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Samsung is starting to roll out blood pressure tracking to its smartwatch users in the US, after several years of the feature being available elsewhere. The update is available on Galaxy Watch 4 models or later running at least WatchOS 4.0, and enables users to monitor their heart rate alongside systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
The feature doesn’t allow supported Galaxy Watches to measure blood pressure independently; however — it requires an additional third-party cuff to determine baseline blood pressure levels and take periodic recalibrations every 28 days. This limitation was also seen when Samsung rolled out blood pressure tracking in South Korea more than six years ago.
It seems that Samsung can now offer blood pressure monitoring capabilities in the US by calling it a “wellness feature” rather than a medical one, after years of trying to get it cleared by the FDA — a similar workaround was utilized by fitness tracker maker Whoop last year.
This is what the blood pressure tracking feature interface looks like displayed on a Galaxy Watch 8 Classic. Image: Samsung
Galaxy Watch users will need to download the Samsung Health Monitor app to use the feature, which is supported on Galaxy phones running Android 12 or later. Samsung says a new passive monitoring feature will be added to the app “later this year” that allows users to see blood pressure trends over time.
The US rollout is described as “phased” in Samsung’s press release so it may take some time to arrive for all eligible Galaxy Watch owners — but better late than never, right?