoring, stress tracking, HRV Status, Body Battery energy monitoring, Sleep Coach and detailed recovery insights.

The built-in LED flashlight remains one of the watch's most useful features, providing quick access to white and red light during early-morning runs, camping trips or emergencies.

This LTE version also incorporates Garmin's inReach satellite communication technology, enabling messaging and safety features even when you're beyond mobile coverage. Battery life remains impressive despite the bright display, delivering up to 15 days in smartwatch mode.

Additional features include offline maps, turn-by-turn navigation, Garmin Pay, onboard music storage, Wi-Fi connectivity and smart notifications, making the Fenix 8 Pro LTE a genuine do-everything watch for adventure, training and everyday life.

Day 2 of Amazon Prime Week (or whatever it's called) has brought along a new Garmin watch deal, and it's on one of the brand's most underrated models. The Vivoactive 6 has a bright AMOLED screen and well over a week of battery life, yet costs less than a pair of Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation).

Shop all Garmin deals on Amazon

As much as I love the Fenix and Forerunner series, it's hard to deny the appeal of the fitness-first Vivoactive, especially at this price point. You get offline music storage, all the Garmin features under the sun, and lightweight hardware you can wear all day.

The Garmin Vivoactive 6 is designed for people who want a smartwatch that balances health tracking, fitness features and everyday convenience without stepping up to one of Garmin's more expensive Forerunner or Fenix models.

It features a bright 1.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen housed in a lightweight 42mm case, offering vibrant colours and excellent visibility indoors and outdoors. The watch is rated to 5 ATM for water resistance, making it suitable for swimming, showers and everyday wear.

The Vivoactive 6 can last up to 11 days in smartwatch mode or up to 21 hours with GPS tracking enabled, meaning most users won't need to charge it every night.

Health and wellness tracking is comprehensive, with Garmin's Body Battery energy monitoring, Sleep Coach, sleep score, HRV status, stress tracking, Pulse Ox blood oxygen monitoring and women's health features all included.

The Garmin watch also provides Garmin's Morning Report, giving you a snapshot of your sleep, recovery and daily outlook as soon as you wake up.

For fitness enthusiasts, the Vivoactive 6 packs more than 80 sports modes, Garmin Coach training plans, PacePro pacing guidance, wrist-based running power and downloadable workouts.

Music storage is built in, allowing offline playlists from services such as Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube Music, while Garmin Pay and smartphone notifications help it function as an everyday smartwatch as well.

Oura is still the most popular smart ring company, and for a good reason. The company's wearables are among the most accurate for sleep tracking, and thanks to recent software updates, they can now also track workouts and a number of health and fitness metrics.

Shop all smartwatches and rings in the Prime Deal Days sale

There is a small issue, though: Oura Rings are expensive. Not anymore! Amazon just slashed the price of the Oura Ring 4 across all colourways available at the retailer, including the premium Rose Gold option, which now sells for only £267 – a whopping £232 saving!

The Oura Ring 4 is one of the most advanced smart rings on the market, packing a surprisingly comprehensive suite of health and wellness features into a device that weighs as little as 3.3g.

It's designed to be worn around the clock and tracks key metrics including heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), blood oxygen levels, sleep stages, body temperature trends and activity throughout the day.

Oura's Smart Sensing technology improves comfort while helping deliver more accurate readings across a wider range of finger shapes and sizes.

The ring continuously analyses your data to generate personalised Sleep, Readiness and Activity Scores, giving users a simple way to understand how recovered they are and how hard they should train.

Battery life is another highlight, with the Oura Ring 4 lasting up to eight days between charges. It's compatible with both iOS and Android devices and syncs seamlessly with popular fitness platforms, including Apple Health, Google Health Connect and Strava.

Please note that different colourways have different prices; make sure you check before you add them to your basket!

Amazon's Prime Deal Days Sale is live, and unlike during the retailer giant's spring sale, there are a number of Garmin watches on offer. 12 in total, to be precise, including renewed offers.

Shop all Garmin deals in the Prime Deal Days Sale

Similar to the last Amazon shopping event earlier this year, the headliner deal is on Garmin's flagship adventure watch, the Fenix 8 AMIOLED, which is currently selling for 28% off, saving you over £220.

The Forerunner 265 has never been this cheap, either, making this mid-range running watch all the more appealing. The beginner-friendly Forerunner 165 plummeted to its lowest-ever price, too, if that's something you're interested in.

The sale also includes one of the lowest prices ever on the Instinct 3 Solar smartwatch, which offers up to 28 days of battery life when the solar panels are exposed to enough sunlight.

