• A new leak has shed light on a rumored new watchOS 27 feature
• It could see improvements to Apple’s Workout app on Apple Watch
• The app might let you log individual reps and sets for strength routines

Apple’s watchOS 27 is almost upon us, and it’s going to arrive alongside the Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 at the company’s Surprise and Shine event tomorrow. When that happens, there could be a new feature for the best Apple Watches that finally fixes a problem that has bugged me for years.

According to information supposedly found in the watchOS 27 beta and posted on the MacRumors forum, Apple is planning to boost the Workout app with a new feature that adds more control to your strength-based exercise routines.

Specifically, the leak asserts it will take the form of “richer details in strength workouts”.

“The new implementation can describe individual sets and store repetition counts, weight, equipment, body side, and duration for each set,” the leaker added. “A workout activity can now represent a session with multiple sets, with different loads and repetition counts in each.”

In other words, Apple might finally be implementing features that rival apps have offered for years. SmartGym gives you this kind of functionality, for example, and it’s one of the best Apple Watch apps around — it was even named Apple Watch App of the Year by Apple in 2023. Apple is evidently aware that its Workout app has fallen behind in this area — but will its solution be enough to catch up?

It’s about time

While I’ve been able to log my workout sessions in my Apple Watch’s Workout app, I’ve had to store the actual routines — including rep and set counts for each machine — in the Notes app. It means having to constantly flick between the two apps while I’m exercising, which is far from ideal.

Add to that the fact that the Workout app just records a single monolithic workout, with no way to log my reps and sets, and I come away from my time at the gym with no insight into how I did on any particular exercise.

So if this rumor ends up being on the money (and the feature actually works as intended), it could end up being one of my favorite additions to the Apple Watch ecosystem. If Apple is able to let me create an exercise plan filled up with rep and set counts, then take me through it when I hit the gym, I’ll be one happy camper.

That said, there are still some unanswered questions. For instance, SmartGym works completely independently of your iPhone and shows you everything you need on your Apple Watch face. Will Apple’s updated Workout app be able to do the same? That would make it even more useful.

And yes, you can already create a set and rest timer system, with labelling to show which exercises you've completed, using the lesser-known Custom Workout routine, but is still much more limited than I’d like it to be. It’s more of a workaround than a real solution.

With the new Apple Watches and their features set to be unveiled tomorrow, there’s not long to wait to see if my wish becomes reality. If Apple is finally able to match its rivals, it’ll be a case of better late than never — but I won’t mind one bit.

I hold my hands up. I got this one wrong. In 2022, when Garmin announced the headline feature for the Garmin Fenix 7X was an LED flashlight, I might have had a bit of a chuckle to myself about it.

Since moving to multiple model sizes for its premium outdoor smartwatch, the largest ‘X’ models quickly came to represent the introduction of exciting, cutting-edge innovations that then start to filter down to the rest of the best Garmin watches. But I wasn;t convinced a multi-LED flashlight on the top of the watch case was something prospective Garmin watch owners should get excited about.

Garmin claimed it would be a “game-changer for sport, adventure and daily life”. In the early weeks of testing the 7X, that wasn’t my experience. I’d quite quickly written it off as rather gimmicky. The question I kept on asking myself was; ‘why would I choose it over reaching for the pretty good LED flashlight I have on my phone?’

It probably wasn’t until being out of that testing bubble of a month with the 7X and I started simply living with it, that my opinion began to change. I was using it more and more each week.

It probably wasn’t until being out of that testing bubble of a month with the 7X and I started simply living with it, that my opinion began to change. I was using it more and more each week.

It started to become the flashlight I used when trying to quietly hunt out charging cables at night moving around my flat without turning on the main light and getting a telling-off. I didn’t need to be a further nuisance and look for my phone because I already had an exceptionally bright light on my wrist. Then it became the source of light on darker sections of my nighttime running routes or helping me to navigate my way back home from the gym. When I was dabbling in some DIY, it was less awkward to use than a phone to line up fixings.

I began to appreciate that Garmin didn’t just slap on a flashlight because it could. It wanted to show how useful a wrist-based source of light could be. I now also had a flashlight I could set to strobe or match my running cadence to improve visibility. It could also switch from white to red light for a still bright, yet less intrusive way to illuminate what lay ahead and around me.

As Garmin moved to share the flashlight love to other watches in its range, it also continued to evolve its abilities to become smarter. Now when I went out for a run or walk after sunset, the watch would display a prompt to turn on the strobe mode to make sure I was thinking about staying seen as day turned into night. There’s a distress mode that when set up from the Garmin Connect app, can display emergency contact information on screen while flashing an SOS light pattern.

It’s no big surprise that rival watchmakers thought it was a great idea too. Suunto, Coros, Amazfit and Polar now all have torch-toting smartwatches.

Are there any downsides of having a flashlight on a smartwatch? Well, it does mean creating more space on the watch case for it. That’s likely why so far it’s mainly been included on larger more rugged watches like the Suunto Vertical 2, Amazfit Cheetah 2 Pro and the Polar Street X, although Garmin has managed to plant it onto its slimmer Forerunner and Venu series watches.

Another consideration is battery life. Running a flashlight while also using GPS or any other onboard watch sensors will contribute to that battery drain, but unless you’re planning to keep it switched on continuously for hours, I’m not sure the type of battery life drop you’ll experience is going to be anything to be massively worried about.

How could it become even smarter? I think Garmin in particular has shown it can be more ingrained with your current environment or the time of day. Further integrating with safety features is an obvious one. Especially for anyone that goes on solo adventures. Could we get a UV mode or even be one strong enough to start a fire for that added outdoor appeal? As smartwatch makers focus on making brighter watch displays, should the same happen for the built-in flashlight?

When it feels like there’s more of a focus on breaking new health tracking ground or cramming our lives and screens with more metrics , it’s easy to forget about some of the simpler gadgets that makes a smartwatch a useful thing to own. I’d now put the LED flashlight in the bracket of things I hope to see on any new smartwatch. We’ve not seen one on an Apple Watch Ultra model yet, so maybe that’s to come. I’ve definitely seen the light and it’s in the form of a feature I thought had gimmick written all over it. How wrong I was.

Garmin Fenix 9 Pro: one-minute review

When the Fenix 8 finally dropped in 2024, it quickly earned a reputation as the best Garmin GPS watch money can buy, even if that meant parting with a lot of money. I gave it a thorough test on the 11-day trek to Everest Base Camp, and with Garmin’s full suite of training features, a bright AMOLED display, microphone and speaker, plus an LED torch, there was no doubt that it was a big step up from the hugely popular Fenix 7.

Last year, Garmin followed the Garmin Fenix 8 up with the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro, which took the winning formula and added built-in LTE cellular and inReach satellite connectivity for phone-free messaging and SOS alerts. I tested it at the Love Trails running festival this summer, and genuinely started to doubt the rumours that a Fenix 9 could really be imminent. What more could there possibly be to add?

I went along to the Fenix 9 release in Chamonix to find out, and immediately afterwards I strapped the Fenix 9 Pro on and hit the trail. It hasn’t been off my wrist since, and between its refined design, faster processing, plus some very fun new navigation and tracking features, I can say it’s a clear improvement over the Fenix 8.

Built with a titanium case and bezel, the 9 Pro is lighter, more durable and resistant to the elements. Side-by-side with my 8 Pro, it looks nicer and more expensive thanks to a nanomoulding construction process that produces a more streamlined build without the need for screws. This also makes it significantly thinner, in all sizes, and with the arrival of a 43mm case option (which I’m testing), it’s more wearable day-to-day than its predecessor.

The 3,000-nit AMOLED display is brighter, sure (although not as bright as the 8 Pro’s MicroLED option), but it’s more the improved clarity that I find myself appreciating. The green light option that’s been added to the LED torch makes a fantastic difference to my night vision, whether I’m out late on the trail or trying to make a cup of tea in the middle of the night without disturbing my entire household.

Garmin is already the industry leader in maps, and the Fenix 9 Pro map loads faster and adds a new Perspective orientation, which I think is useful when navigating in urban areas, and it’s more useful to be able to see what side streets and road junctions are up ahead.

Rolled out with the Fenix 9 are improved Stamina readings, including new Stamina Zones, which I’ve started using to help me manage my effort and pace when I’m on the trail. Brand new is the Garmin Epic feature, which essentially lets you group workouts such as training blocks, long-distance treks or adventure holidays so you can see their cumulative effect. There are also updates to the Rucking activity mode, so it now reflects the additional energy demands of your pack weight.

Like the Fenix 8 Pro, this watch boasts LTE-M cellular technology, which means I can easily respond to messages and phone calls from my wrist so long as my phone is nearby. There are some improvements to LiveTrack and Location Tracking, which are useful for both urban explorers and long bouts in the wild.

For hikers like myself, inReach satellite connectivity means I can reach emergency response from almost anywhere on the planet, and it does mean I can message friends and family when I’m offline; however, that’s only through the Garmin Messenger app. When I spoke to Garmin’s Global Lead Product Manager Jon Hosler in Chamonix, he admitted that the brand’s functionality here does lag a bit behind competitors like Apple, which have more control over the cellular ecosystem, but he also stressed that the Fenix remains a performance watch first and foremost.

In summary, the Fenix 9 Pro plants a flag firmly at the GPS watch summit as a top-of-the-line option. It’s brighter, faster, ludicrously well-featured, and, unsurprisingly, even pricier. All of that said, this shouldn’t be considered a realistic upgrade for Fenix 8 users, who are already sporting a fantastic timepiece. But compared to anything before the 8, it’s better by a country mile.

Garmin Fenix 9 Pro: specifications

Garmin Fenix 9 Pro: price and availability

• Starts at £949.99 for smallest 43mm
• Prices for Fenix 9 start at £859.99
• Reaches up to £1,209.99

The Fenix 9 Pro starts at $1,099.99 / £949.99 / AU$1,749 for the 43mm case size without inReach connectivity. With inReach, pricing starts at $1,199.99 / £1,029.99 / AU$1,899. The Fenix 9 Pro Solar is the same price, while the regular Fenix 9, which has a fibre-reinforced polymer case instead of titanium, starts at $999.99 / £859.99 / AU$1,599, and that’s for both the 43mm and 47mm.

The largest and most expensive 51mm Fenix 9 Pro with inReach is priced at $1,399.99 / £1,209.99 / AU$2199, and for that you get yourself a considerable increase in battery life with up to 31 days in smartwatch mode / 56 hours in activity mode compared to 10 days / 18 hours in the 43mm watch.

If you’re looking at a model with satellite technology, you’ll also need to factor in the cost of an inReach subscription if you actually want to use it (which starts at £7.99 / $7.99 a month), and all in, it definitely prices a lot of people out.

But the high price shouldn’t come as a surprise for anyone familiar with Garmin Fenix watches, and it’s hard to criticize it on being a high-performing piece of tech made with premium materials. There are plenty of other great options out there right now, including the Fenix 8, which you’re likely to find at a discount now that the Fenix 9 has been unleashed.

• Value score: 4/5

Garmin Fenix 9 Pro: design

• Titanium case and bezel
• Slimmer design
• Brighter AMOLED display

I tend to feel a bit indifferent to changes in materials in my GPS watches, but I have to admit that the titanium case and bezel on the Fenix 9 Pro do make this look and feel like the expensive watch that it is. It’s sleeker and less rugged, down to both the materials and the nanomoulding process, which removes the need for screws.

It’s not totally fair to do a side-by-side comparison with the Fenix 8 Pro here because the latter isn’t available in 43mm, and that accounts for some of the 15g weight difference (equalling an almost 25% increase), but suffice to say that my Fenix 9 Pro is considerably lighter and thinner (to the tune of 16%, according to Garmin), and it has a less sporty aesthetic, which for me is a huge upgrade. If I’m being honest, this is the first Garmin watch I’ve tested that I’m happy wearing all of the time, though I might take it off to go to a wedding.

The AMOLED display is brighter than both my Fenix 8 and 8 Pro models, while the new, more subdued colour scheme is a bit more sophisticated, and it’s all a little sharper whether I’m looking at the stats of a run or using maps to navigate. I’m also amazed at how accurate the touchscreen keyboard is for typing out text messages, even on the smallest display available.

Other than that, everything will feel familiar to existing Fenix users, including the five-button setup, intuitive widget-based layout and responsive touchscreen (that is sometimes a little too responsive, pulling up the weather forecast when I’m in the shower). I’ve finally taken the time to add a bunch of widgets that I use frequently to my quick list, such as my endurance score and recovery estimates, last activity, moon phases and tides, so it’s ready to go before I even leave the house.

You’ll need the enormously comprehensive Garmin Connect app to view your metrics, and the slightly clunkier Garmin Messenger app if you want to use satellite technology for messaging, and if I were to pinpoint a weakness, I’d say it’s a shame that these two aren’t yet integrated into one app.

• Design score: 4.5/5

Garmin Fenix 9 Pro: features

• Updated build
• Better maps and LED torch
• New training and adventure tools

First up, maps have been updated, and according to Garmin, they render 40% faster than on the 8 Pro and pan 30% faster when you’re searching for something up ahead. There’s a new perspective view added to the map orientation, which you can enable to better see what’s up ahead.

Also new are Stamina Zones, which use heart rate, pace and speed, and Hosler explains that they can be more useful than Heart Rate Zones for managing your effort. I’ve added them to the data screens in different activity modes, so I can see what zone I’m in and how much of my potential stamina I’m using. It’s more obvious in interval training, where I can see my zones dip and rise, but even on long plods it’s an interesting way to see how much gas I might have left in the tank at a current pace.

After an activity, I can view the top contributors to my Endurance Score (hiking for me), and see estimates of how long I should be able to run at a given pace: apparently over seven hours at my easy pace and nearly 20 minutes at max effort, which I’m yet to put to the test.

Garmin’s commitment to upgrading Rucking mode in recent years signals that this is an activity in ascendancy, and it now calculates better estimates of your energy expenditure rather than just being a way to catalogue different activities. The Fenix 9 allows you to set a calorie goal rather than distance or time, and to edit your pack weight mid-activity, which Hosler explains gives ruckers more accurate readings when they’re hiking uphill with water or rocks that they ditch for the descent. I often hike with a heavy pack, and now my activity report shows the difference between my calories burned through activity and the additional calories from the weight of my pack. This is mildly interesting, and could in theory change my fuelling strategy on a long thru hike.

A very fun – if non-essential – feature rolled out with the Fenix 9 and 9 Pro is called Garmin Epic, which lets you group workouts. When I heard about it in the press conference, I worried it might be similar to the gratuitous Adventure Journal in the Coros Nomad, but after testing it out, I genuinely love it. I gave it a quick test in Chamonix by grouping together all five hikes and trail runs I went on so I could see my cumulative distance, time on the trails and related health stats. But it’s also retrospective, so I’ve been able to make an Epic for last year’s trek to Everest Base Camp and finally see that entire, unforgettable trip as one adventure, from the map of my entire 11-day route to my total elevation gain. I can share my Epic with friends and family, but I can see the demand for Garmin to develop this into a video that users can share on social media.

As for connectivity, I have an active inReach subscription, so I’m able to signal for help from anywhere, but fortunately haven’t had to do so yet. This feature does rely on the Garmin Messenger app, and most of my friends and family are not on there, so this is an area where the Fenix lags behind the Apple Watch Ultra 3. In our conversations, Hosler was clear that he doesn’t consider this watch a true replacement for a satellite device like my Garmin inReach Mini 2, but more of a nice-to-have backup. LiveTrack has improved and now you can send a tracking link directly from your phone, which has good implications for urban runners as well as hikers.

And last but not least, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention everyone’s favourite feature: the upgraded LED torch, which was being heralded by elite trail runners like Katie Schide, Tom Evans and Elsey Davis in Chamonix, who all said this was among their top Garmin features.

The Fenix 9 and 9 Pro have both added a green light option, which is better for night vision, though perhaps not quite as kind to your significant other when you’re looking for your running socks at 5 a.m. It may not be a substitute for a headtorch on a night run, but when your torch runs out of batteries, you’ll be glad you have your Garmin.

Add on to this all the features of the Fenix 8, and I can’t imagine what else you could possibly want from your watch.

• Features score: 5/5

Garmin Fenix 9 Pro: performance

• Reliable sensors
• Lightning-fast maps
• Better night vision

The Garmin Fenix 9 Pro has all the same sensors as its predecessor, and after testing the two out on the same run, I’m confident that the readings were all virtually identical (though Hosler did explain that GPS differences can be down to the two watches being on different wrists and pointing in different directions).

I prefer the smaller case size, but it does mean I’m sacrificing battery life. My battery lost 17% during my first two-hour hike, which was a little shocking, but going forward I’ve been using Max Battery mode for longer sessions, which uses energy-saving measures and means a little less accuracy from GPS.

In the last 10 days, I did four short hikes and runs in Chamonix, two spin sessions, a pool swim, a long trail run, a short treadmill workout and a base run. I ran the battery all the way down, had to charge it once, and now it’s at 61%. In regular use, where I’ll typically have it in activity mode for at least 30 minutes a day, I expect to have to charge it once a week, and for a multi-day trek, I’d expect to be charging it at least every other day. That said, if you compare the 51mm Fenix 9 Pro and 8 Pro side by side, the 9 Pro has a better battery life, so if you’re after endurance, size up.

The display is really easy to see in all light conditions, brilliant sunshine and torrential rain and is really responsive when I lift my wrist, although this naturally declines as the battery runs low.

I put maps to the test straight away in Chamonix, charting a course to a mountainside cafe on the Tour du Mont Blanc, and it all renders so quickly and smoothly I don’t even really have to stop and think about it. Though I didn’t find the perspective view that helpful on the trails, it was great for navigating through the busy streets of Chamonix, which often poses a challenge as my phone doesn’t work well there. On my first test, I tried going off-course to see if the maps would reroute me and it didn’t work, but I’ve since been able to chalk that up to Garmin rolling out the watch to the world at the very same time I was testing it, as when I got back to Scotland, I went out on a 12k trail run and found the rerouting to work perfectly.

he LTE connectivity means I can leave my phone in my backpack, and that is really quite refreshing. I did send my boyfriend a link to track me on my most recent trail run via Garmin Connect, and he was able to do so, if not with a fair amount of apathy. I’ve also sent some test messages to my few Garmin Messenger contacts; it’s easy to type directly on the watch, and the message sends in a flash.

