The Stuff Gadget Awards 2025: our health tech of the 12 months

Fitness tech took some appropriately large leaps ahead this 12 months, with wearables getting smarter, extra correct and more and more specialised. The smartwatch panorama advanced significantly, with manufacturers like Google refining the Pixel Watch 4 and Apple pushing its Ultra Watch 3 into much more hardcore territory. Battery life turned a severe battleground too, with a number of producers lastly cracking the code on week-long stamina.

Beyond wristwear, biking devices climbed to new heights of sophistication, with bike computer systems integrating wind sensors and expanded shows to make navigation genuinely easy. Even area of interest sports activities like snowboarding benefited from intelligent improvements, with exterior movement sensors changing cumbersome insole-based techniques.

The line between health tracker and medical system continued to blur, with a number of wearables introducing ECG monitoring and blood stress monitoring that labored with medical accuracy. Meanwhile, manufacturers like Huawei, Amazfit and Polar stored mid-range choices aggressive, guaranteeing no person want spend flagship cash for succesful monitoring.

Let’s check out the 12 months’s greatest and brightest health merchandise.

---

Fitness watch or tracker of the 12 months: Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED

The newest Fenix watch stays Garmin’s most succesful journey instrument – however now elevated by some transformative upgrades. A razor-sharp AMOLED display screen lifts the whole expertise with out sacrificing stamina, whereas the built-in mic and speaker unlock voice-activation and memo instruments beforehand lacking from Garmin’s multisport line-up.

The complete monitoring capabilities cowl the whole lot stat addicts may dream of: adaptive teaching, exercise suggestions, coaching readiness monitoring and round-trip routing. ClimbPro previews route elevations, offline maps deal with navigation and improved dive credentials enable exploration to a depth of 40m.

Premium supplies like sapphire glass and titanium reinforce the Fenix’s rugged credentials throughout all three sizes. GPS and heart-rate accuracy stay dependable, battery life prolonged and smartwatch abilities genuinely top-tier – together with offline Spotify, contactless funds and Garmin Messenger.

It’s powerful, gifted and teeming with coaching necessities – plus a great deal of stuff most individuals won’t ever want. The Fenix has at all times been good, however this era feels even higher.

Highly counseled

Coros Pace Pro

Garmin may dominate the working watch market, however this impressively specced various gives compelling causes to buck the development and look elsewhere. The Pace Pro is Coros’s first foray into AMOLED territory, and its brilliantly legible 1.3in show gives distinctive 1500-nit peak brightness and full-color mapping capabilities. Combined with upgraded processing energy that makes it reply at genuinely spectacular speeds, this creates an expertise to rival significantly pricier rivals.

The actual kicker? At simply 37g with a nylon band (49g with silicone), it’s terribly gentle for what it packs inside. The specs stack up favourably towards Garmin’s Forerunner 965, but the Pace Pro prices roughly half the worth. Battery efficiency matches the bold function set, guaranteeing prolonged coaching periods received’t go away you searching down a charger. For runners searching for premium performance on a mid-range price range, it represents distinctive worth.

Whoop MG

This screenless health band seems like strapping a private clinic to your wrist. Building on the present Whoop components, the MG version introduces medical-grade ECG monitoring and impressively correct each day blood stress estimates; in our assessments, they stayed inside 3mmHg of correct cuff readings. The lack of show initially looks like a limitation, however at simply 27g it turns into straightforward to overlook you’re carrying something in any respect – significantly helpful for round the clock monitoring.

Its restoration scores genuinely aligned with how we really felt every morning, whereas the Optimal Strain suggestions proved eerily correct in predicting exercise capability. The substantial month-to-month subscription stays a tough promote, and automated exercise detection isn’t dependable (significantly for power coaching, which regularly goes unregistered). Yet for these keen to embrace the subscription mannequin and prioritise deep well being insights over comfort, the Whoop MG delivers monitoring sophistication that surpasses “normal” health wearables.

Carv 2

Digital ski teaching as soon as required shoving pressure-sensitive insoles into your boots – awkward for informal skiers and nigh-on unimaginable with rental tools. Carv 2 eliminates that problem with exterior movement sensors that clip securely onto any ski boot, ditching the cumbersome set up hassles whereas sustaining teaching effectiveness by means of algorithmic refinement.

Real-time audio suggestions proffers enhancements on each descent, with elevate rides delivering focused suggestions based mostly in your earlier efficiency. The gamified coaching modes remodel talent growth into one thing really participating, whereas customisable settings allow you to dial teaching depth up or down relying on choice. In our assessments, it improved Ski IQ scores by roughly ten factors throughout simply two days of use.

It’s positively not beginner-friendly – you’ll want stable method first – and the subscription mannequin plus {hardware} funding stays steep for sporadic skiers. But for intermediate skiers searching for inexpensive refinement of their method, this considerably accessible redesign makes real technical enchancment achievable.

Also shortlisted

Huawei Watch Fit 4 Pro, Amazfit Active 2, Polar Vantage M3

---

Fitness gadget of the 12 months: Wahoo Elemnt Ace

Wahoo’s cycle computer systems have at all times prioritised substance over gimmicks, however the Elemnt Ace pushes efficiency monitoring into unprecedented territory. It’s the primary bike pc integrating a wind sensor, calculating air resistance in real-time to disclose precisely how a lot additional effort blustery situations demand and quantifying the aerodynamic benefits of drafting. It’s significantly interesting to aggressive riders, although the excellent function set fits cyclists of every kind.

