The teaser points away from a watch

The timing here is interesting because Suunto has already been expanding beyond watches and dive gear into the audio space. Its official website now prominently lists a dedicated headphones category alongside watches, dive products and accessories, so another launch in this segment would make complete sense.

The teaser itself seems deliberately broad. The use of sports icons mixed with a work symbol and music suggests something designed to move between training sessions and everyday use. That fits the current trend for open ear audio products, which are increasingly being pitched as all day companions rather than workout only accessories.

The silhouette is also telling. Rather than the rounded shape you might expect from a smartwatch case, it appears more consistent with the charging case or profile of an earbud product.

All signs point to Suunto Spark

What really strengthens the theory is that something called Suunto Spark White has already surfaced on Amazon Germany. According to the listing details, the device is priced at €99 and is described as wireless open ear earbuds.

That price point is notable. It places the product below premium sports audio options while still keeping it firmly in the branded fitness accessory space. For Suunto, this could be a very smart move, especially as runners and cyclists increasingly look for safer alternatives to in ear buds that still allow them to hear traffic and their surroundings.

Our takeaway

This type of product would fit neatly alongside Suunto’s existing audio lineup. In my review of the Suunto Wing 2, what stood out was its clear focus on outdoor training, with the open-ear design, secure fit and useful extras like safety lights and head gesture controls making it particularly well suited for runners and cyclists. These are typically priced at around $180.

The Spark looks like it may be the next step in that lineup, perhaps a more mainstream and affordable alternative aimed at people who want open ear audio for both workouts and everyday life. If the April 8 event confirms the Spark name and design, it should make for an interesting addition to the company’s growing ecosystem beyond watches.

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A useful upgrade for runners

This is a metric that goes beyond the usual pace, distance and heart rate stats. Lactate threshold helps identify the point during a run where your body starts building up lactate faster than it can clear it. In practical terms, that is the moment when effort shifts from sustainable to hard.

For runners, this matters because it allows the watch to set more personalised training zones. Instead of relying purely on age-based heart rate estimates, the zones can better reflect your actual fitness level. That makes interval sessions, tempo runs and threshold workouts more useful, especially if you are training with a specific goal in mind.

The feature first appeared on the Active 3 Premium and was one of the more interesting additions on that watch. Just yesterday it rolled out to the T-Rex 3 Pro, so seeing it now arrive on Active Max feels like Zepp Health is quickly standardising the feature across more of its lineup.

A good fit for the Active Max

What makes this update particularly interesting is that the Active Max already feels like a strong match for more serious runners. In my review, one of the things that stood out was how much watch you get for the price, from the large 1.5-inch AMOLED display to long battery life and a design that looks closer to a sports watch than a basic fitness tracker.

Adding lactate threshold gives it another layer of credibility as a training device. It helps move the watch further into territory that used to be reserved for pricier Garmin and Polar models. For anyone who bought the Active Max earlier this year, this is exactly the sort of post-launch support you want to see.

The update also includes improved sleep staging accuracy, along with the usual system optimisations and bug fixes, so there is a bit here for non-runners too.

Our take

This update makes a lot of sense. The Active Max already had the hardware and sports focus to support something like this, so it always felt more like a matter of when rather than if.

The feature is quickly spreading to the rest of the lineup. That suggests Zepp Health sees lactate threshold as a core training feature going forward, not something reserved for one or two headline models.

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The lawsuit was filed on March 17, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, with the case listed as Whoop, Inc. v. Finerpoint, Inc. d/b/a Bevel under case number 1:2026cv00289. The filing itself points to trademark infringement under the Lanham Act, but it also includes references to multiple patents and copyright registrations, which suggests Whoop may be casting a wider net and not just focusing on branding alone.  

Why this has happened now

Bevel does not have it’s own hardware. It’s a smartphone app that allows you to sync data from smartwatches such as those from Garmin and Apple. You get everything presented in a way that feels familiar to Whoop users.

