The watch is also being called the Moto Watch 27 in some markets. It succeeds the original Moto Watch Fit from 2025 and keeps the same lightweight, rectangular design.

Polar gives the Fit more depth

Motorola has been expanding its use of Polar technology across its smartwatch range. The two companies announced their partnership earlier this year, and Polar’s algorithms later appeared on other Moto watches.

The Fit 27 now gets a much broader set of those tools. Nightly Recharge measures overnight recovery using sleep and autonomic nervous system data, while Sleep Plus Stages handles sleep tracking and staging.

Running Index is also included. This estimates aerobic running performance using heart rate and pace data, giving runners a way to track changes in fitness over time without relying only on VO2 max.

Active Intensity Zones show how much time is spent at different effort levels during exercise. Energy Sources estimates the proportion of carbohydrate, fat and protein used during a workout. Smart Calories, Daily Activity Goal and Daily Activity Score are included as well.

That is a noticeable step up from the first Moto Watch Fit. That one focused mainly on basic heart rate, SpO2, sleep, stress and workout tracking.

Better GPS and a brighter screen

The Fit 27 uses a 1.85-inch gOLED display with a peak brightness of 1,500 nits. The previous model had a slightly larger 1.9-inch screen but topped out at 1,000 nits, so the new panel should be easier to read outdoors.

Gorilla Glass 3 protects the display. The watch also keeps 5ATM water resistance and an IP68 rating.

Dual-frequency GPS is also part of the package. The original Fit already had built-in GPS, but the new positioning tech should improve accuracy.

Motorola has also added a microphone and speaker. That means users can make and receive Bluetooth calls from the wrist when the watch is connected to a phone.

Qira support is coming later. Motorola says its AI assistant will work from the watch when paired with a compatible Motorola phone, allowing users to trigger it by voice.

Battery life drops to 12 days

Battery life is actually lower than before. Motorola rates the Moto Watch Fit 27 for up to 12 days between charges, compared with up to 16 days for the original Moto Watch Fit.

Twelve days is still a strong figure for a smartwatch. Motorola continues to use its lighter RTOS platform on the Fit rather than Wear OS, which helps keep battery life well above most full smartwatch platforms.

The Moto Watch Fit 27 will start at €119. Motorola says it will roll out across selected markets in Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific in the coming weeks.

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If you have been wondering how long Garmin plans to keep MIP around, we finally have a decent answer. The company is not promising to keep it forever, but it is also not ready to dump it.

Speaking to TechRadar, Garmin COO Brad Trenkle said the biggest reason to keep MIP is still battery life. AMOLED has closed a lot of the gap over the past few generations, but not enough for Garmin to treat the two display technologies as interchangeable.

Other media have interpreted that as MIP going away. But Trenkle said the battery gap between OLED and MIP is closing, but “has not completely converged,” and that “until it does” Garmin does not think MIP will completely go away.

MIP still earns its place

You can see the logic in Garmin’s current lineup. AMOLED is everywhere now, including models that once would almost certainly have used MIP. But Garmin still keeps the older display technology around where endurance matters more.

The Enduro 4 is probably the clearest example. It sticks with a MIP solar display and can run for up to 36 days in smartwatch mode, or as much as 90 days with enough solar exposure.

AMOLED Garmin watches are hardly struggling, though. Battery life has improved massively, particularly on the larger Fenix models, and for plenty of people the difference is already small enough that they would happily take the brighter display.

But Garmin is looking at the extremes. Someone heading out for a long expedition or spending days tracking GPS activities has a very different definition of “good enough” battery life from someone who charges every couple of weeks.

MIP also behaves differently outdoors. It reflects ambient light rather than fighting against it, so bright sunshine actually helps visibility instead of forcing the display to pump out more light. That combination still gives Garmin a reason to keep it around.

Garmin users were worried about this

Garmin users have been asking where MIP fits into the company’s future for a while now, especially as AMOLED keeps spreading across the lineup. Earlier this year, we covered a poll of more than 1,100 Garmin users asking what they would do if Garmin stopped making MIP watches. Roughly a third said they would move to another brand, while another group said they would rather keep buying older MIP models.

That is a pretty strong reaction to a display technology. But for those users, MIP is tied to the whole reason they bought a Garmin in the first place: long battery life, an always-visible screen and excellent outdoor readability.

