GoKawiilJoe Maring / Android Authority
I used to love drugstore blood pressure machines as a kid. The vague squeeze followed by a string of nonsensical numbers and a smiley face felt as mysterious as it was satisfying. As an adult, I’m much more aware of what those metrics actually mean, and this week, Samsung is bringing them right to your wrist.
Blood pressure monitoring is exactly the kind of upgrade I’ve been waiting to see on the Galaxy Watch in the US. Unfortunately, it’s not the tool people who need accurate readings should be using.
Would you buy a smartwatch just for blood pressure monitoring? 14 votes Yes, it's a feature I've wanted for years. 36 % Maybe, depending on how accurate the results are. 57 % No, it's not something I need/am interested in. 7 %
The problem with Samsung’s blood pressure monitoring
Samsung
As of March 31, Samsung began rolling out blood pressure tracking to Galaxy Watches in the US, something that’s been available overseas for years. The feature will make its way to compatible watches via the Samsung Health Monitor app, so anyone with a Galaxy Watch 4 and newer can tap in over the coming weeks.
On paper, the launch beefs up Samsung’s growing slate of FDA-cleared health tools, including ECG readings, irregular heart rhythm notifications, and its recently authorized sleep apnea detection feature. However, the system isn’t actually measuring your blood pressure in the traditional sense.
Samsung isn’t out here reading the pressure in your arteries. Instead, it leverages optical sensors to peek into your pulse wave patterns and estimate your systolic and diastolic values alongside heart rate. To make that work, you have to calibrate the watch with a standard upper-arm cuff every 28 days. In other words, you’re still making monthly drugstore visits or ordering a cuff off Amazon. The actual medical device sets a baseline, and then your watch approximates data from your wrist until you strap back in a few weeks later.
Samsung isn't offering medically accurate on-the-spot measurements, but estimates based on trends.
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