The expanded 3.8in color show adopts a wider facet ratio to accommodate extra route data concurrently, with vivid navigation cues contrasting fantastically towards detailed maps. Anti-glare coating ensures readability in vivid sunshine, whereas the revamped interface works equally effectively by way of touchscreen or bodily controls. Setup is remarkably simple by way of the companion app, with 64GB storage dealing with a number of nations’ mapping knowledge effortlessly.

Battery efficiency almost reached Wahoo’s claimed 30 hours, comfortably exceeding multi-day tour necessities. Tracking accuracy stays flawless, accent compatibility intensive, and pricing undercuts closest rivals. After testing, reverting to our earlier bike pc felt unthinkable.

Highly counseled

Zwift Ride

Indoor biking coaching used to require both refitting your street bike for tedious turbo periods or investing in generic train gear. The Zwift Ride solves each issues by delivering a purpose-built sensible bike that conjures the texture of outside using while scotching setup stress. Everything arrives able to assemble in beneath an hour – body, built-in Wahoo Kickr Core coach, Play controllers and mounting {hardware} – eradicating the barrier that stored informal cyclists from exploring Zwift’s compelling digital worlds.

Those handlebar-mounted Play controllers deserve explicit reward, seamlessly integrating menu navigation, digital gear adjustments, braking and steering with out awkward keyboard reaches or display screen tapping. The intuitive A-Z sizing system means a number of family members can rapidly modify saddle and handlebar positions. While devoted cyclists may quibble about fastened 170mm cranks, the £1,200 package deal represents higher worth than hoarding separate elements. Our testing confirmed the Ride delivers impressively genuine street bike really feel, making winter coaching significantly extra interesting than braving the icy, moist outside.

Garmin Edge 1050

Aimed at severe riders in want of a giant display screen, Garmin’s latest Edge 10 sequence cycle pc delivers comprehensively. The crisp, clear show serves up copious quantities of data throughout exercise profiles tailor-made for street, indoor, mountain bike, e-bike and gravel riders alike. For us, the quantity of on-screen knowledge simply justifies no matter aerodynamic drawbacks its dimension may impose.

Battery life impresses and navigation proves second to none, whereas efficiency metrics together with projected restoration time and efficiency rating remodel this right into a genuinely grownup coaching companion. The data-rich interface caters completely to cyclists who view numbers as motivation relatively than distraction, providing the excellent monitoring suite that stat-obsessed riders crave.

The dimension received’t go well with everybody; neither will the hefty asking value. But for dedicated cyclists hungry for detailed insights, this very good coaching companion goes a great distance in direction of justifying the funding. Heaven for the data-driven.

Also shortlisted

Theragun Pro Plus Gen 6

---

Smartwatch of the 12 months: OnePlus Watch 3

The OnePlus Watch 3 claims this 12 months’s smartwatch crown, primarily as a result of it’s proof that world-class health monitoring doesn’t imply sacrificing day-to-day usability. While its design might be described as merely utilitarian, what really stands out right here is the stamina: this system delivers a class-leading battery lifetime of over per week with regular use. Daily charging? We don’t know her. But if we did, 100W quick charging will get you from empty to full in beneath an hour.

Powered by the snappy Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chip, the watch supplies a seamless and lag-free expertise on its vivid, sharp 1.43in AMOLED display screen. Crucially for health fans, the Watch 3 gives dependable exercise monitoring with correct GPS, making it a reliable companion for runs and exercises.

With its glorious core efficiency, sturdy monitoring, and the liberty of week-long battery life, the OnePlus Watch 3 is an excellent all-round system that elevates the smartwatch expertise for the mainstream person.

Highly counseled

Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic is a thumping return to kind, mixing traditional aesthetics and cutting-edge tech. The headline function is the triumphant reappearance of the bodily rotating bezel, which supplies probably the most intuitive, satisfying and responsive solution to navigate Samsung’s feature-rich Wear OS 5 ecosystem. Blending a premium, refined look with top-tier tech, that is the “Ultra” equal Android customers have been ready for.

Under the hood, the brand new Exynos W1000 chip ensures a zippy, lag-free expertise that lastly matches its rivals for smoothness. Samsung backs this phenomenal efficiency with a complete suite of superior well being and health options, together with ECG, blood oxygen, pores and skin temperature and physique composition evaluation, plus super-accurate GPS monitoring. The sleep monitoring is among the many greatest within the enterprise.

A potent mix of refined fashion, seamless software program, and highly effective efficiency, securing its spot as arguably the perfect all-round smartwatch for Android customers right this moment.

Apple Watch SE 3

The Apple Watch SE 3 resides proof that top-tier wearable know-how can nonetheless really feel like a real cut price. This third-generation SE is an undisputed worth champion, providing many of the expertise of the flagship Series 11 at a fraction of the associated fee. That makes it the right entry level into the Apple Watch ecosystem.

While it understandably drops a couple of premium sensors (resembling ECG and blood oxygen) to maintain the worth down, the core Apple brilliance stays. That means seamless efficiency, sturdy well being monitoring and the choice for mobile connectivity and staying related throughout exercises.

Despite having a barely darker display screen and fatter bezels than its dearer sibling, the SE 3 feels just like the sensible alternative for the overwhelming majority of customers. It brings flagship options to the lots, cementing its place as probably the most accessible path to the world’s best-loved smartwatch platform.

Also shortlisted

Apple Watch Ultra 3, Google Pixel Watch 4

---