The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is expected to arrive with a potentially life-saving feature.
The upcoming Galaxy Watch now has an FDA-approved ECG monitor that will track any signs of atrial fibrillation. Such a feature is similar to Apple’s latest series of smartwatches. Here is what you need to know.
A Life-saving Feature and Other Significant Specs: What to Expect
If you followed along with Samsung Unpacked recently, you might have missed the announcement of the life-saving feature – Samsung snuck it in before presenting the already famous Galaxy Z Fold 2 as if the FDA said yes just moments before. And that’s for real. The FDA approval footnote was so quick that some found about it only several hours later.
While the Apple Watch’s FDA-approved ECG monitor is not so new (it was introduced with the Apple Watch Series 4), Samsung didn’t rush at all to get its variant approved. The Watch Active 2 comes with only one on board, but it was inactive until a few weeks ago.
Back in May, it got approved from South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to analyze and measure users’ heart rhythm for any issues indicating atrial fibrillation. And some assumed the ECG would mostly stay inactive in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Watch because Samsung can’t make available the ECG in other regions unless it gets similar approval from necessary government agencies. In the US, it’s the FDA (the Food and Drug Administration).
Samsung Galaxy Watch 3’s ECG Monitor Available in the US
We shouldn’t expect the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 to hit the shelves with the ECG monitor on August 6. And that’s because Samsung got the approval for the feature, only today (August 5).
But Samsung might get motivated and make the feature available in the next few weeks before Apple launches its new smartwatch series and steals the spotlight.
