Wearables – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Wearable

The Verge is covering the rapidly evolving world of wearables. We test everything from smartwatches like the Apple Watch, to smart glasses like the Meta Ray-Bans, to fitness trackers like the Oura Ring to find out which ones deliver on their promises. Follow along to find out whether covering our bodies in screens and sensors can actually make us smarter and healthier.

Insta360 conquered 360 cameras — now it’s eyeing glasses

The Chinese brand has 73 percent of the worldwide 360 camera market. What’s next?

Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
Sean Hollister
I tried the Meta VR Glasses, too — here are my first impressions.
  • “VR Glasses” is the right name. These don’t have a VR headset’s huge, immersive field of view at just 70° horizontal by 66° vertical, but it’s similar to looking through glasses, without a headset’s significant weight.
  • I didn’t terribly mind the reduced immersion outside of games. Movies and desktop windows opened at the proper size without edges cut off.
  • I carried on a conversation with several real human beings in a room and didn’t feel like I had tunnel vision.
  • You can’t see your hands unless they’re in your direct field of view, but the headset can track hands far outside that FoV. I could hit Beat Saber targets while looking an entirely different direction.
  • I got 32WPM touch typing on a keyboard that doesn’t physically exist. That’s less than a third my normal speed, but not bad for a first try.
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Here come those promised Pixel Watch health features.

The blood pressure trends, insulin resistance trends, and sleep breathing quality metrics mentioned at the 2026 Made By Google event weren’t available when the Pixel Watch 5 launched last month, but now Google says they’ll start rolling out to Watch 3 models and later this week. You can set them up in the Google Health app, and trend reports will arrive in “early October.”

Here’s the preview of the blood pressure trend feature we got last month.
Here’s the preview of the blood pressure trend feature we got last month.
Photo: Victoria Song / The Verge
Everything is spying on you and there’s no opting out

A new wave of AI-enhanced consumer creep-tech disregards the privacy of everyone but the wearer. The people have had enough.

Janus Rose
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Watch Joanna Stern grill Zuckerberg for 30 minutes.

The Verge cofounder got an extended sit-down with the Meta CEO at Connect yesterday. They covered “pervert glasses” and privacy, AI assistants and agents, and what exactly is going on with the Metaverse. He defends the company’s track record on privacy, and its future privacy plans: “More of the things that Meta is going to do going forward are going to look like WhatsApp.”

Meta ditches the camera on its newest smart glasses
Hands-on

Audio-only Ray-Bans have arrived alongside more camera-equipped glasses. What’s missing? Privacy controls to address the ‘perv glasses’ backlash.

Victoria Song
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
An endurance watch with solar on both sides.

Des Yap did some initial testing of the new $649.99 T-Rex Dual Solar from Amazfit — the first endurance watch with a bright and colorful OLED to be fitted with teeny-weeny solar panels. The ring around the display can extend life a bit, but the larger rear panel around the heart-rate sensor can add a few percentage points of charge when you arrive at camp, or when the watch is slung off a running vest, so maybe you can leave your ultralight power bank home on your next multi-day adventure.

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Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
The new Apple Watches also reduce heart rate readings while Theater Mode is active.

If you’re worried about the green LEDs being a bigger distraction in a dark theater now that the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 measure your heart rate every five seconds, Theater Mode now reduces readings to five minute intervals while still silencing alerts and keeping the screen off. But you can override that new feature in the Apple Watch’s settings to restore the continuous monitoring.

The front and back of the Apple Watch Series 12 with its heart rate reading LEDs activated.
Image: Apple
Peloton is back with a ‘cheaper’ folding treadmill

Plus two other refreshed treadmills and a host of AI running features.

Victoria Song
Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Paris prosecutors are investigating smart glasses-enabled sexual harassment.

They’ve opened “at least one criminal probe” following complaints about the glasses being used to film women on the street in public without their consent, Reuters reports. France’s data protection authority also says businesses are “increasingly” asking if they can ban smart glasses at work, similar to a ban under consideration in Australia.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
A snippet about Snap Specs.

