Samsung’s watch to have metabolic health tracking feature that Apple lacks

Samsung Electronics (OTCPK:SSNLF) will launch a new health-tracking feature which Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) watches do not yet have at the Galaxy Unpacked event on Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported.

The South Korean tech giant is touting the event as the next frontier of Galaxy AI.

The new Galaxy Watch models will track the user’s Advanced Glycation End Products, or AGEs, index, that could provide an indicator of metabolic health and biological age, the report added.

An Ultra version, aimed to compete with the $799 Apple Watch Ultra 2, is anticipated to be unveiled besides the new foldable phones and a Galaxy Ring health tracker.

Samsung led the way in the foldable smartphone category as a premium offering in 2019, however the company’s phones have not made inroads in the world’s largest smartphone market, China.

Foldable deliveries reached 17.5M in 2023, with Samsung having a 63% market share, the report noted citing research firm Canalys. Samsung is expected to unveil updated flip and larger foldable models at the event in Paris tomorrow.

Samsung and Apple and have worked for years on developing sensors to continuously track blood sugar, which could benefit patients with diabetes.

AGEs readers “have existed in larger hardware and we’ve now miniaturized that and made it possible to measure that through the watch for the very first time,” said Hon Pak, Samsung’s mobile digital health chief, according to the report.

The technology is seen as an advancement on the path to developing non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring devices.

To carry out more complex measurement, Samsung added more colors of LED that are used to illuminate blood vessels and get information about the wearer’s health. In addition, the new watches measure heart rate during intensive workouts with 30% more accuracy, the report added citing Samsung.

Samsung’s event comes ahead of Apple unveiling a major upgrade to its Apple Watch portfolio to celebrate the device’s 10th anniversary. Apple Watch is expected to offer a larger display and a new chip, but it was not known if features to detect high blood pressure and sleep apnea will be ready in time for release this year, the report added.