Samsung today beat Apple in bringing blood pressure monitoring to its smartwatches. Starting today, the feature will be available on Galaxy Watch 4 or later running Wear OS 4.0 or newer.

"[With] the tools to measure and track their blood pressure, Galaxy users can receive greater insight into their health and wellness, enabling them to make more informed decisions and lead a healthy lifestyle,” Samsung says.

Keeping your watch ready for blood pressure monitoring may require some effort. You need to download the Samsung Health Monitor app and set a baseline measurement using a third-party blood pressure cuff every 28 days.

After that, you’ll be able to view the systolic and diastolic measurements directly on the watch. The systolic number indicates the pressure when the heart beats, while the diastolic pressure indicates the same when the heart is resting between beats. Ideally, it should be less than 120/80 mmHg.

Samsung hasn’t given a detailed explanation for how the feature works, but says it's "not intended to prevent or diagnose high blood pressure.”

This comes after a recent dispute between Whoop and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the former’s Blood Pressure Insights feature. The agency told Whoop that the feature requires agency clearance, but the company hit back, saying Blood Pressure Insights is a wellness feature and not a medical device.

Fitbit's AI Personal Health Coach Is Now Ready for iPhone Apple, on the other hand, has been rumored to be working on blood pressure monitoring for years, but the feature hasn’t arrived yet. The Apple Watch Series 9 and later support Hypertension Alerts, but they aren’t the same as continuous blood pressure monitoring.

Samsung will roll out its blood pressure monitoring feature in phases in the US, starting today. The feature is free to use, aside from the cost of the cuff.

By: DocMemory
Copyright © 2023 CST, Inc. All Rights Reserved