AI is the big buzzword in health tech at CES 2025. Everywhere you look, there are AI algorithms, AI health recommendations, and AI chatbots. The thing is, AI’s got a reputation for making things up — and when it comes to health, the stakes for accuracy and privacy are high.

That’s why smart ring maker Movano wants to make one thing abundantly clear about its new chatbot, EvieAI: this one has been post-trained exclusively on peer-reviewed medical journals.

EvieAI was designed to be a more accurate alternative to something like ChatGPT. The difference is, unlike ChatGPT and other similar generative AI assistants, EvieAI theoretically won’t be pulling from vast repositories of public data where health and wellness misinformation runs rife. According to Movano CEO John Mastrototaro, it’s been trained on and will be constrained to over 100,000 medical journals written by medical professionals.

All the data the LLM has access to comes from accredited sources that have been referred to by a medical advisory board, Mastrototaro says. That includes FDA-approved journals, practices, and procedures. EvieAI is a bounded LLM, which means it will only speak to data from the “post-training” phase after it’s been initially created. In this case, that means medical data. The data is then cross-referenced with organizations like the Mayo Clinic, Harvard, and UCLA. The LLM does this by referencing this outside data before answering and making sure there isn’t a conflict.

The result, according to Movano, is 99 percent accuracy, though we weren’t able to test EvieAI for ourselves before CES. The company says this is possible because anytime you query EvieAI, the LLM is tracking to see if the information given in the conversation is consistent and accurate compared to the data it’s been trained on.

Achieving that level of accuracy is a tall order and a bold claim. Most chatbots don’t make reliably accurate statements, and some specifically steer clear of health and medicine precisely because the stakes are so high. When I ask about AI’s tendency to hallucinate, however, I’m firmly told that Movano isn’t afraid for EvieAI to tell users it doesn’t have an answer.

“If you ask it ‘What do you think about the election?’, it’s not going to respond,” says Mastrototaro. “It’s not going to tell you because it doesn’t have any information about that.”

“I think that it’s okay to say no if you don’t know the answer to something,” he adds. “And I think sometimes, with the other tools out there, they’re gonna answer one way or another, whether it’s right or wrong. We’re just only gonna give an answer if it’s right.”

EvieAI is meant to be a conversational resource that gives clear and concise answers to health and wellness questions, with an emphasis on women’s health (much like the company’s Evie Ring).

Even so, health, wellness, and medicine are an ever-shifting landscape. Even peer-reviewed studies can present contradictory findings. Doctors don’t always agree on emerging science. By and large, health tech has also steered clear of anything that could be considered diagnostic or medical advice — something that would require FDA oversight.

Image: Movano

To that end, Mastrototaro says the LLM is updated monthly with new approved documents such as medical journals and articles detailing breakthroughs. He also emphasizes that EvieAI is steering clear of anything diagnostic. The AI will not get into treatment but act more as a guide that asks clarifying questions to steer you in the right direction. For example, if you suspect that you might have diabetes, it may ask clarifying questions about whether you have experienced low vision or weight gain as well as inquire about your diet. But if you tell it you’ve chopped your finger off, or express that you’re experiencing suicidal ideation, it’ll direct you to the ER or to the number to call an appropriate hotline. The hope is that EvieAI can help people better research and prepare for a doctor’s visit in a way that’s more natural and supportive than, say, falling down a WebMD rabbit hole.

As for privacy, Movano says EvieAI will follow industry-standard encryption standards in storage and transmission and that any chats can’t be traced back to individuals. Mastrototaro also says conversation data will be periodically deleted and won’t be used for targeted ads, either.

It can be easy to roll one’s eyes at promises of privacy and accuracy in health tech. Movano has thus far shown a dogged dedication to adhering to medical industry best practices and standards. It recently gained FDA clearance for its EvieMED ring, an enterprise version of its ring aimed at remote patient monitoring and clinical trials. Movano also recently relaunched the consumer version of its Evie Ring to better address initial feedback from customers, like improved sleep and heart rate accuracy.

In the future, Movano hopes to eventually further incorporate individual health data collected by its smart rings. But for now, a beta version will roll out starting on January 8th to existing Evie Ring users within the Evie app at no extra cost.

Nanoleaf is best known for its colorful smart home lighting. But at CES 2025, it’s expanding into new territory: beauty tech. Specifically, a $149.99 LED face mask.

The Nanoleaf LED Light Therapy Face Mask is made of medical-grade materials and has received FDA Class II device certification. (This doesn’t mean the FDA has given Nanoleaf’s mask a stamp of approval; it just means this is a moderate-risk device that meets FDA safety standards.) It has seven different modes for specific concerns, based on color. Those include white, red, blue, purple, yellow, cyan, and green.

