Grades: Smartwatches (B+)smart rings (C)smart glasses (A)
It's been a dramatic 2025 for wearables. Some trends were predictablelike smart glasses continuing their exponential growth and smartwatches adding more AI and health features. But I didn't anticipate some thingslike Oura lawsuits strangling its smart ring rivals or the impact of tariffs.
ThenI'll look at the biggest wearable and fitness watch brands and grade their 2025 performance — where they succeeded and how they could have done better.
Judging my 2025 predictions for smartwatchesringsand glasses
As expectedGarmin tested "loyal users' willingness to buy pricier status-symbol smartwatches." The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro ($1.2–2K) and Venu X1 ($800) are clear examplesbut even mid-rangers like the Venu 4 ($550) have become more high-end.
Add in the $800 Apple Watch Ultra 3$500 and $650 Galaxy Watchesand the $1,000 Polar Grit X2 Proand you can see brands normalizing phone-level prices (and offsetting tariff costs).
It was also expected that there would be "more options" for thrifty consumers. The Apple Watch SE 3 qualifiessticking to its old $250 pricebut it's the exception. We saw cheap trackers from Xiaomi and CMFbut very few cheap Android smartwatches besides discounted last-gen models. Even Amazfit sold as many $300+ watches as $100 ones.
Tariffs have interfered with budget optionsmaking it more profitable to attract wealthier hobbyists.
MeanwhileGoogleSamsungand Apple started pushing the idea of smartwatch AI in 2025. But it's still mostly on-phone processing of queries and health data analysis.
The Pixel Watch 4 and Apple Watch S11 have on-watch AI tools like smart replies or live translationand I appreciate how Gemini on Android watches syncs well with Google apps. I expect a bigger AI push in 2026particularly with the Fitbit Personal Health Coach AI.
Againcompanies clearly want smartwatches to become medical devicesbut we're still in the predictive "wellness" phase. For exampleSamsung added virtual doctor's visits and prescription management while giving its watches vascular health and antioxidant index analysiswith heart failure warnings coming soon.
That saidmy analyst's prediction of direct blood pressure monitoring on watches in 2025 didn't happen. But Apple started offering hypertension alertswhile Fitbit and Oura launched hypertension studies — so at least we're getting warning signs for high blood pressure.
As for smart ringsI don't have hard figures for 2025 yetbut IDC's current estimates show it's a tiny but growing sliver compared to fitness trackersand growing much more slowly than smart glasses.
Sales have grownbut I'm expecting the category to stagnate. Oura has leveraged its patents to demand royalty payments from every major smart ring brandbringing Circular and RingConn to heelsuccessfully banning Ultrahuman from the U.S.and currently challenging Samsung.
The current rumor is that Samsung won't make a Galaxy Ring 2and there's little hope for competition and innovation in the space if brands like Fitbit and Apple decide it's not worth the legal hassle — or giving Oura a cut of the profits — to make a smart ring.
FinallyIDC's Jitesh Ubrani wasn't bullish on smart glasses' future last yearsaying that "most consumers don't need" the photo/ video/ music/ AI combo and that sales would only climb from 2.5 million to 3.5 million in 2025.
Turns outIDC's current forecast is 9.4 million glasses sold in 2025Meta's Ray-Ban/Oakley partner EssilorLuxottica has ramped up production to 10 million per yearand Ubrani is much more enthusiastic about smart glasses' future.
That said10 million sold may not qualify as "mainstream," compared to 200 million smartwatches and trackers in 2025. The Samsung AI and HUD glasses coming in 2026 should help the category continue to growespecially internationally.
Garmin in 2025: B
Garmin launched a series of successfulhigh-quality watches this year: the Instinct 3 for hikers and campersthe Vivoactive 6 for thrifty indoor athletes and daily step-countersthe Forerunner 570 for runners and triathletesthe Forerunner 970 for pro-level athletes and trail runnersand the Venu 4 as the all-around best option.
