IFA or Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin is one of the oldest industrial exhibitions in Germany. The first show debuted back in 1924. From then on it was held annually until 1950 when it transitioned into a biannual format until 2005. This is when it went back to an annual format.

Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets

Unfortunately, it has been a couple of years since we were last in Berlin attending the show. As you’ve probably guessed, the coronavirus situation turned things upside down. In 2020 IFA was predominantly a virtual event with some limited in-person gatherings. Things were no better in 2021. In fact, in that year the organizers decided to entirely cancel the event.

But things are slowly returning back to normal and IFA 2022 is back in its usual format. The event started on Friday and concludes on Tuesday, September 6th. This will be the 59th IFA. The last in-person IFA in 2019 attracted nearly a quarter of a million visitors. All indicators are we are getting more of the same in 2022. It is quite crowded here.

Wearable technology typically makes a strong showing in Berlin and this year is no different. It’s a big deal for wearable manufacturers as the timing for product announcements is great – early September, a couple of months ahead of the all-important holiday shopping period. Most of the big players are here debuting their latest gear, including Fitbit, Garmin, Withings, Zepp Health, Huawei and Samsung.

The one obvious omission is Apple. But no surprise there as the company prefers to organize its own launch events. Xiaomi is another name missing from the list of exibitors.

Wearable tech making headlines

Fitbit

For starters, Fitbit is showcasing Sense 2, Versa 4 and Luxe 2 at the event. The trio officially launched in August. The devices are available for pre-order but they will not ship until well into September.

The company has used the Berlin platform as a launch ground for its wearables many times in the past years. All three of these devices come with iterative upgrades over their predecessors so no huge surprises there. Inspire 3 got a snazzy new AMOLED display, Versa some more sports modes and Sense 2 has the ability to capture continuously electrodermal activity.

Garmin

Garmin is another big name that is is here. This year, however, it only has one new watch on display – the Venu Sq 2. Its screen has received an upgrade as compared to the original. You now get something with a 1.41 inch display and respectable 360 x 360 pixels resolution. The device also gets GNSS support, nearly double the battery life (11 days in smartwatch mode), Sleep Score & Insights, Health Snapshot and more sports modes.

Other Garmin devices that we are expecting after IFA include Instinct Analog, Vivomove Trend and a mystery device called Austin. These names come from a list published by a local Garmin distributor so remains unconfirmed. Another possibility is a smart blood pressure monitor called Index BPM. The company has recently added the ability of Garmin Connect to write blood pressure measurements to Apple Health.

Samsung

Samsung is, of course, here once again. It always makes a big splash at IFA with a large hall dedicated to its products. Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro were made official about a month ago and the company is proudly displaying their abilities.

The Pro version is not fundamentally different from the non-Pro. But it has a titanium housing rather than aluminium, along with a larger battery and an improved Sapphire display.

You could say this edition is an evolution in the Galaxy Watch lineup rather than a revolution. The sensors inside the watches are unchanged. So heart rate, Spo2, ECG and more are all there, in the guise of a single 3-in1 sensor dubbed BioActive. The one important new addition is a temperature sensor.

Amazfit

Then we have the Amazfit brand. Zepp Health timed the announcement of the GT4 line in time for IFA 2022. Actually, the first device in this range had dropped earlier in the guise of the GTS 4 Mini.

A couple of days ago GTR 4 and GTS 4 were added to the list. They come with a bunch of nice upgrades as compared to their predecessors. This includes some design enhancements, along with Huami’s latest BioTracker 4.0 PPG optical sensor, around-the-clock SpO2 monitoring, improved sports features, dual-band circularly-polarised GPS antenna technology and on-board storage for music.

The watch that has particularly impressed us is the GTR 4. Absolutely beautiful in design it appears very premium. Look out for our review of the timepiece to drop in the weeks ahead.

Withings

Withings has a display in Berlin. Little has dropped from the French outfit in terms of new devices this year. Our hope was that we would see its Body Scan scale. And it is here. The device will be available for sale in the EU in November. Wider availability is expected early next year. For reminder, this is by far the smartest scale in existance. It has the ability to assess nerve activity, detect ECG and Afib as well as monitor segmental body composition thanks to a retracteable sensor-packed handle.

A surprise announcement was the Withings Body Comp scale. It also comes with some novel functionality such as Vascular Age and a Nerve Health Score. The latter is monitored by analyzing the sweat glands in the feet.

