Your Galaxy Watch is now FDA approved to detect sleep apnea

Summary

• Samsung’s Galaxy Watch is the first smartwatch to receive FDA approval for detecting sleep apnea, beating out competitors like Apple.
• The sleep apnea monitoring feature will be available in the third quarter of this year for compatible Galaxy Watches.
• Sleep apnea is a serious condition that affects many people, but most are unaware they have it. Smartwatches with sleep apnea detection could be a game-changer in identifying those at risk.

If you find yourself tossing and turning at night or waking up feeling exhausted in the morning, you might be dealing with sleep apnea. It’s a condition where you momentarily stop breathing during sleep. Anyone can be affected, but some of the leading smartwatches like Samsung’s Galaxy Watches can help detect and manage it. The good news is that the Food and Drug Administration has approved the wearable’s sleep apnea detection feature in the US.

Samsung announced in a press release that the Galaxy Watch series just became the first smartwatch ever to snag the FDA’s De Novo authorization for detecting sleep apnea. The South Korean tech giant claims that no other consumer smartwatch has pulled off this trick, not even the Apple Watch.

Obtaining this kind of approval is usually for new healthcare products, but it doesn’t guarantee the tech is foolproof in every situation. Samsung’s announcement adds several footnotes mentioning that the Galaxy Watch isn’t a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety also gave the thumbs up to the same feature back in October.

Samsung plans to roll out the sleep apnea monitoring feature for compatible Galaxy Watches in the third quarter of this year. You can grab it through the Samsung Health Monitor app. However, the company did not specify exactly which Galaxy Watch models will snag this feature, although it did mention the Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 5 lineups as the only ones with sleep apnea detection when it announced South Korea’s approval of the feature.

If you’re aged 22 or older and haven’t been diagnosed with sleep apnea, Samsung’s got you covered. With this feature on your smartwatch, you can check for signs of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) over a two-night monitoring period. Just make sure you’ve clocked in at least two days of sleep for more than four hours each within a 10-day stretch.

According to studies, around 80% of people with sleep apnea are in the dark about it. So, personal health trackers like smartwatches could be a game-changer in spotting those at risk. Sleep apnea is no joke—it messes with your sleep, causing snoring and other health headaches. The National Sleep Foundation warns it can lead to fatigue, mess up your sleep quality, and increase the chances of suffering from hypertension, heart failure, and strokes.

While Samsung’s Galaxy Watch got the spotlight with its FDA approval, it’s not the only player in the game. Apple is reportedly working on sleep apnea detection for the Apple Watch, using sleep and blood oxygen data (via XDA-Developers).

Samsung is on the hunt for medical upgrades for its devices amid growing competition in the wearable world. But the Galaxy Watch isn’t the pioneer here. Withings’ Sleep pad already offers sleep apnea tracking, and in 2020, it even dropped a watch with that functionality. A year later, the FDA gave the green light for its ECG and pulse oximeter features.