Wareable Readers’ Choice Awards 2026: Your winners revealed
The votes are in: these are the smartwatches, rings, earbuds, and fitness platforms that won over Wareable’s readers in 2026
For the past few years, Wareable Tech Awards have been shaped only by our editorial team’s picks.
This year, though, we decided it was time to launch something new and give our readers a voice of their own.
After a year full of new launches, smarter health features, AI updates, and tough competition, you voted for the devices, platforms, and innovations that stood out in 2026.
This is not just our list of the year’s biggest names; it is a snapshot of the tech that won over the Wareable audience in the past 12 months.
We’re also giving a nod to the standout honorees who came close, because they deserve a shoutout too.
So, let’s take a look at what you have picked.
Best wearable – Apple Watch Series 12
Even though with every Apple Watch launch we say the next one will not live up to the last, Apple surprises us every year.
Apple Watch Series 12 had the loudest pitch ever—our readers heard it and gave it the best wearable award. We think it’s for a reason.
The rebuilt heart sensor, better iPhone integration, and faster charging make it one of the best Apple Watch updates in years. It’s still the smartwatch to beat for most iPhone users.
We don’t usually tell recent Apple Watch owners to upgrade right away, but this time there’s a real reason to consider it—even if you own the Series 11. Key features like Readiness, Recovery HRV, high-frequency heart rate, and Audio Intelligence aren’t coming to older models.
- Honorees: Oura Ring 5, Garmin Cirqa
Best smartwatch – Apple Watch Series 12
After winning the best wearable award, it’s no surprise that the Apple Watch Series 12 storms the smartwatch category too.
For iPhone users, it’s still the most complete package, with polished software, strong health tracking, and smooth integration that rivals can’t quite match.
- Honorees: Garmin Venu 4, Google Pixel Watch 5
Best wearable brand – Apple
Again, it’s no surprise that Apple won best wearable brand of the year. With lots of new launches, bold health claims, and another strong Apple Watch lineup, the company gave readers plenty to support in 2026.
That’s the key with Apple: whether you choose the Apple Watch Series 12, the older Series 10, or the still-great AirPods Pro 3, you get a consistent experience.
Apple may not win every category, but as a wearable brand, it still leads the way.
- Honorees: Garmin, Oura
Best smart & VR/AR glasses – Even Realities G2
The Even Realities G2 is one of the most convincing smart glasses we tested this year, so it’s easy to see why readers picked it.
Unlike the camera-focused Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2, the G2 takes a more subtle approach, pairing a sharp waveguide display with frames that look like regular eyewear and a design that’s much more privacy-conscious.
Add the growing Even Hub app platform and the clever R1 ring controller, and it stands out as one of the most interesting options right now.
- Honorees: Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3, HTC Vive Eagle
Best fitness tracker – WHOOP 5.0/MG
This was one of the closest categories of the year, with new launches like the Garmin Cirqa and Google Fitbit Air making the fitness tracker race more competitive than ever.
But it looks like it’s still tough to beat WHOOP 5.0/MG. The screen-free tracker stands out for its deep recovery insights, strong strength-training tools, and flexible membership model.
The MG tier also adds extras like ECG and blood pressure insights for those who want a more advanced health platform.
It may not have the category to itself anymore, but our readers still see WHOOP as the old wolf worth backing.
- Honorees: Fitbit Air, Garmin Vivoactive 6
Best wearable innovation – Oura Ring 5
We think that this smart ring was arguably the most important wearable tech launch of 2026 and has fundamentally reshaped the industry’s landscape. Oura Ring 5 feels like a masterclass in wearable engineering.
As we mentioned in our review, when you slide it on your finger, it’s hard to imagine how a smart ring could be any thinner, lighter, or more discreet without losing the space needed for its sensors.
More importantly, it still offers the best screen-free health tracking experience, with software that keeps getting better faster than most rivals.
That’s exactly why it will be tough for future innovations to match.
Best premium smartwatch – Apple Watch Ultra 4
Not only did the Apple Watch Series 12 come out with the loudest pitch ever, but the Ultra 4 did not fall behind.
Last year, we named the Apple Watch Ultra 3 the gold standard for 'the one watch that does everything,' and the Ultra 4 builds on that with even longer battery life, deeper recovery insights and a revamped Health Sensing System.
With up to 50 hours of regular use, better workout endurance, and Apple’s latest Readiness, HRV, and Audio Intelligence features, it’s still the closest thing Apple has to an all-in-one smartwatch for both serious use and everyday wear.