UnfortunatelyGarmin raised watch prices across its entire lineup for extra revenuedelivering strong earnings but making them less accessible to everyday athletes. As much as I love the Venu X1I can't recommend people spend $800 on one.
From an economic standpointGarmin has become a top-5 brand for worldwide smartwatch sales. Despite thatGarmin's stock plummeted because its uber-expensive Fenix 8 Pro couldn't compete with last year's massive Fenix 8 salesundoing all its gains.
The new Garmin Connect+ subscriptionwhich launched this yearmay have earned some profitsbut Garmin fans have never embraced the featureespecially when it's required for features like Garmin Trailsextra badgesand their Year in Review summary.
Unrealistic shareholder expectations asideGarmin has had a strong yearbut its tendency to price-lock the best features to Fenix-level watches is harder to stomach when the "cheaper" models are still expensive. And you never know when there'll be a major blue triangle crash.
COROS in 2025: A-
I won't grade every fitness watch brandbut I'm highlighting COROS because it's had a strong 2025 as a foil to Garmin. The COROS NomadApex 4and Pace 4 have each impressed me with their accurate GPS and HR dataweeks of battery lifeaffordable pricesand fast performance for trail and street maps.
COROS gained some ground on its rivals with vital features: media playback controlsmove alertsundo lapsflashlight modecycle trackingmid-activity voice alertsstreet names and POIs on mapsand an adventure journal.
Equally importantCOROS updates its entire lineuprather than price-lock features to the flagships. It makes models like the $300 COROS Pace Pro feel like a great valuebecause you get tools like offline maps and Strava Live Segments that only $600+ Garmin watches have.
It's no coincidence that COROS is the "fastest-growing watch brand year-over-year on Strava" in the app's 2025 end-of-year report. It won't catch up to Garmin (2nd overall) anytime soonbut COROS has earned a reputation for budget quality with serious athletes — stealing Garmin's customers.
COROS's main 2025 blemish was an IT exposé revealing major security vulnerabilities on all COROS watchesletting hackers potentially access your accountsnoop on notificationsand worse. COROS says it has resolved these issuesthankfully.
Oura in 2025: A
Oura reports selling 5.5 million rings so farwith half those sales in the past 12 months. It also has a new U.S. DoD contractwhich requires them to build a manufacturing facility in Texas. This deal also caused some backlash over fears Oura would share private data with the Trump administrationbut CEO Tom Hale has reassured otherwise.
The Oura Ring 4 continuously received new features in 2025. The LLM-powered Oura Advisor is the centerpiecegiving advice and coaching based on your ring stats. The AI Meals tool gives you a nutritional summary of your plate with a photo. Your Oura Ring can now track pregnancy and premenopause symptoms. Its Preventive Health data studies signs of cumulative stress. The list goes on!
Oura also launched the Ring 4 Ceramica more expensive model with premium zirconia ceramic materials. While our tester praised how "incredibly soft" it feels to wearhe's also noticed areas where the finish has been "scratched off" from wear and tearand that the new finish makes it "noticeably thicker and a bit heavier" than the normal Ring 4.
OverallOura kept users happy with new featuresmade record-breaking profitsand weaponized patents to scuttle its biggest rival (Ultrahuman) and demand royalties from the rest. That's a good business position to be in.
Meta in 2025: A
Meta released three pairs of smart glasses in 2025which is a significant accomplishment. Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) is the centerpieceand while it isn't significantly different from the originalthe extra hours of battery and 3K video do make it easier to recommend.
The Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses cater specifically to the athletic crowdparticularly with the Garmin integrationand while I loved themit'll take time to see whether they resonate because of the weight and price.
The Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses have struck a chord with the tech nichewith some impressive HUD features that have started to live up to the Google Glass idea people have waited a decade for. They're too thickheavyand expensive to break out of that nichebut it's a step in the right direction.
Hardware asideMeta has done well with software updates in 2025. It added Meta AI support for several apps (AudibleSpotifyGoogle CalendarOutlookand Weather)released Live AI and Live Translationsped up camera capturesand brought Gen 2 features like improved stabilization to the Gen 1 glasses.