If you have spent time with Bevel app, that comparison is hard to ignore. The interface, the focus on recovery and readiness-style scores, the way sleep and daily strain are surfaced right up front, it all gives off a very similar vibe to the Whoop experience.

That does not automatically mean there is a legal issue, of course. Plenty of health and fitness apps track the same kinds of metrics. But this case suggests Whoop believes the overlap goes further than just similar ideas.

What may be at the heart of this is not the concept of a recovery score itself, but the overall product feel. Given that Bevel has recently been getting more attention, especially after opening up much of the app for free, the timing is not all that surprising.

What this means going forward

For now, this is just the opening stage of the legal process. Nothing has been decided and there is no ruling against Bevel. So for users, nothing changes in the short term.

The app remains available and there is no immediate reason to think features will disappear overnight. But this is definitely one to watch because it could end up shaping how third-party health analytics apps design their dashboards and scoring systems going forward.

More broadly, it raises an interesting question for the whole industry. At what point does a similar app experience become too similar? That is likely the real battle here, and it could have implications well beyond just Whoop and Bevel.

This is not Whoop’s only legal fight. The company recently scored an win in its case against Lexqi, with a US court ordering the rival brand to halt sales of its lookalike screen-less tracker. And it has a few other cases such as the one with Polar. With an IPO increasingly looking like the next big step, Whoop seems keen to tighten its grip on both its hardware design and app identity before going public.  

Source: Justia

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A different direction for Fitbit

The short clip does not reveal much, but it reveals enough to make the direction clear. Curry is seen wearing a band with a light grey centre section and orange accents along the sides and clasp, and there is no visible screen anywhere on the device. That alone makes this a major departure from the Fitbit watches and trackers we have become used to over the past few years.

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Instead of focusing on step counts and notifications shown on the wrist, this looks far more aligned with the idea of passive, round-the-clock health monitoring. The likely emphasis here is on sleep, recovery, readiness and longer-term wellness trends, all delivered through the Fitbit app rather than a display on the device itself. That makes the comparison with Whoop unavoidable, but it also feels like Google is trying to give the concept its own spin.

Not just another Whoop clone

At first glance, the obvious reaction is to call this a Whoop-style band, and in broad terms that is fair. It is a screenless wearable that appears to focus on health insights rather than smartwatch functionality. But based on the teaser alone, the design itself seems distinct enough.

The band uses a noticeably different visual style, particularly around the strap and fastening mechanism. That matters, because several brands that have launched devices strongly resembling Whoop bands have found themselves pulled into legal disputes with Whoop over design similarities and branding concerns.

This is why the Google and Fitbit approach here is interesting. The concept overlaps with Whoop, but the physical design shown so far does not appear to be a direct imitation. From what is visible in the video, it looks like Google has deliberately created a separate identity for the product.

The software will decide everything

The hardware is only part of the story. In reality, devices like this live or die by the software experience, and that is where Google may feel it has an opening.

Whoop’s biggest strength has never really been the band itself. The real value comes from how its app translates raw biometric data into strain, recovery, sleep debt and coaching insights that users can actually understand. If Google wants this to work, Fitbit’s software needs to feel equally polished.

This is where the company’s recent push into AI health tools becomes important. Fitbit’s Gemini-powered personal health coach features have already started rolling out more broadly, and it is easy to imagine this new band becoming the hardware layer for that ecosystem. Basic tracking may be available to everyone, while deeper analysis and coaching features could sit behind Fitbit Premium.

Our takeaway

There is a genuine opportunity here for Fitbit. A lot of people like the idea of deeper health tracking but do not necessarily want another smartwatch screen buzzing on their wrist all day. A low-profile fabric band that focuses on sleep, recovery and wellness could appeal to users who want less distraction and more insight.

The fact that Google chose to tease it through Stephen Curry also suggests this is not some distant concept. It feels much closer to launch than a typical early-stage product tease.