Late last night, we published my video about trying Snap’s Specs AR glasses at the company’s headquarters. The hardware, which costs $2,195, is interesting, but the experience of actually using them was rather finicky. Despite yesterday’s splashy launch event, the Specs also don’t yet have a firm release date beyond sometime this fall.

Check out my full article for more.

The Apple Watch Series 12 is the start of a new wearable era

8

Verge Score

A surprisingly consequential update for the world’s most popular smartwatch.

Victoria Song
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Show’s over!

Spiegel just wrapped us up. I got to try the Specs, check out my story!

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Imogen Heap is onstage and doing an improv music show with Specs.

Heap is a Specs “visionary” (a celebrity partner), and she’s interacting with digital elements she can see in the Specs to make a song in real-time. It’s all very sci-fi.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Specs will have a Harry Potter-themed app.

Spiegel is trying it out now. He’s been flipping through a virtual book to try out different experiences, and got a letter from a virtual owl that was “sitting” on his arm. He’s also doing a Wingardium Leviosa spell.

I wore Snap’s $2,200 smart glasses

Snap has spent half a decade working toward its first consumer pair of AR glasses. They’re finally here — and they’re bold as can be.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Snap is opening a pop-up store for Specs where you can try the AR glasses.

The “SPECS First Look” opens at Westfield Century City in LA on October 1st, where you can “experience SPECS in person, meet members of the team, and check out what we’re building,” Snap says. Meta has also used pop-up shops as a way to show off its hardware.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Snap’s Specs are getting a charging case with cellular connectivity.

The case, available as part of a bundle for $2,395 (a $200 increase over the Specs on their own), gives you an option to more easily get internet while wearing the Specs. In the US, Snap is working with Verizon to offer data plans and financing options.

An image of the Snap Specs case.
The Snap Specs case.
Image: Snap
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Specs for your hobbies.

After a brief interlude about how Specs can work in enterprise environments, Spiegel is pitching how Specs can help you learn things. Spiegel is down a live demo showing himself practicing drawing. He’s using a real pen to trace a digital alien mascot that’s layered over a real piece of paper.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Even on stage, you can see a glow in front of Speigel’s eyes.

I usually can’t see his eyes — they’re hidden behind the digital content he’s looking at.

Right now, doing a live demo where he’s trying to watch a YouTube video in a browser on the Specs, and it’s not working. He’s starting all the way over. (It eventually worked.)

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Snap is going to stream Spiegel’s point of view from Specs he’s wearing onstage.

We’ll see how this goes! Right now, he’s showing some menus, including quick access items that he pulled up by looking at his palm.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Evan Spiegel is on stage at the Specs event.

He’s giving an overview of the Specs AR glasses, which were initially announced in June. He says we’ll get live demos.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
I’m seated for Snap’s big Specs launch event.

Made a friend walking in the door. I should have asked what he’s looking at.

The show starts at 7PM ET, and I’m planning to post anything interesting out of it. You can catch a livestream on Snap’s website.

Your ‘health age’ is fake

Can we just agree that your age is your age?

Victoria Song
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
Older Pixel Watches are getting Google’s September update now.

The Pixel Watch 2 and later are getting Gemini Personalization, allowing the AI assistant to learn from past conversations and connected Google apps. The 3 and on also get new double-pinch gesture controls, while the 4 gets a performance bump to raise-to-talk. A similar September update is rolling out to Pixel phones too.

Google Pixel Watch Update - September 2026

[Google Pixel Watch Community]

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Google might be making a wearOS version of the Fitbit Charge.

9to5Google spotted this FCC entry for the Goertek-made SZGG8BL6, which lines up with other Google devices. Like the Fitbit Charge, it has Bluetooth and GNSS, but lacks Wi-Fi, while its e-label suggests it has a screen and could run wearOS similar to a mysterious wearable spotted in Google ads.

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Zuckoff, the app that detects nearby Meta glassholes.

The developer of the iPhone app told Business Insider that he examined the Bluetooth signals emitted by popular smart glasses to establish corresponding fingerprints. The app can then alert users when a pair of potential “pervert glasses” are nearby.

It can be downloaded from the Apple Store.
It can be downloaded from the Apple Store.
Image: Apple