No sign yet of the urine analysis device we are expecting. It will likely be called Bio-Screener, and the French company has filed a few patents for this so it will likely debut at some stage.

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According to Reuters sources, the supplier of digital maps, navigation technology and wearable tech has enlisted the services of Deutche Bank in a bid to sell the entire firm or a minority stake. TomTom was “tapping a range of potential buyers, including Asian investors” Reuters was told. Their sources added that the firm was looking into several strategic options.

Essential reading: TomTom fitness tracker range detailed in full

After initially declining the comment, TomTom issued a one line statement saying it “denies it has engaged a financial adviser to look for potential buyers”. So far, Deutsche Bank has declined to comment.

TomTom recently announced it is laying off 136 employees in a strategic refocus away from wearables towards its bread and butter mapping and navigation activity. The staff cut follows disappointing quarterly results which showed a significant year-on-year decline in consumer sales. This was mainly due to disappointing performance of its sports division, which includes fitness trackers and action cameras.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company currently employs some 4,700 staff across 40 countries. Valued at 1.74 billion euros, the outfit has been around since 1991. TomTom is best known for its GPS software and products which includes its own range of activity trackers and GPS sports watches.

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The decision was made as a result of disappointing Q2 results, which revealed a 20% year-on-year decline in consumer sales. Released back in July, they showed this was mostly due to poor performance of its sports division which includes fitness trackers and action cameras.

“The wearables market has fallen short of expectations…” said TomTom CEO Harold Goddijn at the time.

“And because of this and because we want to focus on automotive, licensing and telematics businesses, we are reviewing strategic options for our Sports business.”

Headquartered in Amsterdam, TomTom currently has a 4,700 strong team and presence in over 40 countries. Of the 136 rolls made redundant, 57 will be on its home turf in the Netherlands, while the remaining positions will be cut from offices in the US and Taiwan. A number of key figures left in an earlier round of firings back in December.

Essential reading: TomTom’s fitness tracker range detailed in full

Founded in 1991, the Dutch outfit produces navigation and mapping products. It sells action cameras, fleet management systems and location-based products. The company is perhaps best known for its GPS software and products.

TomTom noted in a short statement that it will continue to sell consumer sports products, and support its Sports customers. Its fitness tracker/smartwatch devices include the popular Spark 3 range and the Touch fitness tracker.

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Taking cue from Garmin and Fitbit, the Dutch company is introducing the new feature across a range of its devices. To calculate the metric, TomTom will take your VO2Max measurement, compare it with those your gender and age, and determine how “old” you really are.

Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets for 2017

The free upgrade will be introduced to devices that already measure your VO2Max. This includes the TomTom Spark 3 Cardio and TomTom Adventurer watches. The accompanying smartphone app will then try to motivate you by awarding Fitness Points as you progress towards fitness age goals. To this end, the company will introduce more age appropriate fitness workouts.

Garmin has a similar concept. It also uses your VO2Max levels to assign a “Fitness Age” score. Fitbit does this as well but with a twist. The San Francisco manufacturer estimates your Cardio Fitness Levels, and lets you know what per cent you fall in, in terms of your age and gender.

These days its not enough to have your trusty fitness tracker dish out step and distance counts. Users want actionable information in order to make real-life positive changes. “Fitness Age” is a concept that is not too difficult to grasp and we will probably see more companies jumping on board.

TomTom says the software update will roll out to compatible watches during September.

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Founded in 1991, the Dutch outfit produces navigation and mapping products. It sells action cameras, fleet management systems and location-based products. The company also has its own range of activity trackers and GPS sport watches. This includes the popular Spark 3 range and the Touch fitness tracker.

Essential reading: TomTom’s fitness tracker range detailed in full

In its Q2 earning report, TomTom revealed a 20% year-on-year decline in consumer sales. This was mostly due to poor performance of its Sports division which includes fitness trackers and action cameras.

“The wearables market has fallen short of expectations…” said TomTom CEO Harold Goddijn.

“And because of this and because we want to focus on automotive, licensing and telematics businesses, we are reviewing strategic options for our Sports business.”

Essential reading: Top fitness trackers and health gadgets for 2017

Headquartered in Amsterdam, TomTom currently has some 4,000 employees worldwide and presence in over 40 countries. But a number of key figures left during the latest round of firings in December. According to Wearable, they have not been replaced. The company has also allegedly shelved plans for a new Bandit 2 action camera due to poor sales.

Intel has also eliminated its wearables division earlier this month. Jawbone is no more and Pebble has been eaten up by Fitbit. Over the past year, Xiaomi, Apple and Fitbit have emerged as the clear leaders in the wearables market, and it seems that other companies are struggling to survive.