Trenkle’s comments should calm some of those worries. Garmin is clearly not keeping MIP around simply because a few long-time users like it. It still sees a practical advantage.

The more interesting part is what happens when that advantage disappears. Garmin is effectively saying that MIP stays while it continues to offer something AMOLED cannot quite match.

Solar could be the next piece

There is another part of Trenkle’s interview that caught our attention. He was asked whether solar charging could eventually work with AMOLED, which could remove another reason Garmin currently keeps MIP around.

Trenkle pointed to the different solar technologies Garmin already uses. In particular, crystalline silicon can sit around the edge of the display rather than over the active screen area, avoiding the hit to image quality that comes from putting a solar layer directly on top.

That is interesting because Garmin has already been working on this problem. Last year we covered a Garmin patent designed to combine solar charging with AMOLED, using a different approach that could create tiny photovoltaic areas without blocking the display underneath.

None of this means Garmin has a solar AMOLED Fenix ready to go. Trenkle was talking about what is technically possible, not teasing a new watch.

But put the pieces together and the direction is fairly easy to see. AMOLED keeps getting more efficient, Garmin is experimenting with ways to add solar, and MIP’s biggest advantages are slowly being chipped away.

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The patent, US 2026/0345067 A1, was published on November 5, 2026. Ultrahuman filed the US application in June this year, with the filing claiming priority from an Indian application submitted in June 2025.

The glasses would watch how you sit and work

A big part of the idea is posture. Ultrahuman describes pressure sensors around the nose bridge and where the glasses contact the ears, combined with inertial sensors that track head orientation, neck position and head tilt.

The pressure readings are more useful than they might sound. If one side of the glasses pushes harder against the nose than the other, for example, the system could interpret that as head tilt or an imbalance. Increased pressure around the nose combined with reduced pressure near the ears could point to forward head posture, neck inclination or slouching.

That information would be combined with motion data rather than treated in isolation. The system could then build a picture of how your posture changes during prolonged desk work or other activities.

Ultrahuman also wants the glasses to learn what is normal for each person. The patent describes creating a personal baseline and changing thresholds over time based on historical sensor readings and behaviour.

It goes beyond posture

But there’s more. Ultrahuman also describes sensors for gaze and attention monitoring, which could look at screen engagement and changes in attention while the glasses are being worn.

There could also be a blue-light sensor to measure exposure during prolonged screen use, along with an ambient-light sensor for the surrounding environment. The system would combine these signals with the posture data to estimate what Ultrahuman calls an “ergonomic cognitive strain state.”

Basically, the glasses would be trying to work out when a combination of poor posture, prolonged screen use and declining attention suggests you need to change what you are doing. It is a broader idea than simply buzzing whenever your head leans forward.

One version goes considerably further. The patent also includes an EEG sensor capable of collecting cognitive activity data from the wearer, although that appears as one possible implementation rather than something every version of the glasses would necessarily include.

The glasses could nudge you before things get worse

Once the system detects a problem, it could respond in several ways. The patent mentions visual, audio and haptic feedback, along with posture correction recommendations, fatigue warnings, attention reminders and blue-light exposure alerts.

Ultrahuman also describes adjusting those prompts to the individual. Someone who naturally holds their head at a slightly different angle would not necessarily receive the same warnings as everyone else.

That focus on combining several signals is probably the most interesting part of the patent. A head tilt on its own tells you very little, but head position, pressure distribution, gaze behaviour, screen exposure and personal history together could provide considerably more context.

Ultrahuman has been exploring some fairly unusual wearable ideas lately. Another patent we covered describes a smart ring that could change colour based on health data, while a separate filing outlines a dedicated UVB sensor for tracking Vitamin D-related sun exposure.

Smart glasses would be a much bigger jump than adding another sensor to a ring. But this patent still fits the company’s health-focused approach, with the emphasis on posture, attention and cognitive strain rather than the camera, video and social features that define Ray-Ban Meta.

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AliveCor has three KardiaMobile devices that look like variations on the same idea, but the differences become much clearer once you actually use them. KardiaMobile is the value option, KardiaMobile Card is built around portability, while KardiaMobile 6L is the one that gives you considerably more ECG data.

