Grades: Smartwatches (B+), smart rings (C), smart glasses (A)
It’s been a dramatic 2025 for wearables. Some trends were predictable, like smart glasses continuing their exponential growth and smartwatches adding more AI and health features. But I didn’t anticipate some things, like Oura lawsuits strangling its smart ring rivals or the impact of tariffs.
Then, I’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 smartwatches, rings, and glasses
As expected, Garmin tested “loyal users’ willingness to buy pricier status-symbol smartwatches.” The Garmin Fenix 8 Pro ($1.2–2K) and Venu X1 ($800) are clear examples, but 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 Watches, and the $1,000 Polar Grit X2 Pro, and 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 qualifies, sticking to its old $250 price, but it’s the exception. We saw cheap trackers from Xiaomi and CMF, but 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 options, making it more profitable to attract wealthier hobbyists.
Meanwhile, Google, Samsung, and 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 translation, and I appreciate how Gemini on Android watches syncs well with Google apps. I expect a bigger AI push in 2026, particularly with the Fitbit Personal Health Coach AI.
Again, companies clearly want smartwatches to become medical devices, but we’re still in the predictive “wellness” phase. For example, Samsung added virtual doctor’s visits and prescription management while giving its watches vascular health and antioxidant index analysis, with heart failure warnings coming soon.
That said, my analyst’s prediction of direct blood pressure monitoring on watches in 2025 didn’t happen. But Apple started offering hypertension alerts, while Fitbit and Oura launched hypertension studies — so at least we’re getting warning signs for high blood pressure.
As for smart rings, I don’t have hard figures for 2025 yet, but IDC’s current estimates show it’s a tiny but growing sliver compared to fitness trackers, and growing much more slowly than smart glasses.
Sales have grown, but I’m expecting the category to stagnate. Oura has leveraged its patents to demand royalty payments from every major smart ring brand, bringing Circular and RingConn to heel, successfully banning Ultrahuman from the U.S., and currently challenging Samsung.
The current rumor is that Samsung won’t make a Galaxy Ring 2, and 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.
Finally, IDC’s Jitesh Ubrani wasn’t bullish on smart glasses’ future last year, saying 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 out, IDC’s current forecast is 9.4 million glasses sold in 2025, Meta’s Ray-Ban/Oakley partner EssilorLuxottica has ramped up production to 10 million per year, and Ubrani is much more enthusiastic about smart glasses’ future.
That said, 10 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 grow, especially internationally.
Garmin in 2025: B
Garmin launched a series of successful, high-quality watches this year: the Instinct 3 for hikers and campers, the Vivoactive 6 for thrifty indoor athletes and daily step-counters, the Forerunner 570 for runners and triathletes, the Forerunner 970 for pro-level athletes and trail runners, and the Venu 4 as the all-around best option.
Unfortunately, Garmin raised watch prices across its entire lineup for extra revenue, delivering strong earnings but making them less accessible to everyday athletes. As much as I love the Venu X1, I can’t recommend people spend $800 on one.
From an economic standpoint, Garmin has become a top-5 brand for worldwide smartwatch sales. Despite that, Garmin’s stock plummeted because its uber-expensive Fenix 8 Pro couldn’t compete with last year’s massive Fenix 8 sales, undoing all its gains.
The new Garmin Connect+ subscription, which launched this year, may have earned some profits, but Garmin fans have never embraced the feature, especially when it’s required for features like Garmin Trails, extra badges, and their Year in Review summary.
Unrealistic shareholder expectations aside, Garmin has had a strong year, but 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.