Image: Nanoleaf

This isn’t anything we haven’t seen before. These types of at-home masks are massively popular among skincare enthusiasts to address a range of issues like acne, fine lines, and uneven skin tone, as well as boost collagen production. LED light therapy is also a treatment offered by dermatologists and estheticians.

That said, you should keep in mind there’s a definite difference between the light therapy you get at the dermatologist and at-home gadgets like this. The ones used by medical professionals are usually stronger. Plus, while red, blue, and near-infrared light therapy has been cleared by the FDA, other colors haven’t. In this case, the Nanoleaf mask’s Class II certification is more of a sign that the company has put in the effort to ensure a degree of safety.

In any case, when you think about it, it makes sense that Nanoleaf might be interested in this market. After all, what’s an LED Light therapy mask but a smart bulb by another name?

The LED Light Therapy Face Mask is available now for preorders.

When it comes to reproductive health tech, wearable makers tend to focus on one of two things: period tracking and fertility windows. But at CES 2025, health startup identifyHer wants to shake up that narrative with Peri, a wearable designed to help people track and manage perimenopause symptoms.

Perimenopause refers to the transitional period before menopause when the ovaries gradually stop working. Hormones like estrogen and progesterone begin to decrease, which, in turn, can lead to mood changes, irregular periods, hot flashes, and night sweats. Perimenopause symptoms can vary widely from person to person and last four to eight years on average — though it can be as short as a few months or as long as a decade.

Peri’s press release notes that the device will provide “objective data on perimenopausal symptoms, lifestyle, and sleep, as well as actionable insights and encouragement to better understand the changes their bodies are undergoing.” In official pictures, the device itself appears to be pill-shaped and adheres to a person’s torso as opposed to their wrist or finger, like most other health trackers.

“We will keep the specific sensors confidential until we open pre-orders,” says Peri cofounder Heidi Davis, though Davis acknowledges that none of the sensors in the device are new or proprietary. “Our breakthrough lies in the digital fingerprints we have identified through three years of R&D, collecting sensor data from women experiencing perimenopause.”

Davis says those “fingerprints” were then used to develop algorithms that provide continuous data on hot flashes, night sweats, and anxiety in perimenopausal women. One surprising finding, Davis says, is that body temperature isn’t a reliable indicator of hot flashes. Extra effort was also put in to ensure the algorithms weren’t swayed by things like exercise or warm weather, which could affect heart rate, sweating, or increase body temperature.

Image: Peri, identifyHer

Davis says identifyHer also intentionally decided to forgo a limb-based tracker.

“During the early stages of development, we tested our sensors on the limbs but found that we could not identify the digital fingerprints for some of the typical symptoms of perimenopause,” Davis explains, noting that the torso delivers the most accurate readings and is where hot flashes and night sweats are strongest.

As promising as this all sounds, none of Peri’s tech is proven just yet. We’ll have to see how Peri fares when it launches, which is expected to be in mid-2025. That said, its mission to bring further clarity to women’s reproductive health — a historically understudied area — is one wearable makers and researchers alike have widely pursued in recent years. Oura, for instance, has conducted its own study on pregnancy prediction, while Apple also launched its own long-term, large-scale Women’s Health Study using the Apple Watch. It’s just finally nice to see some traction on a less-studied stage of reproductive health.

CES 2025 is officially underway, and the adrenaline of a day of running around Las Vegas is fading fast. Yet I cannot fall asleep. Probably because I’ve been replaying the same three product teaser videos over and over and over. One opens with the familiar frenetic strains of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons violin concerto, panning to a CGI desert, where grains of sand blow in undulating wisps. The words “Rare by Ultrahuman” emerge on a stark black background. Then, from the depths of a CGI dune, emerges a smart ring.

The other two videos are carbon copies, except in one, the desert is a golden pink. In the other, a wintry silver.

I check the press release. The rings range from £1500 to £1800. I immediately pull up Google. That’s roughly $1,900 to $2,200. I rack my brain. The most expensive smart ring I can remember is Oura’s collaboration with Gucci, which I described in my writeup as an eye-watering $950. I double-check that my tired brain hasn’t goofed the conversion. It hasn’t. My eye twitches.

Rare, the Ultrahuman press release says, is meant to be a luxury smart ring. It will come in three colors: desert rose, dune, and desert snow. Or, you know, rose gold, gold, and silver. They are apparently thusly named because the collection “captures the essence of nature’s most captivating phenomena. From the intricate fluid elegance of wind-sculpted dunes, each piece embodies the harmonious blend of beauty and resilience found in these arid landscapes.”

