Indian Gadget Awards winners: Apple Watch Series 7 and Mi Band 6 named the Best Wearables of 2021

From merely being objects of science fiction to becoming a dependable piece of tech, wearable technology has come a long way. To commemorate the same, the Indian Gadget Awards has a standalone category dubbed the Best Wearable of 2021, which looks at some of the best wearables the Indian market has seen in the past year. A panel of 40 jury members which includes nearly 25 of India’s most prominent tech creators has scrutinised and rate the wearables of 2021 based on their features, functionality, usability, and style to eventually crown one of them worthy of being the winner. Understandably, India has a huge market for wearables tech so, we divided the list into two sub-categories (basis of their pricing) namely Mainstream and Premium. Check out which wearables came out on top in the two sub-categories.

Best Wearable of 2021 — Mainstream

The mainstream end of the wearable market promotes function over form, with each product trying to outdo the other when it comes to functionality, feature set, compatibility, and customisability. Meet the winners of the best mainstream wearables in 2021, all priced below Rs 5,000.

Winner: Mi Smart Band 6

Runner-up: Huawei Band 6

Full list of nominees below

Mi Smart Band 6

The Mi Smart Band 6 kicks off our nominations for the best mainstream wearables in 2021. The Mi Smart Band 6 shows a lot of promise, thanks to its compelling feature set that includes a 1.56-inch AMOLED display, an SpO2 sensor, 30 sports modes, continuous heart rate tracking, sleep monitoring with REM sleep analysis, and stress monitoring. The Mi Band 6 also bundles a female health tracker via the companion app on Android or iOS. Design-wise the Mi Smart Band 6 offers an ergonomic design which, coupled with the unit’s comfortable straps, can be worn all day long. 

Realme Watch 2 Pro

The Realme Watch 2 Pro offers a slew of proper smartwatch features that elevate the experience of using it over a simple smart band. Design-wise, the Watch 2 Pro features a rounded cuboidal unit that houses the device’s 1.75-inch colour display with 600 nits of brightness. The Watch 2 Pro offers a slew of fitness tracking features that work in tandem with the wearable’s built-in, high precision GPS, SpO2 monitor and real-time heart rate monitor. The Realme Watch 2 Pro gets two colour variants, a choice of over 100 watch faces, IP68 water resistance and 14-day long battery life. 

Amazfit Bip U Pro

The Amazfit Bip U Pro is a popular choice from the Amazfit lineup and features a youthful design. On top of that, the wearable packs in a decent set of internals too. For starters, the Amazfit Bip U Pro gets a 1.43-inch TFT display covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The device also gets features like the ability to track 60+ sports modes, support for Amazon Alexa for AI voice commands, 5 ATM water resistance, up to 9 days of battery life, real-time heart rate monitor, SpO2 monitor and sleep quality analyser. The Amazfit Bip U Pro also features menstrual cycles and ovulation tracking, which is a godsend for female users. 

Redmi Watch GPS

The Redmi Watch offers a sleek design that resembles a handful of fitness watches in its price segment. The wearable dons a 1.4-inch TFT colour display, with the outer shell available in three distinct colour options. Now, the watch doesn’t ship with a SpO2 sensor, which is a bummer. However, the Redmi Watch more than makes up for it by packing in GPS, 11 sport modes, a step counter, a heart rate monitor, sleep tracking and an app for guided breathing exercises. Last but certainly not least, the wearable is waterproof up to 5ATM as well.

Noise Colorfit Pro 3

Noise has a rather large chunk of the affordable wearable business in India to its name and for good reason. Take the company’s Noise Colorfit Pro 3 for instance, which isn’t just available in six different colour options, but the wearable also offers a plethora of watch faces and straps, ensuring infinite styling possibilities. As for the wearable’s features, the device offers 24×7 heart rate monitoring, SpO2 monitor, stress monitor, breathing mode and 10-day battery life. There are 14 sports modes to select from and the watch is capable of handling 5ATM of underwater pressure. In terms of display, the wearable ships with a 1.55-inch LCD panel, which gets plenty bright for outdoor usage too. 

Crossbeats Orbit

Crossbeats Orbit inherits a rather elegant looking metal circular dial and the device can be picked up in three eccentric hues. The metal case houses a 1.3-inch HD IPS display and the wearable benefits from a host of custom watch faces. Fitness features include a SpO2 monitor, heart rate monitor, sleep tracking, pedometer, blood pressure monitor, and support for multiple sports activities. Interestingly the Crossbeats Orbit packs in an array of ‘smartwatch’ features, including the ability to take calls via the wearable. The Crossbeats Orit promises a battery life of up to 10 days and is IP67 certified as well, which is great. 

