Smartwatch news roundup (January 2026)

Tags: News | Smart

30.1.2026 | 9 MIN

January was a busy month in the smartwatche world. The CES 2026 tech show in Las Vegas naturally played a big part. What stood out in the first month of 2026?

Is Garmin preparing its own Whoop-style device?

I feel like accidentally leaking a new model is almost a tradition at Garmin. At this point, you have to wonder whether it’s really an accident.

We’ve been asking for a display-free device from Garmin for a while now. And this might finally be it.

10.11.2025
I wore Whoop for 90 days—here’s what I learned

What we think we know so far:

• it’s a display-free smart band
• it will come in two sizes and two colors (black and gray)
• it’s designed primarily for health and recovery monitoring
• the product name is Garmin CIRQA

For the brief moment the band appeared on Garmin’s website, the “Add to cart” button said availability was expected in about four to five months (sorry—I had to). That would put it around May or June.

Motorola teams up with Polar to create a co-branded smartwatch

Polar has been struggling to figure out how to push its smartwatches forward. Is it a lack of ideas, technology, or money? Teaming up with Motorola actually makes sense. They can split the work nicely — Motorola supplies the processor, display, and user interface, which it has ample experience with, while Polar handles the health and sports side.

The Moto Watch is expected to feature a 47mm case, a 1.43" OLED display, dual-band GPS, and up to 13 days of battery life. The user interface should be something along the lines of Google’s Wear OS.

Suunto improves heart rate measurement, navigation, and much more

I can’t even remember the last time Suunto released an update as big as 2.50.26.

This is just a roundup, so let’s keep it brief. What’s new on Suunto smartwatches:

• automatic transitions in triathlon and SwimRun
• a new “circular multisport” with repeating sport blocks
• dedicated sport profiles for aquathlon and duathlon
• after ending an activity, time spent in intensity zones is shown (ZoneSense)
• increase to three concurrently running SuuntoPlus features
• improved sensor pairing and management
• more legible navigation with larger arrows and icons
• navigation can now be locked to north-up orientation
• Wi‑Fi models download weather data every night
• interval workouts can be created directly on the watch
• faster map loading
• improved stroke and pause detection in swimming
• a more advanced algorithm for optical heart-rate tracking

Will ChatGPT derail smartwatch makers’ push for richer health insights?

If there’s one thing manufacturers have been working on lately,it’s AI-driven insights into health and sports data. The rationale is simple — algorithms capture a lot but aren’t tailored. In contrast, artificial intelligence can be your personal coach and often even a nutritionist.

ChatGPT plans to expand its model with a “Health” category where you can connect health data from smartwatches and have it interpreted by AI.

Garmin releases the Quatix 8 Pro marine smartwatch

In terms of features, not that much has changed on the Quatix 8 Pro, but it adds one major new capability — LTE and inReach support. That’s especially useful on marine devices where communication is absolutely key.

14.1.2026
Garmin Quatix 8 Pro first look — Who would’ve thought they’d have LTE

Samsung adds a feature for early dementia detection

I’m a bit conflicted about this feature because I’m not entirely sure how useful it will be in practice.

Samsung’s smartwatch or ring tracks your behavior patterns — speech, movement, sleep, and interaction with devices — and builds a picture of your typical baseline.

When suspicious deviations start to appear, the device can recommend seeing a doctor. Samsung also emphasizes that this is not a medical diagnosis.

Honestly, I still don’t know what to think. It feels like a bit too much surveillance, even though Samsung assures users the data are stored locally rather than in the cloud.

So… we’ll see.

Garmin may introduce a timeline of your health status

With the launch of the Garmin Venu 4, the American brand introduced several new features, including a habit journal and Health Status. It’s the latter that should be getting an upgrade.

It lets you check all health measurements in one place—and whether they’re in the normal range—heart rate, heart rate variability, blood oxygen saturation, respiration rate, and skin temperature. But this “snapshot” was limited to a single day.

By the looks of it, Garmin plans to expand this feature with a timeline, enabling long-term trend tracking.

Is Withings the first smartwatch brand to measure blood glucose non-invasively?

No, but let’s unpack it.

Withings teamed up with another brand and is able to work with blood glucose data. It’s still an invasive method — there’s a tiny needle to insert the sensor, though only a thin flexible filament remains in the body.

What’s great is that Withings adds wider context in the form of activity, sleep, stress, recovery, and other factors.

The sensor provides the glucose reading and the smartwatch adds the necessary context.

Polar OS 5 — Will notifications finally work properly on iOS?

Something Polar sorely needed. And it’s here. What does the new update bring to Vantage V3, Vantage M3, Grit X2 (Pro) and Ignite 3?

• dark mode for maps
• easier map zoom (via button or gesture)
• route direction shown right at activity start
• support for multiple alarms (different times, different days)
• new widgets — Nightly Recharge and a weekly activity overview right on the main watch face
• time display even while charging
• added RPE — subjective effort rating
• more data (distance, heart rate, calories, etc.) shown even when an activity is paused
• weekly blood oxygen trend
• flashlight (using the display)
• improved menus and animations
• in Do Not Disturb, brightness stays at minimum even after pressing a button
• fix for repeated iOS notifications

Look, I’ll be honest. Some of these improvements are nice — map handling, dark mode, the new widgets. But many others feel more like catching up with the competition, or worse, fixing missteps that should have been resolved long ago.