I don’t love wearing a watch to bed, but thanks to the slimmer design, I’ve been able to test out the sleep tracking, and it’s really accurate. My subsequent training Readiness scores and Recovery predictions have been pretty in line in accordance with how I feel.

Also at night, the green light function on the torch has quickly rendered my beloved red light nearly obsolete, making it easier than ever to creep around the house without bumping into things and even read a book in bed without turning my lamp on.

• Performance score: 5/5

Garmin Fenix 9 Pro: should I buy?

Buy it if…

Your adventures take you into the wild

The Fenix 9 Pro has all the field tools for a backcountry adventure, and the technology to help get you out of there if things go wrong.

You’ve been running on a Fenix older than the 8 for years

Even the fabulous Fenix 7 pales in comparison to this one.

You’re a tech junkie with a big budget

All the best tech is on display here at an aspirational price.

Don’t buy it if…

You have the Fenix 8

The Fenix 8 is a cracking watch, and while we admit this is an upgrade, we can’t make a compelling case to switch

You’re saving up for a down payment on a house

This watch comes with some serious sticker shock

Also consider

How I tested

I’ve tested this watch from the French Alps to Scotland, over multiple hikes, trail runs and road runs, with a few indoor workouts on the bike, treadmill and in the pool thrown in. I’ve compared it with the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro and the Suunto Vertical 2 for good measure, and spent hours talking to Garmin experts and poring over the data in the watch and on the Garmin Connect app.

It seems like the Garmin Fenix 9 (and the ultra-premium Garmin Fenix 9 Pro) has just been unveiled, but we're already seeing price crashes on the previous generation, the Garmin Fenix 8. The Labor Day sales are in full swing, and Amazon is offering some lowest-ever prices on the Garmin Fenix 8 range.

Right now, you can get the smaller 43mm Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED discounted from $999.99 to just $749.99, a 25% saving and the cheapest a Fenix 8 has ever been on Amazon (and therefore, likely anywhere else), according to our deals-tracking tools. That's in its fetching Silver and Whitestone color, and even though 43mm is relatively small for a smartwatch, its chunkiness means the 43mm version is eminently wearable for all wrist sizes throughout the day.

If you're looking for something heavier duty, though, there are savings on larger sizes, and models equipped with Solar Power Glass or ultra-tough Sapphire glass screens.

The Labor Day sales also cover this Garmin Fenix 8 Pro model with inReach (was $1,199.99, now $949.99 at Amazon), which allows you to use satellite messaging with a subscription and can connect to your phone's data plan. This is available in both 47mm and the massive 51mm size for the same price, with larger watch sizes also netting you increased battery life.

Check out both deals in full below.

Today's best Garmin Fenix 8 deals

When I reviewed the base Garmin Fenix 8, I gave it five stars and called it "rugged, expensive perfection", and our writer Matt Ray gave the same coveted full marks to the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro.

Even though they're no longer the latest model, you can pick one up at a discount and be safe in the knowledge that you're getting a really top-quality adventure companion that'll last you for years to come.

Shop more of today's best Labor Day sales

• Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $99
• Appliances: up to $1,200 at Samsung
• Best Buy: 60% off appliances, TVs, laptops & more
• Casper: up to 30% off mattresses
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• DreamCloud: up to 60% off mattresses, 66% off bundles
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lowe's: $1,000 off appliances, patio & tools
• Nectar: up to 50% off mattresses, deals from $349
• Saatva: up to $625 off luxury mattresses
• Samsung: up to $2,000 off 4K, QLED & OLED TVs
• Target: 45% off clothing, tech & furniture
• Walmart: 58% off back-to-school, furniture, & clothing

Another massive Garmin sale is underway at Amazon for Labor Day, offering yet another chance to score big savings on many of the manufacturer's top smartwatches. Several of these models are considered the best running, fitness, and outdoor wearables, according to our expert testers, so I've hand-picked the eight top deals that you need to see.

• See all Garmin deals at Amazon

I've included everything from entry-level fitness trackers that'll help track your workouts at the gym, dedicated running watches that can follow your progress over time, and rugged wearables that are built to survive some of the most extreme and demanding outdoor adventures.

Most of these get a strong recommendation from us and are considered to be some of the best Garmin watches you can buy. Specifically, you can get the Garmin Forerunner 265 for $349.99, which is still an excellent pick for runners, or the cheaper Garmin Vívoactive 5 at $189.99, which is a smart buy for beginners dabbling with the tech for the first time.

Have a browse through all of my recommendations below to see if there's a deal on a Garmin smartwatch or wearable that perfectly meets your needs.

8 best Garmin deals at Amazon

If you're looking to score a fitness tracker or one of the best smartwatches for comparatively little cash, the Labor Day deals are an excellent time to do so. It's always worth searching for big names such as Garmin, Apple, Samsung, and Google Pixel in this space, but it's worth being open to up-and-coming challenger brands too.

Amazfit is one such brand, offering great fitness tech products while undercutting the big brands. Amazfit is the official timekeeper of Hyrox, and its Active 3 Premium smartwatch earned five stars in our official review.

With features that are usually only available in more expensive watches, the Amazfit Active 3 Premium looks good at full price, but is looking like an even better value for Labor Day. Right now on Amazon, you can get the Amazfit Active 3 Premium discounted from $169.99 down to $125.99, saving you 26%. Check out the deal in full below:

Today's best Amazfit Active 3 Premium deal

The best thing about this is the Active 3 Premium's feature set, which is genuinely astounding for the price.

It offers full offline maps, a feature usually reserved for much more expensive watches. In Garmin's current range, for example, you don't get full-color maps until you hit the $749.99 price point of the Garmin Forerunner 970, with its cheaper 570 sibling missing out. Similarly, the metal bezels and case elements that make it feel and look premium, accurate workout tracking with multiple GPS network connectivity, and up to 12 days of battery life.

We said in our Amazfit Active 3 Premium review that it's a "good-looking, fully-featured fitness tracker" with performance that is "excellent across the board".

Shop more of today's best Labor Day sales

• Amazon: 45% off TVs, AirPods, air fryers & vacuums
• Apple: iPads, AirPods & MacBooks from $99
• Appliances: up to $1,200 at Samsung
• Best Buy: 60% off appliances, TVs, laptops & more
• Casper: up to 30% off mattresses
• Dell: laptop deals from $249.99
• DreamCloud: up to 60% off mattresses, 66% off bundles
• Home Depot: 40% off appliances, furniture, grills & tools
• Lowe's: $1,000 off appliances, patio & tools
• Nectar: up to 50% off mattresses, deals from $349
• Saatva: up to $625 off luxury mattresses
• Samsung: up to $2,000 off 4K, QLED & OLED TVs
• Target: 45% off clothing, tech & furniture
• Walmart: 58% off back-to-school, furniture, & clothing

• Huawei launches its Huawei Watch D3, its third iteration of its blood pressure-focused health watch
• With an inbuilt inflatable cuff, the watch now suppors 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, helping users track trends
• It comes as Apple, Google and smart ring startups have made advances with LED-based monitoring

Huawei has unveiled its Huawei Watch D3, the latest version of its health watch with a specific focus on blood pressure. The Watch D series is a cool bit of kit that stands out from the best smartwatches on the market by way of its mechanized components — its main selling point is a strap with inflatable bladders running through it, swelling and acting as a cuff to measure blood pressure accurately at any time.

While a great idea, previous iterations looked quite boxy, and more like the medical devices they clearly are intended to be than daily wear smartwatches.

The Huawei Watch D3 aims to change that, boasting advances over previous iterations — especially in design. It's said to be just 11.3mm thick and weigh 40g, with an 'ultra-narrow' version of its inflatable band. This makes it not only easier to wear all day, but also at night.

Night wear seems to be crucial, as the Watch D3 offers '24-hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM)' in accordance with medical guidelines according to Huawei. Its press release says ABPM helps users "track blood pressure trends throughout the day and night, even while asleep.

"During the day, intervals can be customized and manual measurements taken as needed; at night, the watch inflates automatically with quieter operation for reduced sleep disturbance."

The watch also takes pre- and post-exercise blood pressure measurements, and comes with other smartwatch features such as GPS, outdoor route navigation, and running analytics. Family members can view each others' stats via the Health Community feature, checking in on those at risk.

Available in black, white and gold from £399.99 (around $545 / AU$745), the watch is unavailable in the US due to the ongoing Huawei telecomms tech ban.

Instead, people in the US who want a blood pressure-measuring wearable have to look elsewhere. No one is quite doing what Huawei is with the inflatable wrist cuff technology, even three years on from the original Watch D, but great strides have been made with optical LEDs, which were once thought of as the 'holy grail' of smartwatch capabilities.

Apple now offers a Hypertension feature, monitoring your sleep over 30 days to flag signs of possible hypertension, while the Google Pixel Watch 5 sports a Blood Pressure Detection feature.

Elsewhere, the Signal Ring startup from an ex-head of Android is focused solely on cuffless, calibration-less blood pressure sensing via a smart ring.

Tech companies always love to make big claims. Like the one Google made about the Pixel Watch 5: promised health, wellness and Wear OS improvements aside, there was one feature that my ears pricked up for. Google stated that the Pixel Watch 5 included its most accurate GPS route tracking for exercise. More interestingly, Google said that tracking outperformed the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro.

I’ve used both of those smartwatches and I can confidently say they are two of the best performing smartwatches available for GPS route tracking. I’ve listened to other smartwatch brands talk big about Apple and Garmin-beating performance. Did I really believe Google was going to deliver? I was sceptical, given my experience of the GPS tracking on previous Pixel Watches.

But I still had my Fenix 8 Pro and Watch Ultra 3, which made for the perfect opportunity to see these promised performance gains for myself. Having just recently made it through the millions in the ballot to secure a spot in the double-day 2027 London Marathon, my mind immediately went to the part of the marathon route I know causes major issues with GPS.

I grabbed my watches, jumped on a train, and then onto the DLR tram service to the Isle of Dogs, where the nearby tall skyscrapers always create difficult GPS conditions. I ran miles 18-20 of the London Marathon course, and then did it in reverse, to put the Pixel Watch 5’s big GPS claims to the test.

How exactly does the Google Pixel Watch 5’s new GPS work?

Before getting into how the testing went, it’s worth drilling down into just how Google says its GPS tracking outperforms the competition. Like the Fenix 8 Pro and Watch Ultra 3, the Pixel Watch 5 includes dual-band GPS. This means it can communicate to major satellites responsible for calculating our precise locations over two frequency bands. This can help to boost tracking accuracy when moving through tall buildings, densely forested environments and even during adverse weather conditions.

Dual band GPS setups have started to appear across a range of smartwatches and in my own testing, dual band-packing watches from Apple, Garmin and Suunto have delivered the strongest performance.

Along with the latest in GPS technology in tow, Google says it uses data it has already captured of buildings in Google Maps alongside AI to better account for the areas where GPS signals bounce off buildings. It also used GPS reference stations it has positioned around the world to help deal with the impact that atmospheric conditions can have on GPS tracking.

If you’ve used a smartwatch with GPS, then you’ll know it’s a feature that does have a notable impact on battery drain. This is something Google had to think about here. Google has made the decision to compress the raw GPS data captured on the watch and then send it to a server where it’s processed and corrected, then synced to the Google Health app. So the processing mainly take place off the watch or after your run, ride or hike.

How I tested

I decided I’d do two runs. The first would be starting from mile 18 up to mile 20 on the London Marathon course and go a little further to run 5k. I’d then stop the watches and do the route in reverse.

I had a trimmed down version of the marathon route uploaded to my Garmin Fenix 8 Pro as it was the easiest watch to do it on. I also decided that I would wear the Pixel Watch 5 on one wrist and then swap over to the other for the second run, while having the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Fenix 8 Pro sat on the opposite wrist. I had to make sure that the two smartwatches weren’t sitting too close together to prevent any accidental button presses that might impact on capturing the correct distance.

It’s also worth adding that I decided to use native workout tracking apps on all three watches to record runs.

The results

On the first run, I had the Pixel Watch 5 on my right wrist with the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro on the left wrist. I uploaded the routes to the very handy comparison tool IloveGPX. Before that though, I had to convert the route file captured by the Pixel Watch 5 from a TCX file to a GPX one. Thankfully it was quite easy.

Even before I began zooming into the GPS tracks I could already see some red squiggles, which belonged to the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro. On closer inspection, all three watches were pretty close to each other before the Fenix 8 Pro track started to noticeably drift off. Google and Apple’s tracks for the majority of the run remain close together.

I actually went a little off-route and ran longer than planned as some parts of the route were partly closed off. That meant an extra loop or two of that problematic GPS signal spot.

Moving onto Trafalgar Way, having passed Billingsgate Market and towards that final mile, and the three tracks come back together. There’s still time for Garmin’s track to veer slightly off course though, as I made my way to the end of the route in Poplar.

Looking at the distance tracked, I ended up running longer than the planned 5k route, and the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Google Pixel Watch 5 recorded similar distance data — with the Fenix 8 Pro measuring longer with a difference of 0.2 miles/0.3km.

The average speed of the run was again similar on the Watch Ultra 3 and Pixel Watch 5, with the Garmin reporting a slower average speed.

On the second run, I switched the Pixel Watch 5 over to my left wrist and moved the Fenix and Apple Watch over to the right. I ran this run a little quicker than the first. At the beginning of the run, all three tracks remained together. Then as I started to approach those towering buildings around Canary Wharf once again, the Apple and Garmin tracks started to lose their way. Meanwhile, the Pixel Watch 5’s tracks manage to stick closest to the actual route I’d run. It’s not immune to issues, however, especially when I hit around Heron Quays and Bank Street Canary Wharf.

Looking over the distance tracked again and the three smartwatches post three different records. The Garmin again tracks longer, with the Apple Watch Ultra 3 being closest to the planned 5k route. It’s the Garmin that has me running a quicker-than-average pace throughout the run.

GPS tracks are only one part of the story

For anyone that’s run the London Marathon (or any race for that matter), it’s not just about distance covered. Pacing matters. Especially if you’re been training to chase down a particular finish time.

Bad GPS route tracking data can impact on pace data. Having run the London Marathon before, those GPS problems will cause your locating tracking to skip, suggesting you’re clocking off those miles quicker than you’re actually travelling.

That’s also why I paid attention to my current and average pace data on the three watches, as well as looking at how that pacing was broken down post-run.

During the run, the pacing fluctuated across all three watches. I found the Pixel Watch 5 had a tendency to struggle getting pacing data right at the beginning of the two runs before settling down after. It was a similar story for Apple and Garmin as well. They all seemed to struggle in the section of the route I’d expected them to.

Looking at the post-run data in the respective companion apps, the Pixel Watch 5 did indicate some quicker paces that I’d felt I’d run as well.

Are Google’s claims about the Pixel Watch 5’s GPS justified ?

I’m not going to say the Pixel Watch 5 is definitively a GPS great after two relatively short runs in albeit very challenging GPS conditions. What I will say is that I was pretty surprised by the results. I had fully expected the Pixel Watch 5 to flounder, but it was actually the most reliable in plotting my actual running route. The Apple Watch Ultra 3 also did well, while the Fenix 8 Pro had some wild moments in the produced GPS tracks.

I think if you’re mainly interested in having a record of your precise route, then this innovation is going to impress. I’d say hikers will certainly like the idea of it.

From a running perspective, specifically from a racing point of view, I’d also want accurate pacing to go with that strong route tracking in real-time too. I’m not wholly convinced the pacing data is as spotless as the route tracking seems to be. Maybe that’s something Google will look at for the next watch or even tighten up with a software update.

The Pixel Watch 5’s new GPS signals an important breakthrough for how smartwatches can deliver more accurate route tracking. Google’s access to an abundance of positioning data, along with the improvements it’s making with AI clearly play their part in making this type of leap in smartwatch GPS technology.

It’s definitely given me food for thought as I choose which smartwatch I step on that London start line with next April, that’s for sure.

• The Garmin Enduro 4 might have appeared in a new leak
• Details emerged in Indonesian regulatory filings
• The device might arrive before the end of 2026

We’ve barely had time to catch our breath after the Garmin Fenix 9 and Fenix 9 Pro announcement, but here comes news of another high-end Garmin watch looming over the horizon. Only this time, it’s not an official announcement that has shone a light on the device, but instead an intriguing leak that Garmin would probably rather you didn’t see.

The leak in question first appeared in regulatory filings from Indonesia (via Garmin News). There, listings mentioned an unnamed Garmin device bearing the model number A05197 in the “Outdoor Product” category.

Other details are pretty thin on the ground, but there is reason to believe it could point towards the unreleased Enduro 4. For one thing, Garmin News reports that Garmin uses the Outdoor Product category for “almost all of its high-end multisport smartwatches during testing phases, including past Fenix, Tactix, and Enduro generations.” That could therefore be an indicator that this mystery device belongs to one of those product families.

Then there’s the issue of previously leaked code references. We’ve already seen mention of the Enduro 4 in code contained within the Garmin Connect app, suggesting that the wearable is in development at the very least. Combine that with the new Indonesian regulatory filings and an Enduro 4 launch is looking increasingly likely.

A battery champ

Prior to the Fenix 9 Pro announcement, we had hopes that the Enduro 4 would also appear at Garmin’s launch event. That never came to pass, but it hasn’t dampened our expectations that the device exists and is on the way.

Interestingly, the unnamed Garmin device was granted regulatory approval in Indonesia on August 25 — the same day as the Fenix 9 event. Garmin News notes that it can take one to three months for a Garmin device to be unveiled after it is approved, suggesting that we could see the Enduro 4 — or whatever this unknown wearable is — before the end of 2026.

If and when that happens, it should be good news for fans of the best Garmin watches who want a device with phenomenal battery life. After all, as our Garmin Enduro 3 review noted, this line of watches “puts battery first.” We can expect the Enduro 4 to continue that tradition.

Do you ever feel that some smartwatches have just too much smartwatch in them? That’s what struck me when Garmin announced the Fenix 9 and Fenix 9 Pro today. Sure, they look like great devices — but at over $1,000 / £850 / AU$1,500 a pop, I’ve been wondering how many people actually need everything they have to offer.

