Indian Gadget Awards 2022 – Best Wearable nominees: Apple Watch Ultra, Redmi Smart Band Pro, and more

The Indian Gadget Awards 2022 are upon us and 18 of the best minds in the tech creator industry are ready to vote and announce 28 award winners across 150 nominees. Wearables are some of the most sought-after gadgets in the industry today, and 2022 saw some amazing launches from budget smartwatches from Redmi, boAt, and Noise to some of the most premium variants from Apple, Amazfit, and Fossil. Here are the nominations for the Best Wearable of 2022. Read on.

Mainstream category (under Rs 5,000)

Redmi Smart Band Pro

The Redmi Smart Band Pro more than justifies its “Pro” tag with significant upgrades over the regular Smart Band by the Chinese brand. For starters, you get a brighter, Always-On AMOLED screen to track your workouts and heart rate with clarity. Furthermore, you get a SpO2 reader, which is extremely useful when you are down with COVID-19 symptoms or just for regular health screening. Along with that, Redmi has added a stress tracker for situations when you feel too overwhelmed by the tasks at hand. Finally, you can now track multiple types of workouts, giving yourself the freedom to mix and match at the gym and ground.

Noise ColorFit Caliber

Noise is one of the brands that is wreaking havoc in India’s wearable market with its value-for-money offerings that come packed with stylish designs and power user features. One such great smartwatch that the brand brought to India in 2022 was the ColorFit Caliber. You get a minimal-looking flat edge design that feels comfortable on the wrist, several strap colours to choose from, a metallic crown for easy access, and an affordable price tag to top it all off.

DIZO Watch D Plus

DIZO is one of the newest entrants in this space, but its offerings pack quite the punch. The Watch D Plus is one such product with its 14-day battery life, 30m waterproof rating, 100+ sports modes and watch faces, and a bright display with a peak brightness of 550nits. The curved tempered glass on top, and the silicone strap that comes along with it, make it a daily driver that you can carry with ease.

Realme Watch 3 Pro

Realme too has been up to something exciting in the wearable space in 2022. The Watch 3 Pro, one of its biggest smartwatch launches this year, offers some powerful features such as multi-system standalone GPS capabilities, which allows you to accurately record your walking and running routes. This feature runs up to 20 hours on continuous usage, so your marathons are sorted. You get up to a 60fps refresh rate on the 1.78-inch AMOLED panel, which makes tracking your vitals and viewing notifications a breeze.

OnePlus Nord Watch

The Nord Watch is OnePlus’ foray into the budget smartwatch segment, which has been growing rapidly in India. Much like its smartphone counterpart, the Nord Watch also is a value-for-money gadget. You get IP68 waterproofing, which is useful for when you want to take the watch into the shower or the pool with you. The AMOLED panel on the Nord Watch is bright and crisp and makes daily updates a delight to view. To top it all, the software on the watch is smooth to use, and the companion app is also quite intuitive.

Amazfit Pop 2

Much like DIZO and Noise, Amazfit is another brand that has been making strides in India’s wearable market. The Pop 2 is a quintessential smartwatch in the budget segment, with most of the useful features such as heart rate monitor, SpO2 monitor, Bluetooth calling, IP68 rating, and 100s of sports modes to choose from. Plus, the design is quite minimal and will suit men and women alike.

boAt Wave Ultima

If a 1.8-inch curved display on a smartwatch is your thing, look no further than the Wave Ultima from boAt. Music, weather, a flashlight, and a lot more are on offer with this budget wearable that has made it to our nominee list for 2022. boAt says you get a great battery life that lasts up to 10 days and up to 3 days with Bluetooth calling. The auto workout detection feature works like a breeze too, as you switch between Crossfit and weight training at the gym.

