Starting with the Galaxy Watch Active2, Samsung added the ability for its premium smartwatches to monitor blood pressure and perform electrocardiograms for users. However, the features require regulatory approval that have kept them locked to certain markets, such as the United States.
If you live in Europe, though, there"s some good news for you, as Samsung recently got approval from the European Union to launch the features in the region. That means that both ECG and blood pressure monitoring are coming to all 27 member states of the EU, as well as the UK. On top of that, the features are coming to three other markets - Chile, Indonesia, and the United Arab Emirates - making for a total of 31 countries to get them.
Blood pressure monitoring and ECG are two features that can be very helpful in keeping an eye on serious health conditions. High blood pressure can often result from illnesses and cause serious problems if left unchecked. Meanwhile, ECGs allow users to detect signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib), which can also lead to major health problems such as strokes or blood clots. Naturally, you"ll want to see a doctor for a more thorough analysis, but having these features on a watch can help detect those problems earlier.
Both of the new features are available in the Samsung Health Monitor app, and if you don"t live in a market where they"re supported, you might not even know this app exists. It"s installed automatically for watches that support it, but completely invisible where it isn"t available. You"ll get the app when your watch - be it the Galaxy Watch Active2 or the Galaxy Watch3 - gets updated to support them.
In these 31 new markets, the devices will start getting the update on February 4, after which point the features should be available.