Below, I collected all the deals currently available, apart from the renewed models. If you're interested in seeing those, click or tap on the link above.

At the end of the article, I also included a price widget that collects prices from every site, not just Amazon, in case any Garmins are even cheaper somewhere else. Unlikely, but it can happen.

Google just recently unveiled the Fitbit Air, the brand's first screenless wearable, trying to compete with the likes of Whoop and Polar.

Now, Amazfit has announced its take on the screenless wearable concept.

The new Helio Strap Pro aims to measure how your body moves during exercise, giving hybrid athletes and gym-goers a more complete picture of their performance.

Building on last year's Helio Strap, the Helio Strap Pro adds a second sensor that sits at your waist to capture core-body movement and stability.

Amazfit says this allows the system to monitor movement quality, efficiency and muscle load alongside more traditional metrics such as heart rate.

The Helio Strap Pro isn't a single device, but rather a system that combines the Helio Core Motion HR sensor, worn on the upper arm, with the Helio Core Motion Waist sensor, which attaches around your midsection.

Together, they work with compatible Amazfit smartwatches to create what the company calls a "body-worn training system".

Built with HYROX athletes in mind

Amazfit evidently takes its global partnership with HYROX seriously.

The fitness racing series, which blends running with functional workout stations and has attracted a sizeable CrossFit audience, is now said to be one of the fastest-growing participation sports in the world.

At launch, the Helio Strap Pro is designed to work alongside the new Amazfit Balance 3 and Balance Ultra, using the watches' HYROX Race and HYROX Simulation modes.

During workouts, the watch and sensors collect data from different parts of the body, allowing Amazfit to analyse how movement patterns change as fatigue builds.

It's an interesting evolution of the screenless wearable concept. Devices such as the Fitbit Air, Whoop MG and the original Helio Strap focus heavily on recovery, readiness and health metrics.

The Helio Strap Pro still does that, but also attempts to understand how efficiently you're moving during training sessions.

The new system includes the Helio Core Motion HR sensor, Helio Core Motion Waist sensor, wristband, armband, clip and magnetic charger in the box.

The Helio Strap Pro is available for pre-order now at Amazfit US for $200 (~£152 / €175 / AU$286).

UK, EU and AU pricing and availability have yet to be confirmed.

As someone who earns a living reviewing smartwatches, I appreciate a wearable that looks nothing like an Apple Watch or Garmin. Don't get me wrong; I like the look of modern smartwatches, but admittedly, they can start to feel a bit samey after a while.

Not just that, but they can also be quite distracting due to their ability to connect to your phone. Most smartwatches act as extension screens for your smartphone, which I think we can all agree is the single most distracting thing many of us own.

If only there were a way to track your health stats without notifications, app alerts and glowing displays constantly demanding attention. Of course, there is: hybrid smartwatches. Somehow, the category has remained relatively niche since its inception, despite efforts from brands such as Withings to bring it into the mainstream.

Nowatch is a relatively young company based in Amsterdam. It first gained attention with screenless wearables before moving into what I'll be talking about here: a traditional-looking watch equipped with health sensors. Its latest models are undeniably handsome and promise real-time health tracking without the distractions of a conventional smartwatch.

The Nowatch B, the model I've been testing, comes in two sizes (36mm and 42mm), three finishes and four strap options. At 10.9mm thick, it's comparatively slim and sits elegantly on the wrist. I opted for the gold finish paired with the black woven strap, a combination that looks classy without appearing overly flashy.

The strap felt a little stiff out of the box, but it has softened during the couple of weeks I've spent with the watch. I generally prefer nylon or fabric straps for round-the-clock wear, though in this case the woven option felt like the best match for the watch's aesthetic.

A smartwatch that doesn't look or feel like one

Speaking of all-day wear, it feels somewhat strange to wear a watch like the Nowatch B to bed. It looks like a dress watch rather than something designed for sleep tracking or exercise. Yet, for the best results, that's exactly what you should be doing.

And arguably, that's the entire appeal. The Nowatch B looks like a traditional watch while quietly monitoring your health in the background. The idea behind the product is simple: give users the benefits of a smartwatch without the distractions.

Through the Nowatch app, you can track sleep, exercise, heart rate and general activity. There is also a feature called Reactivity, which is essentially the company's interpretation of stress tracking. During setup, you'll regularly check in with the app and log how you're feeling so the algorithm can learn how your body's physiological responses relate to your mood and stress levels.

It took around five days for the app to calibrate and begin tracking Reactivity continuously. Once it does, you'll generally find yourself categorised as either low reactivity, homeostasis or high reactivity. I typically hit low reactivity while sleeping and spent most of my day in homeostasis.

