The Galaxy Watch Active 2 is unquestionably one of the best (if not the absolute best) Android-compatible smartwatch available today, but until we can take Samsung seriously as a challenger to Apple’s throne, the Korea-based tech giant has a number of hardware and software limitations to solve.
The when, the where, and the how of the Galaxy Watch Active 2 ECG feature
Many users who purchased the otherwise great device anticipating the ECG rollout by the end of March understandably felt cheated, but for what it’s worth, Samsung is inching closer to delivering on its promise… several months late…
and in one country only. That’s certainly better than nothing, although it pretty much goes without saying that Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) clearance in South Korea is in no way connected to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.
In other words,
we still have no idea when the Samsung
Galaxy Watch Active 2 might get the ECG feature stateside… or in any other market apart from South Korea for that matter. Even in the company’s homeland, users will need to wait until sometime during the third quarter, i.e. between July and September, to gain access to a simple yet potentially life-altering Samsung Health Monitor app.
With the help of a currently dormant ECG sensor, the app will measure your heart rate and rhythm in search for irregularities indicating Atrial Fibrillation (AFib). AFib can lead to blood clots, heart failure, and stroke, so detecting it early on is of paramount importance for millions of people around the world.
In addition to ECG, the aforementioned Health Monitor tool will also be able to
measure your blood pressure in the near future… in South Korea, making the Galaxy Watch Active 2 Samsung’s “most informed and convenient health tracker yet.”
Don’t get your hopes up for the Galaxy Watch 2
Obviously, the ECG sensor will also be present on “upcoming Galaxy Watch devices”, with Samsung planning to “progressively expand” the Health Monitor app to these unnamed future smartwatches… at some point down the line.
This could be the long overdue Galaxy Watch 2 or a fitness-first Watch Active 3, looking set to
vastly upgrade the battery capacity and
storage space of its forerunners among other things. Naturally, we don’t know if this bad boy will actually be capable of performing electrocardiogram measurements right off the bat, but at least in the US, that seems unlikely.