I know I don’t. While I love working out, I’m not a pro athlete and don’t need anything like the suite of features you get with Garmin’s new watches — but Garmin's first live event launch seemed aimed at people like me, the Apple Watch crowd. It's telling Garmin didn’t actually mention how much they cost during the show itself.

If you feel like me and baulk at the expense required to slap one of these devices on your wrist, it’s not all bad news. There are plenty of other options out there, and none of them will break the bank in quite the same way.

Or you could just wait for the features to trickle down to more affordable devices. Either way, there’s no need to open your wallet just yet unless you’re 100% sure you need one of these watches.

Top devices, high prices

Let’s get one thing out of the way first: the Fenix 9 and Fenix 9 Pro look like great smartwatches — possibly even some of the best smartwatches money can buy. They’re full of top-of-the-range features that are perfect for people who push their exercise regimes to the fullest, who regularly stride off into the wilderness in search of adventure, and who demand some of the most specialized features you can get in a consumer smartwatch.

The brighter AMOLED display in particular looks fantastic, especially if you previously struggled to read your watch’s screen in certain weather conditions. I was also heartened to see the rumors of solar charging were bang on the money — while it might be limited to the 47mm models and up of the Fenix 9 Pro, its ability to extend the life of your watch exponentially is tailor-made for off-grid escapades.

But there’s a big difference between interesting features and interesting features that cost a minimum of $1,099.99 / £949.99 / $1,749 AUD. I’m an Apple Watch Series 10 owner, and while the Apple Watch Ultra 3 has been on my radar, its $799 / £749 / $1,399 AUD price has moved it out of “must-buy” territory for me. It’s therefore unsurprising that Garmin’s latest launches haven’t ratcheted up my temptation meter.

There might be some wider context here. Garmin doesn’t normally do big, flashy events like it did for the Fenix 9 series, so the fact that it did this time suggests to me that it wants to introduce its smartwatches to a wider audience. Instead of its core crowd of sports buffs and fitness fanatics, it might be looking to broaden its horizons a bit and crack the more casual market.

The problem is that the Fenix 9 and Fenix 9 Pro have done exactly the opposite of that with their pricing. They’re not exactly entry-level options for people who have never heard of Garmin before. The flashy show puts it in the same company as Apple and Samsung — who also do glitzy product launches — but by limiting its announcements to some of its most premium devices, Garmin hasn’t quite hit the nail on the head.

Patience is a virtue

If Garmin’s Fenix 9 show has whetted your appetite for a smartwatch but you just can’t justify spending almost a thousand smackers on one, what can you do? Well, luckily you’re spoiled for choice.

You don’t even have to look outside the Garmin ecosystem to find some excellent options. How about the Garmin Venu 4, which is our pick for the best Garmin smartwatch? We summed it up as being “perfect for people who wouldn’t describe themselves as hardcore adventurers or triathletes, but still lead an active lifestyle, and might take on a big challenge once a year such as a marathon.” It’s full of top features that you need without breaking the bank thanks to its $549.99 / £469.99 / AU$949 price.

For an even more affordable option, there’s Garmin’s Vivoactive 6, which will set you back a mere $299.99 / £279.99 / AU$549. But this isn’t some undercooked offering that you’ll regret buying. You get 11 days of battery life, a beautiful AMOLED display, and plenty of premium features that once lived exclusively on Garmin’s more expensive products.

And that highlights a key point about the latest Fenix 9 and Fenix 9 Pro releases. While they’re incredibly high-end options right now with price tags to match, I’m willing to bet that it won’t be long before many of their features are rolled out to much more affordable devices in Garmin’s smartwatch line-up. That kind of move has happened plenty of times in the past, and there’s no reason to think that Garmin is going to change its tune.

So, while I won’t be buying the Fenix 9 or Fenix 9 Pro right now, who’s to say I won’t pull the trigger further down the line? As these products’ prices drop and their features migrate to other wearables, chances are I’ll no longer be obstructed by an eye-watering price tag. A little patience is all it takes.

Apple’s big September event is under two weeks away at the time of writing, with invites having been sent out for a ‘Surprise and shine’ event on September 9.

So what surprises can you expect? Well, given how extensively Apple’s products and services tend to leak, there’s a chance there won’t be any major surprises at all. But there certainly will be some big announcements — likely to be headlined by the first foldable iPhone, which could be dubbed the iPhone Ultra.

That’s probably going to be joined by other iPhones, Apple Watches, and an assortment of other devices, so there could be lots to see even if none of it comes as a complete surprise. Below, we’ve detailed the most likely Apple announcements.

1. The iPhone Ultra

The iPhone Ultra is likely to be the biggest announcement at Apple’s ‘Surprise and shine’ event, as this is set to be the company’s first foldable phone — something we’ve heard rumors of for many years at this point.

In fact, it’s been so long now that it’s almost hard to believe it’s actually about to land, but all signs suggest it is.

Leaks point to the iPhone Ultra having a roughly 7.8-inch foldable screen and around a 5.5-inch cover display, with an overall design that’s somewhat similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 — so more of a passport shape than the book-style Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.

This will likely have a dual-lens camera and top-end power, and reports suggest the screen might not have a visible crease. It could be the phone you’ve been waiting for if you want an iPhone and an iPad mini all in one. But it’s also sure to be very expensive, with leaks pointing to a starting price of at least $2,000 (around £1,470 / AU$2,785).

2. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max

The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will almost certainly launch here too, for anyone who doesn’t want — or can’t afford — Apple’s foldable.

Based on leaks, these will probably sport broadly the same design as the iPhone 17 Pro series, complete with the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch screen sizes — though the back glass might be closer in color to the aluminum frame, leaving them with less of a two-tone appearance than the current models.

You can of course expect a chipset upgrade, with the as-yet-unannounced A20 Pro chipset likely to be featured, and the Dynamic Island might be smaller this year.

These phones are also rumored to have a variable aperture on one of their cameras — though it’s possible that only the iPhone 18 Pro Max will get this — and they could have higher capacity batteries than their predecessors.

Though they’re likely to also cost more, with estimates putting the starting price at anywhere between $100 (roughly £75 / AU$140) and $300 (around £220 / AU$415) more than the iPhone 17 Pro line.

3. New Apple Watches

That’s all the iPhones we’re expecting — with the base iPhone 18 reportedly not arriving until 2027 — but Apple is also likely to unveil some new wearables.

Specifically, we’re expecting the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Apple Watch Ultra 4. The main upgrades for the Apple Watch 12 could be Touch ID on the side button, and a new S12 chip, likely delivering a noticeable performance improvement. But — other than the new software coming with watchOS 27 such as a dedicated Siri app — this might otherwise be similar to the Apple Watch Series 11, complete with a largely unchanged design.

As for the Apple Watch Ultra 4, this could similarly have a new chipset and gain Touch ID, but it might additionally have a slightly larger screen and a slimmer build than the Apple Watch Ultra 3. Some reports suggest the upcoming model could also have new sensors, which might increase its accuracy at tracking health and fitness metrics.

4. New AirPods

Apple could also unveil some new AirPods at its next event, with talk of the AirPods 5 and AirPods 5 with ANC landing at the September event. Sadly we probably won’t see the rumored AirPods Pro with cameras yet though.

Details on the AirPods 5 are slim so far, but they might prove a tempting — and more affordable — alternative to Apple’s AirPods Pro line.

5. Apple’s first smart home display

Apple might finally launch a smart home display this September, as it’s rumored to be working on a home device with a seven-inch screen, and some reports suggest it will land this year — though don’t be surprised if we don’t see it until 2027.

This device — which might be called a Home Hub — will probably primarily be interacted with via Siri of course, and it will apparently use facial recognition to tell who is looking at it and serve up personalized content accordingly.

6. Other new devices for the home

Apple might also launch a new HomePod mini and Apple TV 4K box at its September event. The former will probably support some Apple Intelligence features and is rumored to work with Wi-Fi 7 and have improved sound quality over its aging predecessor.

The latter could support Siri AI, Wi-Fi 7, have an improved chipset, more RAM, and come with an upgraded Siri remote.

7. New software

That’s probably it for hardware, but September is also when we’ll see the launch of Apple’s new software, much of which is currently in beta.

This includes iOS 27, iPadOS 27, watchOS 27, macOS 27, and tvOS 27. The biggest feature on most of these will be Siri’s AI overhaul, bringing it more in line with the capabilities offered by the likes of Gemini and ChatGPT.

But you can expect tweaks to their interfaces and various other new and improved features too. So even if you’re not planning to buy one of the products above, your existing Apple devices should get a bit better soon.

• A new leak sheds fresh light on the Samsung Galaxy Aero smartwatch
• The device might ditch Wear OS and use the RTOS operating system instead
• It could fix some of the mistakes of the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE

It’s safe to say that we weren’t huge fans of the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE, with our reviewer scoring it a measly two stars and branding it “one of the most confusing smartwatches I’ve ever tested.” Yet despite the disappointment, a new leak suggests that Samsung is going to take another stab at the entry-level smartwatch market — but the result might look very different.

The latest hints come from Gadgets & Wearables, which investigated the Samsung Health and Galaxy Wearable apps to uncover hints of what might be to come. And according to the news outlet, the forthcoming device could take the form of a new Samsung watch dubbed the Galaxy Aero.

What’s interesting about this product is that, unlike many of the best Samsung watches, it might not run on Google’s Wear OS. Previous reporting from SamMobile found hints pointing towards the use of RTOS, or ‘real-time operating system,’ as Samsung software contained references to ‘Galaxy Aero’ and ‘galaxy_rtos_watch.’ The implication here is that these devices were the same product.

RTOS is the platform that Samsung’s Galaxy Fit devices run on and is a far more lightweight system than Wear OS. If RTOS ends up powering the Galaxy Aero, it would suggest that the product will be at the lower end of Samsung’s wearable spectrum.

Further investigation from Gadgets & Wearables suggests that several Samsung apps and services have the capability of handling RTOS and devices that use it. And it’s that capability that supposedly opening the door for the Galaxy Aero.

Righting the wrongs of the past

One of our main criticisms of the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE was that it was strangely positioned — at the time, it offered worse performance than the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, despite being available to buy for the same price or more. With the Galaxy Aero, that uncomfortable quirk might be remedied.

That’s because SamMobile suggests it could be priced below the Watch FE, making it a more sensible proposition for a low-cost smartwatch. If true, that could make it much less of a tough sell.

And there’s another consideration. By using RTOS instead of Wear OS, Samsung could conceivably cut down on battery usage, solving another major problem with the Watch FE. It would mean making some compromises, with limited support for the Google Play Store and third-party apps both possible. But if Samsung can keep the cost down, it’s likely that many users won’t mind.

If Samsung makes that move, it would join rivals like Amazfit and Huawei in launching an affordable fitness tracker that doesn’t rely on Wear OS. Whether it can right the wrongs of the Galaxy Watch FE, however, remains to be seen.

Argos has launched its Big Red Tech Sale, featuring all manner of smart home products from air fryers to vacuum cleaners — but hidden amongst the deals on home tech are a lot of terrific smartwatch bargains.

These range from the latest Apple Watch SE 3 and Huawei Watch Fit 5 Pro (which we rated 4.5 stars in our review) to older models. There's incredible deals on Garmins, including the five-star Garmin Fenix 8 Pro and the much cheaper Garmin Forerunner 265, which I wore during my first marathon. You can even save £10 off the £49.99 Huawei Band 11 fitness tracker!

You'll need to apply the correct code at checkout for each of the deals below — either RED10 or RED20, saving you 10% or 20% of the listed price respectively — and I've listed each code for you under the "view details" tab for each product, but you'll also be able to see the codes once you click through to Argos' webpage.

Today's best Argos Big Red Tech Sale smartwatch deals

After months of leaks, rumours and anticipation, Garmin unveiled its full Fenix 9 smartwatch range, including the Fenix 9 Pro, and I was in Chamonix for all the action. Immediately after the press conference, I strapped a shiny new Fenix 9 Pro onto my left wrist and hit the trails to find out if it can really live up to the hype.

For the past two years, the Garmin Fenix 8 has been widely considered the best performance smartwatch money can buy. I rated it as the best premium watch for hikers after wearing it for the 11-day trek to Everest Base Camp, and things only got better when the Fenix 8 Pro came along with integrated inReach technology.

Over the past few months, as rumours swirled that the 9 was imminent, I found myself wondering what the brand could really do to improve upon such a brilliant gadget, besides increasing battery life and slimming the case down. Would today’s announcement produce any meaningful changes, or just cosmetic upgrades?

After only a few hours with it, I’d be lying if I said I’ve reached my final verdict, but I’ve already found some epic features that are available in both the Fenix 9 and 9 Pro, plus a few I need to spend more time with.

Testing the Fenix 9 Pro

I got my hands on the Fenix 9 Pro with a 43mm case and summery Shell Pink strap. Whereas the Fenix 8 Pro only comes in either a 47mm or a ginormous 51mm size that looks positively ridiculous on my wrist, the dainty 43mm case turns this into a watch I’d wear all the time, not just for the trails.

This model has a titanium case and bezel (the Fenix 9 is made with a blend of fiber-reinforced polymer and titanium). It’s made using nano moulding technology, and it all makes for a noticeably lighter and more streamlined feel – it’s about 16% thinner than the Fenix 8 in the same size.

The AMOLED display is also significantly easier to view, and in comparison, my Fenix 8 Pro suddenly looks rather dim. The Fenix 9 is twice as bright as its predecessor, and the 9 Pro is up to 3,000 NITS, all of which means I didn’t find myself squinting in either bright sunny or low light conditions.

If you do decide to go for the 51mm size, you’ll get an absolutely cracking display as it’s the first Fenix to feature a 1.5-inch AMOLED screen.

An epic upgrade

By far and away, the feature I’m most excited about is Garmin Epic, which allows you to group together activities and metrics. If you like adventures that last for days or weeks, you’re going to love it too.

Rather than just a gratuitous adventure journal like the one found in the Coros Nomad, Garmin Epic lets you see the cumulative impact of multiple workouts, whether that’s a multi-day trail run or backpacking excursion, an active holiday, a ski trip or a marathon training block. It also shows each run or hike on a single map, so for example if you were to hike the West Highland Way over a week, you’d be able to view it as a single workout.

To start to test Garmin Epic straight away, I decided to divide today’s adventure up into two separate activities. I used Rucking mode to head about 5k up one of my favourite trails in Chamonix, then ended the activity and switched to Trail Running for my descent.

Once in Rucking mode, I started a new Epic within the activity settings, which I just called Chamonix. When I got back to my hotel, after a little searching, I found my Chamonix Epic under Activities in the Garmin Connect app and added both activities as well as a short hike I went on this morning. Already I can see my total distance and elevation for this trip at a glance, view stats like calories and heart rate, and I’ll be able to add tomorrow’s run to it as well for a little capsule of everything I’ve done on the trails this trip.

Epic includes metrics such as sleep, recovery and performance gains, and you can log activities under one epic for up to 92 days, so it’s ideal for anyone working towards a particular training goal. I only wish I had this feature last year when I was training for Everest Base Camp, and for the trek itself, where I’d have loved to have been able to see my distance, elevation and performance stats all in one cohesive presentation.

Green light gets the green light

Garmin might boast all the top-of-the-line training tools and software, but the LED torch is almost everyone’s favourite feature – including mine. Once winter rolls around, I’m heavily reliant on the red light function when I’m getting up for a run in the dark and don’t want to disturb my sleeping partner. Now, my night vision is going to be even better.

Earlier this year, Amazfit added a green light function to the T-Rex Ultra 2 on the premise that, while red light is better for your eyes, green light makes it easier to see objects and the nature of the terrain, which is why hunters prefer it. Clearly, Garmin has the same idea.

I went back out after dark to test the green light function, and it is significantly better than the red light at illuminating the trail. For those runs and runs that go long, I’ll still use white light to navigate after dark, but the green light is the clear winner for fumbling around campsites at night.

A shift in perspective

Garmin’s maps are easily the best out of any smartwatch brand I’ve tested, and I can’t say I felt that they desperately needed to be improved upon, and yet the 9 comes with maps that render 30% faster than the Fenix 8, while the 9 Pro renders 40% faster than the 8 Pro.

Was I bowled over by the difference in speed? Not really, but there are some clear advantages to the new map engine, and overall it makes for a very smooth navigation experience.

Eager to hit the trail as quickly as possible, I quickly created my route in Garmin Connect and set off. Even though I’m testing the smallest case size available (43mm), the map was easy to see and follow, and there was almost no lag at all when I wanted to zoom in or out.

For my return trip, rather than use the Back to Start function, I decided to use the Explore Nearby function to see if I could find my hotel and create a route back. Without any delay at all, my hotel popped up, and soon I was trotting back down the mountain.

When I got back into town, the streets felt a little chaotic, so I switched the map orientation from the default North Up – the usual mode where you’re looking down at your route from above – to Perspective mode. This essentially tilts the map up slightly so it’s more like you’re looking at the route ahead, and it makes it a little easier to see what’s coming up, something I think gets more important the faster you want to move.

What else is new?

The upgrades to Rucking mode are worth a mention here. Last year, Garmin introduced Pack Weight logging, and now they’ve added the ability to edit your pack weight while you’re on the move, set calorie goals and follow rucking workouts thanks to a collaboration with Go Ruck.

I tested the pack weight editing and set myself a goal of 500 calories today, which was all straightforward, but I was mostly interested to see the difference between the calories I’d burned through the actual hiking and the additional calories from my pack. I don’t go rucking as an activity by itself, but for long jaunts with a heavy pack, it could help me fuel accordingly.

One thing that needs work

I haven’t been able to get rerouting to work yet in maps, and I’m not seeing much data yet in the enhanced Stamina tracking, which promises to use stats like VO2 max, lactate threshold and training history to calculate your maximum tolerable distance to help you with pacing. I’m going to chalk those up to it being day zero, and the fact that the brand was pushing out new features at the same time as I was testing. But there was one big disappointment for me, and that was the watch’s battery life.

There’s no doubt that with up to 151 hours in Max Battery mode, the 51mm Fenix 9 Pro has a better battery than the 51mm Fenix 8 Pro, but because I’ve gone for a more wrist-appropriate case size, I’ve lost even more battery power than I would have anticipated.

