diff --git a/src/relative-time-element.ts b/src/relative-time-element.ts
index 353655b..e3612ef 100644
--- a/src/relative-time-element.ts
+++ b/src/relative-time-element.ts
@@ -217,15 +217,57 @@ export class RelativeTimeElement extends HTMLElement implements Intl.DateTimeFor
     return `${this.prefix} ${formatter.format(date)}`.trim()
   }
 
-  #getUserPreferredAbsoluteTimeFormat(date: Date): string {
-    return new Intl.DateTimeFormat(this.#lang, {
-      day: 'numeric',
-      month: 'short',
+  #isToday(date: Date): boolean {
+    const now = new Date()
+    const formatter = new Intl.DateTimeFormat(this.#lang, {
+      timeZone: this.timeZone,
+      year: 'numeric',
+      month: '2-digit',
+      day: '2-digit',
+    })
+    return formatter.format(now) === formatter.format(date)
+  }
+
+  #isCurrentYear(date: Date): boolean {
+    const now = new Date()
+    const formatter = new Intl.DateTimeFormat(this.#lang, {
+      timeZone: this.timeZone,
       year: 'numeric',
+    })
+    return formatter.format(now) === formatter.format(date)
+  }
+
+  // If current day, shows "Today" + time.
+  // If current year, shows date without year.
+  // In all other scenarios, show full date.
+  #getUserPreferredAbsoluteTimeFormat(date: Date): string {
+    const timeOnlyOptions: Intl.DateTimeFormatOptions = {
       hour: 'numeric',
       minute: '2-digit',
       timeZoneName: 'short',
       timeZone: this.timeZone,
+    }
+
+    if (this.#isToday(date)) {
+      const relativeFormatter = new Intl.RelativeTimeFormat(this.#lang, {numeric: 'auto'})
+      let todayText = relativeFormatter.format(0, 'day')
+      todayText = todayText.charAt(0).toLocaleUpperCase(this.#lang) + todayText.slice(1)
+      const timeOnly = new Intl.DateTimeFormat(this.#lang, timeOnlyOptions).format(date)
+
+      return `${todayText} ${timeOnly}`
+    }
+
+    const timeAndDateOptions: Intl.DateTimeFormatOptions = {
+      ...timeOnlyOptions,
+      day: 'numeric',
+      month: 'short',
+    }
+    if (this.#isCurrentYear(date)) {
+      return new Intl.DateTimeFormat(this.#lang, timeAndDateOptions).format(date)
+    }
+    return new Intl.DateTimeFormat(this.#lang, {
+      ...timeAndDateOptions,
+      year: 'numeric',
     }).format(date)
   }
 
@@ -525,7 +567,11 @@ export class RelativeTimeElement extends HTMLElement implements Intl.DateTimeFor
       this.dispatchEvent(new RelativeTimeUpdatedEvent(oldText, newText, oldTitle, newTitle))
     }
 
-    if ((format === 'relative' || format === 'duration') && !displayUserPreferredAbsoluteTime) {
+    const shouldObserve =
+      format === 'relative' ||
+      format === 'duration' ||
+      (displayUserPreferredAbsoluteTime && (this.#isToday(date) || this.#isCurrentYear(date)))
+    if (shouldObserve) {
       dateObserver.observe(this)
     } else {
       dateObserver.unobserve(this)
diff --git a/test/relative-time.js b/test/relative-time.js
index 850fd9d..b9c809d 100644
--- a/test/relative-time.js
+++ b/test/relative-time.js
@@ -1886,6 +1886,10 @@ suite('relative-time', function () {
   })
 
   suite('experimental: [data-prefers-absolute-time]', async () => {
+    teardown(() => {
+      document.documentElement.removeAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time')
+      document.body.removeAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time')
+    })
     test('formats with absolute time when data-prefers-absolute-time="true"', async () => {
       document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time', 'true')
       const el = document.createElement('relative-time')
@@ -1930,6 +1934,171 @@ suite('relative-time', function () {
 