High reactivity appeared during workouts and periods of stress. To the app's credit, it seemed capable of distinguishing between exercise-induced strain and everyday stress, something not every recovery-focused wearable manages particularly well. The results broadly aligned with how I felt throughout the testing period.

Syncing can occasionally be slow if the app has been closed in the background. I'm used to seeing data appear almost instantly on competing platforms, whereas the Nowatch B sometimes requires a little patience before everything updates.

Sleep tracking is where things fall apart

That's all well and good, as long as the data is accurate.

Stress tracking is notoriously difficult to verify, but activity detection seemed reasonably reliable. Walks and general movement were picked up without issue. Where the watch struggled, surprisingly, was sleep tracking.

Across two weeks of testing, the Nowatch B repeatedly missed large portions of my sleep. This wasn't a one-off anomaly. Night after night, it struggled to recognise when I had actually fallen asleep.

One example showed the watch recording my sleep between 3:18 am and 7:02 am, even though I was asleep for significantly longer. The latter timestamp also coincided with my opening of the app that morning.

The watch even recognised that I had been awake before opening the app and suggested I take a nap, yet still failed to log the majority of my overnight sleep.

Because those hours weren't detected, the watch couldn't provide meaningful sleep-stage information either. If the device doesn't know you're asleep, it can't tell you how much time you spent in deep, light or REM sleep.

Of all the things a health-focused wearable needs to get right, sleep tracking sits near the top of the list. Throughout the testing period, both the Oura Ring 5 and Xiaomi Watch S5 produced results that aligned much more closely with my actual sleep patterns.

Battery life raises questions too

Battery life is another area where I came away slightly underwhelmed.

Five days would be perfectly respectable for a smartwatch with a bright AMOLED display constantly lighting up notifications and workout metrics. For a wearable with no display at all, however, it feels less impressive.

Competing hybrid watches such as the Withings ScanWatch 2 can last for weeks between charges while still offering health-tracking features and a small display. Five days isn't bad, but it does leave you wondering where all that battery power is going.

So where does that leave the Nowatch B?

I'm conflicted about the Nowatch B.

On one hand, it's one of the nicest-looking health wearables I've worn in a long time. The no-distraction philosophy is refreshing, the hardware feels premium, and the Reactivity feature appears genuinely interesting.

On the other hand, the fundamentals still need work. Sleep tracking is inconsistent, syncing can be slow, and battery life falls short of what I'd expect from a screenless wearable.

For a wearable that costs more than the standard Apple Watch, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect accurate sleep tracking.

That doesn't mean the Nowatch B is without merit. There will undoubtedly be people who value its traditional watch styling and distraction-free approach above absolute tracking accuracy. For those users, it offers something genuinely different from the sea of smartwatches currently on the market.

But based on my experience so far, the sensors and algorithms need further refinement before the Nowatch B can fully deliver on its promise.

The Nowatch B is available now from Nowatch, with prices starting at £356 / €399 / $499 (~AU$651).

Father's Day is this weekend, and if you're still looking for a gift that will genuinely impress, this Garmin Fenix 8 Pro deal is well worth a look. The premium adventure smartwatch is currently over £200 off, making it one of the best discounts I've seen on Garmin's most capable wearable.

Shop all Garmin watch deals at Goldsmiths

The Fenix 8 Pro sits at the very top of Garmin's smartwatch lineup, combining inReach connectivity, impressive battery life and a vibrant AMOLED display with comprehensive health tracking, multi-band GPS, offline topographic maps and the brand's ever-useful built-in flashlight.

The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro is the brand's most advanced adventure smartwatch, combining rugged outdoor credentials with premium smartwatch features. Built around a bright AMOLED touchscreen display, it's designed to be easy to read in all conditions while offering a more modern look and feel than previous generations.

It has built-in inReach satellite connectivity, allowing you to send messages and trigger SOS alerts when outside mobile network coverage. It's a significant upgrade for hikers, trail runners, and adventurers who spend time in remote areas (an inReach subscription required).

The watch also packs Garmin's latest multi-band GPS technology for highly accurate tracking, along with offline topographic maps, turn-by-turn navigation, and route-planning tools. A built-in LED flashlight adds another layer of practicality, proving useful during early-morning runs, campsite tasks, and emergency situations.

For health and fitness tracking, the Fenix 8 Pro monitors heart rate, sleep, stress, recovery, training readiness and dozens of sports profiles. Advanced training metrics help athletes better understand performance and recovery, while smartwatch features such as notifications, contactless payments and music storage make it a capable everyday companion.