My watch started out at 83%, and after two hours on the trail it was down to a paltry 66%. At that rate, on a multi-day trek I’d be looking at charging this daily, making it even less powerful than my Fenix 8 and rather reducing its potential as an adventure watch. Of course, you can get around this by simply buying a bigger case size, but it would be great to see Garmin working on a watch for small wrists and big adventures.

Every time that a new Garmin smartwatch appears we know that our list of the best Garmin watches on the market is likely to be disrupted, and from what we've seen so far that certainly seems to be the case with the brand new Fenix 9 and Fenix 9 Pro.

These wearables take over from the Fenix 8 and the Fenix 8 Pro at the very top of Garmin's product range, but are they the right buy for you? How much do they offer above and beyond the older models, and how do they compare to what's already available?

If you're weighing up a potential Fenix 9-themed upgrade, here's what you need to know in terms of what's new and what you get for your money.

All the models

If you're interested in a new Garmin Fenix 9, there's no shortage of models to pick from: there's the standard Fenix 9 in three sizes, the Fenix 9 Pro in three sizes, and the Fenix 9 Pro with InReach in three sizes.

On top of that (try and keep up at the back), there's a Fenix 9 Pro Solar model in two sizes, and a Fenix 9 Pro Solar with InReach model in two sizes.

Our comprehensive pricing table might make everything a little easier to digest.

You can also check out the key specs of the Fenix 9 and Fenix 9 Pro models below: we've compared the two 43mm OLED versions to make it a little easier to understand.

Mapping upgrades

The on-board map is of course core to a lot of outdoor activities with the Fenix 9 series, and there are some useful-looking tweaks coming here. They include a new perspective view, which lets you see what's coming up more easily, at various different zoom levels, and there's more storage across the board with more map content already preloaded.

There's extra RAM inside these watches compared to their predecessors too, which Garmin says will make getting around the map on your wrist more fluid and responsive — panning is apparently now 30% faster, for example. Those are genuine improvements that should be noticeable if you're making the jump up from an older Garmin Fenix smartwatch.

New activity features

There are some new activity features to talk about. The Fenix 9 watches offer stamina zones and stamina curves, to check how your endurance levels change over time, in relation to your training and fitness. The rucking features have been expanded meanwhile, to support pack changes during activities, and to enable more specific target metrics.

There's good news for regular indoor rowers. The new wearables are able to read data off selected machines directly, covering power curves and power zones, while the watches are able to calculate VO2 Max and certain other metrics from rowing sessions — which wasn't the case before. It means more detailed fitness insights from your rowing sessions.

Improvements to LiveTrack and location tracking

We're already big fans of the Garmin LiveTrack feature, which lets you share your real-time location, route, and associated stats with other people, and it's getting better on the LTE version of the Fenix 9 Pro. Sharing can now be done inside Garmin Messenger from your wrist, with some preset messages available, and improved notifications.

There's also a brand new feature called Garmin Locate, which again works through Garmin Messenger from the other end: Here a contact requests your location, as a one-time share, if they need to know where you are. It's all a bit more elegant and social, but it does mean you're getting gently pushed more towards Garmin's own messaging platform.

Garmin Epic

An 'Epic' is a new idea from Garmin, arriving with the Fenix 9 series. Essentially, it lets you selected group activities and workouts together, almost like a folder in a filing cabinet: the examples Garmin gives are backpacking trips, cycling stage races, and strength plans. Data from individual sessions can be collected in an Epic, and viewed and analyzed together.

At first glance, it looks like an interesting expansion of what you can do with your Garmin, and you can create these Epics from past activities too — potentially letting you unlock new insights from records going back years. Notes and photos can be added along the way as well, together with health data collected between the main activities of each Epic.

At next month's September Apple Event, we expect the tech giant to introduce the Apple Watch 12 alongside the new iPhone.

While rumors are sparse about what new additions the Series 12 will have, we've had a year with the Apple Watch Series 11, and we think it's an excellent smartwatch that's packed with insightful features — and it's currently on sale.

Amazon has the Apple Watch 11 on sale for $299 (was $399), which is a $100 discount from its original price and only $20 more than the record low.

• Shop more daily deals at Amazon

The Apple Watch Series 11 was released at last year's September Event and is the thinnest and most durable Apple smartwatch, and is 2x more scratch-resistant than its predecessor. The smartwatch uses 5G connectivity for improved connectivity, while still offering an impressive battery life of up to 24 hours. Health features include hypertension detection and advanced sleep monitoring, which provide a personalized Sleep Score with helpful insights to help you sleep better.

Get the Apple Watch 11 on sale for $299

The Apple Watch 12 is expected to launch at the same price as the Series 11, which is $399. While it's guaranteed to have new features, most people will be satisfied with everything that the Apple Watch 11 has to offer, and it's $100 cheaper.

• Casio’s GBX-H5600KI-5 Kanoa Igarashi watch has gone on sale
• It’s aimed at surfers, with a range of features for the sport
• It could rival the Garmin Fenix 9, which is due to be announced soon

Garmin is just about to launch the Fenix 9 watch, and it’s fair to say there’s plenty of hype surrounding the upcoming model. Yet Casio has just arrived to steal Garmin’s thunder with a new wearable that could take the air out of the Fenix 9’s sails — particularly when you consider who the devices are apparently aimed at.

Casio’s device is the wordily named GBX-H5600KI-5 Kanoa Igarashi. It’s just gone on sale in the US for $370, which translates to roughly £270 GBP / $515 AUD — way cheaper than the majority of Garmin’s range, and the Ultra-branded rugged adventure smartwatches from the likes of Apple and Samsung.

It makes up for its lack of a snappy moniker with a feature list that includes a tide graph function, plus moon, sunrise, and sunset info for optimal surf timing. It also boasts blood-oxygen sensors, a heart rate monitor, sleep tracking, training load powered by Polar, and more.

On the design front, it comes in a dark brown case with lavender highlights. Because of the molding process, each watch has a slightly different look. There’s a MIP display that sports the signature of Japanese-American surfer Kanoa Igarashi, for whom the device is named. You’ll also find the number 50 on the wrist strap, which is a reference to Igarashi’s World Surf League bib code.

Designed for surfers

It’s that surfing connection that might rain on Garmin’s parade. Garmin’s Play Harder event — where the Fenix 9 is widely expected to be revealed — features a surfer as its livestream cover image, perhaps giving a hint as to what the Fenix 9 could be oriented towards.

But with Casio’s surfer-themed watch going on sale right before the Fenix 9 makes an appearance, picking a smartwatch for your surfing sessions just got a little more complicated. And then there’s the price: the Garmin Fenix 8 starts at $849.99 /£749.99 GBP / $1,499 AUD, a cool $480 / £480 GBP / $984 AUD more than Casio’s latest effort. The Fenix 9 is likely to be priced around $1,000 / £1,000 GBP / $1,399 AUD — if it is, the difference compared to Casio’s device will be stark.

Of course, you get a lot more from Garmin in terms of features, including a larger AMOLED screen and many more tools and metrics. But if all you want is a simple smartwatch to take out on your morning surf, Casio believes it has the answer — presumably much to the chagrin of Garmin.

UPDATE 25/08: the Garmin Fenix 9 has been revealed. Get all the latest Garmin Fenix 9 info here.

• Garmin has scheduled a YouTube live event
• Titled 'Play Harder', it's scheduled for 25 August at 12:00pm BST (4am PT / 7am ET / 9pm AEST)
• It's likely to be the launch of the Garmin Fenix 9

Garmin has scheduled a live event on YouTube, without much fanfare. Titled 'Play Harder', the event — we're not sure if this is a live event, or merely a trailer or series of trailers for another of the best Garmin watches — is scheduled to go live at 12:00pm BST. You can follow all of our live reaction right now on our Garmin 'Play Harder' liveblog.

For America, that translates to 4:00am Pacific Time (sorry) or 7:00am Eastern Time. For Australian watchers, it's a slightly more reasonable 9:00pm AEST.

Garmin doesn't normally schedule live events to announce new products — as far as I know, this is a first. So to schedule a live event to generate some build-up, presumably culminating in a public product reveal, means whatever's coming has to be pretty special indeed.

Fenix rising

It may well be a slate of new products Garmin are announcing, but the star of the show is sure to be the Fenix 9. The Garmin Fenix 9 has been rumored to launch in the second half of 2026 for months, and recent retailer leaks suggest a launch is now imminent.

We're expecting to get three new kinds of Fenix: a standard AMOLED Fenix 9, like the Garmin Fenix 8 before it, and two different kinds of Pro watch: one with InReach satellite messaging connectivity, and one without, plus solar charging options.

The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro launched around a year after the original, but Garmin seems to be dropping the whole range at once this time around.

We've not heard much around the Garmin Enduro 4, the latest version of Garmin's massive watch line that promises near-infinite battery on sunny days. It could launch with the Fenix 9, as the Enduro 3 did with the Fenix 8, or Garmin could be saving it for a rainy day (well, we hope not, or the solar charging won't work!).

You can check out the approaching live stream on the embedded video below, but there isn't much to see right now: just an image of a surfer and a date. But check back with us tomorrow, as we'll be covering the announcements live.

If you're in the market for a capable smartwatch and a robust health tracker, then Garmin's Venu 3 is an excellent choice. While it's an older model (released in 2023), it's packed with insightful features, and in our Garmin Venu 3 review, we called it 'a near-perfect balance of smartwatch and health tracker'.

Amazon has dropped the Garmin Venu 3 to $294.99 (originally $449.99), which is the lowest price we've ever seen and a whopping $155 discount.

• Shop more daily deals at Amazon

The Garmin Venu 3 is the predecessor to the Venu 4, which currently holds the top spot in our best Garmin watch guide. Great for outdoor enthusiasts, the Venu 3 features advanced GPS tracking, a water-resistant design, and an extended battery life of up to 14 days. The smartwatch also tracks heart rate, respiration, blood oxygen saturation, sleep, and stress levels and includes a speaker and microphone so you can take calls from your wrist.

Today's limited-time offer on the Garmin Venu 3 from Amazon is not only a new record-low price, but it's also superb value for a rugged smartwatch that's packed with health and fitness features.

Garmin's Venu 3 for a record-low price at Amazon

It's been a while since the last one, so Amazon is back with another sale on a handful of top Garmin smartwatches. We rate several of these devices for their stunning displays, excellent tracking, and slick designs — with many of them our top picks for various health and fitness needs at a range of different budgets. My top eight picks from the latest Garmin sale at Amazon are below.

• See all Garmin deals at Amazon

I've picked out entry-level fitness trackers for those just starting out, dedicated running watches for those working up to everything from a first 5k to a first marathon, and hardy all-purpose wearables that will guide you on more challenging outdoor adventures.

Our expert health and fitness testers have tried many Garmin devices and these are the ones they would recommend as the best Garmin watches you can buy. For example, there's the classic Garmin Forerunner 265 for $349.99 for runners, a more affordable Garmin Vívoactive 5 at $189.99 for the gym-goer, and this Garmin Fenix 8 for $749.99 for multisport enthusiasts.

Even though summer is drawing to a close, there's still time to get your exercise regimen in place and one of these smartwatches could offer just the extra incentive you need to get your routine in place for the cooler months ahead and start tracking your progress.

8 best Garmin deals for Memorial Day

• Casio has another step-counting smartwatch for your consideration
• The Casio F-B100W is now going on sale outside of Japan
• Daily steps can be monitored on your phone or the watch itself

Casio's commitment to adding modern fitness tracking features to its classic retro-style smartwatches, is continuing apace, with a new watch model that's now widely available outside of its home country of Japan.

The Casio F-B100W (via Phandroid) is very much in the traditional Casio style when it comes to aesthetics, with the familiar LCD screen and rubber-like resin band, but there are some smarts built into the device too.

It'll link with an app on your phone for a start, which lets you control various watch settings from Android or iOS. It also acts as a phone finder, so you can use your timepiece to get your phone to make a sound, should you misplace it.

There's also step counting included here, so you can set goals when it comes to getting your steps in, and see your progress through the day — either through the connected mobile app or on the screen of the F-B100W itself.

Features and pricing

Other features worth noting are calendar, timer, and stopwatch tools, plus a dual world time zone display option that lets you pick from around 300 cities across the globe. The replaceable battery should last you a couple of years.

Casio is certainly leaning into the retro-meets-modern angle, as you can see from one of the promotional images at the top of this article: newspaper cuttings (remember those?) announcing the watch features, alongside an image of the device itself.

If Reddit is anything to go by, the new model could be a hit: "A watch I'd actually buy," writes one commenter who loves "the retro aesthetic", while another simply says "oh man that's absolutely beautiful".

The Casio F-B100W is now available in the UK in black or green for £55. It hasn't made its way to the Casio US store yet, but based on similar models, is likely to be priced at around $95. It doesn't look as though the watch will be available directly in Australia.

Samsung has had a busy few weeks with the launch of its 2026 foldable and wearable ranges, with pre-orders just wrapping up last week. If you missed out on the pre-order deals or you have your eyes set on something else from the brand, then fret not — Samsung has just unveiled a slew of deals across its product portfolio.

The latest Samsung Secret Sale event features lots of top-rated tech that we’ve reviewed here at TechRadar, with savings of up AU$1,200 or 50% with the code SECRETAUG — but it’s only running for 48 hours, with deals ending at 10am AEST on Wednesday, August 19.

One standout deal is the excellent Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 with a 50% discount, bringing it down to just AU$374.50 for the 40mm LTE model. Given that the new Watch 9 has relatively modest upgrades for AU$699 (with a current deal), this offer is hard to pass up.

• Check out our range of dedicated Samsung Australia promo codes for more savings on phones, TVs, wearables and audio

Hiking is all about getting away from screens and into the healing embrace of nature, sure, but over the past few years I’ve often embraced the help of a GPS watch when I hit the trail.

These crafty devices have banished my trusty map and compass into the deepest recesses of my hiking backpack, only to be pulled out in dire circumstances. Their offline maps and handy turn-by-turn navigation have me blowing past every trail junction without slowing down, and never again do I have to wonder how far I’ve walked or how much ground I still have to cover.

Not every smartwatch feature matters for hiking – I personally don’t need a reminder every time I receive a text, and training tools like Race Predictor on the best Garmin watches are only depressing, as handy as they are for trail runners – but a watch with offline maps, a great battery life and a flashlight is like gold when I’m taking the long road.

Over the last few years, I’ve tested dozens of GPS watches on trails from the Highlands to the Himalayas to find out which are best for trekking adventures.

Best premium GPS watch: Garmin Fenix 8

• Maps: Full color topo maps preloaded
• Torch: LED
• Display: AMOLED
• Materials: Titanium bezel, Power Sapphire lens, fibre-reinforced polymer case
• Battery life: Up to 28 hours in GPS mode

The fully-featured Garmin Fenix 8 is one of the absolute best GPS watches that money can buy, it’s true. But don’t think its inclusion here is merely a lazy catch-all – I wore this watch all the way to Everest Base Camp and back to find out whether or not it really has the chops for hiking. Suffice to say, it’s nearly perfect for intrepid adventures.

For my 11-day trek, I played around with both Mountaineering mode, which gave me precise altitude readings that were really helpful as we climbed up to 5,364m, and Rucking mode, which allowed me to input my exact pack weight for more accurate fitness tracking and calorie counting.

In the Nepalese teahouses, the LED torch was ideal for midnight trips to the loo, and on a pre-dawn hike up Kala Patthar to watch the sun rise over Everest, the red light function proved more useful than my super bright headtorch.

The Fenix 8 comes with full colour maps already preloaded, and with 32GB of storage, it holds up to 100 GPX routes, far more than I’d ever need. I trekked with a guide in the Himalayas, so I didn’t need to download the route, but a few months later, I wore it for a five-day hike of the Cumbria Way, and the route was lightning-quick to render and meant I barely had to break my stride if I came across an unmarked trail junction.

The only gripe I can find is the battery life, which is more than suitable for regular day hikes, but lacks a little on multi-day treks. On adventures where I’m using the Fenix 8 in GPS mode for 6-8 hours a day, I typically have to charge it every third day.

If you’re planning on going very far off-grid, consider the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro, which adds the ability to make an SOS call when you’re out of service and need help.

• Who should buy it: Hikers with a big budget who don’t want to compromise on quality or features.

Best for multi-day treks: Suunto Vertical 2

• Maps: Full color topo maps available for download
• Torch: LED
• Display: AMOLED
• Materials: Sapphire crystal screen with a choice of stainless steel or titanium aluminium alloy bezel
• Battery life: Up to 65 hours in GPS mode

If the price of the Fenix 8 makes you wince, but you’re not willing to compromise on quality and performance, allow me to introduce you to the Suunto Vertical 2.

This watch doesn’t boast the full suite of smart and training features that let the Fenix 8 leapfrog over the competition, but if it’s a reliable navigation and training watch you’re after, this high-quality watch checks a lot of boxes.

I first tested it out on a five-day solo trek along the St Cuthbert’s Way, which covers a lot of remote ground. I was doing it in late fall when the days were short, so I didn’t want to take any wrong turns if I could help it.

I had to download the map of the UK before I set off, but after that it was all straightforward. The map rendered quickly each morning and was really clean and easy to follow on the giant, bright screen. I opted for the watch’s Nordic Walking mode since I hike with poles, and it gave me more accurate readings.

The LED torch really came in useful on the longer days, where I ran out of daylight before reaching my lodging, and it gave me comfort knowing that I had a backup light source.

It only holds 15 routes at a time, which means I do have to operate a strict one-in, one-out policy, but that’s not a dealbreaker by any means and enough for most people.

But the real showstopper here is the Vertical 2’s incredible battery life, which makes it a better choice than the Fenix 8 if your adventures don’t stop at dinner time. Until this watch came along, an AMOLED screen meant a tradeoff in battery life, but Suunto turned that narrative around with a whopping 65 hours even in Accurate Mode. I started the St Cuthbert’s Way with it fully charged, used it for 6-8 hours a day for five days, and I still had more than 50% battery life remaining when I was done.

• Who should buy it: Thru-hikers and backpackers who want a battery that can last as long as their legs and don’t prioritise smart capabilities.

