The iFixit team has published their completed teardown of the Apple Watch Series 7, revealing both large and small changes with the help of three former Apple engineers. The team teases that the Apple Watch Series 7 sports "secrets that only a trained eye can spot," including many subtle tweaks that the teardown team says are "significant" to the overall hardware upgrade.
Samsung is updating the Galaxy Watch 4, with a new software upgrade that adds fresh faces, fall detection, and gesture control to the wearable. Announced back in August, alongside, the Galaxy Z Fold 3, the Galaxy Watch 4 overlays Samsung's own One UI Watch atop Google's Wear OS.
Samsung is adding a new, customized option to one of its most recent foldable phones, with the Galaxy Z Flip 3 Bespoke Edition allowing buyers to mix and match different colors. In total, the company says, there are now 49 possible combinations, ranging from fairly sober to decidedly unusual.
Nostalgia is a very strong emotion and one that can be capitalized on almost too easily. That has been proven by many successful crowdfunded campaigns, as well as hot-selling items like retro consoles in miniature forms. OnePlus is now tapping on that same feeling to sell a new limited edition of its OnePlus Watch. And if this throwback to the earliest days of Harry Potter is any indication, it will really need some of that wizarding magic to sell well.
When smartwatches first came out years ago, they were ridiculed for having to be recharged at least every night. While some battery lives have improved since then, they're still dismal when you consider regular timepieces don't need charging at all. Of course, there is no getting around the need to plug in the smart wearables from time to time, so manufacturers are trying to reduce the time needed for that instead. That's what the Apple Watch 7 is bringing to the table, and Apple is finally revealing what's needed to take advantage of its new fast charge feature.
Apple's products always sell well, regardless of the initial sentiment when they are first announced. The company's September event disappointed some who had hoped to see bigger upgrades on the iPhone 13. The biggest disappointment, however, may have come from expectations over the Apple Watch Series 7 based on leaks and rumors. The official version of the smartwatch may not have exactly been spectacularly different, but this latest real-world photo of the Apple Watch Series 7 reaffirms the upgrade that fans wanted in the first place.
Although it has been on the smartwatch market for quite a while now, Mobvoi's name really peaked last year when it launched what was then the first and only smartwatch that used Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon Wear 4100. Although it dashed hopes that the company would immediately announce Wear OS 3 upgrades for its most recent models, it still might be one of the first on that track next year. To further widen its reach, it is launching the new TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS, which, despite being a mouthful, is confusingly similar to the TicWatch Pro 3.
Google's commitment to Wear OS has been cast into doubt because of the lack of development and improvement before Wear OS 3 was announced last month. It also seemed like Google was snubbing its own wearable platform when something as basic as a YouTube Music app was unavailable on Wear OS while ironically present on Apple's competing watchOS. That finally changed with Wear OS 3, but only for the extremely small number of smartwatches. Thankfully, that has now changed, and YouTube Music is going out to even more and older Wear OS devices.
Last month, we heard of the Withings ScanWatch Horizon, which so far has only been available in Europe. At the time of that writing, there was no indication that the ScanWatch Horizon would launch here in the US, but now Withings has provided an update on that front. The ScanWatch will indeed be launching here in the US following FDA approval of its ECG and SpO2 features.
Polar has been making wearables aimed at fitness fans for many years. The company has revealed a new wearable called the Grit X Pro that is engineered for extreme durability. The watch was built specifically to meet MIL-STD-810G specifications. It's water-resistant up to 100 meters and can survive temperatures from -20 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius.
The Apple Watch arguably dominates the smartwatch market, and Samsung's wearables have become even more prominent now that it has switched to Wear OS. Those, however, aren't the only game in town, even if you consider the handful of brands using Google's smartwatch platform. There are those that have opted to strike their own path, using their own operating system. Amazfit, more closely associated with Xiaomi than Amazon despite the name, is one such brand, and it's adding three more smartwatches to join the already crowded wearable arena.
The Apple Watch Series 7 is up for preorder, and you'd be forgiven for being a little confused - and more than a little impatient - if you're trying to get your order in today. With two sizes, four collections, three case materials, and ten different finishes, it's arguably the toughest decision to make out of everything in Apple's line-up, and that's before you get to bands and straps.