Battery life remains one of Garmin's biggest strengths, with the Fenix 8 Pro lasting significantly longer than most rival smartwatches. Combined with its durable construction, comprehensive mapping tools and safety features, it's a watch built for people who want one device that can handle everything from daily training to multi-day adventures.

Coros has announced a new partnership with AllTrails, aiming to make discovering, navigating and recording outdoor adventures a little more seamless.

The integration connects the brand's running and outdoor watches with the popular hiking and trail discovery platform, allowing you to send saved routes directly from AllTrails to your watch for turn-by-turn navigation.

Activities recorded on a Coros smartwatch can also be automatically synced to AllTrails to help you build a complete record of your adventures without excessive button pressing.

While it might not be as flashy as a new product launch, the update removes one of the common friction points for hikers, trail runners and fastpackers who use multiple platforms to plan and track their activities.

Coros says users with an AllTrails Plus or Peak subscription can save routes within the AllTrails app and send them directly to a compatible wearable.

Once on the trail, navigation runs on the watch, freeing users from constantly checking their phones.

Following the breadcrumbs

The partnership also allows users to upload photos, leave trail reviews and contribute route information back to the AllTrails community after completing an activity on a Coros watch.

According to the company, the goal is to create a smoother experience from route discovery through to navigation and activity logging.

The announcement arrives during what appears to be a busy period for hiking-focused software updates.

Just last week, Strava introduced a major package of hiking features, including enhanced route planning, navigation tools and social features designed specifically for outdoor adventures.

Unlike Strava's update, which focuses on expanding the platform's own hiking capabilities, Coros has opted to partner with an established trail discovery service.

It's a relatively small change in the grand scheme of things, but one that could make a noticeable difference for anyone who spends their weekends exploring new trails.

While Coros has yet to confirm exactly which devices are supported, the integration is expected to be available on the brand's navigation-capable watches, including recent models in the Pace, Apex and Vertix families.

Read more about the update at Coros.

The next ultra-endurance Garmin watch may have just made an early appearance.

According to recent reports, references to the Enduro 4 have been spotted in code associated with the Garmin Connect app, suggesting the company is already preparing software support for an upcoming device.

While Garmin has (understandably) yet to confirm the watch's existence, the leak immediately raises a bigger question than the watch itself: what happens to the Enduro lineup in an increasingly AMOLED-focused Garmin ecosystem?

While many of the brand's flagship watches, including the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro, have moved towards brighter AMOLED and MicroLED displays, the Enduro remains firmly focused on battery life above all else.

Historically, the ultra-runner favourite wearable used a memory-in-pixel (MIP) display combined with Garmin's solar charging technology to deliver some of the longest runtimes available on any performance smartwatch (see also Leon's Garmin Enduro 3 review).

That's become the defining characteristic of the Enduro series, especially among long-distance runners, hikers and expedition athletes who value longevity over screen quality.

So, where does this all leave the Enduro 4? I can see three possibilities, one of which is the most likely, even though it also feels somewhat interesting coming from a brand that's been pushing new technologies for decades.

The watch that could keep MIP alive

Garmin's recent launches suggest the company is steadily moving towards premium display technologies.

AMOLED screens are now common across much of its range, while MicroLED appears to be the brand's long-term flagship display solution, making the upcoming Enduro a fascinating product from a strategic perspective.

If Garmin replaces the MIP display with AMOLED, it risks losing the very feature that makes the Enduro stand out from watches such as the Fenix, as well as alienating the model's core audience.

Even with improvements in battery efficiency, AMOLED displays consume considerably more power than reflective MIP panels, particularly during extended outdoor use with GPS turned on.

For that reason alone, the Enduro could become the last major Garmin product family to retain MIP technology. Well, there is also the Instinct 3, which launched in January 2025 and sports a MIP + Solar combo, but still – it was released over a year and a half ago, an absolute age in wearables.

That said, the most likely scenario is that the next-generation Enduro will feature updated sensors, a more efficient processor, enhanced solar charging, and improved GPS performance.

It would still have a clear purpose in the lineup without abandoning the battery-first philosophy that has defined the series.

Could AMOLED and solar finally coexist?

Of course, Garmin may have other plans.

One possibility is that the company has been working on a more advanced version of its Power Glass technology that can offset the additional power demands of an AMOLED display.

Such a combination would allow Garmin to modernise the Enduro while preserving much of its legendary battery life. The challenge is that expectations are exceptionally high among Enduro owners, who expect class-leading – not just very long – battery life.

