The trend: Wearables announcements reached a frenzied pace this year, driven by AI advancements and growing consumer comfort with new form factors. However, most actual product launches fell flat.

Here are the year’s biggest announcements, how companies are approaching innovation, and what we may see in 2026.

Glasses game: Competition is growing in the smart glasses field between big players like Meta, Apple, and Google, as well as smaller firms like XReal and Snap—but most innovations in 2025 were limited to splashy announcements without tangible releases.

• Apple’s voice-led glasses could redefine how users engage with wearables and help the company keep its lead in the hardware market, but a launch isn’t expected until at least 2027.
• Google is slated to launch its first AI glasses in 2026 with an audio-focused model and one with a built-in display screen, but no release date has been set.
• Google is also partnering with XReal on Project Aura, a pair of AR glasses built as a lightweight alternative to the Samsung Galaxy XR glasses. They’re also set to be available in 2026.
• Snap announced it will launch Specs in 2026, which are billed as a lightweight, immersive wearable computer.
• Meta delayed its upcoming “Phoenix” mixed reality (MR) glasses to 2027 to “buy more breathing room to get the details right,” per Business Insider.

There’s substantial consumer interest for whichever company can get their products to market with a clear value pitch: Global shipments of smart glasses are projected to reach 19.7 million in 2029, up 109% from 9.4 million in 2024, per IDC.

AI devices: Carryable devices continued to flop in 2025, but Big Tech players are buying up startups to push along research and development of new devices that could win over curious consumers.

• HP acquired Humane after the failure of its Ai Pin—bricking the device and its data. It may spin the software off into new products.
• Meta bought pendant-maker Limitless. It stopped all device and subscription sales immediately, and may pivot the startup’s software into a Meta-branded product.

Although OpenAI made headlines when former Apple device chief Jony Ive joined its team, the company’s upcoming AI-dedicated device still hasn’t come to fruition, or even had its form factor clarified.

Diving into wellness: There’s a growing interest in health-focused wearables technology, which we are likely to see accelerate in 2026. We forecast 85.8 million US consumers—or nearly one-quarter of the US population—will use a health-related smart wearable in 2026.

Several companies made moves in this space.

• Apple: It added hypertension alerts to Apple Watches in the fall and an improved hearing aid feature for the AirPods Pro 3.
• Samsung: The Galaxy Watch 8 series now tracks sleep-wake cycles, measures vascular load, and offers an antioxidant index.
• Oura: Its smart ring is dominating the niche with advanced sleep-tracking capabilities and holistic insights into nutrition, fitness, stress, and more.

What marketers should expect: Developers will focus on dynamic, multi-use-case wearables in 2026, though the risk of vaporware persists for many companies. Exciting product announcements can stoke user interest, but that may wane if launches take too long.

As wearables evolve into dynamic, multi-form devices, marketing strategies will need to align with increasingly personalized, AI-driven experiences that adapt seamlessly across emerging form factors.