{"id":673543,"date":"2026-01-04T15:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T15:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/673543\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T15:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T15:40:12","slug":"is-your-smartwatch-obsolete-my-top-picks-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/673543\/","title":{"rendered":"Is your smartwatch obsolete? My top picks for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Kim Komando explains why older wearables fail to track vital health data. See her top picks for accurate monitoring and battery life.<\/p>\n<p>I got a new Apple Watch last October. My old one from 2020 had been sitting in a desk drawer for years. I\u2019d stopped wearing it because I found myself obsessively checking my step count, heart rate and every other metric. I wondered if things might be different now that I\u2019m no longer my mom\u2019s caregiver consumed by constant health crises. Maybe I could enjoy wearing one again. And I do.<\/p>\n<p>If your smartwatch is more than 3 years old, it\u2019s basically a fitness tracker with a landline. Batteries degrade. Sensors lose accuracy. And you\u2019re missing out on useful features like fall detection, sleep apnea monitoring and alerts that can detect an irregular heartbeat before you even notice something\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n<p>Here are my smartwatch picks.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3MSrglk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Apple Watch Ultra 3<\/a> ($799). If you want the most accurate GPS and the longest battery life Apple offers, this is it.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The good:<\/strong> The screen is massive and bright, even in sunlight. It has an Action button you can program to start a workout instantly or trigger an emergency SOS. The battery lasts two to three days. And it has fall and crash detection.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The bad:<\/strong> The price. And if you have small wrists, it feels like a small computer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3KY8qbU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Apple Watch Series 11<\/a> (23% off, $329). Solid choice if you want the classic look and have an iPhone.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The good:<\/strong> It detects sleep apnea and warns you that you\u2019re getting sick before you feel a sniffle. Fall detection is standard. It charges fast, 0% to 80% in about 30 minutes. And irregular heart rhythm notifications have caught AFib in people.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The bad:<\/strong> You have to charge it every day.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4bdyytQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Samsung Galaxy Ring<\/a> ($399). This is for you if you want the data but hate the watch.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The good:<\/strong> It\u2019s a ring. No screen, no notifications, no distractions. It tracks your sleep, heart rate and skin temp from your finger. It\u2019s waterproof, and the battery lasts a full week. No monthly subscription fees like <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/49ncY3L\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Oura<\/a> that tracks over 50 health metrics, including sleep, activity, stress, heart health and women\u2019s health.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The bad:<\/strong> No GPS, no fall detection, no emergency features.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YSALDA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Garmin Venu 3<\/a> (22% off, $350). Best for the person who wants a digital coach.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The good:<\/strong> The battery lasts 14 days. That\u2019s longer than most New Year\u2019s resolutions. It tells you whether to work out or take a break. It has fall detection and incident detection for outdoor activities like biking.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The bad:<\/strong> It\u2019s complex to learn.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I wear the Apple Watch Series 11. I didn\u2019t want to drop $799 on the Ultra 3 in case I ended up shoving it back in a drawer like the last one. I might upgrade the next time I\u2019m near an Apple Store. And if I do, I\u2019ll run a little giveaway, maybe you\u2019ll be the lucky winner of my barely used Series 11.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Still wearing an old smartwatch?<\/strong> Hit those links and buy a new one. Know someone who keeps asking if they really need to upgrade or wants to get healthy in the new year? Send this to them, especially because fall detection and accurate health tracking matter.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; margin-top: 2px; margin-bottom: 2px; font-style: italic;\" class=\"affiliateLink\">We may earn a commission from purchases, but our recommendations are always objective.<\/p>\n<p>\n    Tags:  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.komando.com\/tag\/alerts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">alerts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.komando.com\/tag\/apple\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.komando.com\/tag\/features\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">features<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.komando.com\/tag\/matter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">matter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.komando.com\/tag\/tracking\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">tracking<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kim Komando explains why older wearables fail to track vital health data. See her top picks for accurate&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":673544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3160],"tags":[133937,1662,126,1685,14677,53,3316,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-673543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gadgets","8":"tag-alerts","9":"tag-apple","10":"tag-features","11":"tag-gadgets","12":"tag-matter","13":"tag-technology","14":"tag-tracking","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115837588259499735","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=673543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/673543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/673544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=673543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=673543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=673543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}