The desert rose and dune rings are made of 18-karat gold “sourced from London Bullion Market Association.” These will cost $1,900. Meanwhile, the desert snow ring is “meticulously crafted from pt950 platinum, a metal of exceptional purity and prestige.” It will cost $2,200. While I think of how that’s around my monthly mortgage payment, I read more purple prose about the symbolism of harmony between nature and technology, the wind’s gentle caress of a dune, and the rarity of snow blanketing the desert.

I squint at the press renders of these rings. They look like ordinary smart rings.

Spec-wise, Rare is the same as the Ultrahuman Ring Air. The Ultrahuman Ring Air is a great smart ring and came this close to beating the Oura Ring in my smart ring battle royale last year. That ring costs $350 — a standard, reasonable price for a smart ring. The Rare series is roughly five to six times that price. According to Ultrahuman, this is the price of the artisanal craftsmanship and complex engineering — and a lifetime membership to UltrahumanX, the smart ring maker’s extended warranty subscription. You also get access to all of Ultrahuman’s PowerPlugs, features that you buy a la carte on Ultrahuman’s platform such as period tracking, vitamin D tracking, and smart alarms. That includes any future PowerPlugs. Is that worth $1,900 to $2,200?

I go back to my inbox and reread the FAQ Ultrahuman sent me for the billionth time. Under the question, “Is there demand for this” and “who is the target buyer?” there’s an impassioned plea. People have been using the Ultrahuman Ring Air — which I vehemently maintain is a great smart ring — for engagements and gifts for loved ones. Rare, the FAQ says, is a natural evolution toward jewelry becoming smart like everything else. The ideal buyer? “Rare speaks to those who seek exclusivity and purpose in the choices they make.”

The more I read, the more this feels like a fever-dream pitch from Jony Ive, because it’s the same doomed approach Apple took for its Watch Edition.

I don’t know what time is anymore, but I look at the Oura Ring 4 in brushed silver on my finger. Then I look at the desert snow ring render on my laptop screen. My eyes dart back and forth several times. Hm. Hmm.

Image: Ultrahuman

At some point, I don’t know when, I realize I have become The Verge’s very own Gollum. I am sleep-deprived, dark circles forming under my eyes. My reflection in the hotel mirror as I grab some water scares me. But I can think of nothing else. We must see our precious $2,000 smart rings in person. Yes. We wants it. We must seek it on the show floor because Rare will only launch in London and Paris at “select premium retail locations” to start. Yes, we must see this, we must feel it on our finger if only to answer the one burning question: what would make a $2,000 smart ring worth it?

I wanted to love Shokz’s OpenFit 2, the company’s latest open-ear wireless earbuds debuting here at CES 2025. While Shokz made several improvements to the overall design and function, the sound can still be a tad hollow.

I tried the OpenFit Air a few months back, and they ticked off almost everything I was looking for in a pair of open-ear running buds. While not perfect, bass was decent. Volume could also be quite challenging in certain environments — again, something understandable for open-ear design. The problem was the ear hook design didn’t fit well if I wore my eyeglasses. (That, and the touch controls were finicky to use.)

Shokz sent me a pair of the $179.95 OpenFit 2 ahead of CES. Based on the updates, I was very hopeful. For starters, Shokz added an extra speaker to each bud for a total of two: one dedicated to bass, the other for mids and highs. It’s an approach that worked fantastically well with the OpenRun Pro 2 bone conduction headphones that include an air conduction speaker to improve the bass. (My colleague David Pierce and I are diehard OpenRun Pro 2 converts.) Volume has been slightly improved. The ear hook design has also been tweaked so the curved portion over the top of the ear is thinner. Physical buttons were added to each bud for simpler controls. Battery life also improved to 11 hours, up from the seven hours on the original OpenFit and the OpenFit Air’s six hours. There are also four EQ presets!

And in my testing, I immediately noticed many of these improvements. It’s still not ideal, but the thinner ear hook is easier to use with my glasses on days when I don’t want to wear contact lenses. Loud highways and super noisy environments were still challenging but outperformed the OpenFit Air. While getting these hands-on pics, the bustle of the Vegas Strip didn’t drown out my music or prevent me from hearing my colleague Antonio G. Di Benedetto’s photo cues. I got about 10–11 hours on a single charge. When I wanted to pause or skip tracks, the physical buttons were easier to use (though my butterfingers still occasionally struggled, especially when wearing press-on nails.)

Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Unfortunately, I also couldn’t help but notice the sound quality. While better than the Air, it wasn’t quite as good as I’d hoped. On “Unfair” by Stray Kids, what should be rumbly baritone vocals sound muddy. Vocals, in general, can sometimes sound distant even with the vocal EQ. At higher volumes, bass-heavy songs occasionally sounded distorted. My issues were most apparent when I was running outdoors. However, if you’re listening to a podcast or in a relatively quiet room at a lower volume, it’s much less noticeable.

