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Samsung beats Apple to the FDA-cleared sleep apnea punch on Galaxy Watches

By Adrian Diaconescu

Published: Feb 09, 2024, 10:46 AM

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Samsung beats Apple to the FDA-cleared sleep apnea punch on Galaxy Watches

As if Samsung's best smartwatches were not already impressively skilled at keeping a watchful eye on the health and wellness of their wearers, yet another potentially vital tool is officially set to further improve that aspect of select Galaxy Watch models in the US soon.

This is something that may have flown under your radar when it was originally announced as approved for use in South Korea a few months back, but now it's definitely worth all our attention, especially after a slightly more recent report that suggested Apple is working on the exact same feature for its next-gen wearable devices.

When can you start using the feature?

Until the Apple Watch Series 10 sees daylight (with or without a working and FDA-authorized sleep apnea detection tool), Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 6 series users stateside are likely to be able to enjoy that very same type of technology and try to get better rest.

Somewhat curiously, Samsung is not mentioning those products (or any other products) by names (or numbers) today, but in the company's homeland, the last two Galaxy Watch generations were named as the only ones with sleep apnea availability on the way in "early 2024."

In the US, Samsung expects to flip the sleep apnea detection switch in its proprietary Health Monitor app at some point in the "third quarter", which sounds like a pretty distant deadline but it should still beat Apple to the punch.

As with other potentially therapeutic functionalities, Samsung is very careful to add a bunch of asterisks to today's announcement, highlighting that your Galaxy Watch should in no way replace a "traditional method of diagnosis and treatment by a qualified clinician."

It's equally important to note that the sleep apnea feature in the Samsung Health Monitor app is only recommended for folks over the age of 22 with no pre-existing diagnosis for this very serious medical condition, which apparently affects no less than 25 percent of all men and 10 percent of women in the US.

The ball is now in Apple's court

At its very core, the idea here is to detect possible indications of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) that can then be "traditionally" confirmed (or debunked) by a medical professional and treated accordingly.

The condition, mind you, can cause a person to stop breathing while sleeping, which naturally leads to "increased daytime fatigue" while also increasing the risk of being diagnosed with even more serious ailments like hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure, cardiac arrhythmia, and stroke, especially when left unnoticed and untreated for an extended period of time.

While getting authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for any feature of this sort is obviously a big thing, the agency's De Novo label granted to Samsung's sleep apnea detection doesn't automatically mean the technology is verified as reliable and accurate in any and all scenarios.

This classification is instead generally used for "low- to moderate-risk" devices that have no "substantial equivalent" on the market. It remains to be seen if Apple will be granted the same FDA certification for its "substantially equivalent device" in the fall... if recent rumors actually prove accurate.

The FDA previously cleared Samsung's irregular heart rhythm notification technology for select Galaxy Watch devices as well, but on the not so bright side of things, the company's blood pressure monitoring originally unveiled all the way back in 2019 (!!) for the first-gen Galaxy Watch Active (!!!) is still not authorized for US use on any of its Apple Watch-rivaling devices.

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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'.