Best mid-range: Amazfit T-Rex Ultra 2

• Maps: Full color topo maps available for download
• Torch: LED
• Display: AMOLED
• Materials: Sapphire glass screen, titanium bezel and back panel
• Battery life: Up to 50 hours in GPS mode

Do you want everything but the kitchen sink from your GPS watch? You have two choices: spend a lot of money on a Garmin, or accept the quirks of the cheaper Amazfit T-Rex Ultra 2.

I recently hiked nine Munros in the Scottish Highlands and islands over a two-week period, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to test out this burly, fully-featured watch. Per the name echoing the world’s most famous dinosaur, it’s by far the biggest watch on this list, which does make it a bit of a pain to wear with hiking layers, but in the summer months, this doesn’t pose much of an issue.

Amazfit says the watch comes with preinstalled maps, but I had to download the map of Scotland before using it for the first time. The watch has a massive 64GB of storage and holds up to 50 GPX routes, so I had no issues storing everything I needed before I left the house.

Once I got out on the trail, the maps looked great and provided lots of detail, like trails showing up as dotted lines to differentiate them from roads. The extraordinarily comprehensive Points of Interest feature lets me search for and navigate to just about everything nearby, from coffee shops and water sources to police stations and parks. But when I’m following a route, some aspects are a little sluggish. It’s often slow to update my distance remaining or elevation, and despite ongoing promises of an automatic rerouting feature, it always fails to recalibrate when I change course.

Interestingly, the LED torch has a green light function instead of the usual red light, which survival experts say provides better clarity in the dark (red light is kinder on your eyes). There’s also an option to long-press the bottom left button to record a voice memo during an activity, which can be nice for taking notes along the way. The Coros Nomad also has this feature, called Voice Pin.

The T-Rex Ultra 2 has full smartwatch functionality, so it’s a good option if you want (or need) to stay connected on trails, but it can mean a lot of annoying notifications if not. I get around this by keeping it on Do Not Disturb when I hike.

• Who should buy it: Hikers who want a lot of bang for their buck, and don’t mind a few pain points.

Best value for money: Coros Nomad

• Maps: Full color topo maps available for download
• Torch: White screen
• Display: MIP
• Materials: Hardened mineral glass screen and aluminium alloy bezel
• Battery life: Up to 50 hours in GPS mode

Are you allergic to bright screens, bells and whistles? If so, the no-nonsense Coros Nomad is a great choice on a smaller budget.

Its memory-in-pixel (MIP) display might look a little dated next to the now-standard AMOLED models, but MIP displays are generally more battery efficient, so remain good choices for long trips. I took it to Eryri National Park (Snowdonia) for a week of hiking, and I was impressed.

I had to download color maps before my trip, and I think they’re some of the best on this list. They’re really quite detailed with distinguished trail markings, Points of Interest, and mountain peaks and show up really well in all light conditions, even when I’m wearing polarised sunglasses. The device holds up to 100 routes, matching the capacity of the Fenix 8, and they render quickly.

Once I hit the trail, I really liked how easy it is to zoom in (up to 50ft) using the digital crown, and the GPS is as accurate as any watch on this list. I used it in Mountain Climb mode, which takes altitude changes into account to track true 3D distance.

There is a reason that it’s inexpensive, and it’s not just down to cheaper materials and a low-power MIP display. There’s no LED torch, and there’s no in-watch rerouting, so when I do decide to go off-route, it keeps vibrating to let me know, which gets a little annoying. Also, the Back to Start function is buried in the settings menu, instead of being an option when I pause the activity. It’s not make-or-break stuff, but it does show the difference between a budget watch and a more premium model.

What you do get for the sacrifice of some features is a very good battery life, thanks in part to that display. I didn’t have to charge it once during my trip to Wales and would feel confident taking this on a multi-day trek without carrying a battery pack. A nice addition is the Adventure Journal, which lets me drop a pin, add a photo or record a voice memo to a route during a hike, and I do find it really useful for record-keeping as an outdoors journalist.

There is an Emergency Safety Alert system that could be of interest to hikers, but it’s a bit limited. You can set up designated emergency contacts in the app and then send an instant SOS with your live location coordinates by long-pressing the digital crown. However, you need a mobile signal for this to work, so while it could save your life if you fall down a cliff and drop your phone, it’s not really a substitute for a Garmin InReach or other satellite connectivity feature in the wild.

• Who should buy it: Hikers on a budget looking for a no-frills, but reliable watch.

Best for fitness: Polar Grit X2 Pro

• Maps: Full color maps preloaded for Europe (UK needs to be downloaded)
• Torch: White screen
• Display: AMOLED
• Materials: Stainless steel bezel, sapphire glass lens
• Battery life: Up to 43 hours in GPS mode

If you’re interested in training science or preparing for a feat of endurance that might entail weeks or months on the trail, the Polar Grit X2 Pro offers some of the best research-backed metrics and guidance.

I’ve been testing out the Nordic Walking and Rucking modes on this watch around Scotland for a few weeks, and I’ve found it to be a high-quality and distraction-free design.

You will need to download UK maps, and the watch doesn’t have WiFi, so maps and routes need to be dragged over on your laptop, which is a little nostalgic to say the least, and I do have to be a little more organised about where I want to go, but it’s all fairly painless. On the trail, the GPS accuracy has been as good as any, and the maps are nice and clear, although if you’re looking for turn-by-turn guidance, you’ll need to use maps from Komoot, and you do have to calibrate the compass before every hike, which I find a little frustrating.

The battery life is on par with the Fenix 8. In GPS mode, it gets about 40 hours from a full charge, which means you’ll want to bring a battery pack for multi-day treks, and that does slightly negate its worth for endurance efforts.

What makes this watch stand out is its training and recovery tools. Every time I finish a hike, I get an immediate report of the energy sources I’ve used (carbohydrates, protein and fat). With the FuelWise feature, I can receive customised carb and drink reminders during long treks, which is really valuable as I’m terrible at remembering to eat enough on long days.

The Finnish brand really prides itself in training research; Polar’s Research Library features over 17,000 peer-reviewed references, and it shows in this watch. This watch boasts lots of hiking-specific tools, such as Vertical Speed to track your climbing rate, 3D Speed, which is a separate feature which factors in horizontal movement and vertical elevation changes, and Hill Splitter, which automatically detects and breaks down every uphill and downhill on your route.

While this watch doesn’t really stand head and shoulders above the rest, its recovery tools and sleep tracking are excellent, and it excels in cold weather, so for big efforts and those who want distraction-free data, it’s a solid contender.

• Who should buy it: Data-driven endurance hikers who miss the olden days when a walk in the wild meant no one could reach you.

What makes a good hiking watch?

These days, any good GPS watch will provide you with some level of navigation, fitness and health tracking and smart features. But not all are created equally, and not all are built with hikers’ needs in mind. For a watch to be great for hiking, it should have the following features:

Offline maps

Though you can get by with breadcrumb navigation, for a watch to be considered one of the best for hiking, it first and foremost needs to have offline maps that you can use to create routes or follow GPX files. These should be colour, with topographical lines as an option, and show lots of detail.

Clear display

It’s best if a hiking watch has a big and bright display since you’ll be looking at it frequently if you’re using it for navigation, in every possible weather condition, and often while wearing sunglasses. That said, if it’s too high-profile, it can be tricky to wear with hiking layers and gloves, so the biggest isn’t necessarily the best.

Rugged build

Because you’re going to be exposing your hiking watch to all of the elements in every season, it needs to be rugged, so look for something that operates within a wide range of temperatures (-20°C to around 50°C) and has a waterproof rating of at least 10ATM. The most robust materials to look for include a sapphire crystal lens and a titanium or stainless steel bezel.

Big battery

Your hiking watch needs to stand up to the test of time, and by that I mean a robust battery life. An Apple Watch that needs charging every 24 hours is fine for gym use or short, half-day hikes, but if you’re going to be on the trail for a week, choose a watch that’s not going to die on you halfway.

Multiple hiking modes

Activity modes beyond Hiking and Walking are useful, and they should do more than just categorise your activities. Modes like Nordic Walking should take into account the additional energy expenditure from pole use, and if a watch offers Rucking mode, you should be able to input your pack weight for more accurate metrics.

Light source

Finally, though this is certainly an optional extra, most of the best hiking watches have an LED torch. Not to say that you should ditch the headtorch altogether, but when you just need a little illumination for a short distance, it’s preferable to be able to press a button on your watch than stop and dig around for your torch.

Apple makes some of the best smartwatches you can buy in 2026, especially if you're already an existing iPhone or MacBook user and embedded in Apple's ecosystem.

In many ways, the Apple Watch is Apple's most personal device, sitting right on your wrist, with plenty of color and band options – not to mention loads of different watch faces to pick from. The face you pick is where the fun really starts, as it can make the same watch feel sporty, traditional, playful, or completely different from one day to the next.

I tend to favour simpler, less complicated faces that make the time easy to read without cramming the screen with data, all of which is still available inside various apps. But I've included all sorts here. From my daily-driver Flux face to Snoopy’s wonderfully unpredictable animations, these are the 10 Apple Watch faces I’d recommend trying in 2026.

What's your favorite watch face? Let us know in the comments below!

Infograph – best Apple Watch face for complications

Infograph is the obvious pick for anyone who wants plenty of information on-screen. It supports up to eight complications, although I prefer a cleaner setup with just four fitness-focused ones in the centre.

Why it works: You can tailor it around work, exercise, weather, or everyday shortcuts, and most complications open the relevant app when tapped. Leaving a few spaces empty also makes it much easier to read at a glance.

Limitations: It can become cluttered very quickly, especially once you start mixing lots of colors and data types. If you mainly want to check the time, Infograph is probably more watch face than you need.

Flow – best Liquid Glass Apple Watch face

Flow is one of the clearest showcases for watchOS 26’s Liquid Glass design, with oversized translucent numerals set against a colorful animated background. You can switch between different colors, two typefaces, and a static or moving backdrop.

Why it works: The large numbers are easy to read, while the refraction effect gives the face much more depth when you move your wrist. Blue and purple suits the glassy look particularly well, but brighter combinations can make it feel completely different.

Limitations: There are no complications, so Flow is firmly a design-first face. Its glossy, futuristic style is also probably too bold for anyone who wants their Apple Watch to resemble a traditional watch.

California – best traditional Apple Watch face

California is the closest this list gets to a classic watch dial, mixing Roman and Arabic numerals in its most recognisable form. You can also switch between several numeral styles, use a circular or full-screen layout, and add a handful of complications.

Why it works: It gives the Apple Watch a more traditional look without losing useful extras such as the date, weather, or app shortcuts. Darker colors and restrained complications suit it especially well.

Limitations: Bright or overly detailed complications can clash with the clean dial, while the full-screen version leaves less room for information. It's also less playful than Apple’s more modern faces.

Numerals Duo – best bold digital Apple Watch face

Numerals Duo fills almost the entire screen with oversized hours and minutes, like Flow, making it one of Apple’s easiest faces to read at a glance. You can change the colors, numeral system, and choose between Filled, Hybrid, and Outline styles.

Why it works: The huge numbers give it some personality without making the time difficult to find. My multi-colored Hybrid version is especially playful, but a simpler two-color setup can look much cleaner.

Limitations: There are no complications, so you lose quick access to weather, fitness data, and so on. It is also unapologetically digital, which may not appeal if you prefer a more watch-like design.

Snoopy – best character Apple Watch face

Snoopy brings the Apple Watch to life with short animations featuring Snoopy, Woodstock, and the clock hands. The scenes change throughout the day, while different color options give the face a slightly different feel.

Why it works: The animations are really charming and varied enough to stay fun beyond the first few days. My “ARF!” scene pictured above captures the playful side of the face particularly well.

Limitations: There are no complications, and some animations briefly make the time harder to read. The Snoopy face might work best as a weekend-only option.

Flux – best dynamic digital Apple Watch face

Flux is my daily-driver face, combining oversized numerals with a block of color that rises from the bottom as each minute passes. You can switch between different colors and Western Arabic, Eastern Arabic, or Devanagari numerals.

Why it works: It is simple, bold, and immediately readable, but the constant movement stops it from feeling static. The numerals also shift into a new shape whenever the minute changes. Really cool face.

Limitations: Flux has no complications, so it only tells you the time. The unusual numeral shapes can also take a little getting used to, particularly with some color combinations.

Color – best minimalist analogue Apple Watch face

Color is a clean, flexible analogue face that can be dressed up with bright shades or kept deliberately understated. You can choose between circular and dial layouts, including a full-screen version, and then add complications or a monogram.

Why it works: It keeps the focus on the time while still leaving room for a useful shortcut or two. My full-screen version uses a single Camera Remote complication, but the circular layout can carry much more information.

Limitations: It lacks the personality of Apple’s more animated faces, and adding too many complications quickly undermines its simplicity.

Timelapse – best scenic Apple Watch face

Timelapse turns your watch into a tiny moving cityscape, with options including London, New York City, Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Mack Lake. My pick is the London version, because it's where I live, complete with Westminster and a small weather complication.

Why it works: The shifting background gives it more atmosphere than a static photo face, while the time stays easy to spot. It also feels a little more personal when you choose a location you know.

Limitations: The selection of scenes is quite limited, and readability can vary depending on the frame. There is also likely to be a higher battery drain, and it offers far less customisation than Apple’s Photos face.

Artist – best art-led Apple Watch face

Finally, Artist turns the screen into a tiny changing portrait, with the time worked directly into the illustration. Tapping the face produces a new combination, so it rarely looks exactly the same twice.

Why it works: It feels more like a small piece of digital art than a traditional watch face. The shifting faces and colors give it plenty of personality without relying on animation. A slightly offbeat, cool pick.

Limitations: There are no complications, and some combinations are easier to read than others. It is also the least practical option here if you mainly use your watch as an information hub.

How to add and customise Apple Watch faces

The easiest method is through the Watch app on your iPhone.

Open the Face Gallery, choose a design, then adjust its colors, style, numerals, and complications before tapping Add to Watch.

The available controls vary a lot: Flow mainly offers visual tweaks, while Infograph lets you change almost every piece of information on-screen, and so on.

You can also make changes directly on the watch. Touch and hold the current face, tap Edit, then swipe through the available options and turn the Digital Crown to make your selections.

How to pick the right Apple Watch face

The best place to start is with what you actually want to see when you raise your wrist. That might be nothing more than the time, or it could include your next appointment, Activity rings, weather, and a shortcut to your most-used app.

Complications are useful, but from experience, more is not always better. Too much information can make things feel cluttered, especially if you have a smaller model like my Apple Watch SE.

It's also worth setting up a few faces for different situations. You might use Infograph during the working day, switch to something fitness-focused for a workout, then move to Snoopy at the weekend.

Finally, test each face outdoors and at a quick glance – a color combination that looks great in the Watch app may be much harder to read on your wrist.

The Google Pixel Watch 5 has been officially unveiled at this year's Made by Google event, and much is already being made of its new Health Guardian features such as Breathing Emergency Detection and Insulin Resistance Trends, in addition to the accuracy of its dual-band GPS.

Priced starting from $399.99 / £369 / around AU$565 (TBC) for the 41mm model, and $429.99 / £399.99 / around AU$600 (TBC) for the 45mm model, the watch looks very much the same as its predecessor, the Google Pixel Watch 4: from the domed Actua 3D display teardrop-shape to the sizes and digital crown.

Because it's all quite similar, you could be forgiven for not getting too excited about the device — after all, it's hardly reinvented the wheel. You might even have been considering getting what will likely be one of the best Android watches, but waiting on today's announcement and hoping to be more excited about it. You might have been hoping for an announcement of a rugged Pixel Watch Ultra, or a cheaper model like the Apple Watch SE 3.

Well, worry not, dear reader — below, I've put together a trio of alternative smartwatches, all using Wear OS (or a form of, at least) as their operating system, and therefore compatible with Android phones just like the Pixel Watch 5.

The stylish option: OnePlus Watch 3

The OnePlus Watch 3, in its original 47mm and newer 43mm sizes, is a terrific Wear OS watch by any stretch. Its main USP compared to the Pixel Watch 5 is that rather than the Google Pixel Watch series' tech-heavy teardrop look, the OnePlus opts for a more classical analog-watch-style look consisting of a titanium and stainless steel case.

Paired with a classic-looking watch face, you'd struggle to tell the difference at first glance between it and a standard sports watch. Once it flares into life, though, that buttery-smooth refresh rate makes all the difference. It's got up to 120 hours of battery life thanks to a dual-operating-system architecture inside it: it runs Wear OS when in use as a smartwatch, and switches to a lower-power OS when quietly running in the background. Clever. The big battery life also means you can do a ton of workouts between charges.

The major downsides here are that you're stuck on the older Wear OS 5 operating system, without the advanced on-wrist Gemini functionalities, and no LTE option.

• Read our full OnePlus Watch 3 review

The rugged option: Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, new for 2026, is an adventuring powerhouse. New trail running features allow you to use full-color maps within the workout, following a route while you run in the great outdoors, while an upcoming app from diving experts Mares will turn the watch into a fully-fledged dive computer, just like the Oceanic+ app does to the Apple Watch Ultra series. It's got waypoints, an emergency alarm, and stacks of battery life.

The watch is a little thinner than previous iterations, but it's still built on that solid titanium shell with its distinctive 'cushion' design, so it'll take more of a beating than the Pixel Watch 5 — great news for hard-wearing adventurers. Its distinctive, now-familiar programmable Quick Button nestles between two other up and down buttons, so there's plenty of action compared to the Pixel Watch 5's singular digital crown.

The downsides? It's more expensive than the Google options at $699.99 / £649, and you'll need the Samsung Health app to get the best experience, as the watch runs a form of Wear OS wrapped in Samsung's One UI Watch interface.

• Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 review

The cheaper option: Google Pixel Watch 4

Looks very similar, doesn't it? In terms of performance, there's very little the Google Pixel Watch 5 can do that the Pixel Watch 4 can't: it's got the same suite of Health Guardian tools, the same repairability (allowing you to replace a damaged display or dead battery) and the same funky teardrop design with an Actua 3D domed display packing 3,000 nits brightness. However, you don't get the latest Gemini Intelligence, you only get half the storage, and the GPS isn't as accurate.

