Imagine a world where you could have all your medical information on your wrist. Or where you could monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, and other vital signs on the go. Now imagine being able to share this information with your doctor or paramedics. Or being able to call for help when you are in danger. That’s just how medical smartwatches have revolutionized our world.
In a span of a few short years, we have witnessed dramatic technological advancements in smartwatches. However, the offerings are still limited. Given the options that you will find in the market, the Apple Watch Series 7 truly stands out.
The Apple Watch Series 7 offers everything a medical smartwatch should. It’s a complete package and justifiably “the best smartwatch on the market”. The only drawback is that it’s “only compatible with iPhones”. If you don’t use an iPhone, then your next best option is the Galaxy Watch 4, which is compatible with both iPhone and Android.
If the battery life is super important to you, the Withings Smartwatch ScanWatch would be more up your alley with a “30-day battery life”.
And if you’re simply looking for a medical smartwatch for accurate blood monitoring, the Omron HeartGuide is pretty efficient in what it claims to do. It is also the only medical smartwatch that has received “FDA clearance for its blood monitoring feature”. Though it is still quite limited in the other features that the users might be interested in.
So, we’ll say it again: if you have the budget for it, the Apple Watch Series 7 is a great all-around option.
Here’s a quick table to help you compare your options:
| Model | Apple Watch Series 7 | Fitbit Charge 5 | Fitbit Sense | Samsung Galaxy Watch4 | Samsung Galaxy Watch3 | Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 | Omron | Withings Smartwatch Move ECG | Withings Smartwatch ScanWatch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair |
| Workflow | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good |
| Patient Experience | Good | Excellent | Excellent | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good |
| Estimated Total Cost of Ownership | $350 | $350 | $240 | $250 | $299 | $185 | $500 | $129 | $279 |
| ECG | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Blood Oxygen Monitoring | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Battery Life | 15-18 hours | 7 days | 6 days | 40 hours | 2 days | 2 days | 2 days | 2 weeks | 30 days |
| Heart Rate Monitoring | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yea | Yes |
| Sleeping Pattern Monitoring | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Noise Detection | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Fall Detection / Emergency SOS | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Cellular Access | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited | Yes | Yes |
| Dust/Water Resistance | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| EDA Mental Health sensor | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Fitness Tracking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Temperature Sensor | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
“Let me check how many calories I burnt after my workout”.
“I’m feeling a little dizzy, let me check my pulse”.
“‘Oh, looks like mom forgot to take her medications, let me remind her.”
These are only some of the prompts that medical smartwatches have made possible. Just as quickly as they’ve adopted smart technology and continue to do so, smartwatches have gained quite the momentum, and rightfully so.
To be clear, a smartwatch is categorized as a medical smartwatch if it has one or more features or applications that are regulated as medical devices by the FDA or comparable agencies. Just like all new technological devices, you’ll find many kinds of medical smartwatches, each varying in quality and cost.
And just like always, we’re here to help you decide which medical smartwatch best suits your lifestyle. There are several factors to think about, but we’ll help simplify them for you.
Apple Watch Series 7 Review
Of course, we had to start with quite possibly the most talked about smartwatch. In fact, one of the most talked about brand. And we, too, have a lot to say about it!
Since its launch in 2015, the Apple smartwatch has come a long way in terms of aesthetics, functionality, as well as health features.
Let’s shift our focus to the health features. The Series 7 continues to measure the blood oxygen level, checks your heart with an electrocardiogram (ECG), and also is able to detect signs of irregular heart rhythms.
However, only the ECG has received FDA clearance; the blood oxygen monitor did not. It also offers decent interoperability, where data from the watch can be exported to an electronic medical record. It also has Medical IDs for its users that emergency room clinicians can access for medical information.
Everyone knows that Apple guarantees only the highest security for its users and the Apple Watch is no exception. All health data is encrypted, while in transit and at rest.
Through the Apple Watch Series 7, you can track and improve the quality of sleep, offering metrics such as the amount of time you slept, heart rate, blood oxygen, and sleeping respiratory rate – the breaths you take per minute. It also enables patients to track and manage medications with reminders and schedules.
It also has a noise app that monitors decibel levels and alerts the user that high levels can damage hearing. As with all other models, the Series 7 allows users to track their workouts and offers a library of various types of workouts; there’s even a Tai Chi workout!
It also has a “Mindfulness” app, which is particularly interesting. According to Apple, it is meant to help users “focus, center, and connect as you breathe.” It’s a way to have a quick meditation session and de-stress yourself anywhere, anytime.
A significant feature that the Series 7 offers is its ability to detect if you’ve taken a hard fall and then automatically call your emergency contact. Not only is this rather revolutionary, but it’s very well thought-of; it’s a feature that can be of great use to athletes, weekend warriors, seniors and others.
In terms of performance, the Series 7 processor is 20% faster than that of the Apple Watch SE, another model that is more reasonably priced with fewer features. Furthermore, when compared to the Series 6, the Series 7 can charge 33% faster. With cellular access, users can take calls and send texts through the Watch. It also includes the Wallet app for payments, Maps for navigation, and the ability to pair watches with family and friends to stay in touch.