For Fitbit, this could mark an overdue comeback after several years without a new device launch. The category is already well established, but if Google can combine a distinct design with strong AI-driven insights, it may finally give the brand a way back into the spotlight.

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Fitbit adds food logging and a new resilience score

Let’s start with the additions. Users can now set calorie targets, log meals and track water intake directly in the Fitbit app. Fitbit is also introducing personalised macronutrient ranges, which should make the feature more flexible than a basic calorie counter.

This is something users in the community have been asking for. At the moment, this appears to be a phased rollout.

Alongside that, Fitbit is adding mood logging and mindfulness tracking as part of its mental wellbeing push. The more interesting change here is the updated stress management metric, now called “resilience”. Rather than focusing purely on stress in the moment, this sounds more like a longer-term view of how well the body is coping and recovering.

Cycle health gets deeper integration

Another new feature is cycle health tracking. Users can now log periods and symptoms directly from the calendar view.

For Premium subscribers, Fitbit is taking this a step further by adding personalised cycle insights through the AI coach. This is clearly part of the wider strategy of using Gemini-powered insights to turn raw data into more context-driven guidance rather than simply displaying charts.

Public Preview now extends to free users

Perhaps the bigger story is access.

Fitbit says users without Premium can now join the Public Preview to access the refreshed interface and track health, fitness and sleep data. Premium still keeps the more advanced features such as Ask Coach and custom fitness plans.

From a product strategy point of view, this makes sense. Fitbit appears to be using the broader preview rollout to get more users into the redesigned ecosystem, while reserving the deeper coaching tools as the subscription upsell.

As is often the case with Fitbit app updates, availability does not seem instant. Some users on iOS and in Canada reported updating the app but not yet seeing food logging or the new tools. Others say the upcoming sleep metrics mentioned last week are still not live and are expected over the coming weeks.

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For a company that started in 2012, this latest raise marks another major milestone. Total funding now sits at more than $900 million, which places Whoop among the best-funded names in the wider health and wellness wearables space.

The latest round was led by Collaborative Fund, with backing from a mix of institutional investors, strategic healthcare names and high-profile individuals. Among those joining the round are Abbott, Mayo Clinic, Qatar Investment Authority and Mubadala, alongside names such as Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, Reggie Miller and Niall Horan.

The subscription model still stands out

What continues to set Whoop apart is its business model. Unlike most wearable brands that focus on selling hardware upfront, Whoop continues to lean heavily into subscriptions.

The wearable itself is bundled with membership, with users paying ongoing fees for access to the platform’s recovery, sleep and readiness insights. This approach has always made it feel more like a health service than a traditional hardware company, and clearly investors still see room for growth in that model.

It is also worth noting that the company has been moving further into the mainstream. To remind, Whoop built its early reputation around athletes and serious fitness users.

AI and data are now front and centre

A big part of the latest funding story is the company’s focus on AI. Whoop says its platform is powered by more than 24 billion hours of physiological data, which it uses to train its own models for personalised insights.

That includes recommendations around sleep, recovery, training load, stress and the impact of everyday habits such as nutrition. The bigger pitch here is no longer just performance optimisation for sport, but a wider health platform that aims to help users spot issues early and adjust behaviour before problems escalate.

Growth plans and what it means for the sector

Whoop says it ended 2025 cash flow positive and at a $1.1 billion run rate, which is likely to reassure investors given the more cautious funding environment over the past year. The company is also hiring for more than 600 roles, with plans to ramp up R&D and push further into international markets.

There is now increasing talk of an IPO on the horizon. Recent reports suggest Whoop is considering a public listing within the next two years, which makes this funding round feel less like a simple cash injection and more like part of a broader scale-up ahead of a possible move to the public markets. 

This round also comes shortly after Oura’s own massive raise at an $11 billion valuation, which shows that investors have not lost interest in the digital health and wearable sector. If anything, the market seems to be rewarding companies that combine hardware, data and recurring subscription revenue.