All of these devices let you take an ECG with your phone, all use the same Kardia app, and all take around 30 seconds for a basic recording. But they are not interchangeable.

I have spent time testing both the KardiaMobile 6L and KardiaMobile Card, and the choice between them is easy once you decide what matters most. The standard KardiaMobile sits between those two in concept, although closer to the Card in terms of what it actually records.

Here is how the three stack up.

The design is not the only real difference

All three devices do the same basic job. Put your fingers on the electrodes, stay reasonably still and the Kardia app records the electrical activity of your heart.

The standard KardiaMobile and KardiaMobile Card record a single-lead ECG. That is similar in principle to what you get from ECG-equipped smartwatches, and it is enough for the Kardia software to look for things such as atrial fibrillation, bradycardia and tachycardia.

KardiaMobile 6L can do that as well, but it has a third electrode on the underside. Place that electrode against your bare left knee or ankle while keeping your fingers on the upper contacts and it records six leads rather than one.

That is the big dividing line here. The 6L captures leads I, II, III, aVR, aVL and aVF, giving someone looking at the ECG six different electrical views of the heart rather than one.

AliveCor KardiaMobile 6L

Portable six-lead ECG monitor with Bluetooth connectivity. Works with compatible iOS and Android devices. No subscription required for basic ECG recordings.

View on AliveCor Check Amazon

That does not mean the Kardia app suddenly becomes six times better at telling you what is happening. As I found during my KardiaMobile 6L review, the additional information becomes useful when the ECG itself is being examined by someone who knows how to interpret it.

So if all you want is an occasional 30-second check for AFib or another supported rhythm classification, the standard KardiaMobile can already do that job. If you expect to save ECGs and show them to a cardiologist, the argument for the 6L becomes much stronger.

KardiaMobile Card wins easily on portability

The Card remains my favourite of the three purely from a design perspective. It really is about the same size and thickness as a credit card, and at just 7.4 grams there is almost nothing to it.

When I reviewed the KardiaMobile Card, that was the feature that stood out most. You can put it in a wallet and pretty much forget it is there until you need it, which is not something you can say about many health gadgets.

Using it is simple as well. There are two electrodes on the front, you rest your fingers or thumbs on them, and the Card sends the recording to the Kardia app over Bluetooth. There is no charging cable to keep track of, and the built-in battery is designed to last around two years.

The trade-off is that the battery is not replaceable. The standard KardiaMobile and 6L both use replaceable CR2016 coin cells, so they are potentially the better long-term proposition if you plan to keep the same hardware for years.

The ordinary KardiaMobile is also very portable. It weighs just 18 grams and is only 3.5mm thick, so the Card is not solving a huge size problem here. It simply takes the concept to its logical conclusion by making the ECG monitor something you can leave in your wallet permanently.

Interestingly, the standard KardiaMobile also uses a different method to communicate with your phone. Instead of Bluetooth, it transmits the ECG signal using ultrasonic audio that your phone’s microphone picks up. There is no Bluetooth pairing involved, although it does mean microphone access and positioning the device reasonably close to the phone are important when taking a reading.

The 6L is slightly less convenient but much more capable

Having used the KardiaMobile 6L for several weeks, I did not find the extra electrode particularly troublesome. Single-lead readings are as straightforward as they are on the other devices, while switching to six leads only adds the step of placing the underside of the device against your left knee or ankle.

It can feel a little fiddly the first few times. I also managed to hold the unit upside down occasionally during testing, which is an easy mistake because the device is basically a small black rectangle with electrodes on it.

But this is hardly a major inconvenience. The whole process still takes around half a minute, and I would happily accept the slightly more awkward position in exchange for the extra ECG information if I had a reason to collect it.

AliveCor KardiaMobile 6L

Portable six-lead ECG monitor with Bluetooth connectivity. Works with compatible iOS and Android devices. No subscription required for basic ECG recordings.

View on AliveCor Check Amazon

That is also why I think the 6L makes more sense than simply buying a single-lead device because it is cheaper. If you are buying a dedicated ECG monitor rather than relying on the ECG already built into an Apple Watch or another smartwatch, there is a reasonable argument for getting something that goes beyond what your watch can already record.