All of this is somewhat expected from open-ear buds. It’s more that the effect of having dedicated speakers for bass versus treble and mids wasn’t as impressive as the OpenRun Pro 2. When I first tried the latter, my jaw dropped and I said, “Oh.” With these, it’s more of an appreciative nod. This might be because the OpenFit 2 are traditional headphones using air conduction. The OpenRun Pro 2 use air conduction for bass and bone conduction for treble and mids.

Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Whether the sound quality is a deal-breaker depends on how you intend to use these buds. I mostly use open-ear buds for running and found myself wanting to reach for the OpenRun Pro 2 instead. But while puttering around the house or strength training, the lack of a wraparound neckband makes these infinitely more comfortable, especially for exercises like chest presses or leaning back in my chair.

The OpenFit 2 are available starting today for $179.95 in black and beige.

Amazfit may not be a household name, but it’s been crushing it in the budget smartwatch space for a long time. And at CES 2025, the company is trying to outdo itself with the $99 Amazfit Active 2.

I was a big fan of the company’s GTR 4 watch — it wasn’t a looker, but it packed in an incredible amount of value for $200. I liked it so much that it’s sat comfortably as the top overall pick in our fitness tracker buying guide for two years. Compared to that watch, the Active 2 has even more functionality for half that price.

It’s got a bright 2,000 nit OLED display, upgraded health sensors, revamped heart rate and sleep algorithms, and the Zepp Flow AI assistant. There’s also a smarter strength training mode that can auto-detect sets, reps, and rest, offline maps with turn-by-turn directions, and personalized training plans via the Zepp Coach integration. For people with periods, there’s also a mini app in collaboration with Wild.AI, which delivers diet and exercise recommendations based on hormonal and menstrual cycles throughout a person’s life (i.e., reproductive years, perimenopause, and menopause). The watch also works in tandem with the company’s recently launched Helio smart ring, similar to how the Samsung Galaxy Ring optimizes sensor accuracy with its Galaxy Watches. European users will also get contactless payments via Zepp Pay, a feature that was notably missing from the GTR 4.

You almost never find this kind of feature set for under $250. It’s bonkers that you can get it for $100.

Amazfit’s Active line, which launched last year, effectively replaces its popular GTR lineup (though you can still easily find GTR 4 models online). Style-wise, you can see that in how the Active 2 switches from the original Active’s square, Apple Watch-esque design to a more classic 44mm round watchface. The standard model comes with a tempered glass screen, stainless steel case, and a 20mm silicone sport band. The premium model costs $129 and upgrades the screen to a more durable sapphire glass and includes an additional leather strap. Compared to the Active, the Active 2 also adds more advanced hardware like a barometer, a gyroscope, and an ambient light sensor. Battery life isn’t quite as good, dropping to 10 days with normal use compared to 14 days. (That said, 10 days is still impressive compared to the competition.)

On paper, the Active 2 feels like it ought to have some kind of catch. However, I’ve been wearing the premium Active 2 for the last few days, and it’s quite nice. So far, performance has been zippy, it’s lightweight on the wrist, and I’ve already gotten several compliments from coworkers. Sometimes budget devices can look chintzy, and while no one would mistake the Active 2 for a luxury watch, it doesn’t look or feel as cheap as a $100–$150 smartwatch could. I’m still testing out the health and fitness features, but so far, it’s held up well on a handful of treadmill runs, and in the last three days, I’ve only used about 25 percent battery. I wish the touchscreen were a bit more responsive, but it’s nothing too egregious thus far. It’s too early for me to make a definitive call on the Active 2, but so far, it’s looking like it could be a compelling option for folks who want a simpler smartwatch without breaking the bank.

The Active 2 is available for preorder in the US now and will launch globally in February.

L’Oréal is hoping its latest beauty gadget can demystify skincare. At CES 2025, the company announced Cell BioPrint, a device that’s designed to analyze your skin and give personalized advice on how to slow down signs of aging.

The device is the result of a partnership with NanoEntek — a Korean startup that specializes in chips that can read biofluids. A person essentially takes a facial tape strip, sticks it on their cheek, and then puts the strip in a buffer solution. That solution is then inserted into a cartridge for the Cell BioPrint to analyze. Once that sample is processed, the device takes images of your face as you answer a few short questions about skin concerns and aging.

From there, L’Oreal says it uses proteomics, or the analysis of protein structure and function from a biological sample. In this case, the Cell BioPrint is designed to determine how well your skin is aging. It’ll then give personalized advice on how to improve your skin’s appearance, as well as predictions of how responsive your skin may be to certain skincare ingredients.