An AMOLED Enduro that lasts a few weeks between charges would still be impressive by smartwatch standards, but it might not be enough to satisfy athletes who currently choose the series specifically because it can keep going for extended adventures without needing to visit a power socket.

While Garmin is surely working on this technology, it would also be strange for the company to debut such a game-changer feature in the Enduro line. Innovations are usually reserved for the Fenix, and should the AMOLED + Power Glass tech launch soon, it's likely to debut in the Fenix 9.

The subtle option

Another possibility is that Garmin's next-generation chipset could deliver meaningful efficiency gains through smarter power management.

Smartwatch manufacturers have increasingly relied on intelligent task scheduling and machine-learning-assisted optimisation to extend battery life without increasing battery size, and Garmin could adopt a similar approach.

Garmin doesn't like to talk about chips as much as other manufacturers, even though I'm sure it's been tinkering with machine learning/AI to optimise the performance of its wearables.

Even if the company won't use third-party chipsets (e.g., Snapdragon), AI-enhanced silicon that handles tasks more efficiently could improve battery life.

Of course, Garmin would have to admit in its marketing that it did something with its components for the improvements to make sense – it can't just launch the watch and say, "hey, the Enduro 4 has longer battery life, but we won't tell you why."

For now, all we know is that the Enduro 4 appears to be on Garmin's roadmap. The bigger mystery is whether it will become the watch that finally brings AMOLED and solar charging together, or the product that keeps MIP displays alive for another generation.

[via NotebookCheck, Gadgets&Wearables]

Amazfit has unveiled two new additions to its growing smartwatch portfolio, the Balance Ultra and Balance 3, introducing a range of hardware upgrades and new training features.

With titanium construction, sapphire glass, dual-band GPS, offline maps, and long battery life, the wearables are aimed at the same premium sports-watch buyers who typically shop Garmin watches.

Although the company is placing a strong emphasis on HYROX with the latest models, the Balance Ultra and Balance 3 also bring meaningful improvements to the hardware itself.

Both watches feature a 1.5-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 480 x 480 pixels, sapphire glass protection and a peak brightness of 3,000 nits.

That's a significant jump from the 2,000-nit display found on the Balance 2 and should make the screens easier to read in bright sunlight.

More than just a brighter screen

The company has equipped both fitness watches with a new processor, which the company claims delivers up to 2.5 times faster rendering and 12 times faster map refresh rates than before.

Storage has also doubled from 32GB to 64GB, providing additional space for offline maps and other content.

Offline topographic and contour maps remain a key part of the experience, alongside dual-frequency GPS and support for six satellite positioning systems.

The flagship Balance Ultra features a Grade 5 titanium frame and bottom case, weighs 57g and packs a 780mAh battery.

Amazfit says it can last up to 30 days between charges or deliver up to 50 hours of GPS tracking.

The Balance 3 is available in Titanium or Stainless Steel and offers up to 21 days of battery life and 41 hours of GPS use.

An integrated dual-mode flashlight with white, red and SOS lighting modes is also new to the watches, although not to the brand, as the Cheetah 2 Ultra already has this.

Both watches are also rated to 10ATM, support diving activities, and meet "military-grade durability standards."

Amazfit goes all-in on hybrid training

Amazfit is introducing a suite of new hybrid training tools aimed at athletes balancing strength and endurance workouts, including Training Balance and Hybrid Charge.

The watches include access to a dedicated HYROX training library, personalised race strategies based on venue layouts and detailed post-race analysis.

The Balance Ultra and Balance 3 run Zepp OS 6 and support a wide range of third-party platforms, including Strava, TrainingPeaks, Komoot, adidas Running and Intervals.icu.

They can also connect to external accessories such as heart rate monitors, cycling power meters and Stryd foot pods.

The Balance Ultra is priced at £600 / €600 / $600 (~AU$848) and is available exclusively in titanium at Amazfit UK, Amazfit EU and Amazfit US.

The Balance 3 is available ot pre-order now, with prices starting at £370 / €370 / $370 (~AU$523) for the Stainless Steel version at Amazfit UK, Amazfit EU and Amazfit US.

There was a point a few years ago when, if you needed an accurate wrist-worn device for running – especially trail running – you had to get a Garmin watch. The brand started as a GPS company and became one of the biggest players in wearable technology, and definitely the main brand when it comes to performance smartwatches.

Lucky for us, things look different in 2026. Challenger brands such as Coros and Amazfit aren’t just for people who can’t afford Garmins; they also put out genuinely impressive wearables for beginners and enthusiasts alike. And while Coros is happy to cater for the MIP crowd (for now), Amazfit has been putting out some seriously impressive AMOLED watches over the past.