The 6L still remains tiny. At 24 grams, it weighs almost nothing, requires no charging and easily disappears into a pocket or bag. It is less elegant than carrying the Card in your wallet, but we are talking about different degrees of very portable here.

The Kardia app is largely the same experience

Whichever device you choose, you end up spending most of your time in the Kardia app rather than interacting with the hardware. That means the differences between the three devices become much smaller once a recording has finished.

The app stores your ECG history, shows your heart rate and gives supported rhythm classifications. You can also add notes and export ECG recordings as PDFs, which is particularly useful if you want to send them to a doctor.

I liked that part of the experience when testing the 6L. You do not need a KardiaCare subscription just to make six-lead recordings and export them, which means the main reason for buying the hardware does not sit behind another recurring payment.

Where things become less appealing is AliveCor’s premium software layer. KardiaCare unlocks additional rhythm classifications and other analysis and reporting features, but I found the app a little too keen to push the subscription when I reviewed the 6L.

I would not choose between these three devices based on KardiaCare. The core distinction remains the hardware, and all three can perform their basic ECG functions without requiring an ongoing subscription.

Which KardiaMobile should you buy?

For most people who simply want the cheapest way into AliveCor’s ecosystem, KardiaMobile is probably enough. It provides the basic single-lead ECG functionality, costs less than the other two and uses the same Kardia app.

KardiaMobile Card is the more interesting option for someone who wants to keep an ECG monitor with them all the time. Having used it myself, the credit-card format is not a gimmick. It genuinely makes the device easier to carry because you do not have to remember to bring it.

KardiaMobile 6L is the one I would choose if the ECG data itself is the priority. It is still extremely portable, but the ability to record six leads gives it a clear functional advantage over both single-lead alternatives.

There is no need to buy the 6L simply because it sits higher in the range. If all you want is the occasional single-lead recording, KardiaMobile gets you there with less money spent, while the Card provides essentially the same ECG concept in a cleverer package.

View on AliveCor’s website, Amazon.

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Polar wants to measure more than heart rate

US 2026/0345076 A1 is one of the more interesting Polar patents we’ve come across recently. The patch would sit between the watch and the skin, while an opening in the middle allows the normal optical heart rate sensor to keep working.

The patent specifically mentions glucose, lactate and cortisol. Polar links glucose with energy consumption and nutritional state, lactate with exercise intensity, and cortisol with recovery.

The system uses surface plasmon resonance, or SPR. Different sensing elements on the patch could be designed to detect different substances, meaning one part could look for glucose while another measures lactate or cortisol.

The patch could contain several sensing elements for the same substance as well. The watch would keep track of which ones had already been used and alert the wearer when the patch needed replacing.

Polar has explored other unusual sensing ideas before. We previously covered a Polar patent that combined heart rate monitoring with abdominal fat measurements. But that one has not seen the light of day yet so remains in concept stage.

The watch could even trigger sweat production

There is one practical problem with analysing sweat. Sometimes there isn’t enough of it.

Polar addresses that in the patent as well. One version of the patch includes an electrically activated element containing pilocarpine, which can stimulate local sweat production.

The watch could first determine whether enough sweat was present. If not, it could activate the element and generate enough sweat underneath the device to take a measurement.

That means the device could poentionally allow for measurements outside hard exercise. The system would not necessarily have to wait until the wearer was already sweating heavily.

This is not a normal glucose monitor

It is important not to confuse this with a conventional continuous glucose monitor. Polar is talking about measuring substances in sweat, not directly measuring glucose in blood or interstitial fluid.

That still leaves plenty of potential value for sports use. Lactate and cortisol, in particular, fit with Polar’s existing focus on training intensity and recovery, while glucose could provide another signal around energy use.

The concept is unusually detailed for a wearable patent. Polar has worked through how the patch could fit underneath an existing sports watch, how optical heart rate measurements could continue, how the biochemical sensors could be replaced and even how the system could produce sweat when needed.

Whether it ever reaches a commercial Polar watch is another matter. But glucose, lactate and cortisol sensing from a replaceable patch is certainly more interesting than another algorithm trying to squeeze a new score out of the same old heart rate data.

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The idea is fairly simple. Garmin already knows where a cyclist is during a LiveTrack session, and the new integration appears designed to pass that location to Waze so nearby drivers can see that someone is riding ahead.

