Smartwatches and next wave health tech to expect at CES 2026

CES 2026 runs from 6 to 9 January in Las Vegas, with the surrounding hotels and convention centres turning into one long corridor of LED walls, robots and demo pods. The event is again billed as the most powerful tech show in the world, with a strong focus on artificial intelligence, digital health and mobility.

Wearables sit right in the middle of this story. CES has been one of the main stages for everything from the early Fitbit bands to smart scales and connected blood pressure monitors. The 2026 edition doubles down on that heritage with a clear push toward continuous monitoring, early risk detection and more serious conversations about how this data feeds into actual care, not just pretty graphs.

At the same time the show still has plenty of fun. You will see experimental form factors, concept mirrors and beds, along with plenty of prototypes that will never reach retail shelves. The interesting part is how these extremes cluster into a few clear directions for the next couple of years.

What to expect in wearable tech at CES 2026

On a macro level, three themes stand out.

First, AI driven coaching moves from vague wellness advice toward more specific, contextual feedback. Several of the CES Innovation Award write ups talk about devices that do not just measure heart rate or sleep but try to link it with behaviour, environment and long term risk.

Second, sensors keep shifting from nice to have to almost clinical. Smart rings and watches at the show will now talk about blood pressure estimation, apnea risk, atrial fibrillation screening and even continuous cardiovascular load, often framed as tools that can slot into tele-health workflows.

Third, accessibility and comfort become part of the story rather than an afterthought. There is more attention on designs that work for people with disabilities, ageing users and those who simply do not want a chunky sports watch on their wrist every day.

Smart rings crystallise these trends. In fact – CES has an official feature on them and highlights Oura, Ultrahuman, RingConn, Luna and Bond as headline exhibitors for 2026. Each of these has its own spin on sleep, recovery and cardiometabolic health. The last on this list will be of interest, as they have some very lofty claims about their upcoming smart ring.

What about other exhibitors?

Fitbit

Fitbit arrives in an odd position. The hardware pipeline has been quiet for the past 12 months while most of the energy went into Pixel Watch and the broader Google health stack. That might change in 2026. Google has publicly confirmed that new Fitbit hardware is coming. Our guess is that it will, most likely, be an update to their fitness band range – perhaps Charge 7 or a new Inspire or Luxe.

So does that mean CES 2026 is the place we first see it. Google has not said that, so anything in this direction stays speculative. A smart ring under the Fitbit name also makes strategic sense, especially with Oura, RingConn and others using CES to push the category into the mainstream, but again this sits firmly in the speculation bucket.

The safe bet is that if Fitbit turns up with hardware, the software story will matter more than the shell. Expect a lot of emphasis on how the new device talks to Pixel phones, Pixel Watch and Google’s cloud based health services.

Garmin

Garmin walks into CES 2026 with a full trophy cabinet. The company has already picked up multiple CES 2026 Innovation Awards that cover everything from outdoor watches to digital health and animal tracking. The list includes Fenix 8 Pro with its MicroLED display, Venu 4 with Health Status and Lifestyle Logging, Forerunner 970, the Descent S1 Buoy for dive communication and the Blaze equine wellness tail wrap for horse monitoring. That set alone signals the talking points for January.

Garmin appears to be exploring some bold new hardware ideas that might emerge in 2026. Their recent patents hint at innovations like a sealed magnetic rotating crown to keep water and dirt out, a way to integrate solar panels directly under an AMOLED display using fluid-optics solar cells, and pulse-spectroscopy based sensors for hydration and even long-term glucose (HbA1c) estimation from the wrist. None of these patents guarantees a shipping product, but they provide a clear view of the problems Garmin’s engineers are trying to solve. 

Garmin does not usually reserve major watch launches exclusively for CES, preferring rolling announcements, although accessories and partner features often pop up here first. Having said that, they did launch the Instinct 3 range and HRM-200 at CES 2025, so we may get something new.

Some recent information we uncovered leads us to believe the company might be planning to release the Vivosmart 6. Our money is also on the possibility we might see the Lily 3. The Index S3 scale is also well overdue.

Withings

Withings has been rather quiet in 2025. But in the past, the company has used CES to roll out everything from Body Scan scales to BeamO and the U Scan urine analysis system, each nudging home diagnostics a step closer to clinical workflows.

For CES 2025 the focus sat on cardiovascular health and interpretation services, with BPM Vision and related tools showing how a blood pressure cuff can become a multi user, connected device for families and remote monitoring programs. That thread is unlikely to disappear in 2026. Cardiometabolic risk, kidney health and weight management are all still hot topics, and Withings sits in a comfortable position as a brand that doctors recognise.

