Samsung is working on One UI 8 Watch, which will debut with the upcoming Galaxy Watch8 models in July. Older watches will receive it as an update after that. However, a limited number of Galaxy Watch owners can join the beta program this month and experience some of the new features.
Samsung is highlighting four health-focused features that are coming with the new update – they are aimed at improving your sleep, keeping an eye on your vascular system and helping you with your run training. One feature can monitor antioxidants (carotenoids), which promote healthy aging.
The Bedtime Guidance feature will suggest an optimal bedtime based on your lifestyle and sleep patterns. And it will ping you with reminders to encourage you to stick to it. The feature will continuously recalculate your bedtime based on your sleep over the last three days.
Related to that is the Vascular Load feature, which measures the stress on your vascular system during sleep. The watch will monitor your stats and combine those with other factors such as sleep, exercise and stress to help you live a healthier lifestyle and to develop healthy habits.
Speaking of exercise, the Running Coach can analyze your running performance after a 12 minute run and will give you a score from 1 to 10. Then it can calculate a detailed running plan for a 5K, 10K, half marathon and even full marathon, based on your level. On your subsequent runs it will deliver real-time guidance and will help you avoid injuries related to over-pacing.
Good sleep and exercise are great but not enough as bad habits can creep in and negatively impact your health. The Antioxidant Index uses its optical BioActive sensor to measure carotenoids stored in your skin in just 5 seconds. Carotenoids are antioxidants found in green and orange vegetables and fruit.
“Sleep remains a cornerstone of our approach to health, as it influences physical and mental well-being, social relationships and even work performance. Now, we envision our Galaxy Watch delivering holistic insights centered around sleep — insights that lead to meaningful changes in daily life. We believe this aligns with our vision of empowering you to lead healthier lives through proactive care and holistic health management,” said Dr. Hon Pak, Senior Vice President and Head of Digital Health Team at Samsung’s Mobile eXperience division.