As CES 2019 comes to a close, we’ve been busy handing out some awards for the best wearable tech of the show. It’s been another busy Consumer Electronics Show with plenty of innovation on display – and not just from the usual big brands.
Wareable’s CES 2019 Top Picks is a recognition of innovation at the show – from the opinions of our editors on the ground and our team back at the office. And of course we’ll be following up with full reviews in the coming weeks and months.
Withings Move ECG
The big news from CES is that Withings is getting into the ECG game – and the first to integrate the feature into a hybrid smartwatch. The Withings Move ECG hybrid is capable of taking readings that could help detect serious heart conditions such atrial fibrillation, right from the wrist – which puts it into an elite ground of medical consumer wearables which are set to make waves in 2019.
Check out our hands-on with the Withings Move ECG.
Withings Move
Affordable and customizable – that’s the mantra of the new Withings Move – a $69.95 hybrid smartwatch that brings fitness tracking to more people than ever before. But what really impresses is the way Withings offers customers the chance to pick their own style: the Withings Move is so modular that combos can be built in minutes – and users can mix up options online before they buy.
Check out our hands-on with the Withings Move.
Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music
A first for Garmin, the Vivoactive 3 now supports LTE connectivity – thanks to a partnership with Verizon. That means the smartwatch will be able to receive text messages and download music from the likes of Spotify and Deezer without being tethered to your phone. It's also going to put that extra connectivity to good use and turn your watch into a personal safety device, adding incident and assistance detection features.
Willow 2.0
Willow’s first smart breast pump impressed at CES 2017, and the company is back with the Willow 2.0. It works in similar fashion to the first, fitting inside a bra – however, the second generation pump offers several ease-of-use enhancements. The big that covers the breast is now clear so that nipple alignment is easier and there's a peek-through window to quickly check milk flow. Best of all, it's much easier to assemble - if you can connect two Lego bricks you can use this.
HTC Vive Cosmos
HTC’s newest VR headset – the Vive Cosmos – offers inside-out tracking without having to set up sensors around a room, which was a major logistical drawback to the original headset. The HTC Vive Cosmos can be rigged up to a gaming PC but also be powered by other devices to make it feel more like a standalone headset. It's also going to be the first HTC headset to run Vive Reality System, a brand new AltspaceVR-like user interface.
Kate Spade Scallop Smartwatch 2
The Kate Spade Scallop Smartwatch 2 still looks like a beautiful Wear option for women and now adds fitness-centric features like a heart rate monitor, built-in GPS and a swimproof design. It also adds in NFC to unlock Google Pay letting you make payments from the wrist.
Check out our hands-on with the Kate Spade Scallop Smartwatch 2.
Nreal Light
If 2019 is to be the year augmented reality takes off, it could be the Nreal Light that starts things – which is why it gets a coveted Wareable’s CES 2019 Top Picks. Weighing just 85g, the Nreal Light features two cameras can deliver a 1080p resolution display with a 52-degree field of view. It works with any USB-C device so smartphones are part of the mix – and Nreal is hoping to get these mixed reality shades out in the middle of 2019 priced at $1,000.
Matrix PowerWatch 2
If you’re handing out Top Picks how’s a smartwatch with infinite battery life for starters? The PowerWatch 2 adds a colour display, built-in GPS and a heart rate monitor to make the PowerWatch 2 a more attractive proposition than the original. It can be plugged in for extra juice – but the PowerWatch 2 now adds solar to the original's thermal energy gathering to maximise time on the wrist.
L’Oreal My Skin pH sensor
The My Skin Track pH sensor is a stick-on wearable that uses microfluidic technology to measure your skin's pH levels via sweat. It uses that information to help recommend a product that is better attuned to your skin. It's currently in the prototype stage as it continues testing with select dermatologists before rolling out a consumer version that everyone will be able to use.
Halo Sport 2
The Halo Sport 2 has been redesigned with a simpler-to-use new neuropriming layer - that's the bit that's responsible for stimulating your motor cortex. That's supposed to make your brain a little more pliable so that you can learn and remember muscle-memory-based things better. So if you're an athlete, it's stuff like drills, while if you're a musician it's stuff like chords. More importantly, it costs $399, which is $300 cheaper than first headphones – making the technology more accessible than ever before.
Check out our hands-on with the Halo Sport 2.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.