Still, this is a very iterative upgrade, and while Google will officially stop selling the Pixel Watch 4, you'll be able to nab excess stock from a third party retailer such as Amazon for a while yet, most likely with some discounts too.

We rated the Pixel Watch 4 highly in our review, calling it 'a slick piece of kit, and one we really like using for the most part. It looked great, and although it was thick on the wrist, it was comfortable, and the Material 3 Expressive software design is a joy to use.'

• Read our full Google Pixel Watch 4 review

Specifications compared:

No more needles. Until the Google Pixel Watch 5 arrived as part of Google's Made by Google 2026 event, the only way most people could monitor their blood sugar's responses to food and exercise with smart tech was to use a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM. A small puck with a Bluetooth receiver inside and a spike to connect to your blood, it projects your blood sugar levels to your phone in real time.

Very useful — and originally developed — for diabetics, it was also quickly co-opted by the wellness sector and marketed as a way to curb blood sugar spikes. I attended a product launch for one of these devices in a fancy hotel, where a celebrity chef talked us through how to make healthy canapés that wouldn't spike our blood sugar, As proof, we could see our blood sugar broadcast to our phones in real time, monitored by the needles in our arms.

Too much sugar increases the body's insulin resistance, leading to fat storage, while exercise uses your body's glucose stores as fuel. Simple enough in theory, but I found the constant readings from the CGM easy to obsess over during my trial period, checking my graphs after every meal and mentally planning how much exercise would be needing to offset the effect of those spikes. I am not diabetic.

The Google Pixel Watch 5 is heralding in, as part of its passive-tracking Health Guardian suite of features, a non-invasive Insulin Resistance Trends feature for Pixel Watches 3 and above. According to Google: 'The tool uses passive sensors on your wrist to track monthly shifts in your metabolic health, reserving formal lab work for when you're at the doctor's office.

'The goal of this new feature is to help you take control of your health journey, serving as a gentle reminder to pause and check your routines,' continues Google's press release. 'When this Health Guardian feature detects sustained, elevated insulin resistance trends over the month, it alerts you with a gentle nudge to help you adjust your daily habits and get your metabolic health back in its sweet spot.'

'Metabolic health' refers to the process of your body turning food into energy. A healthy body turns food and sugar into energy very effectively, while an unhealthy body works harder to mitigate those blood sugar spikes, leading to excess blood sugar being stored as fat rather than fuel. This results in weight gain and in some cases, Type-2 diabetes.

The feature isn't on watches yet (it'll arrive next month) and there's no indication of exactly how Google has been able to wrangle its optical LED sensors to manage this non-invasive Insulin Resistance Trends monitoring.

In its press materials, Google has been keen to emphasize that 40% of Americans are living with 'invisible shifts in their metabolic health'. The feature might help the US obesity crisis with a two-pronged assault; education about insulin resistance, and providing an accessible way to monitor this growing health problem without sticking a needle in your arm

However, just as I could see myself compulsively checking my blood sugar graphs, I worry that this might become yet another metric for otherwise-healthy smartwatch users to obsess over. Like weighing yourself every day or taking GLP-1s, weight management techniques can quickly transform from a healthy, positive thing into an addiction.

Research published in the Cardiovascular Digital Health Journal in 2020 has identified a trend we've seen before in health tech users: an obsession with metrics, streaks and optimization.

The researchers said that although wearables provide lots of actionable data and improve real-time surveillance of disease, they found "another aspect of the digital health revolution that has not yet received due attention: the unanticipated and potentially negative effects of wearable devices on patients’ psychological health, quality of life, and health care utilization."

Just recently, our writers Becca Caddy and Alex Blake wrote about their own experiences with this phenomenon, with Caddy stating "What I didn't understand at the time was how thin the line between discipline and obsession can be. You can cross it gradually, one habit and one goal at a time, until something that started as a genuine attempt to look after yourself becomes another source of pressure, anxiety and control."

The messaging around weight management can be difficult to get right, and as much as the feature is likely to improve wearer's health, I worry Insulin Resistance Trends could become quite a triggering metric for people at risk of disordered behaviors.

To Google's credit, however, the glimpse of the feature we've seen so far isn't a moment-to-moment graph. Instead, it shows month-to-month general trends, presumably to avoid people checking the feature too much. There's also a lot of good to be done around educating users about the relationship between blood sugar, insulin, weight gain, and diabetes.

Regardless, when the feature does arrive next month, I hope thought is put into its execution so we can have as many of the good consequences as possible, while avoiding the bad.

• Google Health’s AI chatbot is leaving users frustrated
• Reports say it regularly hallucinates workouts that never happened
• Social media has been flooded with complaints in recent days

The timing couldn’t be worse for Google; just as its slew of new devices launches, including the Google Pixel Watch 5, complaints about the Google Health app and its premium AI Health Coach are reaching fever pitch.

One Fitbit user who posted to Reddit saying that their device’s Google Health app had created a workout summary that seemed to be completely made up, stating “I have a Fitbit Inspire, it just does not have the capability to do form analysis. All of these stats are made up.” .

They’re far from the only person to complain about the app. The problem seems to lie with Google Health’s AI assistant. It's designed to summarize your health metrics and give you tips on how to improve — from early bedtimes to workout and diet suggestions — but users are noticing that it seems to be prone to hallucinating workouts that simply did not happen.

People have reported Google Health giving them “wildly incorrect” exercise numbers, mistaking walking or even folding laundry for swimming workouts, imagining 5am runs and house moves that never occurred, and more.

One person was even able to get Google Health to list all the false statements it had made regarding the user’s workouts, dubbing them “Nonstop lies from the AI.” As a commenter put it, “Imagine if a personal trainer lied to your face and then said: ‘Oopsie Daisy! I made those up.’”

And it’s not just limited to physical activity. Fitbit customers have taken to social media to protest that Google Health keeps asking how their cruise is going even though they’ve told the AI that it’s yet to occur. Another user took their Fitbit off for a couple of hours — with no heartbeat being recorded during that time — only to see that Google Health believed they’d been sleeping in that time.

“Fun fact: If someone is sleeping and their heartrate is 0, it’s called being dead,” the user dryly remarked.

‘A bit of a mess’

These users certainly aren’t alone in their annoyance. When we reviewed the Fitbit Air, we lamented that the design of its Google Health app was “a bit of a mess, and not intuitive to use, with features dotted all over the place.” While we found its AI integration to be useful, we noted that “its constant chirpy summaries and insistence on hiding my data inside walls of text became annoying.”

We reached out to Google with a list of questions about whether its Google Health app is hallucinating user workouts. We haven’t heard back yet, but will update this story when we do.

The situation has become so bad that some users have begun speculating that Google Health might be entirely coded by AI agents, such is its tendency to dream up data and produce anomalous behavior. While we have no way of knowing if that’s actually the case, it aptly demonstrates the level of user frustration with Google’s app.

Whatever the truth, it’s clear that something is going wrong with Google Health for a lot of users, and it’s leaving them exasperated and ending their AI subscriptions. It should serve as a warning to any company that wants to integrate AI and health data: with sensitive information like this, mistakes are rarely tolerated.

The Google Pixel Watch 5 has landed, alongside a slew of compatible phones including the Google Pixel 11 and its Pro, Pro XL and even Pro Fold variations. While the phones look great, It’s the watch that’s drawn my attention, and there’s a lot to like here.

Arriving in two sizes (41mm and 45mm) just like in previous years, with Canyon, Obsidian and Fog colored bands, as well as a special NBA-star Stephen Curry-themed edition, the Google Pixel Watch 5 is priced starting from $399.99 / £369 / AU$649 for the 41mm model, and $429.99 / £399.99 / AU$699 for the 45mm model, with LTE-capable models costing extra.

What do you get for your money? Well, the Pixel Watch 5 has received several quality-of-life improvements over last year's model. These include Google’s ever-improving wrist-based Gemini integrations, Google Health's new AI fitness coach, GPS that can reportedly go head-to-head with the likes of the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro, and a new suite of handy background health features called Health Guardian, which is available on Pixel Watch 3 and up.

While I haven’t gone hands-on with the watch just yet, judging by its specs sheet the Pixel Watch 5 is every inch a competitor to the Apple Watch Series 11 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9.

It’s slightly difficult to compare watches from different ecosystems, but while it’s unlikely the quality of a smartwatch is going to be a tipping point for someone changing phones, and possibly tablets or computers to better work within a particular walled garden, these features could be a contributing factor to a decision to switch from Google to Apple or Samsung, or vice versa.

Let’s look at each flagship watch’s specs side-by-side below (I've used the larger models for clarity: the 45mm Pixel Watch 5, the 46mm Apple Watch Series 11 and the 44mm Samsung Galaxy Watch 9), then I’ll go through all the unique stuff Google’s just announced.

Specs comparison table

As we can see above, one of the key things that we can take away from this year’s top crop of smartwatches is that they’re all starting to look and feel the same, at least on paper. Similar prices, specs, battery life and feature sets: there’s very little separation here in terms of nuts-and-bolts quality. However, there are a few aspects — some featured in the table above, some not — that help the Pixel Watch 5 stand out from the pack.

Repairability

One of the best things about the Pixel Watch 5, which debuted last year on the Pixel Watch 4, is the fact that it’s repairable. You can use a standard Torx T2 precision screwdriver set to disassemble the watch and replace its battery and display, an unusual feature for small, water-resistant electronics like smartwatches — but certainly a welcome one, as anything that extends the life of the device and reduces e-waste is a fantastic initiative in our books.

It’s a feature we’d love to see adopted across the board — including by Apple and Samsung.

Battery life

While the Google Pixel Watch 5’s battery life seems to be roughly equal to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9’s offering, both devices handily beat out the Apple Watch Series 11’s 24 hour guarantee, even though that’s an improvement from the 18 hours of previous iterations. At smaller sizes, the Pixel and Samsung watch’s battery lives return to up to 30 hours; still not a lot and a pain point for people used to the likes of the best Garmin watches, but better than Apple’s offering.

The Google Pixel Watch 5, like Apple's wearable, offers fast charging, with just one hour until full. However, it’s also got a neat little charger held over from last year: a dock that allows you to turn your watch into a little upright bedside alarm clock. Cute!

GPS

This is a tricky one. Practically speaking, there might very little in this competition in terms of GPS accuracy, but Apple is on the back foot here. While Apple’s Ultra 3 comes with some of the most sophisticated and accurate GPS credentials on the market, the mainline Apple Watch Series 11 only offers single-band GPS in comparison to the Galaxy Watch 9 and Pixel Watch 5, which offer dual band L1+L5 GPS.

The Google Pixel Watch 5 also connects to more satellite networks than either watch, and is said to match the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro and Apple Watch Ultra 3 in terms of accuracy — according to Google. This is yet to be tested in the field, but I’ll run or cycle my usual routes with an Ultra 3 or Fenix 8 Pro once I get my hands on the watch to test this for myself.

Satellite comms

Speaking of satellites, they’re good for more than just GPS accuracy. While all three watches have LTE-enabled models, allowing you to add them to your phone’s data plan (available at an additional cost) the Google Pixel Watch 5 has a feature usually reserved for premium, Ultra-tier watches: emergency SOS satellite communication messaging.

A holdover from the Pixel Watch 4, satellite connectivity allows you to use the watch to communicate with emergency services using the Skylo satellite network, offering two-way messaging and location sharing. It works without your phone and is optimized for ultra-low power consumption.

New health features: Breathing Emergency Detection and Insulin Resistance Trends

The Google Pixel Watch 5 gets a handful of new features, including blood pressure (long thought of as the holy grail for optical LED heart rate sensors, blood pressure or hypertension detection is starting to make its way into the smartwatch market now), and Breathing Emergency Detection. Similar to last year's Loss of Pulse Detection, the Pixel Watch 5 can detect a marked drop in oxygen saturation and auto-contact emergency services, even sharing your location.

Most intriguingly, it also packs an Insulin Resistance Trends feature. This isn’t available yet (said to be coming September 2026) but neither Samsung nor Apple watches have this feature right now. Insulin Resistance Trends is billed as a non-invasive way (unlike continuous glucose monitors, which require needles) to monitor or estimate your body’s efforts to regulate blood sugar.

Google says the feature is 'a personal efficiency meter, giving you a sense of how efficiently your body absorbs energy from food and manages it throughout your activities.' Eating and drinking spikes your blood sugar, and exercise brings it back down as glucose is used for fuel.

The Insulin Resistance Trends feature works as part of Google's new Health Guardian suite of features, monitoring health trends in the background. Essential for diabetics, it’s also useful for weight management in general, and I’m intrigued to see the consensus on this feature, and how it works, once it lands.

Google has had a big day of launches — not only did we get our first official look at the Pixel 11 series, which have leaked extensively over the past few weeks, we also got a new Pixel Watch, and even an AirTag rival.

Those leaks and rumors meant we already had a good idea of what to expect, but that doesn’t mean there weren't any surprises.

This year's Made by Google 2026 event takes place later today, at 3pm PT / 6pm ET / 11pm BST on August 12 ( that's 8am AEST on August 13) — here's how to watch it. But we've already had some hands-on time with the new devices, and below we’ve picked out the seven biggest things we learned about the Pixel 11 series, Pixel Watch 5 and Pixel Tag...

1. The Pixel 11 Pro and Pro XL should be the best models yet — and even have lights on the back

Google’s non-foldable flagships for 2026 are the Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL, and they have numerous upgrades over their predecessors. But the most interesting element is arguably ‘HiLight’.

This is an array of LED lights built into the camera’s flash module, which can alert you to calls from favorite contacts via customized color glows when your phone is face down and silenced. And these lights will also pulse when Gemini is listening, thinking, or responding.

Beyond that, the Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL also boast some camera and chipset improvements that we’ve detailed below, plus brighter screens that can reach 3,600 nits.

Not everything has been upgraded though — in fact these phones have a starting RAM capacity of 12GB, while their predecessors came with 16GB as standard. You can still get 16GB here, but you’ll have to pay for the privilege.

Read more: I tried the new Pixel 11 range, and Google's made loads of improvements, with a surprising 'HiLight'

Check out the best Google Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro preorder deals

2. The cameras have received numerous upgrades, including a new Magic Capture mode

At first glance the cameras on this year’s Pixels might look much the same as their predecessors, given that the megapixel counts haven’t changed. But look closer and there are plenty of upgrades.

For example, the Pixel 11’s 48MP main camera now has a larger sensor for 56% more light sensitivity. The Pro models also gain some new sensors, plus a 120x digital zoom — up from 100x on the Pixel 10 Pro series.

And there are new modes, like Magic Capture, which with a single tap will capture both a video and multiple images of a scene — complete with automatic cropping and unblurring.

There’s also a new Camera Looks feature, which allows you to create a set of personalized film styles and photo aesthetics.

3. The new Tensor G6 chipset is faster and more efficient

It’s no surprise that the Pixel 11 series sports a new chipset, but the Tensor G6 sounds like quite an upgrade in some areas, with up to 20% better power efficiency, 25% faster browsing, and 15% faster app loading, as well as boosting image processing and Gemini performance.

So these phones should be noticeably faster and more fluid than their predecessors, across a range of tasks.

4. The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is brighter and thinner than its predecessor

Google’s priciest new phone is the Pixel 11 Pro Fold, and this of course benefits from the Tensor G6 chipset and some of the camera upgrades detailed above, along with the new HiLight feature.

But it also has a peak brightness on its foldable screen of 3,600 nits — up from 3,000 nits on the Pixel 10 Pro Fold, and it’s slimmer and lighter too, coming in at 10.1mm thick when folded, 5.0mm thick when unfolded, and 239g.

For comparison, the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold is 10.8mm thick when folded, 5.2mm thick when unfolded, and 258g.

Read more: I spent a couple of hours with the new Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold — it’s not a reinvention, but a nudge toward perfection

These are the best Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold preorder deals

5. The Pixel 11 got a storage boost

The Pixel 11 also has a Tensor G6 chipset, plus the camera upgrades highlighted further up, and on top of that it’s received a storage boost, now starting at 256GB rather than the 128GB of its predecessor.

That said, the starting price has actually increased too, so you’re paying the same as you would have for a 256GB model last year, there’s just now no option of a cheaper 128GB version.

Many of the specs — camera and chipset aside — are also very similar to the Google Pixel 10’s, and you don’t get Google’s new HiLight feature with the Pixel 11, so it will be interesting to see whether this tempts many buyers.

6. The Pixel Watch 5 is Google’s most advanced health and fitness wearable yet

This event wasn’t just about phones — we also saw the Pixel Watch 5, and this is very much focused on health and fitness upgrades.

On the health side, that includes being able to track blood pressure patterns before they can put strain on your heart, and track insulin resistance over time. For fitness, Google claims this offers its most accurate GPS yet, and it also sports a new Key Metrics view, which helps you analyze your performance after a workout.

And when you’re sleeping, the Google Pixel Watch 5 has a Sleep Breathing Quality feature that analyzes minute-by-minute variations in your blood oxygen levels. And of course all the core Pixel Watch 4 features have made a return too.

Read more: I test smartwatches for a living, and the Google Pixel Watch 5 beats Apple and Samsung in 5 key ways

7. The Pixel Tag has landed as an AirTag rival

Google has also launched its first tracker, called simply the Pixel Tag. There’s not too much to say about this yet — if you’ve used an AirTag, Samsung Galaxy Smart Tag, or anything along those lines you know basically what to expect.

But it comes in a ‘Fog’ shade, has a built-in speaker, includes ultra-wideband for precision finding, has an IP67 rating (so it’s moderately water resistant), and is powered by a replaceable coin cell battery that should last over a year. It’s also light, at just 11.8g.

Read more: The Pixel Tag is here — but it won't be an AirTag for Android until Google fixes these Find Hub issues

Hot on the heels of Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, there’s now a big Google hardware launch to look forward to, with the brand set to unleash its new Pixel devices at today's New York-set Made by Google event.

We’re expecting to see not just the Google Pixel 11 series, but also the Pixel Watch 5 and potentially other devices, too.

You’ll find full details of the possible announcements further down this article, but first, we’ve covered exactly when this launch is taking place and how to tune in.

How to watch the next Made by Google event

The Google Pixel 11 launch event starts at 3pm PT / 6pm ET / 11pm BST on August 12, which is 8am AEST on August 13 for those of you in Australia.