Garmin is building a Waze sharing feature

Garmin Connect 5.31 includes references to “Share Location with Waze”, “Share your rides with Waze” and “Waze Location Sharing”. There is also a dedicated consent flow and onboarding material for the feature.

The clearest wording says that when location sharing is enabled during a cycling activity, the rider’s LiveTrack position can be shown to people using Waze. Another string tells cyclists that drivers using Waze will be able to see their location.

That makes this more than a basic link between two apps. Garmin appears to be preparing a system where live cycling location data is sent into Waze while the ride is taking place.

LiveTrack already lets friends and family follow a Garmin user’s activity in real time. Depending on the setup, they can see the rider’s current position as well as information from the activity.

Waze sharing would use that location data in a different way. Rather than showing it only to someone who has received a LiveTrack link, Garmin could make the cyclist visible to drivers who are actually approaching them on the road.

The dedicated consent process also suggests this will be optional. That would be important because sharing a location with nearby motorists is quite different from sending a private LiveTrack link to a friend or family member.

Our takeaway

Waze is Google’s navigation app and focuses heavily on live information from the road. Drivers can already see things such as crashes, stopped vehicles, road closures and hazards while navigating.

A cyclist marker would fit naturally into that system. A driver approaching from behind could potentially see that a cyclist is ahead before actually reaching them, which could be useful on narrow roads, around bends or in poor visibility.

The useful part is that the driver would not need a Garmin device. Garmin would provide the cyclist’s location, while Waze would display that information to motorists using its app.

There are still some important unknowns. The app does not reveal which Garmin devices will support Waze sharing, whether Garmin Connect+ will be required, or whether the feature will initially be limited to certain countries.

It is also unclear what drivers will actually see. Waze could display a cyclist icon, a warning that a rider is ahead, or something that updates continuously as the cyclist moves.

APK teardown note

This article is based on an APK teardown. Code found inside an app can reveal features or devices that are under development, but there is no guarantee they will appear in a future public release.

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8.1

Design and comfort 8.5/10

EEG tracking 8.0/10

Neurofeedback 8.0/10

SereniBrain app 7.5/10

Value for money 8.5/10

Pros

• – Light enough to forget you are wearing it
• – Easy to get a good EEG signal
• – Shows six brainwave bands live
• – Plenty to dig into after each session
• – CSV export is great for data nerds
• – No subscription hanging over it

Cons

• – Hydrogel pads are an ongoing consumable
• – Single-channel EEG only gives you part of the picture
• – Built-in meditation and training library is fairly small

Design and comfort

SereniBrain is probably one of the easiest EEG headbands I have used when it comes to simply putting it on and getting comfortable. I have spent time with the Muse 2, Muse S, Muse S Athena and Mendi as well, so there is a decent amount of experience behind that comparison.

Most of the electronics sit at the front, while the rest is a soft adjustable band that wraps around the head. At around 50 grams, it is light enough that it does not feel particularly intrusive once you have it positioned properly.

Fit is pretty important here because the sensors need good contact with the skin. SereniBrain uses one main forehead sensor plus contacts around the temples, with hydrogel pads helping everything stay connected properly.

One thing I managed to get wrong straight away was leaving the protective film on the pads. I spent a while wondering why the headband would not establish a proper signal before finally realising what I had done. Once the stickers were off, it worked fine. The hydrogel contacts are also quite comfortable, certainly more so than some of the harder sensor setups I have used on older EEG headbands.

Getting the fit right is straightforward. The band tightens easily, and once positioned properly it stays in place without feeling excessively tight. That is important because a loose fit can affect signal quality, while too much pressure would make longer meditation or focus sessions unpleasant.

The hardware itself is refreshingly uncomplicated. There is no display and very little to distract you while using it. You switch it on, connect through the app and start a session.

The one thing to keep in mind is the hydrogel pads. They are replaceable rather than permanent, and SereniBrain says they typically last for a few months before adhesion or signal quality starts to deteriorate. That introduces a small ongoing cost, although the upside is better skin contact and a more comfortable fit.

Charging is via USB-C, and battery life is quite decent at over six hours. Given that most sessions are fairly short, that works out to quite a few uses between charges.