Source: Wearable

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The new tracker pretty much covers the basics. This includes counting steps, active time, calories burned, distance walked, and monitoring sleep time. There is also a heart rate sensor which keeps tabs on your ticker at regular intervals throughout the day.

“We know that many people don’t necessarily see exercise as an activity as such, but rather as an integrated part of their daily lives,” said Corinne Vigreux, co-founder and Managing Director TomTom Consumer.

“They try to stay fit and healthy by walking, taking the stairs and doing groceries. We are extending our TomTom Touch range with this accessible fitness tracker to help more people understand how fit they are and inspire them to take that first step towards a more active lifestyle.”

The predecessor device was launched at IFA in September last year and is the first fitness tracker with the ability to analyze your body composition from the wrist. It received mixed reviews on Amazon. Detecting body composition is difficult enough for smart scales, doing it from the wrist is another challenge altogether.

Essential reading: Touch fitness tracker knows just how fat you really are

The Dutch company is now trying to make its fitness tracker range more accessible to the masses. In addition to being cheaper, the new device also features a more fashion-friendly design, and will work with the company’s new sports app.

Touch Cardio will be available in the US and UK in March, priced at a reasonable £89.99.

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Long overdue for an overhall, the app provides a single place to track up to 12 different activity types ranging from running, cycling and swimming to skiing, trail running and hiking. You will find motivational messages, activity trends and comparisons, as well as new social features. This is good news for fans of the Dutch company’s wearables, which include the innovative body fat measuring TomTom Touch and the TomTom Spark 3, a GPS running watch that lets you stream music without your phone.

“We have been creating wearables since 2009, and since then much has changed. The large amounts of data people now have access to, is overwhelming. What people really need in that moment where excuses beat conviction, is motivation and a better understanding of what works for them,” said Corinne Vigreux, Co-Founder and Managing Director TomTom Consumer.

“With our new TomTom Sports app we turn data into insights to do just that. This launch marks the beginning of what will be a hugely exciting year for our brand in the world of sports.”

This echos a trend we have seen of late. Fitness trackers and smartwatches are good at churning out statistics but, for the most part, it is left down to the users to sift through this data and draw meaningful conclusions. Wearables manufactures are now going beyond just displaying health metrics by providing more meaningful analysis of our vitals data.

You can now see key fitness information, quick summaries and highlights on the app dashboard. With smart comparisons, you can benchmark your performance against your personal bests. And for even more in-depth, to the second data (including ascent, heart rate, heart rate zones, speed and pace), head over to the performance analytics tab.

Finally, the upgraded software will play nicely with a range of third party platforms such as Strava, Nike+, Endomondo, MapMyFitness and Runkeeper.

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This is a bold move as there is no shortage of fitness trackers these days. The fight for your wrist space is intensifying and we’ve seen many product launches this year. What we haven’t seen, though, is something truly innovative.

The Dutch company is trying to change this with its new device. In addition to monitor your activity, the TomTom Touch Fitness tracker analyzes your body composition. It is said to be able to detail your body fat and muscle percentage from the wrist, as well as count the number of calories you burn throughout the day.

Now, while this does sound impressive, we can’t help being a bit sceptical.

Body fat and muscle percentage is something that has become a standard offering of any self-respecting smart scale. This is accomplished this by sending a low electrical current through one foot and reading the current with a sensor under the other foot. The current passes through fat more slowly and the scale calculates the amount of resistance to come up with a body fat percentage.

The accuracy of these body fat measurements should be taken with a grain of salt, though, as they can be inconsistent and inaccurate at the best of times. TomTom uses pretty much the same technology. To get the measurement, a wearer needs to press a button with the index finger of the opposite hand to send a current through the body.

If scales are having issues in coming up with precise measurements, we don’t see how a wrist based fitness tracker can do a better job. But perhaps we are wrong, so will reserve judgement until we have a chance to actually test the device.

In terms of activity, the fitness tracker captures steps, active time, calories burned, distance walked, and sleep time. There is also a heart rate sensor which will monitor your ticker at regular intervals throughout the day.

The wearable features a slim and discreet design. Information can be displayed, and swiped through, on a touchscreen, or via the TomTom MySports app. You can also display incoming call and text notifications on your wrist.

TomTom Touch Fitness tracker is said to have a seven day battery life and is rated splash-proof. The wearable is available on Amazon.

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