Moreover, it has been certified to be dust and water-resistant, making it easier for users to wear it in different environments without worrying too much. The Series 7 also offers a more robust hardware, which is over 50% thicker than that of the Series 6.
As with all Apple products, the visuals that the Series 7 watch offers are super impressive. Apple itself claims that it is the “largest, most advanced display yet”. The watch is both easy on the eyes and the fingers. Needless to say, the user experience is crisp, seamless, and simply a joy.
The Apple Watch 7 is priced between $399 and $749, depending on dial size and other features.
To learn more about Apple smartwatches or to read the latest reviews, please click here.
Fitbit Smartwatches Review
The Fitbit Series is another popular smartwatch line, known especially for its fitness tracking.
Fitbit Charge 5
Since we started with Apple’s finest, it made sense to move on to Fitbit’s most advanced tracker: The Fitbit Charge 5.
One advantage that the Fitbit has over Apple is its compatibility since it works with iOS and Android smartphones. It also has an exceptionally long battery life of 7 days, whereas the Apple Watch offers a battery charge of anywhere between 15-18 hours.
The Fitbit has some excellent activity trackers to monitor user mobility, including steps taken, distance traveled, and calories burned. It gives phone notifications, is water-resistant, and has heart-rate monitoring and stress monitoring; all of which make it a decent medical smartwatch. It also has a temperature sensor and can monitor perspiration, both of which are lacking in the Apple Watch 7.
However, the Fitbit Charge 5 doesn’t have built-in cellular or safety tracking, both of which are offered by the Apple Watch 7.
Like the Apple Watch 7, the Fitbit Charge 5 also offers ECG monitoring, but it doesn’t have its own app for it. In order for users to access the sensor to track heart rate data, they need to subscribe to a Fitbit Premium subscription. Other than the ECG app, the subscription also gives users a Daily Readiness Score, which measures energy levels, fatigue scores, and sleep tracking.
But here’s the thing: the subscription service fee for the Fitbit Premium is $9.99 a month. Over a course of 2 years, that and the Fitbit Charge 5 will cost you over $350. Wouldn’t it make sense to invest in the Apple Watch 7, which only means a one-time payment?
Fitbit Sense
Similar to the Fitbit Charge 5, the Fitbit Sense offers the same features in terms of health functions: heart rate recovery, stress management, and ECG. It can also detect irregular heart rhythms.
In fact, it was the first of the Fitbit series to include the ECG. Both of them have GPS, Fitbit Pay for transactions, as well as smartphone notifications. However, the difference between the two Fitbit models should not be ignored. For instance, the Fitbit Charge 5’s battery lasts a full day longer than the Sense. The Charge 5 also boasts a larger screen area.
In terms of price, the Charge 5 is significantly cheaper than the Fitbit Sense, with more or less the same medical features. Therefore, if the primary focus of the user is on health and fitness monitoring, then Fitbit Charge is a clear winner.
To learn more about Fitbit smartwatches or to read the latest reviews, please click here.
Samsung Galaxy Smartwatches Review
We won’t talk about one, but three models of the Samsung Galaxy Series.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2
The Galaxy Watch 4 is essentially an extension of the Active line, minus the Active branding. The Galaxy Watch Active 2 also includes the same software as the Galaxy Watch 3, thereby limiting third-party apps.
In terms of health features, the Active 2 has its own FDA-approved ECG sensor and blood pressure reading. There is also heart rate, fitness, and workout tracking. However, Samsung has really packed a number of features in its future models, especially the two we’ll be discussing next.
The Active 2 is now available for less than $200 but offers limited features when compared with the Apple Watch 7 or the Galaxy Watch 4.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 3
The Galaxy Watch 3 offers the basic health features such as activity tracking, heart rate monitoring, ECG functionality, Blood Oxygen (SPO2) monitoring, and sleep tracking. It also includes fall detection and the ability to automatically send an SOS to emergency contacts. With the Galaxy Watch 3, users can leave their phones at home while staying fully connected on their watch.
In terms of battery life, the Galaxy Watch 3 lasts just over a day, whereas the Apple Watch 7 is capable of lasting up to 2 days and it offers fast charging, too.
Furthermore, the Apple Watch 7 display is a lot bigger, making it the clear winner in that regard. Actually, in terms of display, the Apple Watch 7 would win against all the smartwatch options out there.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4
The Galaxy Watch 4 is an improvement from the Galaxy Watch 3. One major drawback of the Watch 3 was its software and its lack of third-party apps. To their users’ delight, Samsung took this into consideration when releasing the Galaxy Watch 4. The new model adopted a faster, more inclusive software, Wear OS – it can even be paired to its mortal enemy, the iPhone!
The Galaxy Watch 4 includes all health features that Watch 3 has with additional features. It has the ability to monitor blood pressure as well as measuring body composition. Users can also measure BMI, fat levels, water levels, and more. The Galaxy Watch 4 also includes a holistic sleep analysis and snoring detection, both of which are major upgrades from the Active 2. The interoperability is also decent.