The brand is closing the gap with Garmin so well that we gave the Amazfit T-Rex 3 the best outdoor watch award last year. Now, with the Cheetah 2 Ultra, Amazfit is after Garmin’s battery bruiser, the Enduro 3. And, as expected, it’s a compelling wearable that’s well built, delivers strong GPS performance, and looks the part.

While it doesn’t have the Enduro 3’s solar charging prowess – seemingly none of the other brands have cracked this technology so far – the Cheetah 2 Pro can last up to a month on a single charge, which is not too shabby. Best of all, it’s cheaper than the big-ticket rival, which hardly ever gets a discount. Best multisport watch of 2026? Let’s find out.

Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra review

Price and availability

The Cheetah 2 Ultra was launched in May 2026 and is available to buy now at Amazfit UK, Amazfit EU and Amazfit US for the recommended price of £600 / €600 / $600 (~AU$979). As always, it’s the good folks of the UK who pay the most for the watch ($600 is around £450). I guess it looks nicer to sell the watch for the same numerical value in all countries, but this might not be the fairest pricing.

It only comes in one colourway, but you do get two straps (one fabric and one silicone) in the box. The Cheetah 2 Ultra is a whopping £150 more expensive than the Cheetah 2 Pro and currently the most expensive smartwatch Amazfit offers. It’s on par with the Balance Ultra, which was launched in June 2026.

For comparison, the recommended retail price of the Enduro 3 is £770 / €850 / $900 / AU$1,549, which is much more expensive across all countries, especially in the US, where you can get the Cheetah 2 Ultra for a whopping $300 less. The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro is pretty much twice as expensive as the Amazfit at £1,200 / €1,400 / $1,300 / AU$2,300.

Design and build quality

I criticised Amazfit before for adding trims to its watches for the sake of it. The T-Rex series is notorious for this approach, but the Cheetah has always been much more streamlined than its rugged outdoor-watch sibling. Indeed, the Cheetah 2 Ultra is surprisingly nimble-looking and weighs a whopping 11g less than the Enduro 3 (52g vs 63g).

The Cheetah 2 Ultra measures 47.4 x 47.4 mm and is 13.3 mm thick, making it a hair smaller (and thicker) than the Cheetah 2 Pro, which is 48 x 48 x 13.2 mm. The case and bezel are made of Grade 5 titanium alloy, giving the watch a more premium feel. The four push buttons located around the edge of the case are also made of the same material.

Amazfit claims the watch has been tested to military standards, but doesn’t specify which. The Cheetah 2 Pro has been described elsewhere as having 15 MIL-STD-810G certifications, but no such info is available on the new watch. Not like it matters all that much; more importantly, the Cheetah 2 Ultra is water-resistant to 5 ATM, even though it’s not certified for diving.

It features a large 1.5 "AMOLED screen with a resolution of 480x480 and peak brightness of 3,000 nits, the latter of which seems to be the ceiling for current AMOLED panels. Most top-tier smartwatches have the same brightness, except for the MicroLED version of the Fenix 8 Pro. The display is protected by a sapphire glass lens.

Carried over from other Amazfit wearables, the Cheetah 2 Ultra has a built-in flashlight with three modes (white light, red light and SOS), and is said to have a more advanced CPU than the Cheetah 2 Pro (HS3s vs HS3). It also has a speaker and a microphone and tends to be very chatty during workouts.

Flip the watch over, and you’ll find the BioTracker 6.0 PPG sensor (5PD + 2LED), the very same you’ll find on the Amazfit T-Rex 3 Pro or the Balance 2. The watch is equipped with ABC sensors as well as a gyroscope, ambient light, geomagnetic, and temperature sensors.

In terms of connectivity, it has BLE 5.2 and Wi-Fi 2.4GHz, the latter of which enables you to transfer large amounts of data (e.g. topo maps) faster. The Cheetah 2 Ultra has a dual-band positioning setup and has access to six satellite systems. It has 64 GB of storage, mainly for maps.

Features

Amazfit markets the Cheetah 2 Ultra to trail runners, but it packs pretty much every health and fitness feature Amazfit currently offers. Around-the-clock monitoring covers heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, stress levels and skin temperature, while sleep tracking goes beyond the basics to include heart rate variability (HRV), sleep stages, breathing quality, daytime naps and a nightly sleep score.

The watch can also alert you to unusually high or low heart rates, low blood oxygen levels and elevated stress, and even suggest guided breathing exercises when needed.