Huawei Band 6

The Huawei Band 6 is our final nominee for the best mainstream wearable in 2021. The Huawei Band 6 gets a rectangular dial and the device is available in four peppy colour options. Despite its lightweight 18g footprint, the Band 6 manages to pack in a 1.47 inch AMOLED display, optical heart rate sensor, SpO2 sensor, gyroscope sensor, accelerometer sensor, Bluetooth 5.0, and 14-day battery life. What’s more, the wearable offers 96 different sport modes and ships with various other fitness features that can be accessed via the companion app as well.  

The above products have made it to the list of nominees for the best mainstream wearables in 2021 as they offer good hardware and attractive designs at an affordable price point. Stay tuned to find out which smart mainstream wearable takes the top podium. 

Best Wearable of 2021 — Premium

The premium smart wearable segment offers an interesting blend of technology and functionality, cohesively interfaced with elegant designs and top-notch materials. Check out the winners of the premium wearable category of the Indian Gadget Awards 2021.

Winner: Apple Watch Series 7

Runner-up: Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Classic

Here are the all nominees:

Apple Watch Series 7

Apple Watch is an easily identifiable smartwatch and is one of the most well-regarded products in the segment when it comes to functionality and features. The seventh generation of the Apple Watch carries the company’s legacy forward and makes the first entry on our list. The wearable brings general refinement in the form of slimmer bezels and a better screen-to-body ratio with 20 percent more screen area as compared to the previous model. There are new watch faces, fast charging support with up to 18 hours of battery life, always-on Retina display, cellular connectivity, ECG and Blood Oxygen meter, fall detection and much more on offer too. Lest we forget, the device features toughened glass on the front and an IP6X rating for its new 41mm and 45mm variants.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch series comprises the flagship smartwatches from the Korean tech giant. To that note, the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic is a sought-after wearable for Android users and the device gets a BioActive sensor that enables the Optical Heart Rate sensor, Electrical Heart, and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis. There are a bunch of sport modes options as well as communication functionalities packed into a retro-modern body that is IP68 rated and can survive up to 5ATM of water. 

Fitbit Charge 5

The Fitbit Charge 5 strikes a good balance between a smart band and a smartwatch. The smart band inspired design is extremely comfortable to wear all day long. What’s more, despite employing a compact chassis, the Charge 5 is laden with an array of sensors that provide fitness functionalities like ECG, EDA tracking, SpO2 and heart rate monitoring, menstrual tracking and even sleep analysis. That’s not all, as the Fitbit Charge 5 delivers up to 7 days of battery life and the device is even water-resistant up to 50 meters. Other features include an always-on display with Gorilla Glass 3 and swappable bands. 

Fitbit Sense

The Fitbit Sense fuses Fitbit’s fitness tracking prowess with modern-day amenities, ensuring the device is equal parts premium, and equal parts handy. The Fitbit Sense comes laden with specialised features like ECG, EDA tracking, SpO2, temperature, breathing rate, heart rate monitoring, menstrual tracking and sleep analysis. The device packs in an AMOLED display with Gorilla Glass 3 protection too, and supports quick replies for popular social media services like WhatsApp as well. Buyers opting for the wearable will also get support for virtual assistants (Google Assistant or Alexa), and the device even gets a built-in GPS for seamless route mapping. 

Mi Watch Revolve Active

The Mi Watch Revolve Active makes it to our list with a decent set of improvements over the prior Mi Watch. The Mi Watch Revolve Active gets a circular dial with a 1.39-inch AMOLED display which supports an always-on mode as well. What’s more, the wearable offers a SpO2 monitor this time around along with support for Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. Other sensors include a PPG heart rate tracker, 3-axis acceleration and an ambient light sensor. The wearable can also track 117 different sports, is rated for waterproofing up to 5ATM and promises up to 14 days of battery life.

Fossil Gen 6

Fossil knows a thing or two about making smartwatches. Take the Fossil Gen 6, for instance, which ships with an AMOLED display and a stylish, upmarket design. On the inside, the wearable makes use of the latest Snapdragon Wear 4100+ SoC, ensuring users don’t run into any lag or stutter whilst daily-driving the device. The watch also gets a blood oxygen monitor, a heart rate sensor accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, altimeter, off-body IR, and an ambient light sensor. The aforementioned sensors work in conjunction to enable various fitness modes and activity tracking. The Fossil Gen 6 gets an all-day battery life, fast charging, and can survive 3ATM of pressure underwater. 

Amazfit GTR 3 Pro

The Amazfit GTR 3 Pro is the last smart wearable that closes the nominations for the premium wearable 2021 category. The Amazfit GTR 3 Pro gets a 1.45-inch ultra HD AMOLED display housed inside an elegant yet traditional chassis. The Biotracker PPG 3.0 takes care of bloody oxygen monitoring, heart rate monitoring, health overview, and more. Female health measurements and multiple sport modes also form a package. Other features include – crown toggle for controls, 5ATM pressure metric, Alexa voice assistant support, multiple watch faces, and straps as well as a claimed 12-day battery life.