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Hey team!
Another week, another long list of wearable updates. But this time, it was mostly the big dogs making moves. Four major wearable brands announced research partnerships in Abu Dhabi. Apparently, there's something about testing wearables under the desert sun.
We also saw Oura return to court. Beyond that, we spotted movement in the hormone tracking space and an interesting development towards more modular wearable setups.
🏜️ Abu Dhabi is becoming a testbed for wearables.
Dominic's Pick · Healthcare
In the past two weeks, we saw many of the big wearable brands announce partnerships with local health institutions to study medical applications. Eight Sleep was among the first, launching a sleep apnoea study back in August. On October 20, the company received local approval for its technology to support at-home diagnosis.
More recently, Ultrahuman announced a study on biological age, WHOOP on cardiometabolic health, and Oura on premature birth risk.
Abu Dhabi has a few things going for it as a test hub. It has a highly connected healthcare system, with a health data exchange linking thousands of facilities. This allows researchers to easily combine wearable measurements with clinical data. The government is also actively attracting companies to develop and test new applications. For Abu Dhabi, these partnerships fit into a broader ambition to build a local tech and science industry, diversifying its economy beyond oil.
We already know that wearables have much more potential than just being wellness products. Maybe Abu Dhabi will be where we first see a fully integrated wearable-care model trialled at scale.
🧪 Hormone monitoring is on the move!
Zofia's Pick · Hormones
Earlier, we saw Mira expand its hormone monitoring platform while Eli raised funds to scale theirs. Now, Unravel Health has raised funding for a device designed to measure multiple hormones from saliva in minutes, while Lume Health unveiled a wearable designed to measure hormones through sweat.
Meanwhile, the big wearable brands are also getting involved. Oura introduced hormonal birth control and menopause features, and partnered with Xella Health to combine wearable data with hormone testing. WHOOP now shares temperature data with Natural Cycles, while last week we discussed Google partnering with Flo to integrate cycle tracking with other health metrics.
A hormone test gives a reading at a particular time, while wearables show how the body changes day to day. Connecting the two could help users understand how their hormone levels relate to what they're experiencing between tests, or explain changes in their sleep and recovery.
🔁 One wearable, more ways to wear it
Zofia's Pick · Trackers
We've seen more brands experiment with wearables that combine different form factors. Earlier this month, QALO released a ring compatible with its band, allowing users to switch between the two. This week, Alloop announced Trio, a tracker that fits into either a ring or a band. Also this week, Mosscode unveiled a sports watch that doubles as a handlebar-mounted cycling monitor.
Continuous tracking is valuable, but consumers don't always want to wear the same device. These modular setups offer more flexibility, without requiring users to buy two separate trackers.
Apple and Garmin might take a different approach. Both recently filed patents for smart rings, potentially allowing users to switch between a watch and a ring. While patents don't guarantee new products, they point to the same trend: giving users more ways to track their health throughout the day.
⚖️ Oura is back in court.
Dominic's Pick · Rings
On October 22, Oura filed another patent infringement lawsuit against Ultrahuman, claiming its latest Ring Pro infringes two patents covering design and internal components. The suit follows three years of legal battles over Ultrahuman’s earlier Ring Air, which was banned from import into the US last year.
The smart ring sector is getting more crowded. Recent years have seen more affordable alternatives from brands like RingConn and Circular, many without monthly subscriptions. In that market, Oura seems hell-bent on protecting its position as the more premium option.
The legal action comes only weeks after Oura postponed its IPO, which gave us a closer look at its business. The company now has over six million paying subscribers. Subscriptions accounted for only 20% of its $1.21 billion revenue in the first nine months of fiscal 2026, but carried an impressive 89% gross margin. That's a lucrative position worth defending.
📦 Release calendar
Out now, and yours if you want it →
Inllie Luna Glow
A screenless health bracelet designed to look like jewellery, featuring lab-grown diamonds. Optical sensors track heart rate and blood oxygen, alongside stress, sleep, activity and menstrual cycles. Battery life is estimated at 7 to 10 days. Available worldwide.
Wyze Scale Ultra BodyScan Plus
A smart scale featuring a 4.3-inch display and a handheld sensor. Using eight electrodes and dual-frequency bioelectrical impedance, it measures body composition across the arms, legs and torso. It reports over 50 metrics and is available now in the US.
Xiaomi Redmi Band 4
A budget fitness band featuring a 1.47-inch display, continuous heart rate monitoring and 50 sports modes. Battery life reaches up to 21 days with continuous health monitoring disabled, or around eight days with it enabled. Available now in China, with a wider launch expected.
Withings x Function
A new two-way integration allows users to sync body composition and blood pressure measurements into Function, while results from Function's 160+ lab tests become accessible through the Withings app. Available now in the US.
⭐ Device spotlight
Ozlo Sleepbuds 2
Ozlo Sleepbuds are small earbuds made for sleep, which block noise with soft tips and play masking sounds. An accelerometer in each bud notices when you fall asleep and switches from streaming to masking sound. A new app update shows your sleep stages next to changes in bedroom noise, light and temperature, picked up by sensors in the charging case. It also shows when the buds covered a disruptive noise.
Mechanical · Acoustic · 14 hr battery · $279
📰 Everything else
The rest of the week, in one breath →
- Whoop finds that nights sharing the bed with a dog came with a 1.14 bpm lower resting heart rate and 9.6 more minutes of sleep, across 11,733 Whoop wearers. Good news for the dog.
- Garmin lets anyone pull their own activity, health and women's health data with a personal API key, so you can use it in your own tools.
- Nirva raises $25 million for jewelry that listens to your voice and journals your day. Orders open in November, at an expected $249.
- Whoop files a patent application to estimate core body temperature, using heat from its clip-on battery pack while the band charges.
- Apple must pay Masimo $184.2 million in interest, on top of a $634 million jury award over blood oxygen patents.
- Oura adds Cardio Effort, a weekly score of how hard your workouts push your heart against your own baseline.
- Ciridian unveils its Generation II smart bed. Hundreds of smart springs adjust firmness through the night, and built-in tracking records your sleep stages and sleeping position.
- Samsung's smart glasses designs leak, showing nine frames from Gentle Monster and Warby Parker, with a camera and no display. The glasses are expected in November in the US and South Korea.
- Oura opens Ring 5 preorders in India, from Rs 39,900.
That’s it for this week. See you next Tuesday with more from the world of sensors.
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👋 Zofia & Dominic