Health features are supplemented by Amazfit's PAI health assessment system (similar to the circles on the Apple Watch), heart rate recovery tracking, and menstrual cycle monitoring. The watch also supports Zepp Flow, Amazfit's AI-powered voice assistant, which I haven’t used much because I’m not a massive fan of talking to my watch about stuff I can check on my phone with less effort.

On the fitness side, the Cheetah 2 Ultra offers more than 180 sports modes and can automatically recognise 25 strength-training movements and eight common sports activities. The watch can recognise certain movements, including walking, and can track them the same way it would if you started a workout manually.

The benefit of this over Garmin’s MoveIQ is that the logged workouts (walks, runs, etc.) contribute to your workout load, so if you’re like me and walk to a lot of places, your watch will give you a much better recovery estimate based on these. Garmin tracks walks in the background but doesn’t seem to take them into account when calculating training load.

Runners are particularly well catered for, with support for structured workouts, Zepp Coach training plans, running power, lactate threshold analysis, ground contact time, virtual pacing and track running mode with smart trajectory correction – all without needing any external sensors, such as heart rate monitors.

Speaking of which, the Cheetah 2 Ultra can connect to external sensors, including heart rate straps, cycling power meters, cadence sensors, and running power pods. Workout analysis is handled by Amazfit's PeakBeats platform, while data can be synchronised with popular third-party services including Strava, Runna, TrainingPeaks, Intervals.icu, Apple Health and Google Fit.

Away from training, the Cheetah 2 Ultra functions as a capable smartwatch, offering Bluetooth music controls (no offline music, though), phone notifications, to-do lists, weather forecasts, voice memos, event reminders, membership cards, Pomodoro timers and morning briefings, alongside practical features such as Find My Phone and Bluetooth camera control for iPhone users.

Mapping and performance

One of the biggest upgrades over previous Amazfit running watches is the mapping experience. The Cheetah 2 Ultra ships with offline navigation support and can display base maps, contour maps and ski resort maps directly on the watch, making it a much more capable companion for trail running, hiking and mountain adventures than earlier Cheetah models.

Maps are downloaded through the Zepp app rather than directly on the watch. The process is straightforward enough, but Amazfit doesn't offer countrywide map downloads the way Garmin does.

Instead of downloading a complete UK Topo map, for example, you select square sections of a map and download those individually. The largest I could select (~250 x 385 miles = 96,000 square miles) covered a substantial portion of Great Britain and required a 640 MB download that included the base map, contour layer, and ski map data.

Once loaded onto the watch, the maps are surprisingly detailed. Contour lines make it easier to assess terrain at a glance, while turn-by-turn navigation and route guidance help keep you on course.

A recent software update added full-route and segment elevation profiles with colour-coded gradient difficulty, allowing you (and me) to see where the toughest climbs lie before reaching them. The same update also introduced waypoint saving with expanded icon support, making it easier to mark and revisit important locations on the trail.

While Garmin still offers a more mature navigation ecosystem, particularly in route planning and nationwide mapping, Amazfit has closed the gap considerably.

In terms of accuracy, I tested the watch against the Garmin Forerunner 970 and the Fenix 8 Pro, and the Cheetah 2 Ultra marked the miles exactly at the same points as the Garmins. I must confess that I live in an area with a pretty good view of the sky, so I can’t say I pushed the GNSS to its limits.

Still, from what I can tell, the Cheetah 2 Ultra can keep up with the Garmins. Heart rate accuracy: ditto, even though I had a run where the Amazfit pegged my heart rate at over 160 bpm for the full 5k, while the Fenix 8 Pro suggested it was more in the 135-140 bpm range.

The other sessions looked pretty good, though, so I’ll keep an eye on this heart rate situation for now. Amazfit is pretty good at software updates, so if there is a glitch in tracking, I’m sure the brand will fix it soon enough.

Battery and charging

Amazfit rates the watch for up to 30 days of typical use and up to 60 hours of GPS tracking, thanks in part to its sizeable 780mAh battery.

In my testing, the watch certainly felt capable of going the distance. I started with 72% battery remaining at 9 pm on 29 May, and after two days of general smartwatch use without any recorded workouts, the charge had dropped to 63%. If the watch continued to discharge at the same rate, this would equate to around 22 days in smartwatch mode.

A 23-minute outdoor run consumed just 1% of battery, suggesting GPS efficiency is excellent for shorter activities. A one-hour-and-40-minute GPS walking session saw the battery drop from 28% to 25%, suggesting a ~56-hour GPS battery life – very close to Amazfit’s 60-hour claim.