In terms of price, the Galaxy Watch 4 starts at $249, whereas the Watch 3 still retails at $349 on the Samsung website. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is less costly than the Apple Watch 7, ranging from $249-$399, depending on the Bluetooth or LTE models.
It’s difficult to choose between the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Apple Watch 7. The former is the top choice for Android users and the latter for iPhone users. However, since Samsung has teamed with Google, it is possible that Fitbit users might move toward the Galaxy smartwatches. If you were to ask us to pick between all three Samsung models, we’d definitely pick the Galaxy Watch 4.
To learn more about Samsung Galaxy smartwatches or to read the latest reviews, please click here.
Omron HeartGuide Review
Essentially, the HeartGuide is a wearable blood pressure monitor. It can also track user fitness and draw correlations between behavior and heart health. So, like all the other smartwatches we have talked about yet, the HeartGuide can also track steps, distance, and calories burned. Another similarity is its ability to observe sleep patterns, quality of sleep, and other sleep-related factors.
A major positive that HeartGuide brings with it is that it offers FDA clearance on its blood pressure monitoring, something that the Apple Watch 7 cannot offer right now.
One downside is that it offers limited connectivity. Users can receive phone notifications, but you can’t call or text through the watch. Therefore, while the Omron does offer top-notch blood monitoring, it does compromise on other features of premium smartwatches that combine health, fitness, and lifestyle. Given its limited usability, its price is also quite steep; at the time of launch, the HeartGuide was priced at around $500.
To learn more about Omron smartwatches or to read the latest reviews, please click here.
Withings Smartwatches Review
Move ECG
As the name suggests, The Withings smartwatches Move ECG offers ECG functionality along with fitness tracking, sleep tracking, and connected GPS support. However, a major drawback is its inability to offer smartphone notifications, making its usage very limited.
Scanwatch
The Scanwatch follows up on the Move ECG and comes with a bigger and brighter display. It also offers more accurate fitness tracking and better battery life along with phone notifications and automatic syncing. Another major upgrade is that Scanwatch sends alerts when a user experiences an irregular heart rhythm.
However, the Scanwatch is priced at $279, while the Move ECG is $129. Then again, if you’re willing to pay $300, why not consider other options such as the Galaxy smartwatches or better, the Apple Series 7?
To learn more about Withings smartwatches or to read the latest reviews, please click here.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best medical smartwatch blood pressure?
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro
The Galaxy Watch 5 series is the pinnacle of what Samsung has to offer. The smartwatches are among the best in terms of fitness features, and they also have blood pressure monitoring.
What is the FDA approved smart watch for blood pressure?
HeartGuide is the first clinically accurate, wearable blood pressure monitor developed in the novel form of a wristwatch, and it is FDA-approved as a medical device.
Can fitbit or Apple Watch track blood pressure?
The wristwatch isn’t built to test your blood pressure on its own, but you can couple it with tools and devices that do, such as wireless monitors that connect to your iPhone or Apple Watch and come with an arm cuff and their own app.
Is the EKG on Apple Watch accurate?
The ability of the ECG app to accurately classify an ECG recording into AFib and sinus rhythm was tested in a clinical trial of approximately 600 subjects, and the classifiable results revealed 99.6% specificity for sinus rhythm classification and 98.3% sensitivity for AFib classification.
Here’s What We Have to Say
We understand that your smartwatch is more than just something to look at when you want to check the time or send a text message. It’s a way of life where you can keep tabs on the things that matter to you.
After considering the pros and cons of each option, it’s clear that the Apple Watch 7 is a clear winner. If compatibility is an issue, the next best choice would be the Galaxy Watch 4. But both of these devices need to be charged frequently.
For better battery life, we suggest getting the Withings Smartwatch ScanWatch. Nonetheless, if you’re just looking for a smartwatch to accurately track your blood pressure and pulse rate, the Omron HeartGuide can do the trick. And it’s FDA approved for that particular function!
Hopefully, our guide to the best medical smartwatches has helped you narrow down your options and find the right fit for your needs.
Selected References
- https://www.techepages.com/apple-watch-7-vs-fitbit-charge-5/
- https://www.samsung.com/in/watches/galaxy-watch-active/galaxy-watch-active2-44mm-gold-sm-r820nsdainu/
- https://omronhealthcare.com/products/heartguide-wearable-blood-pressure-monitor-bp8000m/
- https://designreviews.com/samsung-galaxy-watch-active-2-vs-apple-watch-7/
- https://www.gadgetsnow.com/compare-smartwatch/Apple-Watch-Series-7-vs-Samsung-Galaxy-Watch-3
- https://www.withings.com/at/en/move-ecg
- https://www.androidauthority.com/withings-move-ecg-review-938624/
- https://www.withings.com/be/en/scanwatch
- https://www.smartwatchseries.com/withings-scanwatch-vs-steel-hr-sport-vs-move-ecg-which-is-the-best/
- https://www.gadgetsnow.com/compare-smartwatch/Apple-Watch-Series-7-vs-Fitbit-Sense