It’s an attractive claim, but as with most beauty tech, it’s difficult to properly evaluate L’Oréal’s methods without peer-reviewed studies or experts weighing in. L’Oréal also claims the device can help predict future cosmetic issues before they manifest. For example, it may be able to determine if your skin is prone to hyperpigmentation or enlarged pores.

Image: L’Oréal

Skincare became massively popular during covid-19 lockdowns, sparking a shift in beauty trends toward self-care and the rise of “skinfluencers.” On the flip side, that virality has since turned skincare buying into an extreme sport. Hop onto TikTok, and you’ll find dozens of skinfluencers egging you into dropping $80 on a vial of vitamin C serum, debating the moisturizing properties of glycerin versus hyaluronic acid, or wagging a finger about this or that retinol cream. (Some, may even convince you to buy a wand that zaps your face to increase the efficacy of said ingredients.) It’s confusing, expensive, and maddeningly, what works for one person may not for another. The most the average consumer can do is cross their fingers and hope that the latest potion they bought will actually work.

The Cell BioPrint’s appeal is it claims to use science to cut through that noise. Maybe every skinfluencer says you need to start using retinol when you turn 30, but this device will purportedly tell you based on your own biology whether retinol will actually work for you. Personalization has always been a major theme with CES beauty tech, but it’s particularly compelling with skincare, which is highly dependent on your individual biology. But again, right now there’s no way to know how reliable the Cell BioPrint’s science and recommendations are.

L’Oréal says the Cell BioPrint will be easy to use, with the process taking only five minutes. It also says people will be able to repeat tests, enabling them to monitor changes and progress over time. That said, it might be a while before something like Cell BioPrint is available for consumers. L’Oréal says the device will first be piloted in Asia later this year but otherwise didn’t have a concrete launch timeline or price.

If you’re health-conscious, chances are your feed for the past year has been flooded with influencers evangelizing hormone balancing as a hack for easy weight loss, lowering stress levels, and even reversing symptoms of hormonal conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). So it’s not at all surprising to see Eli Health announce Hormometer, an at-home hormone-testing system that uses your spit and your smartphone’s camera to measure hormone levels.

Like many at-home tests, Hormometer requires you to take a sample of bodily fluid. In this case, it’s saliva. It consists of a thin cartridge that you stick in your mouth for 60 seconds. It looks similar to a pregnancy test, with a window where you can view results. Once collected, the Eli app uses your phone’s camera to assess the test’s results based on criteria like color intensity and sample patterns. Depending on the test and results, Eli Health says the app will then provide personalized trends and recommendations related to stress, sleep, athletic performance, and fertility.

To start, Eli Health says it’s offering two types of hormone tests: cortisol and progesterone. Cortisol is commonly known as the stress hormone and plays a critical role in regulating fight or flight response, blood pressure, blood sugar, metabolism, and sleep cycles. Long-term imbalances, both high and low, are often linked with negative health outcomes including Cushing’s syndrome, unintentional weight gain / loss, fatigue, Type 2 diabetes, and abnormal blood pressure. Meanwhile, progesterone is a reproductive hormone. Abnormal levels can result in irregular periods, fertility problems, and depression.

Image: Eli Health

Eli Health’s tests are a reflection of recent health and wellness trends. Connected at-home testing kits, for example, saw a rise in popularity at the height of the covid-19 pandemic. Though expensive, smart over-the-counter PCR tests like Cue Health became a major part of some tech companies’ return-to-office plans, thanks to their convenience and accuracy.

Similarly, a big part of Hormometer’s appeal is its portability and accessibility. Traditionally, hormone tests have to be sent to a lab and are often taken at a doctor’s office. That can take several days or weeks. They can also be messy if they’re urine-based or invasive if blood-based. The advantage of this type of test is it doesn’t require another party and can turn around results more quickly. As far as cost, Eli Health says Hormometer will come with a subscription plan, starting at $8 monthly with a 12-month commitment. That’s competitive with other at-home hormone tests, which can range from roughly $30 to $250 and require people to mail in samples.

Meanwhile, balancing hormone levels, particularly cortisol, has become a viral wellness trend. Tips to fix “cortisol face,” for example, ran rampant on TikTok throughout 2024. However, experts have decried hormone balancing as both misleading and potentially harmful — hormones can’t truly be balanced, as they’re dynamic and naturally ebb and flow throughout the day. That said, these tests could help people with official diagnoses of chronic hormonal or reproductive health issues monitor their conditions.

A lot of that will depend on accuracy. According to Eli Health, the Hormometer is FDA registered. To be clear, this is different than clearance or approval. It doesn’t mean the FDA has reviewed or cosigned Eli Health’s claims. That said, the company claims that its cortisol and progesterone tests had a 97 percent and 94 percent agreement with gold-standard, FDA-approved lab tests in third-party testing, respectively.

