While Samsung and Apple are engaged in fierce battles for global supremacy on multiple different fronts of the larger tech industry, the health monitoring war between the two behemoths might be the most fascinating, evenly contested, and quite possibly the most consequential of them all.
It's no big secret that both companies have incredibly ambitious plans for the future of wearable devices, looking not only to diversify the shapes and types of the products you've come to rely on for tracking your vitals and wellbeing day in and day out, but most importantly, aiming to vastly improve their capabilities, accuracy, reliability, and impact on your health.
Those may sound like empty words or exaggerated marketing claims unlikely to ever get real-life backing, but at least as far as Samsung's vision for the near and not-so-near future is concerned, a couple of goals happen to be crystal clear and very specific.
Non-invasive glucose monitoring is coming (in some form) "within five years"
Samsung and Apple want to make this type of blood glucose monitor a thing of the past.
We're talking about putting a blood sugar monitor on a consumer wearable without actually drawing blood, pricking your skin, or causing any user discomfort whatsoever. That's clearly an incredibly difficult task for a number of reasons, but Samsung is confident the job can be done... at some point in the not-so-distant future, although the specifics on how all technical challenges will eventually be overcome remain a complete mystery.
Granted, it's not yet clear if Apple has settled on a unique vision and method of integrating a non-invasive glucose sensor into one of its next-gen smartwatches, but rumors suggest that could happen (somehow) as early as this year, which means Samsung is probably one or two (or a dozen) steps behind its arch-rival as far as this particular health care technology is concerned.
Continuous blood pressure tracking is also in the works
If you own a Galaxy Watch 5 or Galaxy Watch 6, you might already be familiar with the current limitations of Samsung's wearable blood pressure monitoring technology. In a nutshell, those measurements, which could be life-saving for many people, are not extremely precise, requiring calibration against a separate medical-grade device, and perhaps most significantly, they're not continuous.
But that's still a start, and Samsung is unsurprisingly working tirelessly on taking the technology to the next level... sooner or later. The aim, of course, is to allow you to keep an eye on your blood pressure all day (and all night) long without ever needing anything other than a Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Ring, or Galaxy Buds.
That's right, these vastly improved sensors could be coming to a wide range of Samsung products in the future, although something tells us they will probably be integrated first into one of the company's upcoming smartwatches. Maybe even the Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch 7 Classic later this year.
Unlike in the blood sugar monitoring field, Samsung's early blood pressure technology start could definitely allow it to push the functionality to a truly life-changing stage way before Apple can do the same. But of course, you can never know exactly how far the Cupertino-based tech giant has gotten with the internal development of a potentially groundbreaking technology until said tech is unveiled to the public.
What's definitely nice to hear is that both giants are looking at crucial ways to help their users live better and longer. That, our friends, is far more important than a new camera, RAM upgrade, and even all those massively advertised AI skills and features.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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