Support for multiple alarms? Time display while charging? No repeated notifications? And here I thought it was 2026 on the calendar. Apparently, Polar bought a different one.

An end to sketchy smartwatch sellers? New EU regulation requires software to be maintained for a “reasonably long time”

The year 2027 could be very interesting for smartwatches. The new law (CRA) will force manufacturers to address security standards at product launch and also for a reasonably long time, even after sales end.

Security is increasingly important, and smartwatches are no exception — they’re connected to the internet and collect sensitive user data.

The new law should compel manufacturers to issue security updates, fix discovered vulnerabilities, and not hide them but report them transparently.

It should hit “sketchy” makers the hardest — those selling smartwatches at often laughable prices without any real security or software support. And let’s be honest — reacting dynamically to bugs or implementing new security features is neither easy nor cheap.

If it’s a smaller maker that ships a model once and the software then “freezes” at one version, that won’t be so easy anymore.

The exact mandatory support window isn’t known yet. It should depend on the product’s features and price, and the manufacturer will have to announce it in advance. In the future, we shouldn’t see someone promise five-year support, then stop selling it after a year—and stop updating it at the same time.

Full enforcement is expected from December 11, 2027.

Apple, much like Garmin, plans to launch its own food log / calorie database

It wasn’t long ago that Garmin introduced food logging with camera-based meal scanning.

10.1.2026
Garmin unveils its own nutrition tracking system as part of Connect+.

Apple is now planning something similar and wants to add a nutrition coach.

What this means for Garmin isn’t clear yet. But it’s fair to admit that when Apple ships something, it usually works very well—and it’s debatable whether the same can be said of Garmin’s food logging.

Price is a big question mark. While Garmin offers food logging within the paid Connect+ add-on, it looks like Apple will provide this feature for free directly in the Health app.

The iOS update with this feature is expected in spring 2026.

TicNote Watch shrugs off fitness and leans toward productivity

Mobvoi has introduced a very interesting TicNote Watch. It offers basic fitness features, but that’s definitely not its main role.

The star here is the microphone and artificial intelligence, because:

• with one click they start recording a conversation or a voice memo
• speech is automatically transcribed to text
• they allow real-time translation
• based on the recording they generate minutes, a summary, or even a to-do list

Amazfit showed a concept for a “memory” smart band

A “memory” band is, of course, a slightly ironic description. Amazfit is considering a smart band with a complete set of biometric sensors but also a built-in mini camera.

When there’s a change in, say, heart rate or stress level, the band would record a short video so the user can tie the significant change to a specific situation.

Is this real? Amazfit probably doesn’t know yet either, but to me it feels more like an unnecessarily over-the-top sci‑fi concept.

Data security would likely be manageable, for example by not storing recordings in the cloud. Even so, it leaves me with mixed feelings — I wouldn’t be comfortable constantly recording my surroundings.

What if the band captures part of a sensitive conversation and the user could misuse such a recording?

Amazfit T-Rex Ultra 2 spotted in Zepp Health app code — will we see the next generation soon?

It’s nothing official, but one tipster managed to find a mention of a T-Rex Ultra successor in the Zepp Health app code. So is a new model coming? That’s still an open question.

This is also the only clue that a new model might actually be in the works, and concrete specs remain wishful thinking for now.

Another question immediately comes to mind — where do they even want to take the T-Rex line next? We only recently got the T-Rex 3 Pro with an LED flashlight, sapphire glass, long battery life, and a well-executed design.

So where could a potential T-Rex Ultra 2 go? Even longer battery life? A brighter display? More premium case materials — and, by extension, perhaps the end of the Falcon?

Garmin releases its first smart golf watch for kids

The Approach J1 is basically a little caddie on the wrist. Thanks to a database of 43,000 golf courses and Tee-off Guidance, the watch can recommend strategy based on the player’s ability.

Plus, with a 43 mm diameter and 11.4 mm thickness, they fit smaller wrists well. Garmin also chose a nylon strap, which I consider one of the most practical materials for kids.

Battery life should reach up to 10 days, around 15 hours with active GPS. Garmin states the watch is intended for children aged 6 to 16, and the parental and “advisory” features can be gradually or fully disabled.

Ceramic tactical smartwatch? Yes, meet the new Garmin Tactix 8 Cerakote

When I first heard about ceramic Tactix 8, I was like, ‘Wait—what?’ Ceramic is scratch-resistant, sure, but not shatter-resistant.

Thankfully, Garmin thought it through — it’s not ceramic as such, but a special ceramic coating. It lends the watch an elegant touch and really high scratch resistance. Impact resistance is still handled by the material under the coating.

And even if the coating doesn’t sway you, the Tactix 8 Cerakote only needs one thing—it looks damn good.

Photo credits:

• official photos from the manufacturers