Eli Health says Hormometer will begin beta access this month in the US and Canada. A full release is expected later this year. And while Hormometer is currently limited to cortisol and progesterone, the company says it’s already developing testosterone and estradiol tests for the future.

Withings is back at CES with another futuristic health tech concept called Omnia. It’s a smart mirror that can measure and display your health metrics, offer feedback from an AI voice assistant, and then potentially set you up for a telehealth consultation with a doctor.

In a nutshell, Omnia has a base that can measure weight, heart health, and metabolic health. It can also pull in data collected from other trackers like smartwatches, blood pressure monitors, or even a smart bed. Withings says the built-in AI voice assistant will offer real-time feedback and could potentially give motivational pep talks or guidance. In addition to virtual consultations, the company says the mirror could also send data to doctors for review.

Image: Withings

The most interesting thing about the Omnia concept is how it rolls up a bunch of existing health tech trends into a single package. Connected smart mirrors capable of displaying information, making video calls, and playing sound are not new — all of those components existed in Lululemon’s ill-fated Mirror and other copycats. Likewise, smart scales that can measure heart rate, take EKGs, and discern body composition have been around for ages. Meanwhile, AI chatbots embedded in existing health tech was an emerging trend in 2024 — and something well-known players like Oura, Whoop, and Fitbit are tinkering around with.

More cynically, you could see this as an ecosystem play — a proof of concept for what a single person could do if they went all in on Withings’ myriad gadgets. After all, Withings makes plenty of smartwatches, smart scales, connected blood pressure cuffs, smart thermometers, and even a noninvasive sleep tracker that you stick under a mattress. It’s shown up at CES in the past with an at-home urinalysis gadget that you stick in your toilet and scales that can analyze nerve health from your foot. It’s also incorporated elements of telemedicine in past launches. Its original FDA-cleared ScanWatch had cardiologists review EKG results.

Omnia isn’t an actual product for sale yet. Withings says it’s “currently in development,” with no concrete timeline for when it’ll actually be available or for how much. Given the company’s track record with bringing CES launches to market, there’s a good chance it’ll be a lengthy wait before Omnia reaches consumers — if it ever does.

Withings will give demos at CES 2025, which may help gauge whether Omnia is the real deal or more CES health tech vaporware. But even if Omnia never amounts to anything beyond a concept, it’s an indication of where health tech is marching.

I was not at all impressed with the Circular Ring Slim. It wasn’t accurate, it felt like it was made of 3D-printed plastic, syncing took forever, battery life wasn’t great, and honestly, we’d be here all day if I listed everything that went wrong during testing. But for CES 2025, the company behind the ring says it’s here to redeem itself with the $380 Circular Ring 2.

“We had some issues, obviously, with the previous ring,” says Amaury Kosman, cofounder and CEO of Circular. “Mostly electronic, but more than that, we wanted to rebrand the company around two main points. One being accuracy, and the other being a more luxurious, quality-built product.”

That’s immediately apparent looking at the Circular Ring 2’s design and specs. For starters, it’s no longer plastic. The Ring 2 is now made from titanium in four finishes: gold, silver, rose gold, and black. It also sports an upgraded EKG sensor that allows for FDA-cleared atrial fibrillation detection — a first for this category. Beyond that, the new ring has additional photoplethysmography (PPG) sensors for more precise readings. Kosman says the upgraded sensor array translates to much more accurate health tracking compared to the Slim. (It’s a good thing, too; the Slim was sometimes off by 5,000 steps in my testing.)

“We also took into consideration everything we’ve learned from what was told to us [by customers]. The biggest things were connectivity issues, battery life, and at the beginning, the ring wasn’t entirely waterproof. The Slim tried to correct some of that, but obviously we weren’t doing it perfectly,” Kosman says, noting that these issues have also been improved in the new ring.

As mentioned, syncing was an absolute chore with the Slim — so much so, I often just gave up on engaging with the device. Now, Kosman says, the Circular Ring 2 should have no problems with background syncing. He also assures me that battery life has doubled. In performance mode (where all the tracking features are turned on), users ought to get around four days. In a battery-saving mode, the ring gets up to eight days. Also, instead of a tiny, easily lost USB charger, Circular has switched to a charging dock.

Circular’s AI chatbot Kira has also been revamped. Previously, it took 14 days to calibrate, took forever to generate dubious advice, and overall was cumbersome to use. With the Ring 2, Kosman says that it’ll only take about four days to calibrate and the overall experience will be smoother. Recommendations should also be more accurate and complex thanks to improvements to the algorithm and sensors.

Another neat update is that Circular will add digital sizing. Kosman says the company’s website will let customers use their smartphone camera to compare the size of their hand to a card-sized object. From there, Kosman says the company will be able to calculate which size ring a person needs for each finger. Smart ring sizing is a huge pain point for the category, and most companies require customers to order a physical sizing kit before they can actually buy the product.