DIZO Watch R Talk Go

DIZO isn’t stopping and that is evident with its second entry on our list, the Watch R Talk Go. Of course, you get the common features such as a bright display, 150+ watch faces, health and workout trackers including heart rate and SpO2 sensors, and multiple sports modes. But, the highlight of this smartwatch is its sporty round design, which makes it stand out in a crowd of rectangle-shaped minimal wearables. If you are someone that gets excited by this design, this is probably the one for you.

Apple Watch Ultra

The most premium watch on this list, the Apple Watch Ultra is an absolute beast. This watch is as tough as watches can get. Apple has redesigned the chassis to include Titanium, making it the right pick when you want to experience extreme adventure sports. The watch is water resistant up to 100 metres, tested to MIL-STD 810H, and is IP6X rated for ultimate protection. Apart from that, the gorgeous display has a peak brightness of 2000nits, which has not even reached the best of smartphones yet. There is a Night Mode too for extremely low-light situations. All in all, if you are of the adventurous kind, the Apple Watch Ultra is the stuff of dreams.

Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro

After Apple, let’s move to the most premium Android smartwatch out there. The Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro is a premium wearable indeed. Here too you get a solid titanium case for ultimate durability, a premium design made for sports lovers, some of the most accurate workout tracking in the segment, and Samsung’s OneUI for that additional functionality. The display on this watch is highly productive and gives you access to time, weather, step count, and a lot more on the home screen.

Garmin Forerunner 955

A solar charging smartwatch for infinite power hack? Garmin, please sign us up! The Forerunner is yet another premium smartwatch on the list with features made for the power user. With the Solar power mode, you get up to 50 percent extra juice for your indoor and outdoor workout sessions. The touchscreen on the round dial design is superb too, with 5-button controls made for faster access to your favourite features on the watch. If you wish to take things to the next level, the Garmin smartwatch comes with a built-in triathlon mode for uninterrupted tracking and performance updates.

Amazfit Falcon

Swimming with your smartwatch just became so much easier thanks to the super-premium Amazfit Falcon, which gives you 20 ATM water resistance and the comfort you need for accurately tracking your sessions. Aircraft-grade titanium adorns the casing of the smartwatch, while the AMOLED panel on it offers a peak brightness of 1000nits. These combined make it the right choice for your next hiking or mountain climbing trip. Going for a long trip? The battery-saving feature on the Falcon is said to help the battery last for a good 30 days on a single charge.

Apple Watch Series 8

The Apple Watch Series 8 was the 2022 flagship upgrade to Apple’s long-running and ultra-popular smartwatch series. Available in both GPS as well as GPS + Cellular variants, the Series 8 brings a ton of upgrades over its predecessor. There are several more health features like more temperature sensors for menstrual period tracking, car crash detection for emergency responders, and the faster Apple S8 chip inside. Also, new watch faces for when you get bored.

Fossil Gen 6

Much like Apple’s 2022 smartwatch, the Fossil Gen 6 also brings a lot of upgrades over the Gen 5 from the previous year. For starters, you get the fast Snapdragon 4100+ chipset and promised support for Android Wear OS 3. The new chipset is expected to offer much better performance and improved power consumption. Apart from a more accurate heart rate sensor, you get a much-needed SpO2 sensor for blood oxygen tracking. Plus, there is fast charging to get you ready your watch ready for work while you get ready.

Fitbit Sense 2

With support for iOS and Android, the Sense 2 from Fitbit is a versatile smartwatch by all means. While the usual suspects such as 5 ATM water resistance, Bluetooth calling, always-on display, and inbuilt GPS are present, the Sense 2 shines out with an exclusive Body Response sensor that tracks your electrodermal activity for detailed workout data. This sensor allows the watch to suggest several ways to manage stress on a real-time basis. Furthermore, there is an ECG sensor and a menstrual period tracker to keep your health in check.

All of these wearables deserve a spot on our list simply because of their affordability, features, sensors, software, or capabilities. However, our jury members will sit to decide which one takes the cake and is awarded the award of the best wearable money can buy. Please check back in a few days to find out which watch won.