- Honorees: Garmin Fenix 9 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2
Best sports watch – Garmin Fenix 9 Series
There are no awards without Garmin, which always leads in the sports watch category. Our readers clearly felt the same, handing the win to the Garmin Fenix 9 Series after a year in which the brand once again pushed its flagship outdoor line forward.
With a thinner all-titanium design, brighter AMOLED display, better mapping, stronger stamina tools, and inReach connectivity on all Pro sizes, the Fenix 9 Series keeps Garmin at the front of the pack.
And after a strong foundation laid by the previous Fenix generation, this latest version feels like another clear example of Garmin knowing exactly what serious sport-watch users want.
- Honorees: Apple Watch Ultra 4, Coros Pace 4 Pro
Best hearable – Apple AirPods Pro 3
Even though it’s been over a year since the Apple AirPods Pro 3 launched, it’s still the gold standard in hearables.
That’s not just because of Apple’s ecosystem advantage. The strong ANC, hearing health features, heart rate tracking, and smooth daily use still make them the pair to beat.
It is not hard to see why Wareable readers kept them at the top.
- Honorees: Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro
Best specialty sports wearable – Garmin Forerunner 970
And now we have a wearable that was crowned the best running watch last year by the Wareable team and came back in 2026 to take its place as the best specialty sports wearable.
So yes—the specialty that stands out here didn’t change. The Garmin Forerunner 970 remains the watch to beat for serious runners thanks to its unmatched training insights, more durable sapphire display, strong GPS accuracy, and improved battery life.
It’s not cheap, but for runners who want the deepest performance data, our readers still see it as the undisputed champion.
- Honorees: Garmin Enduro 4, Polar Grit X2 Pro
Best smart ring – Oura Ring 5
This year, one award wasn’t enough for Oura Ring 5, so it picked up a second. But to be honest, given that it won the best innovation, this result was hard to argue with—even in a category where the Ultrahuman Ring Pro has emerged as strong competition.
Oura Ring 5 remains the smart ring to beat thanks to its ultra-slim design, refined comfort and software experience that still sets the standard for the rest of the market.
- Honorees: RingConn Gen 3, Luna Ring Gen 2
Best mobility wearable – Dnsys X1
We did not expect this category to swing away from Hypershell so quickly, especially after the strong impression the brand made last year and the arrival of the newer X Ultra S this year.
But our readers gave the crown to the Dnsys X1 instead. It is easy to see some of the appeal: the X1 is lightweight, powerful and highly adjustable, with a simple app and a design that folds neatly into a handy carry case.
However, it is not without flaws. Battery life is a clear weak point, and it can be noisy on the trail, but readers may have been drawn to the fact that it still feels like a serious attempt to make consumer exoskeletons more accessible.
- Honorees: Hypershell X Ultra S, WIRobotics WIM
Best platform or app – WHOOP app
Over the years, the WHOOP app has grown from a simple companion into one of the most complete health and fitness platforms in wearables.
With WHOOP 5.0, it became faster, easier to use, and much more helpful day-to-day, with a new layout, better recovery and strain insights, stress monitoring, Healthspan features, and more personalized long-term health guidance.
And if you are thinking about starting with WHOOP 5.0, which we still think is one of the best wearables for weightlifting, our guide to WHOOP app tips and tricks is a good place to start.
- Honorees: Garmin Connect, Fitbit Google Health with Gemini Coach
Best health monitoring wearable – Apple Watch Series 12
When Apple unveiled its claim that the Series 12 will offer the most accurate heart rate sensing in wearables, it definitely caught people’s attention. And now it even makes more sense that readers picked it as the best health monitoring wearable.
Apple supported that claim with a redesigned Health Sensing System, better optical and electrical heart sensors, more frequent heart rate and HRV sampling, and a comparative study against rival wearables using the Polar H10 chest strap as a reference.
The Series 12 also goes beyond heart rate, adding Readiness, Recovery HRV, and Daytime Vitals, while still offering Apple’s broader health suite with ECG, sleep apnea alerts, hypertension notifications, and cycle tracking.
Put together, it’s easy to see why people trust it so much.
- Honorees: Huawei Watch D3, Hilo Band
Best sleep monitoring tech – Eight Sleep Pod 6
Over the years, we have tested many devices made to track or improve sleep, but this result is a clear sign from readers that we should give the Eight Sleep Pod 6 a proper test.
It is not hard to see the appeal. Eight Sleep presents the Pod 6 as more than just a sleep tracker.
It offers automatic temperature adjustment during the night, health and sleep tracking, snore detection, and built-in vibration and thermal alarms to wake you more gently.
This mix of comfort technology and sleep data is likely why readers chose it as the top sleep monitoring pick of the year.
- Honorees: Apple Watch Ultra 4, Pixel Watch 5