Compared with some of the other brain-training headbands I have tested, SereniBrain gets the basics right. It is light, easy to put on and does not feel overly technical, which is what you want from a device you are meant to sit with for 10, 20 or 30 minutes at a time.

Setup and the SereniBrain app

Getting started is also pretty painless. You charge the headband, install the SereniBrain app, create an account and pair it over Bluetooth. I had no problems with the connection during testing, and once the initial setup was done the headband reconnected with zero fuss.

Before each session, the app checks whether the sensors are making proper contact with your skin. If the contact is not good enough, the app shows you which point needs adjusting.

SereniBrain EEG Headband

Real-time EEG brainwave tracking and neurofeedback with no mandatory subscription.

Amazon SereniBrain

The app itself is not complicated. So it does not take long to work out where your sessions, historical data and different training options live. Dig into it more and you’ll find the more detailed data. But the app generally does a good job of keeping the basic experience simple. Which, again, is what I prefer from a wearable.

EEG can very quickly become technical. But SereniBrain manages to give you access to a lot of data without making the whole thing feel like research software. You can use it at a fairly basic level, or dig deeper once you become more familiar with what the different readings mean.

EEG tracking and real-time neurofeedback

EEG tracking is what SereniBrain is all about. During a session, you can either watch the individual brainwave readings change in real time or use a simplified 1 to 100 relaxation score based on that same activity. The higher the score, the more relaxed the app thinks you are. I generally prefer the second option.

As far as the tech goes, SereniBrain uses a single EEG channel, which keeps the setup simple. More expensive consumer headbands such as Muse use multiple channels to pick up activity from several areas of the head, but SereniBrain still gives you a useful look at activity from the frontal area of the brain.

The six different types of brainwave activity you can watch include Delta, Theta, Alpha, SMR, Beta and Gamma. You do not really need to get too hung up on the terminology, but they tend to become more or less active depending on what your brain is doing.

Alpha, for example, is usually stronger when you are relaxed, while Beta is more closely linked with active thinking. Theta tends to show up more during deeper relaxation and drowsiness, Delta during deep sleep, while Gamma sits at the faster end of the spectrum. SMR is a narrower range that is often used in neurofeedback training.

The interesting bit for me was watching the readings respond while I was actually using it. Closing my eyes, concentrating, doing some mental arithmetic or even focusing on different spots on the smartphone screen all produced visible changes in the brainwave activity. I even found myself noticing which part of the screen seemed to have the most calming effect on me.

I would not get too hung up on every little spike, though. Blinking, moving your face or having poor sensor contact can all affect forehead EEG, so some movement in the readings is just noise rather than a meaningful change in brain activity.

There is some proper research behind the hardware as well, although I would not call SereniBrain independently validated. I could not find a study comparing the retail headband directly with a clinical EEG system, but researchers have used iHNNK’s single-channel hardware in various studies. This includes a 2024 motion sickness study, a 2025 attention-training study and a larger 2026 neurofeedback study. 

Meditation and training experience

Once you get past simply watching the EEG data, there are a few different ways to use the headband. There are guided meditation sessions, along with free practice – so you can either follow along with something structured or use SereniBrain more loosely.

I found the meditation side pretty straightforward. You choose a session, make sure the sensors have good contact and then let the app guide you through it. The headband keeps recording in the background, while the app gives you feedback based on how your brain activity changes during the session.

SereniBrain EEG Headband

Real-time EEG brainwave tracking and neurofeedback with no mandatory subscription.

Amazon SereniBrain

There is also a more open-ended mode if you already have your own meditation routine. That is useful because you are not locked into SereniBrain’s content. You can simply use the headband to track what is happening while you meditate in your usual way, which I actually find more interesting than being pushed through a fixed programme.

The neurofeedback adds another layer. Depending on the mode, SereniBrain uses sound or visual cues to reflect what your brain activity is doing. You do not need to keep looking at the screen either, which is obviously the last thing you want during a meditation session.

There are a few different options here, and I have pasted some screenshots below. One uses a campfire, with the flames burning brighter as you become more relaxed. Another shows the ocean and works the other way around. The calmer you are, the gentler the waves become as they hit the shore.

