What you need to know
- According to a report, Samsung could implement blood glucose monitoring features on the Galaxy Watch 7 later in 2024.
- Samsung’s Hon Pak said the company wants to integrate blood sugar and diabetes monitoring into its healthcare ecosystem in addition to hypertension support.
- Earlier this year, Pak said that wearable blood glucose monitoring would be “non-invasive,” but that may not be the case for another five years.
There’s a chance Samsung will add another major health monitoring feature to the Galaxy Watch 7 later this year.
According to PulseNews (Korean), Samsung’s vice president and head of digital healthcare, Hon Pak, met with board members to discuss the future of its wearable health features (via SamMobile). It was reported that Pak mentioned ambitions to integrate diabetes and blood sugar monitoring into Samsung Health.
It was also discussed that cardiac arrhythmias and high blood pressure could play a role.
Rumors now suggest that Samsung may try to integrate such health monitoring features for blood sugar, diabetes and more into the Galaxy Watch 7. Additionally, the publication states that the Korean OEM may advertise the device as an “electronic device” rather than a “medical device.” SamMobile notes that this could be due to a variety of regulatory factors.
Elsewhere, Pak wants to focus more on implementing Samsung’s AI technology into its healthcare division, although he hasn’t outlined how AI might improve the user experience with Samsung Health or wearables in the future.
Current rumors seem to contradict what we’ve heard before, which suggested the blood glucose monitor wouldn’t come to market for another few years. Hon Pak spoke about the feature in early January this year, saying Samsung was interested in adding “non-invasive” glucose monitoring to its Galaxy Watch lineup. Such a method would eliminate the need for users to puncture themselves.
Pak originally stated that there was hope that the feature would arrive in the next five years. While this (obviously) takes glucose monitoring a long way from the Galaxy Watch 7, the latest rumors suggest it’s back on the table.
For now, take this rumor with a grain of salt until Samsung officially says so.
Additionally, specifications for the upcoming Galaxy Watch 7 were leaked earlier this month. Due to the Bluetooth SIG certification, the watch may have Bluetooth 5.3 support like its predecessor. For the Galaxy Watch 7, consumers may have three models to choose from, as well as the ability to expand the storage on the device to around 32GB.
Rumors suggest that Samsung could hold its Unpacked event even earlier this year on July 10 in Pairs, France. We will probably see the brand launch the Watch 7 series among other devices there.