Remember this line from the launch of the first Apple Watch in 2014: “Apple Watch gets to know you the way your personal trainer would”? In many ways that has defined the wearable technology category as a personal health and wellness companion. Except now, you can add doctor to the personal trainer. It’s the key purchase driver for most consumers who have ditched their luxury watches and heirloom watches for a piece of wearable tech.
The first Apple Watch did just three fitness things – an accelerometer measured total body movement, a heart rate sensor measured intensity, while the GPS tracked how you moved. Seven years later, it’s a whole new ball game as wearable manufacturers have added new wellness elements and sensors in the mix.
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 can measure your body composition (with clear body fat percentage) straight off your wrist with a cutting-edge BioActive Sensor, while Fitbit’s Sense is equipped with a temperature sensor. There are two key wellness features that are driving the sales pitch of most brands – ECG and blood oxygen monitoring or tracking SpO2 levels.
Also read: Apple Watch Series 7 Review: The best smartwatch for iPhone gets even better
We’ve all heard of SpO2 now, thanks to COVID-19: The pandemic has created more awareness for SpO2, or saturation levels of oxygen in the blood, than ever before. Remember those clip-on devices (pulse oximeters) that were attached to your finger or earlobe. Before 2020 you might have used them at a clinic, now you probably have to be screened by one of these before you step into your local gym. SpO2 is measured by a non-invasive method that emits and then absorbs a light wave passing through blood vessels. SpO2 refers to oxygen saturation - in simple terms, an estimation of the amount of oxygen in the blood - 94-100% is the ideal blood oxygenation level.
ECG on your wrist: The ECG sensor on the Apple Watch first debuted in 2018 and showcased the technological prowess of a wearable. An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) is a test that records the timing and strength of the electrical signals that make the heartbeat. The ECG app checks these pulses to get your heart rate and see if the upper and lower chambers of your heart are in rhythm. If they’re out of rhythm, that could be AFib or atrial fibrillation, a form of irregular heart rhythm.
Also read: 7 tips to get the most out of your Apple Watch
Most medical experts and device manufacturers add a word of caution that none of these sensors is absolutely accurate but can be a first point of reference or an orange flag that something needs your attention. We list out five smartwatches that offer an SpO2 sensor, a couple of them also offer ECG monitoring:
Apple Watch 7: The seventh gen Apple Watch is still the best wearable for iPhone users. It’s also the most evolved smartwatch with a large ecosystem of Apps. The new expanded screen on the Series 7 brings extra functionality to the wrist with an on-screen keyboard to dash off quick replies. It offers both on-demand measurements that can be taken when the user is still and periodic SpO2 measurements when they are inactive including during sleep. The ECG sensor on the Apple Watch is also the most seasoned on any wearable (Rs 41,900 onwards).
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4: It’s a best of both worlds. Samsung’s hardware and design coupled with the Wear OS (from Google). This brings a lot more functionality and apps (think Google Maps) to your wrist. It’s also one of the most loaded smartwatches on the wellness front. You get on-demand SpO2 tracking but our favourite feature is the Body Composition tracker. Samsung’s new BioActive Sensor, teamed with a fast chip (a dual core 1.18 GHz processor), tracks fat percentage, skeletal muscle and body water. The watch also has ECG and blood pressure measurement capabilities that should be available in India after regulatory clearances (Rs 23,999 onwards).
Fitbit Sense: Works equally well with iPhones and Android devices with an evolved companion App and the Fitbit Premium subscription (Rs 999/year with a free six-month trial with the Sense) that offers additional drill-down wellness data. The Sense can track your SpO2 readings in your sleep (it’s not on-demand). The ECG feature is on-demand though and it’s remarkably easy to run. The Sense also boasts of a skin temperature sensor. It’s not the same as the core temperature (inside your body) that is usually measured with a thermometer. The Sense takes three nights to estimate your baseline temperature and then begins to measure variations with the skin temperature sensor (Rs 22,999).
Garmin Venu 2: Garmin has remained a cult favourite among serious fitness enthusiasts. One of the newest additions to the Garmin line, the Venu 2 comes with an in-built Health Snapshot feature that allows you to log a 2-minute session to record key health stats, including heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), Pulse Ox, respiration and stress, generating a report via the Garmin Connect app to monitor the statistics. Garmin promises an impressive battery life of 11 days in smartwatch mode, with up to 8 hours on GPS mode (Rs 41,990).
OnePlus Harry Potter Limited Edition Watch: This is a no-brainer for Potterheads. This special edition watch features multiple Harry Potter customisations, including a lightning bolt – reminiscent of Harry Potter’s emblematic scar - inscribed on the power button. The vegan leather band is embossed with the instantly recognisable Hogwarts Crest. The UI offers Potter customisations that include fonts, animations and watch faces. It’s the same OnePlus watch that debuted a few months ago with a vibrant 1.39-inch AMOLED display and a SpO2 sensor that is very easy to use (Rs 16,999).
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