The interesting question is how far they push the health operating system idea this time. You already have a mirror concept, a smart toilet sensor and high end scales. Pulling these together into clearer risk scores or doctor ready reports feels like the next logical evolution. If Withings announces anything new in Vegas, it will probably sit somewhere along that axis of more sensors, richer context and easier sharing with clinicians rather than a generic new smartwatch.

Zepp Health

For Amazfit, produced by Zepp Health, CES became a launchpad for the Helio Ring story back in 2024, then a backdrop for the broader Helio ecosystem and Amazfit watch range through 2025. Since then the focus has shifted heavily toward software, Zepp OS 4 and AI style insights, while hardware updates such as T Rex 3 and Balance 2 have expanded the sports watch side.

CES 2026 arrives at an interesting moment for the brand. Helio Ring and Helio Strap give Zepp Health a stake in both finger and strap based sensing, and Amazfit watches already cover the mass market smartwatch and rugged categories.

We see a continuation of the same. In fact, a new regulatory filing (three for the same device) for an Amazfit watch has appeared in the past few weeks. That device could be the Falcon 2, a new Cheetah or something entirely different. If it doesnt launch in December, we firmly expect its debut at CES 2026. To remind, last year at CES the company debuted the Amazfit Active 2.

Xiaomi

Xiaomi sits at an interesting crossroads between phones, smart home kit and wearables. In mid 2025 the company unveiled its first AI smart glasses as part of a larger human plus car plus home ecosystem event, signalling that it sees glasses as a key interface for ambient AI rather than a gimmick.

For CES 2026, the obvious angle is global exposure for those glasses and the broader wearables line rather than a US only launch. Xiaomi already sells a wide catalogue of watches and bands at aggressive prices. Combining that catalog with AI tinted glasses gives it a way to tell a joined up story about notifications, navigation and health across multiple form factors.

Xiaomi has not explicitly tied a particular wearable announcement to CES, and the company often prefers its own launch events, so product calls for January should be treated as speculation. What does feel likely is at least one strong demo of how AI runs across a Xiaomi phone, watch or band and the new glasses as part of a single ecosystem.

A notable omission from their 2025 lineup is the Pro edition of Band 10. If that one is in the pipeline, it would make sense for an official unveil in early 2026. Beyond that we are getting into Band 11 territory.

Samsung

Samsung goes into CES 2026 with a broad AI message and a hardware roadmap that stretches from watches to XR headsets and upcoming smart glasses. The company has already picked up CES 2026 awards for XR form factors and intelligent AI solutions, and the Galaxy Watch8 series appears in the official Innovation Awards line up for fashion health.

The award description for Galaxy Watch8 leans heavily on holistic health views, upgraded sensors and a new lug system that improves fit and therefore sensor contact. That is the kind of story Samsung is likely to tell on stage, especially as it positions its health platform against Apple on one side and Garmin or Fitbit style training ecosystems on the other.

On the spatial computing side Samsung has already launched the Galaxy XR headset with deep AI integration, and has stated that its smart glasses project will not arrive until 2026, backed by partnerships with eyewear brands like Warby Parker and Gentle Monster. That timing lines up neatly with CES, even if they only show a preview or reference design rather than a finished retail model.

Taken together you get a clear narrative. Watches, XR and eventually glasses all feed into one AI driven view of health, productivity and entertainment, with CES acting as the moment where that ecosystem is presented in one coherent package.

There’s also some talk we might see the Galaxy Ring 2 soon. We’re not so sure considering the company is engaging in a battle with Oura around smart ring patents.

Smart rings and the wider ecosystem

Smart rings deserve their own section for CES 2026. The official CES feature calls out Oura, Ultrahuman, RingConn, Luna and Bond as showcase exhibitors. Oura continues to push deep sleep and readiness metrics, RingConn leans into accessible pricing and respiratory risk tracking, while Bond positions itself as a tiny health lab with an ambitious spec sheet that includes ECG and blood pressure.

The politics behind this are just as interesting as the hardware. Ultrahuman is currently under an ITC ban after Oura won a key patent case, although the company is working on a redesigned ring and exploring domestic manufacturing to get back into the market. RingConn on the other hand has resolved its disputes with Oura through a licensing deal, clearing the way for US expansion. Samsung, on the other hand, has launched a fresh patent attack on Oura.

Away from fingers, you will see a second wave of niche wearables that extend what you saw at CES 2025. Expect more body temperature sensors for heat training, more ultrasound based concepts for continuous blood pressure, and more gesture bands that turn subtle hand movements into input for phones, TVs and VR. These devices sit further from mass market adoption but they show where the next decade of health tech might go.

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