I’m happy to see so many winners on this list, as these are categories that I found very exciting to see grow in the last year. Wearable devices were one of these categories, and specifically, smart rings exploded in popularity and utility.
You all may know that I’m a big fan of Oura Ring, so when the company launched Oura Ring 4 with a completely new app experience, I knew it would be a winner.
And even though I’m not a big Android smartwatch user, I’ve tried and tested the Pixel Watch 3 and it remains my favorite smartwatch.
Congratulations to all the winners!
There are so many other winners in these categories, so why not see what Derrek Lee and Michael Hicks have to say.
Best smartwatch: Google Pixel Watch 3
Michael Hicks: Samsung makes the best Android watches, but none of its three 2024 releases were our favorite. The Watch FE was too downgraded, the Watch 7 a little too safe and the like, and the Watch Ultra too expensive for anyone other than me to try, as great as it was.
Instead, the Pixel Watch 3 was the clear favorite, a fast and fairly durable smartwatch with improved running tools for couch 5Kers. This was one of my favorite reviews of the year, and many of my colleagues ditched their old watches for a Watch 3 this year.
I think most people were happy to finally have a bigger screen with a smaller bezel – not to mention double the brightness and smoother refresh rate – but I think our collective excitement came down to the fact that the Watch 3 still felt fresh. People prefer its soft, striking style to the Galaxy Watch’s flat, unchanged look, even though it’s more durable. And as Google power users, they are very excited about the new Google Home integrations that make the Watch 3 interconnected with their other devices.
Finalist: OnePlus Watch 2R
The most competitive battle was for second place. The Galaxy Watch 7 got a few votes, while Garmin split its votes between different options. But a dark horse has arrived: the OnePlus Watch 2R, which I also gave a rave review. In this case, it’s clearly the opposite of the Pixel Watch 3: not very attractive or great for health information, but much more affordable, much stronger for battery life and just as fast for overall performance. This is the mid-priced Wear OS watch we’ve been waiting for.
Best smart ring: Oura Ring 4
Derek Lee: Smart rings are still a growing market, but Oura has proven that the form factor has many advantages. The arrival of the Oura Ring 4, along with a host of new competitors large and small, shows that consumers are interested. At first glance, Oura’s latest model may not look like a huge upgrade over its predecessor, but the company has made some significant changes to improve the overall experience while improving accuracy and duration battery life.
The Oura Ring 4 refines the design for a more comfortable and durable fit, making it perfect to wear while you sleep in case you don’t like wearing your smartwatch to bed. However, the updated design isn’t just aesthetic; the flush sensors are arranged in such a way that the readings should be more accurate with more paths between the sensors.
This is made easier by Oura’s new Smart Sensing technology, which not only improves ring health tracking, but also extends battery life. And with updated automatic activity tracking, the ring not only detects workouts like running, cycling, HIIT, and yoga, but it will also automatically monitor your heart rate when it does so, so you won’t have to manually track workouts for more comprehensive results. data.
Finalist: Ultrahuman Air Ring
There are many awesome smart rings on the market, but second on our list is the Ultrahuman Ring Air, which gave Oura a run for its money in more ways than one. It has a comfortable fit and comes with excellent sleep tracking features. And like Oura, Ultrahuman has also added new features to its ring, even some you can’t find on the Oura ring, like this cool new smart alarm. And the best part is that, unlike Oura, there is no subscription to use its most useful features.