The built-in content is decent, although there is not a huge amount of it compared with some other options on the market. On the other hand, there is no subscription or advertising and constant stream of extra content designed mainly to push you towards a paid tier. What you see is what you get, and I actually quite like that.

You are not limited to SereniBrain’s own content either. Meditation Tracker can keep recording while you use your own meditation audio or simply go about another activity, so the relatively small built-in library never felt like a restriction to me.

Data, reports and CSV export

After each session you get a breakdown of your data. The basic report gives you a quick overview, but you can dig in deeper.

What I found more useful was comparing sessions over time. A single meditation does not tell you much on its own, but after you have built up a bit of history you can start seeing whether certain patterns keep coming back. And you can even turn it into a game by tracking your overall score over time.

SereniBrain EEG Headband

Real-time EEG brainwave tracking and neurofeedback with no mandatory subscription.

Amazon SereniBrain

I also like that SereniBrain lets you export your data rather than keeping everything locked inside the app. You request the export and it is emailed to you, so you can open it on a computer and do whatever you want with it.

And this is not just a basic session summary. The example I exported contains timestamped readings every 4 milliseconds, including the raw EEG voltage along with separate Delta, Theta, Alpha, Beta, Gamma and SMR values. Most people probably will not go anywhere near that level of detail, but if you like digging into your own data or building your own charts and comparisons, there is a lot here to play with.

Overall, the reporting is one of the parts of SereniBrain I liked most. There is enough detail here to keep things interesting after the novelty of watching your brainwaves live has worn off, and the ability to get the data out of the app is a nice bonus.

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SleepScan is the easier one to place

Of the two names, SleepScan is probably the more interesting. Withings already has a long history in this area, and its current under-mattress tracker is still one of the more unusual ways of monitoring sleep without actually wearing anything.

We reviewed the Withings Sleep Analyzer several years ago, and the basic idea remains pretty clever. The thin sensor sits underneath the mattress and automatically tracks sleep stages, heart rate, snoring and breathing while you get on with sleeping.

The naming around that hardware has become a little messy, though. In Europe, Australia and the UK the medical version is sold as Sleep Analyzer, while the US has Withings Sleep and the prescription Sleep Rx product. Withings has also expanded further into sleep services with its newer Sleep Care Solution.

That makes SleepScan an interesting name to register now. It could be intended for a future generation of the under-mattress hardware, a rebranding of the existing range, or something new that builds on the same technology.

The “Scan” part also fits neatly with the rest of the Withings portfolio. The company already uses names such as ScanWatch and Body Scan, so SleepScan would not look remotely out of place sitting alongside them.

And there is certainly room for new hardware. The Sleep Analyzer first arrived back in 2020, which makes it unusually old by connected-health standards even though the basic concept has aged quite well.

NightScan is harder to pin down

NightScan is the more mysterious of the two. The name sounds broader than SleepScan, and it does not necessarily have to describe a dedicated sleep tracker.

One possibility is some sort of overnight health assessment that combines more than traditional sleep staging. Withings already collects heart, breathing and sleep information overnight, and its wider health platform increasingly tries to turn individual measurements into longer-term health signals.

That is speculation at this stage, though. NightScan could just as easily be another potential product name that Withings is protecting, or even an alternative name being considered for the same project as SleepScan.

The fact that both names have appeared together is what makes this worth watching. Companies register plenty of trademarks that never make it onto a retail box, but SleepScan and NightScan are unusually specific names for a company that already sells dedicated sleep hardware.

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Impressive stats

Crippa completed the New York City Marathon in 2:06:14, averaging 2:57 per kilometre along the way. The figure that immediately jumps out is the average heart rate. Maintaining 2:57/km for a full marathon while averaging 151 bpm sounds very restrained, particularly when viewed through the lens of the heart-rate numbers most recreational runners see at much slower speeds.

Of course, 151 bpm does not mean the same thing for everyone. We do not know Crippa’s true maximum heart rate from these graphics, nor do we have his lactate threshold heart rate or his individual training zones. That makes it impossible to turn 151 bpm into a precise percentage of race intensity.

Zepp Health does give us a maximum recorded value of 171 bpm during the marathon. That means his average was around 88% of the highest value recorded during the race, although 171 bpm should not be confused with his actual physiological maximum.