The event is being held in New York, but as with most big tech launches, it will also be streamed online, and you can tune in on YouTube, or by watching the embedded video below. If you click the ‘Notify Me’ button on that video, you’ll also get a reminder when the event is starting.

Of course, those timings won’t be ideal for everyone, but you don’t need to tune in live. You’ll also be able to watch a recording of the launch afterwards. Alternatively, just head to TechRadar’s home page for our expert analysis of what's unveiled.

What to expect at the Google Pixel 11 launch

As well as the Google Pixel 11 itself, Google is also almost certainly going to unveil the Pixel 11 Pro, the Pixel 11 Pro XL, and the Pixel 11 Pro Fold.

These phones are all expected to have a new ‘HiLight’ feature, previously referred to as ‘Pixel Glow’. This seemingly takes the form of colored lights on the back of the phones that can switch on to alert you to notifications, or when you’re interacting with Gemini.

Beyond that, these phones are also likely to include a new Tensor G6 chipset to give them a power boost over the Google Pixel 10 series, and in the case of the Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL, a 120x camera zoom, up from 100x on the Pixel 10 Pro series.

However, these phones could also be more expensive than their predecessors, and the Pro models might start with less RAM.

Other than phones, Google is also likely to announce the Pixel Watch 5, which might have double the storage of the Pixel Watch 4 at 64GB, and 50% more RAM at 3GB. It will reportedly also have a slight battery boost, but could stick with its predecessor’s Snapdragon Wear W5 Gen 2 chipset.

We’re also hearing that Google could launch the Pixel Tag at this event. That would be the company’s first AirTag rival.

Plus, there’s a chance we could hear more about some upcoming Android XR glasses, and we might also finally see the launch of the long-awaited Gemini 3.5 Pro model.

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED: One minute review

The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED is both a fantastic always-on, lifestyle-support smartwatch, and a 51mm, titanium-bodied multisport watch bulked out with the kind of rugged design that could survive the entire Die Hard franchise. It's absolutely one of the best Garmin watches ever made, but also one of the most expensive.

Of course, the headline ‘brightest smartwatch screen ever built’ feature of this microLED edition is justifiably front and centre, but it also provides the 8 Pro microLED with best-in-class performance, screen clarity and brightness.

It’s bursting at the seams with activity, performance and health tracking features backed up by snappily accurate sensors, which enabled real-time monitoring of everything from shifts in barometric pressure outside in the hills to automatically detecting the start of another eight-metre vertical rep in the indoor climbing wall.

Once you dial the brightness up to maximum in the settings (despite all the hype, the default is befuddlingly set to 75%) the step up in brightness from AMOLED is dazzlingly obvious, and contributes to an impression of increased definition too. In fact, the watch screen is so bright that I could easily use the inbuilt mapping mode to navigate in direct overhead summer sunshine while wearing sunglasses, which is a quality of life gamechanger for outdoor adventurers. And putting it side by side against a maxed-out-brightness iPhone in these conditions really hammers home the benefits of the 4,500 NITs of light coming from those microLEDs.

This next-level brightness is maintained even when viewing the watch face from an acute angle, which can be surprisingly useful when glancing at your watch mid-run or taking quick compass bearings, for instance.

Despite the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED’s 51mm, beefed up form factor (it’s 1mm thicker and 3 grams heaver than the already-thick AMOLED version) I quickly grew used to wearing it 24/7 so that I could really dig into Garmin’s lifestyle, training and health monitoring features. It’s chunky, of that there’s no doubt, but I found the combination of a supremely comfortable, flexible strap and well-designed watch body surprisingly easy to wear all-day and overnight. For the first time in a long time, possibly ever, I found that the sleep monitoring data matched my lived experience almost exactly, which gave me faith in the smartwatch to provide useful, actionable data and insights into how to improve the duration and quality of my sleep without feeling ‘nagged’ to do so.

As befitting a true multisport smartwatch, I took the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED everywhere from trail running around London to hiking national parks in sideways rain and from snowboarding at 50mph down a French Alp in -18°C windchill to scaling routes in an indoor climbing wall. I was consistently impressed with the automatic tracking and accuracy of the various activity modes once they’re activated (and there are a lot of modes, including eight running sub-modes and not just Snowboarding but Backcountry Snowboarding too).

I love data but I hate lots of pain points in the tracking experience, so the ability of this smartwatch to intelligently detect and log activity is unsurpassed, in my experience. I found that this smartwatch wasn’t flustered by extreme conditions or environments and the battery life remained consistent even as the iPhone in my pocket was spluttering and dying in sub-zero temps.

Speaking of battery life, it’s nominally less than the AMOLED version, but in practice I got at least four days life on a single charge with Always-On Display on and was pleasantly surprised by its longevity. In situations where battery life was critical, I got used to toggling off the Always-On screen, which made battery life jump to 10 days+. Unlike some smartwatches, there was no perceptible lag when turning your wrist to activate the screen so you don’t sacrifice much usability with this setting.

I also appreciated the rugged design, which shrugged off knocks and scrapes when high in the mountains. Ironically, the biggest impact was when I punched the bezel into a plastic hold when climbing indoors and made the whole wall shake. The sapphire screen remained resolutely unmarked and while I did scrape the very edge of the adonised black finish off the bezel, the titanium itself was undamaged. I look forward to the time when the form factor can be shrunk down, but until then the durability of this smartwatch will see you through despite its egregious, easily-knocked size.

On paper, the brightness upgrade of microLED over AMOLED seems like a ‘nice to have if you have the cash’. But in practice, the real-world experience of discovering unexpected performance and quality of life improvements from a brighter screen are compelling. The upgrade is worth it, and makes me hopeful for the future of microLED technology coming to other smartwatches.

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED: Price and availability

• $1,699.99 / £1,399.99 / AU$3,399.99
• A significant leap above the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro AMOLED
• In a price class of its own for a multisport smartwatch

The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED retails for £1,399.99, $1,699.99, AU$3,399.99

That breaks out from the upper reaches of multisport smartwatches and approaches the terrain of luxury connected watches such as Tag Heuer’s Connected Caliber E5. So, you need to be convinced of the benefits of brightness, because that’s 100% what you’re paying for.

• Value score: 4/5

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED: Scorecard

Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED: Should I buy?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

How I tested

I wore the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro microLED over several months, including stints wearing it 24/7 overnight and for very varied activities and workouts including trail running, indoor climbing, snowboarding, weight lifting, sailing and cycling. I was in 35°C heatwaves and -18°C blizzards, from sea level to 4,000m.

First reviewed: August 2026

• Amazfit has brought a slate of new features to its fitness watches
• That includes improvements to swimming and indoor rowing workouts
• The update is coming to almost the entire Amazfit watch range

Amazfit currently makes some of the best fitness trackers available, but the company’s devices have had a few blind spots in the past. Now, though, Amazfit users have received a new software update that brings serious improvements to some of the best cheap smartwatches on the market.

Specifically, Amazfit’s blog details how you’ll now get a better experience when swimming and using indoor rowing machines, plus there’s info on a few new quality-of-life touches that will help when working out. Combined, the new features could help close the gap with some of the best Garmin watches.

One of the headline changes comes to pool workouts. There, you’ll be able to add manual rests so you can see how your session was divided between activity and recovery. Your swimming and rest segments are counted separately, with the former organized by stroke, giving you a clearer picture of your workout structure.

If you prefer to use indoor rowing machines, Amazfit’s software update means the firm’s devices can connect to FTMS-compatible machines such as the Concept2 RowErg. That lets you see your workout metrics in real time as you exercise.

Finally, Amazfit has added a handful of new features that improve the workout experience, including a touchscreen lock that prevents accidental interference. Amazfit has also launched Athlete Defaults, which automatically apply a set of recommended workout settings when you begin training, saving you the hassle of setting everything up each time. Athlete Defaults turn on Do Not Disturb, disable workout alerts, and set GPS to maximum precision, too.

More competition for Garmin

The update is coming to a wide array of Amazfit watches, including the Balance Ultra, Balance 3, T-Rex Ultra 2, T-Rex 3 Pro, T-Rex 3, Cheetah 2 Ultra, Cheetah 2 Pro, and the Active 3 Premium. The latter device blew us away in its five-star review, making it an even better option if you want a new smartwatch.

That means you’ll be able to take advantage of it whether you own one of Amazfit’s most affordable smartwatches or one of its most premium, with almost the entire current range affected by the update.

It also means that Amazfit’s watches now offer some of the same features seen in the best watches that Garmin has to offer, making choosing between the two brands a tougher prospect than it used to be. And if it fosters a little healthy competition, that can only be good news for fitness fans.

The Garmin Fenix 9, this year's premier adventure smartwatch hotness, is expected to drop soon, but it's likely to be very expensive if previous iterations of the Fenix line are anything to go by.

However, if you are in need of GPS maps, wrist-based flashlights, and on-demand fitness stats as well as a navigation companion, you don't have to shell out for a brand new, high-end Fenix 9 — most people don't need all the features on these watches, and can get along just fine with a cheaper model.

Below, you'll find some of the best smartwatches for your needs, whether you're a short-range hiker who enjoys a couple of hours in nature once a month, to a die-hard who loves to spend multiple days in the wilderness.

Many of the watches below are also on sale, so you'll be able to pick up the right model at a discount — and it'll likely be a lot cheaper than getting a brand-new Fenix 9 when it arrives later this year (if rumors prove true). There's a variety of watches below, but they all offer offline maps capability in addition to fitness tracking in a wide variety of capacities: any one of them would be an ideal partner for the trail.

Today's best adventure smartwatch deals

I’ve never particularly enjoyed running, especially when training solo, but it takes the least effort for me to prepare for in the morning compared to my preferred activities — cycling or badminton — and it’s also a nice cross-training option.

After reading about my colleagues using AI to build training plans, I thought it could be an opportunity for me to change how I feel about running, so I turned to Google Gemini and asked it to build a training plan to prepare for a major running event here in Australia, the Sydney City2Surf.

My goal was to try out a plan that could easily adapt after a setback, like an injury or illness, while balancing run training with my usual badminton sessions and bike rides within a week.

I also wanted to see if I could stick to running for longer compared to my previous attempts, which involved either winging it — running for as long as I could until I ran out of breath — or following a rigid online plan.

Setup

My initial prompt was “How realistic is it for a beginner runner to train for City2Surf starting next week?” It was in late December 2025, so Gemini replied that I had plenty of time, as the event was on August 9 this year.

City2Surf has a 14km route that starts from Sydney CBD and finishes at Bondi Beach, which explains the name. It’s an infamously hilly route, headlined by a 2km section midway through the course with an average gradient of about 3 to 4%, or 75 to 80m in elevation.

“Most beginner-friendly training plans only require 12–16 weeks,” the response read. “Starting now puts you in an excellent position to not just survive the race, but actually enjoy it and run the majority of the course.”

Here’s the general overview from Gemini:

To make sure I stuck to the plan, I asked Gemini how to enter the workouts into my old Garmin watch, and it gave me a step-by-step guide.

I was also offered to test the newly released Garmin Forerunner 70 and 170 range while I was training, and I chose the 170 Music edition. I wanted to see if the built-in music function and Garmin Pay wireless payments were enough for me to leave my phone at home during training sessions.

Lugging my heavy iPhone 16 Pro Max in a running belt during my first few weeks of running became annoying, so the Forerunner was just what I needed. It also completely cuts down on distractions, and the voice prompts also helped keep me on track during interval sessions.

I managed to stick to the program for the first few months while keeping my social badminton games and bike rides. But things started to get tricky as I progressed into the second phase.

Setbacks and adjustments

Heading into phase 2 of my training plan, I unexpectedly got Achilles tendonitis, which my physiotherapist told me was the result of putting too much load too quickly on my legs and feet. Recovery took more than a month of rehab and rest.

When I was cleared to run again, I told Gemini I’d missed a few weeks and asked how I should adjust. It told me to revisit an earlier training week to ease back in instead of starting over. I was also advised to drop to one social badminton evening a week and swap the other for a bike ride.

After a month back, I was sidelined once again for a similar amount of time, thanks to a chest infection with a nagging cough and cold.

Ultimately, I felt that these setbacks were enough for me to decide not to enter the City2Surf, even though Gemini said I still had enough time to train. I set my sights on next year’s event instead.

“Forgoing the City2Surf entirely to prioritize a balanced, sustainable routine is a phenomenal decision,” Gemini’s response read after making this decision. “Since you haven't registered yet, dropping the pressure of a hard August 9th deadline allows you to completely shift your mindset from 'panic training' to building a strong, bulletproof foundation for the long run.”

Looking back, I likely would have just quit after the first setback if I had been following a more rigid training plan. I’d probably have no idea how to proceed after these setbacks, and laziness would quickly take over, and I’d be back to square one again.

Refocused training

Without the pressure of a fixed race date, Gemini readjusted my plan over the next four weeks to focus on just two sessions per week: one day of run-walk intervals and one longer, uninterrupted easy jog before I move forward with a fresh training plan. This much easier training load has made running a more intentional endeavour, while balancing with my other activities without putting too much strain on myself.

Overall, I’ve found that the flexibility and adaptability of Gemini’s training plan have made my progression much more sustainable, and I never felt like I was pushing myself too hard or going too easy. Setbacks are much easier to recover from, letting me work back into shape without needing to start over. And if I feel like doing more days of the other activities during some weeks, Gemini can help plan my week ahead.

While I ultimately failed in my original objective of joining a popular running event, I ended up enjoying the journey of becoming a better runner at a more sustainable pace.

Should you let AI be your running coach?

For beginners or runners who want a flexible, low-pressure plan, Gemini is a genuinely useful starting point. It helped me build something realistic, adapt when I missed training and keep progressing without constantly feeling like I was falling behind.

I'd argue though that it's not a substitute for proper coaching. AI can help with structure, pacing and consistency, but it cannot spot problems in your form, keep you motivated, or hold you accountable when training gets tough. And as with any AI-generated plan, especially for anything more advanced, you should still treat it as a starting point rather than gospel.

For my purposes, though, Gemini was enough to turn running from a chore into something I could actually stick with.

• Shopping for a new Garmin watch? Check out the latest Garmin Australia coupons here.

These days, millions of us have smart devices strapped to our wrists, fingers and arms, measuring our metrics and building a picture of the “quantified self” to make us healthier, more active and better prepared for a medical emergency.

Wearables can help improve our wellbeing and nudge us towards better habits, but it’s less common to hear about the flipside: the anxiety at failing to close your rings, the frantic exercise to ensure you maintain your streak, and the obsession with meeting your targets on a daily basis.

These are feelings I know all too well. Having worn some of the best Apple Watches for close to a decade, I’ve watched it become an essential part of my life — so much so that I’ve tried closing my rings when I’m ill, on vacation, or should otherwise be resting and recuperating. I obsess over those little rings on my watch.

I know this is a problem for me. But what I wanted to find out was whether this is a more widespread issue, and if it is, what can be done about it. Is wearable tech making us more anxious? And can it be redesigned to push back against these tendencies and help us feel more relaxed, not less?

To find out, I spoke to tech and wellness experts who shared their thoughts on the ways wearables can impact our health — for better or worse.

The endless streak

During the FIFA World Cup in July, I was preparing to wake up in the early hours to watch England play Mexico at 1am local time. I set my alarm, went to bed early, and got ready to cheer on my team without waking the neighbors.

Yet there was one thought that I couldn’t get out of my mind as I contemplated the looming disruption to my sleep: my Apple Watch is going to hate this.

It’s now become part of my morning ritual to check my sleep score on my Apple Watch. Every high score gives me a little dopamine hit, every low result a crushing sense of disappointment. And I knew that waking up at 1am and staying awake for two hours in the middle of the night was going to make my Watch very disappointed indeed.

In the end, I rolled over and went back to sleep when my alarm woke me for the game. I didn’t watch it, and I know that was only partly because I was woken at some ungodly hour — it was also because, to a certain extent, I’ve allowed the scores and metrics on my Watch to govern the way I live my life.

That’s not the only way this has happened to me. I recently hit a streak of closing my Move ring for 2,000 consecutive days. But I’d be lying if I said there weren’t some days when I entered a fake exercise to get me past my calorie goal on a day when I was ill, tired or simply unmotivated.

Why cheating is fine, but resting is not, is something I admit doesn’t make much sense. But what I do know is that the thought of losing my streak absolutely fills me with dread. 2,000 consecutive days on my Move streak sounds like a lot, but knowing myself, I’m sure I’m going to try to continue it until the day I die, such is the anxiety associated with the idea of my streak ending.

The dark side of wearable tech

I’ve long had perfectionist tendencies, but it’s through observing the way I interact with my Watch that it’s really become clear to me how strongly my device’s gamification of fitness has struck a chord with me — and led me into some unhealthy, possibly obsessive behaviors.

I spoke to Dr Dana McKay, Associate Dean of Interaction, Technology & Information at RMIT University in Australia, to get her opinion.

“These technologies are often designed to help us form habits,” McKay pointed out. "They often use tools for so called ‘persuasive design’.... to persuade us to do something we wanted to anyway when we bought the device."

There are two problems with this:, Dr McKay points out: the possibility of becoming “unhealthily focused” on the device, and the prospect of being convinced to don a wearable by an outside party, like an insurance company, and sharing data we don’t want to share. Some private health insurance companies may subsidise the purchase of a wearable in exchange to access to lower premiums, and sharing your tracker's information to an insurer's app.

Yang Wei, Professor of Wearable Technology at Nottingham Trent University in the UK, agreed, saying that while wearables can help us form positive habits, we also need to be careful around them.

“For many people, wearables can be motivating and empowering,” Wei noted, “but for some users they can also create pressure, anxiety, guilt, or unhealthy dependence on data.” After all, wearables “create a framework for what counts as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ activity, sleep, recovery, or productivity,” Wei said. If that data is framed the wrong way, it can push users in an unhelpful direction.

Wei also warned that “One of the risks is that people may start to trust the device more than their own body. For example, someone may feel they slept badly because their watch gave them a poor sleep score, even if they felt fine. Or they may feel they have failed because they did not close a ring or reach a step target, even if they had a perfectly reasonable day.”