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This is one of those updates that has been hanging over Samsung’s wearable platform for a long time. The hardware has been capable, but US users were left out while the feature expanded elsewhere. That wait is now over.

What the feature actually does

Unlike Apple’s current approach, which focuses on hypertension alerts and trends, Samsung is giving users actual estimated blood pressure numbers on the watch.

That means compatible Galaxy Watch models can provide both systolic and diastolic readings directly from the wrist. For anyone who already keeps an eye on these numbers, that makes the watch a lot more useful in everyday life, particularly for quick checks between regular cuff measurements.

The feature is available on Galaxy Watch 4 and newer devices, provided they are paired with a compatible Samsung smartphone running Android 12 or later.

There is still a catch

Before you can use it, the watch needs to be calibrated with a traditional upper-arm blood pressure monitor. Samsung also requires that calibration to be repeated every 28 days to keep the readings aligned.

So while the watch makes it easier to track trends and check numbers more conveniently, it still depends on a standard cuff in the background. In practice, this makes it more of a convenience and trend-monitoring tool than a replacement for dedicated blood pressure hardware.

The bigger picture

Smartwatch makers are clearly moving beyond the basics now. Heart rate, sleep tracking and workout stats are almost expected at this point. The real competition is shifting toward health metrics that people may actually use as part of everyday wellness monitoring.

For Galaxy Watch users in the US, this is a feature that feels long overdue. Even so, it is likely to be one of the more talked-about Samsung updates this week simply because it finally unlocks something owners have been waiting years to use.

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Better tools for runners

Let’s start with the one most users have been waiting for – automatic lactate threshold detection during Outdoor Running and Track Run workouts. This debuted with the launch of the Amazfit Active 3 Premium and has since been gradually rolling out to other watches.

In simple terms, lactate threshold is the point where your body starts building up lactate faster than it can clear it. For runners, that makes it a useful metric because it helps define training intensity and can be used to set more accurate heart rate and pace zones for workouts.

With this update, the T Rex 3 Pro can now detect that automatically during supported runs. Or you can trigger a manual test. That means the watch gains another genuinely useful training metric for runners who use structured workouts and want more personalised training data.

Maps and route back get some love

Then we have the route back feature. Outdoor Running, Walking and Outdoor Cycling now let you create a route back to where you started while you are in the middle of the workout.

That is a handy feature, especially if you are out on unfamiliar roads, trails or just decided to freestyle your route and lost track of where you began. It fits the watch well because this is exactly the sort of thing people buying a T Rex model are likely to use.

Along with this there are some improvements to maps.

Better sleep tracking and daily usability

Zepp Health has also tweaked the sleep algorithm in this update. The release notes do not go into detail, but this usually means improvements to how the watch identifies sleep stages, wake-ups and overall sleep scoring.

Some folks have been asking for Bluetooth disconnection alerts. This has also been rolling out to more Amazfit watches and the T-Rex 3 Pro is the next device getting it. This feature gives you a way to get warned if the watch loses connection to your phone, which is useful if you tend to leave your phone behind at home, in the car or at the gym.

On top of that, there are refreshed icons and general bug fixes, so the whole software experience should feel a bit more polished after the update.

Our take

This feels like a pretty big update. It adds one genuinely advanced fitness metric, improves navigation and tightens up everyday features like sleep tracking and phone connection alerts.

For existing T Rex 3 Pro owners, this is exactly the kind of update you want to see. In recent months the T-Rex 3 owners have been getting pretty much the same firmware updates as the non-Pro users, so they might be next to receive the new features.

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A bigger AI push for Apple Watch

The most interesting part of Mark German’s new interview with Bloomberg, is the suggestion that Apple is leaning harder into AI on the wrist. Details are still limited, but the direction seems clear enough. The company wants the Apple Watch to do more with the health, fitness and behavioural data it already collects.

That could mean smarter Siri interactions, more useful prompts during the day and better interpretation of workout and recovery metrics. Instead of simply presenting raw numbers, the software may start surfacing insights in a way that feels more personal and timely.