The heart-rate graph is interesting as well. Rather than showing Crippa sitting at one huge number for two hours, it moves considerably throughout the race, with several obvious rises and falls before climbing again later on. Without the underlying data or course markers it is difficult to attach those movements to specific sections of the race, but it gives a much better picture than a simple finishing time.

His cadence is just as impressive

The other number worth looking at is 191 steps per minute. That is Crippa’s average cadence across the marathon.

Put pace and cadence together and the difference between elite marathon running and everyday running becomes easier to visualise. Based on those rounded averages, Crippa was covering roughly 1.8 metres with each step while still turning his legs over more than three times every second.

That does not mean recreational runners should go out and try to force their cadence to 191. Cadence depends on speed, leg length, running mechanics and the individual athlete. Crippa’s number is useful because it shows what happens when a very high turnover is combined with the stride length required to hold sub-three-minute kilometre pace.

If that wasn’t impressive enough, we dug up some stats on a “shakeout” 18km run he did only a few days before the marathon. Average pace 3:53, average heart rate 133 bpm. Insane figures.

So now you know what it takes to finish near the front of a major marathon. The rest of us can go back to feeling pleased about closing our rings.

The post What a 2:06 New York Marathon looks like in heart rate and cadence appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

The Frontier X3 and X2 are much more than standard heart rate chest straps. Their big selling point is ECG-based heart monitoring during exercise, along with metrics such as cardiac strain, breathing rate, HRV and training load.

I’ve reviewed the Frontier X3 and Frontier X2, and spent plenty of time running and training with both. The X3 is easier to live with, especially when it comes to battery life, but the X2 still has a couple of advantages that could matter depending on what you want from it.

Battery life is on another level with the X3

Fourth Frontier rates the X3 for up to four months with around an hour of use per day. The X2 is rated for roughly two weeks. Continuous recording also jumps from 24 hours on the X2 to as much as 14 days on the X3.

The difference was pretty obvious in my own testing as well. With the X2, I found that topping it up every four or five days for around 20 to 30 minutes kept it at 100%. With the X3, I used it heavily for a couple of weeks, including a full night of sleep tracking, and still had more than 90% left.

So while I was already happy with the X2 battery, the X3 changes the relationship you have with the device. I simply don’t think about charging it very often anymore.

There is also the switch from Micro-USB to USB-C. That is nowhere near as important as the battery improvement, but it is one less old cable to keep around.

The X2 is much better if you want the actual ECG

On the X2, I could open a workout afterwards and move through the ECG in 20-second sections. Event markers also appeared on the trace, so it was easy to jump back to a particular moment and see what was happening.

Frontier X3

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View Frontier X3

There is also a live ECG view and a dedicated continuous ECG recording mode. That gave the X2 a layer of detail that most sports chest straps simply do not offer.

The X3 still uses ECG internally for heart rate, HRV and Rhythm Score. What you lose is direct access to the waveform itself, along with the ability to inspect and export it.

That is probably the biggest reason someone might still choose the older model. I did not spend huge amounts of time studying the raw ECG trace, but if that is one of the main reasons you are interested in Fourth Frontier, the X2 gives you more.

The screen has disappeared

Fourth Frontier has kept the same 73 x 24 x 13 mm dimensions, although the X3 weighs 23 grams rather than 25 grams. Visually, though, the main change is that the little X2 display no longer operates on the X3. You just get status LEDs.

Frontier X3

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View Frontier X3

I actually called for this when I reviewed the X2. The screen showed things such as battery life, mode status and a post-workout summary, but its position across your chest made it difficult to use while exercising. Most of the time it was hidden underneath clothing anyway.

So I don’t consider losing it a downgrade. If anything, my only complaint is that Fourth Frontier didn’t take the opportunity to make the X3 smaller once the display was no longer needed.

There are not many other differences once you get past battery life, ECG access, charging and the display. The main one is Bluetooth, with the X3 moving to Bluetooth 6.0 from Bluetooth 5.2 on the X2. In practice, though, that does not change much. Both can stay connected to the Frontier app while broadcasting heart rate to two additional devices. And neither has built-in GPS (only smartphone GPS or from a connected watch) or ANT+.

The post Frontier X3 vs X2: Better battery life, but not better at everything appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.