Christmas may have come and gone, but for those who frequent the realm of high-tech gadgetry, the most wonderful time of the year is just getting going—once again it’s time for CES in Las Vegas, featuring the biggest and best in tech, from robotics to health to security, and everything in between.
This year’s show is absolutely awash in wearables, and they’re looking much slicker than your run-of-the-mill Fitbit.
Yes, even though CES has only just kicked off, it’s clear that smartwatches will be one of the top features of this year’s trade show. While the smartwatch market has been simmering slowly over the past little while, it’s set to boil over, with an influx of new products with flashy designs and advanced features.
In fact, according to TechNavio analysts, the Global Smartwatch Market will grow at a 96.8 percent CAGR from 2015-2019.
A lot of the aggressive growth can be attributed to a number of new vendors who are expected to make their mark on the smartwatch industry in the next few years. Pioneers like Samsung, LG, Sony and Motorola are still solid competitors, but some interesting offerings from new and even unexpected vendors will spur healthy competition and encourage the introduction of new and innovative products.
Best Smartwatches from CES 2015 (So Far)
One trend that’s certainly clear from the wearables unveiled so far at CES is that even your most basic fitness tracker still has to be attractive. Vendors and consumers alike are putting higher emphasis on the physical appearance of all wearables, and especially on smartwatches. To step up their products, several vendors are teaming up with fashion designers to create more appealing accessories.
While the show has only just started, TechNavio has put together a quick and dirty list of some of the key companies to watch, and the new gadgets they’ve already unveiled.
- Sony’s sleek, stylish and highly anticipated stainless steel SmartWatch 3 (also its first with Android Wear) is generating a lot of buzz among reviewers. Check out the Verge’s review here.
- Garmin is bringing a trifecta of smart tech, with the Fenix 3, the Epix and the Vivoactive, each offering different features depending on your requirements.
- Alcatel is obviously seeking to blow the competition out of the water, with the very reasonably priced Onetouch. At only US$149, and compatible with both Android and Apple devices, it’s clearly seeking to get a leg up on the Moto 360.
- Fashion company Guess has hopped on the wearables bandwagon with its Guess Connect, whose design is based on the popular Guess Rigor.
- LookSee offers an interesting take on the smartwatch, which might appeal to those put off by the bulkiness of a lot of these devices. Instead of a traditional watch, it is a wraparound bracelet with an e-ink display capable of showing off texts, photos, maps etc.
- Jewellery maker Swarovski is bringing some sparkle to the wearables market with the Swarovski Shine collection. The actually tech bit (an activity and sleep tracker) is contained within a giant crystal, which can then fit into a slew of pendants, watch bands and bracelets.
