Samsung on Wednesday announced the new Galaxy Watch3 smartwatch.
It goes on sale Thursday starting at $399.99 and features a number of new health and fitness features that make it a close competitor to the Apple Watch.
The successor to 2018's Galaxy Watch and 2019's Galaxy Watch Active2, the Galaxy Watch3 features a slimmer rotating bezel and what Samsung is calling its "most expansive health suite yet." That includes automatic activity tracking for select exercises, a digital running coach, new sleep analysis tools, a home exercise feature called Samsung Smart View, and trip detection (aka fall detection), putting it on par with the Apple Watch and a number of advanced fitness trackers.
Before the end of September, Samsung plans to release a software update that enables on-demand VO2 max and SpO2 readings.
Used to measure cardiovascular fitness, VO2 max refers to the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise.
SpO2, a metric that can be used to detect sleep apnea, measures your blood's oxygen saturation level.
The Galaxy Watch3 also features blood pressure and electrocardiogram (ECG) apps.
During its live Galaxy Unpacked event on Wednesday, Samsung initially said those apps had only been certified in South Korea.
But minutes later, the company said it received US FDA approval for the ECG app.
In a statement to Daxdi, Samsung confirmed the ECG app will be available on the watch in the US.
The blood pressure app is still pending US approval.
"We are thrilled to share that we recently received FDA clearance for the Samsung ECG monitor app," the company said in an email after the event.
"We look forward to sharing more details soon.
The Blood Pressure Monitor App will not be available in the US unless FDA authorization is granted."
The watch supports 40 exercises, seven of which it can automatically detect.
For the other 33, you can simply raise your wrist and say a command like "begin pull-ups" or "start squats." When you're running, a coaching feature will offer real-time feedback about your pace and form.
A new Samsung Smart View feature is designed to sync workout videos in the Samsung Health app with your watch and Samsung smart TV.
You can select from one of 120 video workouts in the app, then use your Galaxy Watch3 to track your heart rate as well as pause, play, or stop the video on your TV.
Samsung is also taking on Apple's fall detection safety feature.
The Watch3 will ask if you want to send a custom SOS message to emergency contacts if its accelerometer detects you took a hard tumble.
Samsung says the Galaxy Watch3 gets around two days of battery life on a charge.
At night, the watch will track your breathing, sleep duration, quality, and consistency.
In the morning, it will give you a sleep quality score and may offer tips for improving your shut eye.
The watch supports Samsung Pay, though the mobile payment system isn't available on iPhones.
If you use an iPhone, you also won't be able to sync your fitness data from the Galaxy Watch3 to Apple Health.
Instead, it will live inside an iOS version of the Samsung Health app.
Samsung says the Galaxy Watch3 is 14 percent thinner and 5 percent lighter than its predecessor.
It also has a larger screen thanks to decreased bezels.
The company is offering Bluetooth and LTE versions of the new wearable in 41mm and 45mm sizes. It starts at $399.99 for the 41mm Bluetooth model and $449.99 for the 41mm LTE variant.
The 41mm version comes in bronze or silver. A larger 45mm watch comes in silver or black and starts at $429.99 for the Bluetooth model and $479.99 for the LTE version.
We'll be testing the Galaxy Watch3 in the coming days, so stay tuned for our full review.
