What a year! What a lot of gear! Struggling to remember what’s hot and what’s not? Our annual Gadget Awards have done the hard work for you – join us in celebrating the very best tech to have come out in the previous 12 months. If you’re planning to add some wearable tech to your gadget arsenal, these are excellent choices. After all, they’ve just won an award.
FITNESS WATCH/TRACKER OF THE YEAR
GARMIN FENIX 8
If you’re in the market for a fitness wearable, it doesn’t get any better (or more expensive) than the Garmin Fenix 8. Prices run as high as R31 500 for the larger AMOLED devices, with the Solar versions clocking in at a ‘reasonable’ R27 000. But Garmin’s multisport wearable certainly knows more about fitness than you do and it’s very willing to share its knowledge with those with enough cash. And endurance. Voice commands, the optional solar screen,, amazing GPS skills, exquisite tracking of everything you can think of (and some stuff you didn’t know was an option), and a built in LED light for those all-night runs across Arctic tundra mean this wearable is as unbreakable as you wish you were. It’ll also last almost a month between charges (Ts & Cs apply).
from R27 000 / garmin.com
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra
SMARTWATCH OF THE YEAR
APPLE WATCH SERIES 10
The Apple Watch is now a decade old – and darned if we don’t still love it. This latest edition isn’t a sea change from older designs, but it’s a worthwhile tweak that makes the easiest smartwatch to live with a little bit easier still: the display is larger, the charging speed is quicker, and the whole thing is thinner.
If you own a Watch Series 9, it’s probably not enough to warrant the upgrade, but to those still rocking a Series 6 or older, the Series 10’s refinements will make it feel like a whole new device.
The rest is all very solid, with a bewildering (in a good way) level of health-monitoring features included, plus all the user-friendly design touches we’ve come to expect from Apple. We do wish battery life had gotten a boost while they were about it, but that can’t spoil the overall party – or stop the Series 10 from being our favourite smartwatch
of 2024.
from R9 900 / incredible.co.za
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra ● Samsung Galaxy Watch7
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Huawei Watch Fit 3