We’ve seen a number of other wearable brands going down this route, and Apple is looking to join the fun. The hardware side has matured significantly over the past few years, so the next area of competition is increasingly about software intelligence. The real value is no longer just in collecting the data, it is in helping users understand what it actually means.

Apple is particularly well positioned here because of the sheer amount of data its watches gather over time. Sleep patterns, resting heart rate, activity levels, recovery trends and workout history all create a strong base for smarter recommendations. If watchOS 27 starts using that information more effectively, it could make the watch feel far more proactive.

A needed focus on fixes and performance

The second major upgrade is not as exciting. Apple is said to be focusing on bug fixes, performance improvements and overall system stability.

That may not sound especially exciting on paper, but for a device that many people wear all day and night, reliability matters a lot. Notifications need to arrive instantly, apps need to open quickly and workouts need to start without friction. Small delays or occasional glitches are far more noticeable on a watch than on a phone.

A smoother and faster watchOS experience could actually be the part users notice most. Sometimes the best software updates are the ones that simply make the device feel better to use without shouting about it.

Software over hardware this year

Another interesting takeaway is that this year does not appear to be about a major Apple Watch redesign. That suggests Apple’s attention is firmly on software.

The Apple Watch hardware is already highly refined. At this point, better intelligence and a smoother experience are probably more valuable than cosmetic changes. Having said that, it would be nice to see a some new health tracking features. Perhaps blood pressure measurements or glucose estimates. But don’t hold your breath for either of these.

We should get our first proper look at watchOS 27 on June 8 at WWDC. As usual, the developer beta will probably land later that same day, with a public beta likely following sometime in July for anyone who wants to try it early. The full public rollout is then expected in September, most likely alongside the next Apple Watch models.

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Many Bip 6 and Active 2 Square owners have been patiently waiting for this feature. A disconnect alert does not look particularly exciting in a changelog, but in daily use it can be genuinely useful. It can be the difference between noticing immediately that you have left your phone behind and realising it much later.

Why this feature matters

The idea is simple, the watch vibrates when it loses its Bluetooth connection to your phone. That makes it useful as a basic anti-loss feature and something many users rely on every day.

If you leave your phone on a desk, in a café, at the gym, or in the back seat of a taxi, the watch can warn you the moment you move out of range. That practical use case is exactly why people have been asking for it. In many ways, it is more useful than another wellness score tucked away in the app.

It also solves another common annoyance. If notifications suddenly stop arriving on the watch, you immediately know the connection has dropped rather than assuming something is wrong with the device or app. That instant feedback makes the watch feel more dependable in day to day use.

Strange that it was missing in the first place

What made the omission more noticeable is that other Amazfit watches already support Bluetooth disconnection alerts. The Amazfit Balance has had the feature for some time, and some models in the T-Rex range include it as well.

That made its absence on the Bip 6 and Active 2 Square feel particularly odd, especially because this does not appear to be something that requires special hardware. It always looked more like a software omission than a technical limitation.

Some devices still appear to be inconsistent here. Depending on the model and firmware version, certain Active series watches and even some higher-end models have not always offered a native disconnect alert. Presumably, it will be rolling out across the board in the near future.

Users had been relying on third-party apps

Before this update, some users were relying on third-party apps as a workaround. For example the Bluetooth Alert app which can be found in the Zepp Health App Store. It works reasonably well. You can even tweak the alert vibration.

Still, relying on an extra app for something this basic never felt ideal. Native support is cleaner, easier to set up, and likely more reliable over time. It also removes the risk of compatibility issues when firmware or app updates arrive later.

Sleep tracking also gets an update

The firmware also mentions improved sleep recognition accuracy. No further details than that. So we have no idea if the update improves bedtime detection, wake times, overnight interruptions, or something else entirely.

Nevertheless, a useful update. Not a long change-log but at least one new genuine useful feature has made its way to the Bip 6 and Active 2 Square.

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