Extrapolating from those figures suggests most users could comfortably get around two weeks of mixed use from a partial charge, while a full charge should get reasonably close to Amazfit's quoted figures, depending on how heavily they use GPS tracking, mapping, and health monitoring features.

Of course, batteries don’t deplete in a linear fashion, so it’s possible that your Cheetah 2 Ultra’s battery performance will be different. Adjusting the brightness or tinkering with the active sensors will change performance, so make sure you go through the menus to check which features you need and which you can live without.

Charging is adequate rather than exceptional. The device draws a modest 3W while charging, reaching 80% in about 40 minutes and taking roughly 85 minutes for a full recharge. That's perfectly serviceable for overnight charging or topping up before an activity, though some rivals now offer noticeably quicker charging speeds.

The interesting thing is that the charging curve suggests the device is drawing a fairly constant low power rather than aggressively fast-charging. A maximum draw of around 3W indicates the manufacturer is prioritising battery longevity and thermal management over speed.

Verdict

The Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra is the closest the brand has come to producing a true Garmin rival. It combines a premium titanium build, a bright AMOLED display, excellent GPS performance and impressive battery life into a package that feels purpose-built for trail runners and outdoor athletes rather than simply adapted from a general fitness watch.

What impressed me most is how complete the overall experience feels. The addition of offline mapping, contour maps, elevation profiles, and waypoint support transforms the Cheetah 2 Ultra into a genuinely capable navigation tool, while the wealth of training metrics, sensor support, and third-party integrations ensures serious runners won't feel short-changed. GPS accuracy was excellent during testing, and battery life came surprisingly close to Amazfit's ambitious claims.

It's not perfect. Garmin still offers a more polished navigation ecosystem, solar charging remains exclusive to the Enduro 3, and I'd like to see Amazfit move away from its somewhat clunky tile-based map downloads. The occasional heart-rate anomaly also suggests there is room for refinement.

Those criticisms feel relatively minor when you consider the price. At this price, the Cheetah 2 Ultra undercuts the Garmin Enduro 3 by a considerable margin while delivering much of the same functionality.

For runners who want a premium endurance watch with a gorgeous display and strong outdoor credentials, the Cheetah 2 Ultra is not just Amazfit's best watch yet, but also one of the most compelling multisport watches of 2026.

The Fitbit Air has only just launched, but it's already being hacked and getting the attention that some wearables can only dream of. The tracker is a Whoop challenger, ditching the display for a simpler data-gathering wearable – but it's proving to be really flexible in how you wear it.

Because of the simple design, with a small sensor in a band, it's easy to adapt and that's seen a solution to double wristing, with an enthusiastic Reddit thread pulling in plenty of fans.

In this case, the owner has added an Omega Seamaster to the Fitbit Air strap, with the sensor placed on the underside of the wrist. That avoids wearing the mechanical watch on one wrist and a digital device on the other. It's simple and obvious.

It's something of a trend in fact, with owners sharing their own solutions – like this pairing with a Casio F-91W, this MoonSwatch 1965, or even this Rolex Submariner.

It's long been a problem and something that's given rise to devices like the Fitbit Air: there's no shortage of smartwatches that gather data, but if you want to wear something more classical, you might end up wearing two devices.

The appeal of a fitness band (or smart ring) is that you don't have two displays duplicating functions. If you already have a preferred watch, you can just wear a band on the other wrist. That will always lead to calls to "just get an Apple Watch", but that's not a solution that works for everyone.

The Fitbit Air has an 18mm strap which is a little on the slim side for many watches where 20mm or 22mm is more common, but if you have a dress watch or something older, then the 18mm strap might fit nicely.

Just slipping your mechanical watch onto the Fitbit strap isn't going to be the end of the story: Google has already released the CAD files to encourage a thriving accessory ecosystem, so there's likely to be plenty of accessories coming in the future – perhaps some more elegant replacement straps.

The revival of screenless devices is mostly thanks to Whoop, where the holistic approach to data gathering has found a lot of fans, while avoiding something that looks like another smartwatch.

The advantage of screenless devices is that the battery life is generally good, but most importantly, they're easy to sleep in. With sleep data being a key measure for daily readiness and recovery tracking, it's no surprise that these types of devices are proving popular.

Whether those wearing Frankenstein Fitbit Airs will then sleep in them too remains to be seen – I suspect not.

Whoop rules the roost for current fitness bands, but the subscription is expensive and that's seen Fitbit returning to its roots, with the Fitbit Air harking back to the original Flex fitness band.

It's likely to be joined by the Garmin Cirqa soon, which will appeal to huge userbase of Garmin wearers who want to keep data in the Garmin ecosystem when not wearing their main device.