CES 2024: Wearable tech products stealing the show this year

As CES 2024 concludes for another year, it’s an opportune moment to look back at the health and fitness gadgets that made their mark at the event in Las Vegas, which took place between January 9th and 12th.

CES stands as the world’s most significant and influential technology event. For tech aficionados, it’s an unparalleled experience. Its closest counterpart is IFA, held annually in Berlin at the start of September.

Historically, these expos have been pivotal in introducing technologies we now consider commonplace. This year, Fitbit, Fossil, and Xiaomi disappointed with no new announcements. Consistent with previous years, Apple did not participate. Nevertheless, wearables maintained a strong presence in 2024.

The event sprawled across 2.75 million square feet, featuring over 2,000 exhibitors. These included manufacturers, developers, and suppliers of consumer technology hardware and content. The conference program boasted more than 1,000 speakers. It’s estimated that over 100,000 attendees visited the event.

Here’s a glimpse of our top wearable tech picks from the Las Vegas showrooms. These are just a handful of our favorites. Our comprehensive coverage of CES 2024 can be found on this link.

Amazfit Helio Ring

Our top pick this year is the Amazfit Helio Ring, a product by Zepp Health, marking their first venture into the realm of smart rings. This device is specifically designed for athletes, focusing on optimizing recovery and enhancing performance. Unlike typical smart rings that mainly track sleep for the general public, the Helio Ring provides in-depth insights into both mental and physical conditions, a feature particularly beneficial for athletes.

The Helio Ring’s standout feature is its ability to convert complex health data into a simple Readiness score. By monitoring sleep heart rate, HRV, breathing, and body temperature overnight, the ring, in conjunction with the Zepp App, calculates this score to help athletes decide whether to focus on training or recovery. This aids in planning workouts more effectively. The ring also offers comprehensive sleep and recovery tracking, including analysis of sleep quality, sleep stages, and sleep breathing quality. Additionally, it features EDA emotional monitoring, which assesses physical signs like hand sweat to indicate emotional stress.

Mind you, this is not the only smart ring which made its appearance. Also there were RingConn with their excellent offering, along with Evie Ring, Velia Ring, YogiFi Ring and Dcare Ring. Its shaping up to be an exciting year for smart rings!

Withings BeamO

Next up on our list is the Withings BeamO, a groundbreaking health monitoring device that combines the futuristic vision of Star Trek with practical technology. BeamO allows users to perform a 4-in-1 health checkup, including body temperature, heart, and lung health, in under a minute.

The thing functions as a thermometer, ECG, oximeter, and stethoscope, using photoplethysmography (PPG) and electrodes for accurate readings. BeamO also features a non-contact temperature sensor and a digital stethoscope with a Piezoelectric disc for detailed heart and lung assessments. The data syncs with the Withings Health app, providing insights and enabling telehealth consultations.

Priced at $249.95 the device is set to be available in June 2024. BeamO is recognized as a CES Innovations Award Honoree and represents a significant advancement in home health monitoring technology.

Garmin Lily 2

Another standout device from CES 2024 is the Garmin Lily 2, a successor to the original Garmin Lily launched in 2021. The Lily 2 retains the stylish and functional appeal of its predecessor but introduces several notable upgrades. It features an improved heart rate sensor, new fitness modes, and NFC payments.

Design-wise, the model retains a classic round shape, but the Lily 2 upgrades the build to anodized aluminum for enhanced durability and sophistication. The Lily 2 also simplifies band switching with a more standard lug design. As before, there’s a TFT LCD with 16-level grayscale on-board. The Lily 2 stands out with its Gen 4 Elevate sensor, improving health and fitness tracking, and introduces NFC for contactless payments, a feature absent in the original Lily. Priced slightly higher than the original, the Lily 2 offers a blend of fashion, functionality, and fitness tracking, making it a compelling choice for those seeking a stylish, compact wearable.

Garmin HRM-Fit

Also among our favorite picks from CES 2024 is the Garmin HRM-Fit, a heart rate monitor specifically designed for women. Priced at $150, it offers a snug fit and is compatible with medium to high support sports bras, accommodating a variety of body types. Its design ensures stability and comfort during intense workouts, although it’s advised not to use it with certain types of bras like longline, front zip, and light support variants.

Functionally, the HRM-Fit excels in providing precise heart rate data, surpassing the accuracy of wrist-based devices. It supports advanced workout tracking, including metrics like vertical oscillations, ground contact time, and stride length, crucial for detailed running form analysis. With a battery life of up to one year (based on daily one-hour usage) and water resistance up to 50 feet, it’s built for endurance and versatility.

Nowatch hybrid

Nowatch, a Dutch startup, has evolved from a mindful health tracker to a sophisticated hybrid smartwatch, showcased at CES 2024. The original Nowatch, known for its stress prediction using an electrodermal sensor (EDA), has now incorporated Chronos ‘timepiece faces’, adding the functionality of time display while maintaining its focus on mindfulness and stress awareness.

The AI Insights feature provides daily summaries and recommendations based on the wearer’s stress data, sleep, and activity stats. The design of Nowatch, featuring interchangeable discs made of polished metal and gemstones, emphasizes wearability and style. This evolution marks Nowatch’s journey in the wearable technology space, focusing on aesthetics, mindfulness, and a user-customizable experience.

Ultrahuman Home

Ultrahuman has introduced Ultrahuman Home at CES 2024, a device that tracks and enhances the health of living spaces. This innovative product extends Ultrahuman’s wearable tech expertise to environmental health monitoring. It provides insights into factors like artificial light, air quality, humidity, and noise levels, correlating them with individual lifestyle factors such as sleep and stress.

Ultrahuman Home offers a longitudinal view of environmental markers and their impact on health over time, featuring capabilities like natural light spectrum monitoring, PM detection, noise detection, humidity level monitoring, and blue light exposure monitoring. Set to launch on Kickstarter for USD $349, Ultrahuman Home represents a novel approach to integrating personal and environmental health monitoring.

Momentum Sport Earbuds

The Sennheiser Momentum Sport Earbuds, a result of the collaboration between Polar and Sennheiser, were also introduced at CES 2024. These earbuds combine Sennheiser’s renowned sound quality with Polar’s advanced fitness tracking technologies. They feature a semi-open design, active noise cancellation, and an anti-wind mode, making them ideal for outdoor activities. With an IP55 rating for moisture and dust resistance, they promise up to six hours of battery life.

Unique to these earbuds is the integration of Polar’s Flow data analytics, which includes a photoplethysmography (PPG) heart rate sensor and a body temperature sensor for efficient workout planning. Priced at $329.95, they offer a comprehensive workout experience, combining high-quality audio with sophisticated fitness tracking.

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