Image: Circular

On paper, it seems like Circular has taken the laundry list of issues with the Slim and ticked them off one by one. To do that, though, some sacrifices had to be made. One of the Slim’s unique features was a built-in haptic motor that worked as a silent alarm. In the future, Circular had promised that the motor could also alert you to notifications. Unfortunately, Kosman says the haptic motor had to go to accommodate better health sensors.

That said, Kosman isn’t giving up on the idea of haptics in smart rings entirely. The goal is to have two product lines — the Circular Ring 2, a more health-focused ring in line with what’s currently available on the market, and an upcoming revamp to the existing haptics-capable Circular Ring Slim.

The Circular Ring 2 will be priced at $380 and is expected to launch in February or March of 2025. We’ll have to see (and test) for ourselves whether Circular can deliver on all these improvements. It’s certainly a tall order considering that there’s increasing competition in the smart ring space. But if it can, that’d be one hell of a redemption arc.

Sleep tech is more than tracking. Here are the best gadgets I’ve tested that help you fall asleep, stay asleep, or wake up earlier.

Read the full story at The Verge.

Apple Fitness Plus is getting a fresh makeover in the Strava app. The two companies just announced they’re collaborating to revamp how Fitness Plus integrates with the popular fitness community, which includes more detailed workout summaries, Strava athletes appearing in Fitness Plus content, and a free three-month trial to the service for Strava subscribers.

Starting today, you’ll be able to see a thumbnail of the Fitness Plus workout and information like episode number, music genre, trainer, metrics, and achievements. While mostly a design update, this brings Fitness Plus more in line with other Strava integrations from services like Peloton and Ladder.

Technically, Apple Watch users have been able to import their workouts into Strava from the get-go. However, that integration has been limited with bare-bones workout summaries. While you could see the activity type, calories burned, and basic heart rate metrics, there wasn’t any information about the class or instructor. (As you can see from this screenshot, you’d be hard-pressed to know that my New Year’s Day yoga workout was even a Fitness Plus class.)

The Fitness Plus and Strava integration goes in both directions. For starters, new and existing Strava subscribers in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia will get a free three-month trial of Fitness Plus regardless of whether they have an Apple Watch. (You do, however, need an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV to access the service.) Popular Strava athletes will also feature as guests in Fitness Plus workouts. That includes a strength workout with runner Hellah Sidibe on January 13th and a treadmill workout with Kayla Jeter.

So far, Apple has only offered free Fitness Plus trials with the purchase of a new Apple gadget. And while the service regularly features well-known athletes as guest hosts in its programming, it’s never sourced those guests from a third-party fitness community.

Sidibe, for example, may not be quite as famous as two-time Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety (who recently hosted a Fitness Plus series). However, if you’re into running and on social media, there’s a good chance you’re familiar with Sidibe’s seven-year daily run streak and penchant for running with four smartwatches.

“Over the past 10 years, we’ve hugely admired what Strava has done to impact the fitness space, especially around community,” says Jay Blahnik, Apple’s vice president of fitness technologies, acknowledging that Apple doesn’t often partake in this sort of collaboration.

Blahnik says working with Strava also presents a new opportunity for Fitness Plus’ reach. When the service first launched, there was an emphasis on making sure it was inclusive, motivating, and accessible for people of all levels. And in those early days, it often felt like Fitness Plus was like a fitness starter pack for the average person who might need a little encouragement — something The Verge pointed out in its initial review. That’s not exactly the typical Strava user.

“They don’t need us for motivation! They’re already self motivated,” says Blahnik. Instead, for seasoned athletes, Blahnik is pitching Fitness Plus as a supplemental resource for cross-training and discovering new activity types.

“Maybe they’re taking up running for the first time, and they want to make sure that they don’t get injured, and they need to do the yoga and the strength,” adds Zipporah Allen, Strava’s chief business officer.

Both Allen and Blahnik also note that the collaboration isn’t a one-and-done type of deal, hinting that the integration could evolve further down the road. While both demurred on providing specifics, Blahnik noted the companies “have bold ambitions for what [they] might be able to do down the road in terms of sharing.” (Asked if perhaps one day you could tap on a Fitness Plus class a Strava friend took and immediately be taken to that workout on your phone, Blahnik said they’d keep that in mind.)

In the short term, it’s a beneficial move for both companies. Strava recently angered users by changing the terms of its API for third-party apps, leaving some disgruntled users questioning the value of a Strava subscription. A free three-month trial to Apple Fitness Plus could appease some of those users. Strava has long been a de facto fitness data hub for dedicated athletes, giving Fitness Plus easy access to long-term athletes who aren’t likely to quit their New Year’s resolutions.

