Big product launches from Garmin and Amazfit have already landed
After a two-year hiatus, IFA is back with a bang in 2022.
The tech trade show is Europe’s biggest, and Team Wareable is on the ground in Berlin to bring you all the wearable tech highlights.
We’ve already seen some big announcements from the likes of Garmin and Amazfit, with plenty more expected before the doors close on the Messe for another year.
Here’s a quick roundup of everything we’ve seen so far.
Garmin Venu Sq 2 promises big battery life
Garmin has received a lot of IFA buzz for its latest smartwatch announcement, the Venu Sq 2.
A follow-up to the original Garmin Venu Sq from 2020, the headline feature here is the astonishing 11-day battery life – or at least the prospect of that, anyway.
Naturally are plenty of the typical Garmin features on board here, such as GPS tracking, 25 sports modes, plenty of health tracking features and Spotify integration.
And while it isn’t as feature-packed as the company’s dedicated multisport and running watches, the Venu Sq 2 is a device – at least on paper – that provides a nice balance between affordability, features and style.
We’ll have our full review live in the coming weeks, but, for now, check out more details on the new Garmin Venu Sq 2.
Huawei Watch D and ECG receive certification
Huawei may not have technically released any new devices at IFA, but that doesn’t mean the company has been sitting this one out entirely.
Far from it, in fact. So far, Huawei has confirmed that the Watch D – launched way back in December in China – and ECG certification has finally received approval for Europe and the UK.
That means we should get the long-awaited launch in October, and we’ve had a hands-on look at the Huawei Watch D to see what all the fuss is about (spoiler: it told us we had high blood pressure).
Interestingly, in another move we’ve been waiting a while for, the company has also used IFA to announce that all Huawei smartwatches will receive Strava integration.
Amazfit releases GTR 4, GTS 4 and GTS 4 Mini
Amazfit has been uncharacteristically quiet in 2022, but that’s changed at IFA; the brand has launched three brand-new smartwatches, the GTR 4, GTS 4 and GTS 4 Mini.
We’ve been hands-on with the trio of new Amazfit smartwatches on the show floor, and the early signs are extremely encouraging.
There appear to be some serious strides in terms of features on offer over the third-gen models released at the end of 2021, with more distinct designs for both men and women also available this time around, too.
We’ll have our full review up after some real-world testing, so stay tuned for that.
Withings Body Comp scale measures nerve health
It wouldn’t be IFA without a smart scale announcement from Withings, with the French health giant’s latest offering – the Body Comp – looking like its most advanced yet.
There are the usual tracked elements, such as muscle mass, fat mass, bone mass and overall weight, but the headline additions with the Body Comp scale are a new Nerve Health Score and the ability to identify visceral fat.
The latter relates to fat hidden around the body’s vital organs, while the Nerve Health Score is designed to help users understand whether they’re at risk of cardiovascular or metabolic disease.
The new tech would appear to provide some serious new health insights, but, interestingly, the company has also announced that it’s introducing a Health+ subscription service, which makes owning one of its scales a much more expensive proposition.
Lenovo debuts wearable USB-C display
A bit of a left-field one from Lenovo here, but we’re semi-intrigued about the Glasses T1 unveiled during its virtual conference at IFA.
Essentially, like the display glasses we’ve seen from Nreal and TCL, these allow the user to wear a private, Full HD OLED display for things like movie watching, gaming or, really, viewing anything from any USB-C-connected device.
The Glasses T1 will be hitting the Chinese market first before a wider rollout in “select markets” in 2023, and no pricing has been confirmed just yet.