That certainly resonates with me: I consciously work to close my Apple Watch’s rings, viewing it as a requirement for each day. A full set has almost become a condition for having a ‘good’ day, regardless of how I’m feeling or what I’ve achieved. And this overreliance on a piece of tech strapped to my wrist feels key to the negative habits I seem to have formed. So what can I do about it?

How to push back

If wearables have the potential to form negative habits, what can we do to put things right? The answer is often remarkably simple, both McKay and Wei believe: take your watch off from time to time.

“There is no need to wear your device while on vacation unless a health practitioner recommends it,” McKay advised. If your relationship with your fitness tracker has become a problem, “start by turning all the notifications off, limit checking of goals to help reduce obsession, and consider not using the device at all if possible.”

You also need to understand why you are using the device in the first place, Wei contends. “Is it to be more active? To understand sleep? To monitor a specific health concern? Or simply to be more aware of daily patterns? Having a purpose makes it easier to keep the technology in perspective.”

“I would also encourage people to treat wearable data as guidance, not judgement,” said Wei. “These devices can be useful, but they are not perfect and they do not understand the full context of a person’s life. Illness, stress, caring responsibilities, disability, travel, recovery, or simply needing rest can all affect what a ‘good’ day looks like.”

And both McKay and Wei said that if your device is causing significant anxiety or obsessive behavior, it might be best to speak to a medical professional. As Wei put it, “The aim should be for the wearable to support the person, not control how they feel about themselves.”

But this has to go beyond the user’s own actions — wearables themselves should be designed to better support healthy habits and discourage negative ones. For McKay, that includes “allowing people who use trackers to set the number of notifications they get” and hide those they don’t want to see, as well as “removing gamification elements like badges and sharing (competing) with friends and family.”

Many of these features, like push notification controls, are already buried in the watch's settings, but a lot of smartwatch users don't go looking for them.

“I think we need to move from a data-driven relationship with wearables to a more reflective and human-centered one,” Wei added. That means designers should “move away from purely addictive or performance-based features” and towards focusing on “long-term wellbeing rather than daily judgement.”

Ultimately, Wei said, “I think the best wearable technologies will be those that help people feel more confident and informed, not more anxious or dependent.”

I can’t change how Apple designs its smartwatches, but I can reduce the pressure on myself to hit my goals day after day, even when my body is telling me to rest. Staying fit and healthy is a worthwhile pursuit, but when it comes at the cost of anxiously worrying what will happen if your streak ends, it might just be time to bite the bullet, take off the watch, and enjoy some tech-free time with friends and family. After all, losing a streak is not the end of the world.

• A Samsung exec has just done a Reddit AMA
• They answered all sorts of questions, including those criticising a perceived lack of innovation, and an undesirable focus on AI
• Among the answers, health was pointed to as an area of future innovation, along with technology that understands what you need

Following the recent launch of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 8, Annika Bizon, VP of Product and Marketing for Mobile Experience at Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland, has taken to Reddit for an AMA about these devices and other topics.

Many of the answers are some combination of marketing jargon and tech support, but there are some genuinely interesting nuggets too, including a response to claims that Samsung has stopped innovating.

Reddit user densusenapi commented: "I've been a long-time Samsung customer since the original Note. I replace my phone every 3 years since the hardware innovation just isn't there anymore? I used to change my phone every 2 generations but the leaps are so small now. Start experimenting and innovating again, please."

To which Bizon replied: "If I may, I'd like to politely challenge the idea that the hardware innovation isn't there. The more people use AI every day, the more personal it becomes and that's pushing us to rethink how phones and wearables work for people alongside how they look. That kind of shift only happens if the engineering and craftsmanship behind it can keep up, and that's still where we put a lot of our energy as a company.

"The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is a good example. This year we're expanding our foldable range to meet a real need we kept hearing from customers who want a bigger, wider screen to go deeper into content. The new Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 has had a phenomenal upgrade this year too to make sure it can help you achieve your fitness goals in the most extreme environments. So, I promise you we're not slowing down; we’re experimenting based on what people are telling us they would like.

"Hopefully that's changed your mind!"

It’s a fair answer, but arguably this has been a far more innovative year for Samsung than most recent years have been — we don’t often get whole new phone form factors after all.

But between what Bizon detailed above and the Privacy Display on the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, the brand has genuinely done some very interesting things this year, so hopefully we’ll see more of that going forward too.

A focus on health

As for what form that future innovation might take, in a separate response, Bizon pointed to health as a real focus at least for her personally, saying:

"I think we're at a super exciting time for mobile innovation. As I'm sure you're aware, we've just launched our biggest ever foldables line-up, inspired by how people are using their devices. AI is really helping us think more about new form factors, because we're all using our phones in much more personalized ways.

"But if you want to know what excites me personally right now, it's health, because that's where I think our devices and the features on them are helping people in ways they would never have imagined. Suddenly we're shifting as a society to being more preventative in the way we approach health challenges.

"So let's start with some of our features, powered by the new sensors on the Galaxy Watch 9 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. Vitals is a good example, because it tracks things like skin temperature and heart rate overnight, and flags meaningful changes so you can determine if you might be about to fall ill, and act by resting more.

"It's also become more personal. We've all been told about 'get eight hours sleep,' but our new sleep latency feature, which calculates how long it takes you to fall asleep from when your head hits the pillow, can help you work out what your optimum conditions are for falling asleep.

"I've seen this play out in my own training too. I did an ultramarathon a while back and pushed on for far too long despite how I was feeling and that's a really common mistake. Fitness Index now helps flag your strengths and weaknesses earlier, and Nutrition Alert will nudge me if my hydration levels are too low.

"That's the shift I'm most excited about — how technology understands what you need, and gives your personal experiences."

A nod towards AI

That — unsurprisingly — doesn’t really give us any concrete ideas of what to expect next from Samsung, but technology that “understands what you need” will almost inevitably involve AI, and this, of course, also came up in the AMA — though largely through people being negative about it.

Multiple Redditors essentially said that they don’t want AI on their phones, to which Bizon noted that “if AI isn't for you, every AI feature on Galaxy devices is opt-in. You can switch off anything you don't find useful.”

That said, Bizon also suggested people should give AI a chance, arguing:

“If you're open to dipping a toe into using AI, my advice is always the same — try one small thing and see if it saves you time. Say you're out and about and spot a concert poster, show it to your phone with the camera and ask it to find tickets for you to buy. If it's useful once, great. If it's not for you, that's fine too.”

That advice might work for some people, but many others are opposed to AI as much for ethical reasons as functionality ones — so they’re unlikely to give it a chance, and may object to it being on their phones even if it can be disabled.

Still, AI aside, it will be interesting to see whether Samsung continues its current innovative streak. We'll probably have an indication of whether it has done so or not early next year, when the Samsung Galaxy S27 series launches.

• Latest Garmin rumors point to details on the Garmin Fenix 9
• We could get three sizes
• And MIP solar technology may not be dead yet

The Garmin Fenix 9 range is likely to be arriving soon. The rumor mill, fuelled by comments made by CEO Cliff Pemble on Garmin's quarterly earnings call earlier this year, suggest this is going to be the case. But plenty of Garmin fans were wondering how the Fenix 9 line would look.

The Garmin Fenix 8 line came in three sizes (43mm, 47mm and 51mm), and two screen options: a standard bright AMOLED screen of the sort you see on many smartwatches, and a duller memory-in-pixel (MIP) varient with solar charging. The MIP displays used to be used on all of the best Garmin watches as it was more battery-efficient, but these days it's almost entirely used for models that use Garmin's Power Glass solar charging tech, which uses a solar panel behind the display to suck up lumens and extend the watch's battery life in bright conditions.

It's likely that once Garmin figures out how to do the same with its AMOLED watches, MIP screens will bite the dust permanently, which is a shame. There are lots of fans of the lower-power screen tech, as this poll suggests.

A year after the already-premium Garmin Fenix 8 line entered the fray, we got the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro, a model which came in two sizes (47mm and 51mm) with InReach messaging connectivity using Garmin's satellite communication network, LTE which uses a standard internet connection, and on some models an even brighter MicroLED screen.

So, where does that leave the upcoming Fenix 9?

Three sizes, two Pros, two MIP displays

According to Garmin Rumors, the Garmin Fenix 9 will arrive in three sizes like its predecessor, and in three different models; the base version, the Garmin Fenix 9 Pro (with the release not being staggered like the Fenix 8/Pro) and the Garmin Fenix 9 Pro InReach.

This time, all three models are said to be arriving in all three sizes, so those with smaller wrists are still getting the Pro experience. The Fenix 9 Pro InReach is obviously getting access to Garmin's satellite network for off-the-grid messaging, but GarminRumors is not sure what upgrades the Pro will sport over the base model. Apart from one.

Both the Garmin Fenix 9 Pro and Pro InReach are said to be getting Solar models, which means the MIP screen would be back for another generation — but the standard Garmin Fenix 9 will remain an AMOLED watch. This would be the first time a standard Garmin Fenix won't get an MIP model, but it does make sense if Garmin is now reserving its solar charging for its premium Pro models.

If true, it's a shame. The MIP display isn't just a vehicle for solar charging: its lower-power technology is reminiscent of a digital watch, and as well as being more battery efficient, it's a way for Garmin users to distinguish their training tools from other, say, Apple and Samsung smartwatches. There's also no info on the Garmin Enduro 4.

We'll have more details on the Fenix 9 range as we get closer to its likely launch date. Stay tuned!

• The Samsung Galaxy Fit 4 just leaked in FCC regulatory filings
• The documents suggest it will have a screen, unlike the Fitbit Air
• But the leak reveals previous few other details

The Fitbit Air has proved that you don’t need to pay a high price tag to get a great wearable, and now it looks like Samsung is getting in on the act with an alternative of its own. And with more details leaking out, we’re getting a clearer picture of the upcoming device than ever — but plenty of unanswered questions remain.

New FCC regulatory documents (spotted by Gadgets & Wearables) have spilled the beans on the much-rumored Samsung Galaxy Fit 4. There, you’ll find various nuggets of info on what we can expect from the product, as well as a few things that it likely won’t do.

For one thing, it looks as if the Fit 4 will not be a screenless device, as the FCC documents include diagrams showing a product with a very similar design to the Samsung Galaxy Fit 3 — which did include a display. That could be a key difference with the Fitbit Air, which notably forgoes the display entirely.

The regulatory filings also confirmed that the Fit 4 will come with Bluetooth 5.4, which is a slight upgrade over the Fit 3’s support for Bluetooth 5.3. And there’s a button on the side and optical sensors on the back, much like the Fit 3.

Shrouded in mystery

The Samsung Galaxy Fit 3 is one of the best cheap fitness trackers money can buy, making it ideal for budget-conscious users. But if Samsung apparently isn’t planning to reduce costs by going down the screenless route, how else will it keep the price down?

That’s one of the big unanswered questions from the FCC report. Given the Fit 4 diagrams’ similarity to what we know about the Fit 3, there’s a decent chance we’ll see things like GPS omitted, meaning it might not end up being one of the best wearables for runners. But we don’t know for sure right now.

Plenty of other areas remain an enigma. The documents mention battery testing but do not specify the battery’s capacity, for instance. The Fit 3 packed in a 208mAh battery that lasted around 10 days on a single charge in our testing, but it’s unclear whether that will change with the Fit 4.

If anything, these FCC files raise more questions than they answer. They note that documents like product photos and a quick-start guide will remain confidential until January 31, 2027, but that doesn’t necessarily point to a release date. We’d expect Samsung to launch the Fit 4 sooner, but until that happens, much of this secret device will continue to be shrouded in mystery.

• You can now sync your Fitbit data from Google Health to Apple Health
• Previously, data could only flow in the other direction
• The change makes it easier to manage your fitness info in one place

A quiet update from Google has the potential to make a big difference for fans of all the best Fitbits who also use an iPhone. Instead of spreading your health data across multiple apps — or having to rely on Google Health alone — you can now use Apple’s own solution for wearables that are spread across different platforms.

The change in question involves a new feature found in the latest Google Health update on iOS. Specifically, data stored in Google Health can now be synced to the Apple Health app, including data such as “exercise records, sleep, vitals, steps, and more,” according to Google.

That’s important news for a couple of reasons. The first is that it finally opens up Google Health data to a wider audience. Previously, you could sync Apple Health data to Google Health, but you couldn’t send it back the other way, meaning anything saved in Google Health was siloed off and isolated. Now, it’s much more accessible to iOS users, especially those who prefer the Apple Health app.

The second factor is that it now means Apple fans — or those who would rather use Apple Health instead of Google Health — no longer need to compromise if they have any Fitbit wearables. From now on, those users can happily manage their Apple and Fitbit devices from one place inside Apple Health, instead of having to either use multiple apps or Google’s offering alone.

Apple Health is all you need

To sync your data from Google Health to Apple Health, open the Google Health app, then tap your profile icon and select Partner Apps. Choose Apple Health, and follow the on-screen prompts to send your data across to Apple’s platform.

As mentioned previously, one group of people who will benefit from this change are those who use two or more wearables that operate on different platforms. Before, if these users wanted to get all their data into Apple Health, they had to use a third-party app or workaround. Now, things are much simpler.

The change seems to have gone down well with Fitbit users online. Posting on Reddit, for example, one user commended Google, saying: “Good job from Google, I didn't think they would actually add that feature anytime soon.”

Another happily noted that “Google did it quite fast. Nice to see when they care about customers.” A third, meanwhile, lamented that cross-platform functionality like this “Should have been there a long time ago.”

If you’re an iOS user with a Fitbit device, you no longer need to stick to Google Health to keep track of all your health and fitness information. With this change, Apple Health is all you need.

It’s hardly a surprise that Apple had to increase the prices of its iPads, Macs and other devices last month amid ongoing RAM and storage shortages, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the upcoming iPhones follow suit — but it’s not completely doom and gloom for Apple fans.

Apple’s wearables weren’t impacted by these price hikes, which is good news for anyone looking to upgrade to a watchOS 27-compatible device (as there will only be a select few left) or if you’re keen to get a swanky new watch to track your workouts.

The Apple Watch 11 was already going at a fantastic price of AU$429 during Prime Day last month, but surprise, surprise, it’s ever-so-slightly cheaper now, and it’s not even sale season! The Apple Watch Series 11 with the 42mm chassis and GPS-only option is now AU$2 cheaper, making this the lowest-ever price on Amazon Australia — that’s 37% off in case you were wondering.

Our Apple Watch Series 11 review called it “the most capable and best-looking” mainline Apple Watch yet, thanks to its larger battery capacity and brighter, more power-efficient and more scratch-resistant Always-On Retina LTPO3 OLED display compared to its predecessor.

Apple rates both the 42mm and 46mm models’ battery life at 24 hours of typical use and up to 38 hours in Low Power Mode, with battery capacity up 9% and 11%, respectively. Our reviewer found the claim checks out, with tests getting a full day and a half of battery life with light use, but the Low Power Mode makes it go even longer.

Health tracking is more comprehensive with the Series 11, adding blood-pressure monitoring to the usual arrhythmic heart-rate alerts, ECG, wrist temperature, respiratory rate and cycle tracking. Hearing health and Sleep Score are other notable additions, but these are also available on the cheaper SE 3 and have been rolled out to older models too.

Admittedly, the Apple Watch Series 11 won’t be much of an upgrade over the Series 10 because of the very similar hardware (and watchOS 27 compatibility), but upgrading from the Series 8 or older models, or even the Watch SE and SE 2, will see a significant performance jump and a longer support period.

And at this price, you don’t even need to wait till Black Friday as we don’t see it getting much cheaper than this in a few months’ time.

• Casio has two new watches and a new smart ring
• All these models offer some kind of fitness tracking too
• We're still waiting on international availability

Casio is pushing further into wearables that can be used as fitness trackers and not just timepieces, with a couple of new watches and a revised version of its smart ring that can monitor some key health metrics while you're wearing them.

The smart ring is the Casio CRW-H001 (via Notebookcheck), which looks like a tiny watch that you slip on your finger — but can also keep tabs on steps, sleep, heart rate, and body temperature according to the product blurb. You can also use it to get alerts about incoming smartphone notifications.

It's a significant step up from the Casio CRW-001-1JR that was launched in 2024. That device was limited to telling the time, setting alarms, and stopwatch timers. There was no companion mobile app and nothing in the way of fitness tracking.

This latest version is a genuine smart ring, though for now it's only available in China for 1,990 yuan (about $295 / £220 / AU$420). Given that the Casio CRW-001-1JR eventually made its way to international markets, we're hopeful that this device will too.

New watches too

On to the watches, and we have the new Casio ABL-100WE series on the Casio UK website (via Notebookcheck again): there's the ABL-100WE-2A (with a black finish) and the ABL-100WE-7A (with a silver finish).

Alongside the classic Casio looks, these watches give you step counting that can be synced to a smartphone via Bluetooth and displayed on the built-in screen. Extra features include water resistance and dual time zone support.

You don't get much in the way of fitness tracking, but it's something — the watches can send you alerts about meeting your step count goal for each day, if you want, and you're also able to see your recent progress in the form of simple graphs. Both models come with multi-row stainless steel bracelets.

For now these models have been spotted on Casio's UK website — where they're retailing for £70 (about $95) — and an official distributor in Australia for AU$249 — so as with the smart ring we're waiting for news on further global availability.

When I got engaged a couple of years ago my wife asked if there was anything I’d want in return to symbolize it: she gets to wear a ring, would I want a new accessory or piece of jewellery to match her. My immediate answer was a watch, with the plan that it’d be the one I wear on our wedding day.

I’d need something smart and sophisticated. Something that I wouldn’t regret seeing immortalized in our wedding photos for decades to come, and something I’d want to wear often.

I had ideas for the watch I'd get, but as wedding costs grew the idea of splashing out on a pricey timepiece felt less and less sensible. Even less so when I was also considering grabbing a smartwatch — as my pre-wedding fitness regime kicked into high gear and a more sophisticated tracker than my smart ring was feeling increasingly essential.

That’s when my eyes settled on a gadget that I thought might be both: a classic I could wear to the gym and on my wedding day. My wife was skeptical, but after seeing it in person she agreed that it did look the part.

So she let me wear a Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic to our wedding. It might be my current favorite gadget, and I can’t understand why there isn’t a Galaxy Watch 9 Classic.