What I'm Wearing: The wearable tech accessories on our wrists right now

These are the bands and watch faces we're really loving this week
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Welcome one and all to a new regular feature that, after many hours of long deliberating (that may be a lie), we are calling What I'm Wearing. If the name doesn't immediately give it away, each week we tell you, well, what we are currently wearing.

But we are not talking about the smartwatches or fitness trackers that currently sit on our wrists. This is about the accessories that are helping to make those wearables feel more unique. Whether that's watch bands, watch faces or anything else to make our Fitbits feel a little less, well, Fitbitty. That's what you can expect to see here.

Essential reading: Our favourite Apple Watch bands

If you have an accessory, app or watch face that you think we are going to love, whether it's for an Apple Watch, a Fitbit, a Garmin or any other wearable, drop us a line at editors@wareable.com and it could end up in a future edition of What I'm Wearing.

Conor is wearing the Southern Straps leather Apple Watch band

When I'm exercising with the Apple Watch, I tend to lean on the black silicon band that comes in the box. But, let's be honest, there are better looks on offer, and having that rubbery texture on your wrist isn't the most comfortable if you're wearing a long-sleeve shirt all day.

What I'm Wearing: The wearable tech accessories on our wrists right now

What I'm Wearing: The wearable tech accessories on our wrists right now

And seeing as though it's a snap to switch out bands with the watch, I've been trying out the black leather band from Southern Straps during work hours and with dressier clothing. I've found it's not as light on the wrist as the leather options from Apple itself, but comfort certainly isn't a problem here. The band comes in three different colour lug options – gold, silver and black – but I think the latter works nicely with the Space Grey casing.

$75, Buy the Southern Straps Black Leather Apple Watch band


Mike is wearing the Alpha watch face on the Garmin Forerunner 935

I'm deep into training for a marathon in April so the Forerunner 935 is pretty much a permanent fixture on my wrist at the moment. Mainly because I'm quite addicted to the Training Status features and seeing my VO2 Max getting a little higher.

What I'm Wearing: The wearable tech accessories on our wrists right now

What I'm Wearing: The wearable tech accessories on our wrists right now

I've also started to explore more of what the Connect IQ app store has to offer and have been trying to find some watch faces that make things feel a little less sporty.

You can pretty much take your pick of data-packed faces, but I wanted something more simple, that kept the information to a minimum. After downloading a few duds, I came across Alpha, which merely pulls in the time, date and battery status. If you want more data, you can add additional custom fields, which you have to pay to unlock.

But it's the simplicity of the face that I appreciate most here. If I want that extra information, I don't have a problem switching between the screens to find it. Sometimes it's nice to just see the time and that's it.

Free, Download Alpha app from Garmin Connect IQ store

Hugh is wearing the FlashRing watch face on the Fitbit Ionic

If you were an early adopter of the Fitbit Ionic, there was a short period of time when your watch face (or Clock Faces, as Fitbit calls them) options were very limited. But since outside developers were allowed on board in early December, there's been an influx of new screen customisations.

What I'm Wearing: The wearable tech accessories on our wrists right now

What I'm Wearing: The wearable tech accessories on our wrists right now

I've been sampling plenty over the past couple of months, but one that's stuck is the FlashRing. It's very similar to the standard Gauges face offered by Fitbit itself, but handily displays your steps, stairs, calories, active minutes and heart rate figures at a glance instead of leaving you having to tap through to see each one. Up top, you have the digital clock, while the day and date sits just below.

Unfortunately there are no options to add more flavour to these two aspects with some customisation, but this is still a detailed, colourful face that manages to pack in all your daily tracking measurements. And it's not overwhelming to look at, either, which can't be said about the majority of stats-heavy faces available for the smartwatch.

Free, Download the FlashRing watch face from the Fitbit Gallery




How we test



Conor Allison

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Conor moved to Wareable Media Group in 2017, initially covering all the latest developments in smartwatches, fitness trackers, and VR. He made a name for himself writing about trying out translation earbuds on a first date and cycling with a wearable airbag, as well as covering the industry’s latest releases.

Following a stint as Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint, Conor returned to Wareable Media Group in 2022 as Editor-at-Large. Conor has become a wearables expert, and helps people get more from their wearable tech, via Wareable's considerable how-to-based guides. 

He has also contributed to British GQ, Wired, Metro, The Independent, and The Mirror. 


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