Garmin may be best known for its hardcore fitness watches, but it’s got an extensive line of lifestyle offerings, too.

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Starting December 28th, all new phones sold in the European Union must have USB-C. And while that deadline is still about a week away, Apple has begun pulling the iPhone SE, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Plus — the last models with Apple’s proprietary lightning port — from its Swiss online store.

The removal was first spotted by MacRumors, based on a report earlier this month from French publication iGeneration. The Verge has since confirmed that the Swiss online Apple Store will state that any configuration of the iPhone SE, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Plus is “currently unavailable” if you try to put it in your cart. However, other online Apple Stores in EU countries, such as France and Spain, currently still have the phones in stock.

Screenshot: Apple

Given the December 28th deadline, Apple’s other EU stores will soon follow suit. That said, it’s unclear why Apple decided to pull stock from Switzerland a week early or if it will do the same with other countries. We’ve reached out to Apple for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

The EU regulation is also why Apple finally switched over the USB-C for the iPhone 15 in 2023. As for the iPhone SE, a fourth-gen model is rumored for early 2025 with USB-C and other upgrades like an OLED display.

Smart rings had a resurgence this year. The question is whether the renaissance will continue.

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Meta just announced three new features are rolling out to its Ray-Ban smart glasses: live AI, live translations, and Shazam. Both live AI and live translation are limited to members of Meta’s Early Access Program, while Shazam support is available for all users in the US and Canada.

Both live AI and live translation were first teased at Meta Connect 2024 earlier this year. Live AI allows you to naturally converse with Meta’s AI assistant while it continuously views your surroundings. For example, if you’re perusing the produce section at a grocery store, you’ll theoretically be able to ask Meta’s AI to suggest some recipes based on the ingredients you’re looking at. Meta says users will be able to use the live AI feature for roughly 30 minutes at a time on a full charge.

Meanwhile, live translation allows the glasses to translate speech in real-time between English and Spanish, French, or Italian. You can choose to either hear translations through the glasses themselves, or view transcripts on your phone. You do have to download language pairs beforehand, as well as specify what language you speak versus what your conversation partner speaks.

Shazam support is a bit more straightforward. All you have to do is to prompt the Meta AI when you hear a song, and it should be able to tell you what you’re listening to. You can watch Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg demo it in this Instagram reel.

If you don’t see the features yet, check to make sure your glasses are running the v11 software and that you’re also running v196 of the Meta View app. If you’re not already in the Early Access Program, you can apply via this website.

The updates come just as Big Tech is pushing AI assistants as the raison d’etre for smart glasses. Just last week, Google announced Android XR, a new OS for smart glasses, and specifically positioned its Gemini AI assistant as the killer app. Meanwhile, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth just posted a blog opining that “2024 was the year AI glasses hit their stride.” In it, Bosworth also asserts that smart glasses may be the best possible form factor for a “truly AI-native device” and the first hardware category to be “completely defined by AI from the beginning.”

I wanted the Colorsonic to zap my grays. Instead, I got a lesson in tradeoffs.

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If you were thinking of booking an Airbnb to host a rowdy New Year’s Eve shindig, the company is already one step ahead of you. Airbnb says it’s rolling out anti-party technology worldwide to help prevent “unauthorized and disruptive” get togethers over the holiday.

Airbnb describes its anti-party technology as machine learning tools to identify and block risky bookings. The tech will be rolled out globally, but Airbnb specifically called out the US, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Puerto Rico, Spain, and New Zealand. It assesses things like trip length, when the reservation is being made, and how far the booking is from your current location.

If a booking is deemed a high risk, guests will either be blocked or redirected to different accommodations. For folks hoping to book an entire home for a short holiday getaway, reservations of one to three nights will also be blocked. Guests booking entire homes will also have to agree to a “mandatory anti-party attestation.”

Airbnb says it blocked 74,000 such bookings last New Year’s Eve, with roughly 33,000 of those coming from the US.

The company’s stance against disruptive parties isn’t new. It started banning “party houses” in 2019 and added tighter restrictions in 2020 during the covid-19 pandemic as a public health measure. Airbnb then decided to permanently ban rowdy parties worldwide in 2022. The decision came after several shootings occurred at parties hosted at Airbnbs, including an incident where two teenagers were killed and eight people wounded at a Pittsburgh rental.

Whether you want a basic fitness tracker or a smartwatch, there’s a Fitbit for everyone — though the best Fitbit smartwatch isn’t technically a Fitbit.

Read the full story at The Verge.

Between the Apple Watch Series 10, the Ultra 2, and the second-gen SE, there are more options than ever. We’ll help you sort through them.

Read the full story at The Verge.