The department of

Wearables

Wearables track sleep stages, heart rate variability, and resting heart rate on your wrist or finger; here are reviews, accuracy notes, and field tests.

Pieces 6
A close-up overhead photograph of a bedside nightstand at night, shot on a 50mm…
Sleep August 2026 · 9 min

Apple Watch Alternatives: Seven Weeks With Screen-Free Fitness Trackers

The first night I slept without a screen on my wrist, I fell asleep in nine minutes. The night before, with the watch on, it took thirty-one.

By Patrick Sumner · Read →
A macro photograph of four inexpensive fitness bands stacked across two bare forearms resting…
Wearables August 2026 · 6 min

I Slept in Four Budget Fitness Trackers for Three Weeks to See If a Cheap Band Can Catch a 4 p.m. Espresso

On the ninth night I finally did the thing I'd been putting off: a double espresso at 4:12 p.m., timed against the kitchen clock, and then four budget fitness trackers strapped across two wrists like…

By Henry Ashford · Read →
A dim residential bathroom at 6:40 in the morning, shot from a low angle…
Wearables August 2026 · 7 min

I Tested Bioelectrical Impedance Against Its Replacements: What AI Health Technology Actually Knows About My Body

There is a particular kind of disappointment that happens on a bathroom scale at 6:40 in the morning. Not the weight — the other number.

By Diane Norwood · Read →
A photorealistic overhead close-up of an empty rumpled bed in a dark bedroom at…
CPAP August 2026 · 7 min

The Case for Sleep Apnea Treatment Expansion Beyond the Mask

The most consequential development in sleep apnea in the last decade was not a therapy. It was a notification.

By Rachel Stanton · Read →
A close-up photorealistic macro photograph of a matte black titanium smart ring resting on…
Wearables August 2026 · 10 min

Can Wearable Technology Actually Detect the Caffeine in Your Body?

Your ring says you slept 6 hours 41 minutes and gives the night a 58. It flags elevated resting heart rate and a late-arriving temperature minimum.

By Daniel Whitfield · Read →
A dim bedroom photographed at 3 a.m. from the foot of the bed, empty…
Sleep Apnea August 2026 · 6 min

Sleep Apnea Detection and the Founder Origin Story: 21 Nights, Three Devices, One Home Test

Back the founder who lived the problem. In sleep tech that advice has a specific shape: the resident who woke up on a hospital floor, the engineer whose father died at 61 in his own bed, the…

By Rachel Stanton · Read →