       assert.match(el.shadowRoot.textContent, /[A-Z][a-z]{2} \d{1,2}, \d{4}, \d{1,2}:\d{2} (AM|PM)/)
     })
+
+    test('formats today dates with "Today" text', async () => {
+      freezeTime(new Date('2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z'))
+
+      document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time', 'true')
+      const el = document.createElement('relative-time')
+      el.setAttribute('lang', 'en-US')
+      el.setAttribute('time-zone', 'America/New_York')
+
+      el.setAttribute('datetime', '2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z')
+      await Promise.resolve()
+
+      assert.equal(el.shadowRoot.textContent, 'Today 12:00 PM EST')
+    })
+
+    test('formats current year dates without year', async () => {
+      freezeTime(new Date('2023-06-15T12:00:00.000Z'))
+
+      document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time', 'true')
+      const el = document.createElement('relative-time')
+      el.setAttribute('lang', 'en-US')
+      el.setAttribute('time-zone', 'America/New_York')
+      el.setAttribute('datetime', '2023-03-10T18:00:00.000Z')
+      await Promise.resolve()
+
+      assert.equal(el.shadowRoot.textContent, 'Mar 10, 1:00 PM EST')
+    })
+
+    test('formats different year dates as full date', async () => {
+      freezeTime(new Date('2023-06-15T12:00:00.000Z'))
+
+      document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time', 'true')
+      const el = document.createElement('relative-time')
+      el.setAttribute('lang', 'en-US')
+      el.setAttribute('time-zone', 'America/New_York')
+      el.setAttribute('datetime', '2022-03-10T18:00:00.000Z')
+      await Promise.resolve()
+
+      assert.equal(el.shadowRoot.textContent, 'Mar 10, 2022, 1:00 PM EST')
+    })
+
+    test('respects locale formatting', async () => {
+      freezeTime(new Date('2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z'))
+
+      document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time', 'true')
+      const el = document.createElement('relative-time')
+      el.setAttribute('lang', 'es-ES')
+      el.setAttribute('time-zone', 'Europe/Madrid')
+
+      el.setAttribute('datetime', '2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z')
+      await Promise.resolve()
+
+      // Spanish formatting - "hoy" = "today", 24-hour format
+      assert.equal(el.shadowRoot.textContent, 'Hoy 18:00 CET')
+    })
+
+    test('uses element time-zone attribute', async () => {
+      freezeTime(new Date('2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z'))
+
+      document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time', 'true')
+      const el = document.createElement('relative-time')
+      el.setAttribute('lang', 'en-US')
+      el.setAttribute('time-zone', 'Europe/Paris')
+      el.setAttribute('datetime', '2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z')
+      await Promise.resolve()
+
+      assert.equal(el.shadowRoot.textContent, 'Today 6:00 PM GMT+1')
+    })
+
+    suite('format exclusions', function () {
+      test('does not activate for format="duration"', async () => {
+        freezeTime(new Date('2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z'))
+        document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time', 'true')
+
+        const el = document.createElement('relative-time')
+        el.setAttribute('lang', 'en-US')
+        el.setAttribute('datetime', '2023-01-15T16:00:00.000Z')
+        el.setAttribute('format', 'duration')
+        await Promise.resolve()
+
+        assert.equal(el.shadowRoot.textContent, '1 hour')
+      })
+
+      test('does not activate for format="elapsed"', async () => {
+        freezeTime(new Date('2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z'))
+        document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time', 'true')
+
+        const el = document.createElement('relative-time')
+        el.setAttribute('lang', 'en-US')
+        el.setAttribute('datetime', '2023-01-15T16:00:00.000Z')
+        el.setAttribute('format', 'elapsed')
+        await Promise.resolve()
+
+        assert.equal(el.shadowRoot.textContent, '1h')
+      })
+
+      test('does not activate for format="micro"', async () => {
+        freezeTime(new Date('2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z'))
+        document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time', 'true')
+
+        const el = document.createElement('relative-time')
+        el.setAttribute('lang', 'en-US')
+        el.setAttribute('datetime', '2023-01-15T16:00:00.000Z')
+        el.setAttribute('format', 'micro')
+        await Promise.resolve()
+
+        assert.equal(el.shadowRoot.textContent, '1h')
+      })
+
+      test('activates for format="relative" (default)', async () => {
+        freezeTime(new Date('2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z'))
+        document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time', 'true')
+
+        const el = document.createElement('relative-time')
+        el.setAttribute('lang', 'en-US')
+        el.setAttribute('time-zone', 'GMT')
+        el.setAttribute('datetime', '2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z')
+        el.setAttribute('format', 'relative')
+        await Promise.resolve()
+
+        assert.equal(el.shadowRoot.textContent, 'Today 5:00 PM UTC')
+      })
+
+      test('activates for format="auto"', async () => {
+        freezeTime(new Date('2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z'))
+        document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time', 'true')
+
+        const el = document.createElement('relative-time')
+        el.setAttribute('lang', 'en-US')
+        el.setAttribute('time-zone', 'UTC')
+        el.setAttribute('datetime', '2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z')
+        el.setAttribute('format', 'auto')
+        await Promise.resolve()
+
+        assert.equal(el.shadowRoot.textContent, 'Today 5:00 PM UTC')
+      })
+
+      test('activates for format="datetime" if current day', async () => {
+        freezeTime(new Date('2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z'))
+        document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time', 'true')
+
+        const el = document.createElement('relative-time')
+        el.setAttribute('lang', 'en-US')
+        el.setAttribute('time-zone', 'America/New_York')
+        el.setAttribute('datetime', '2023-01-15T17:00:00.000Z')
+        el.setAttribute('format', 'datetime')
+        await Promise.resolve()
+
+        assert.equal(el.shadowRoot.textContent, 'Today 12:00 PM EST')
+      })
+
+      test('activates for format="datetime" if current year but not today', async () => {
+        freezeTime(new Date('2023-06-15T17:00:00.000Z'))
+        document.documentElement.setAttribute('data-prefers-absolute-time', 'true')
+
+        const el = document.createElement('relative-time')
+        el.setAttribute('lang', 'en-US')
+        el.setAttribute('time-zone', 'America/New_York')
+        el.setAttribute('datetime', '2023-03-10T18:00:00.000Z') // 18:00 UTC = 1:00 PM EST
+        el.setAttribute('format', 'datetime')
+        await Promise.resolve()
+
+        assert.equal(el.shadowRoot.textContent, 'Mar 10, 1:00 PM EST')
+      })
+    })
   })
 
   suite('[aria-hidden]', async () => {