On guard of health: TOP-5 smartwatches with a pulse oximeter — a function for measuring oxygen in the blood

The second generation of smartwatches of the former Huawei Honor sub-brand offers a good set of functions at a very reasonable price. The model is made in a classic style with a round stainless steel body with water protection WR 50, which, however, does not allow diving and diving. The AMOLED display has a diagonal of 1.39" with a resolution of 454x454 pixels and a constant display of information. There is no metal bezel here, but the screen is framed by a scale with tachymeter numbers. There are two control buttons on the sides — configurable and for switching to the main menu.

The watch connects to a smartphone using Bluetooth 5.1, and the Huawei Health app is used to track data. The gadget duplicates notifications, messages and calls, and they can be answered immediately — a microphone and a speaker are provided for this. 4 GB of internal memory allows you to download music directly and listen to tracks while jogging, leaving your phone at home.

Sports fans will appreciate 15 training modes, including exercise bike, walking, swimming in the pool, etc., and a built-in running app with 13 courses and voice prompts (though only in English and Chinese). The device counts the pulse, the distance traveled, the number of calories spent, tracks breathing, the height of the climb and the pace. GPS navigation, a barometer and a magnetic compass are also not superfluous.

Smartwatches will also take care of your health: in addition to measuring saturation, which became available with the software update, they are able to analyze stress levels and sleep, offering breathing exercises to calm down and recommendations to improve sleep quality.

But the main hobby of Honor MagicWatch 2 46mm is battery life. If most smartwatches need to be charged every few days or a week, then here one battery charge with a capacity of 455 mAh will last up to 14 days (depending on operation). In particular, this is the merit of the proprietary Kirin A1 processor, which processes data faster and saves energy at the same time. Perhaps only NFC is missing, but it's a sin to complain for such a price.

The 42-millimetre version of the Huawei Watch GT 2 smartwatch has another 46-millimetre in its family, but differs from it not only by a more affordable price tag, but also by functionality. But by design, it clearly wins: a classic round case, a protective 3D glass with rounded edges, two physical buttons on the side — and nothing else superfluous. And if the older version is more massive and more suitable for men, then the compact model will be a good decoration for a woman's hand. Although the Sport version is rather unisex.

The watch received a 1.2-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 390x390 pixels. There is a small frame around the display, but it is invisible on a black background — only on a few dials. The finger glides over the surface easily, leaving no fingerprints.

In addition to the beautiful design, the model boasts a large set of functions for health and activity. First of all, with the update, the ability to measure the level of oxygen in the blood was added. There is no special sensor for this, already existing ones are used, but the readings are quite accurate. Also, the watch counts the pulse, the distance traveled, the number of calories spent, determines the stress level and monitors the duration and quality of sleep, giving advice on how to improve it.

In addition, there is a fairly standard set for wearable devices: alarm clock, timer, stopwatch, barometer, compass, GPS for tracking outdoor activity and the "Find phone" function. 15 sports modes are supported, including swimming, as the case is protected from water according to the IP67 standard. This means that the device will withstand short-term dives to a depth of less than 1 metre, but it is better to use a silicone strap instead of a leather one, like the Sport version.

The watch connects via Bluetooth to a smartphone and displays incoming calls, emails, messages and notifications on its screen. But you can't answer them — just view and reject the call. And this is one of the main differences between the 42mm version and the 46mm version, which has both a microphone and a speaker.

In terms of battery life, the younger version is also inferior to the older one, which runs from a single charge for up to 14 days. Here, the manufacturer promises up to 7 days in the usual mode, although this concept is, of course, vague. In general, if you go for workouts and jogging and use all the features of the watch, they will work for 4-5 days, and this is a pretty good result for modern gadgets. It will take about an hour and a half to fully charge.

The model is a more compact version of Vivoactive 4 — hence the letter S in the name. It has a 1.1-inch display with a resolution of 218x218 pixels, on which the necessary information is quite clearly visible. The watch is not massive, so it is suitable for both men and women, and not only for sportswear. They are designed for permanent wear: the straps are replaceable, the screen is protected by durable and non-sticky Corning Gorilla Glass 3, and the case is water resistant to 5 ATM, that is, you can wash your hands in the watch and not be afraid to get into the rain.

Synchronization with the smartphone takes place using the Garmin Connect application, after which incoming calls, messages and notifications will be duplicated on the screen. It is possible to reply to text messages, but it is only available when connected to an Android device. You can also make contactless payments via Garmin Pay.

Garmin Vivoactive 4S allows you to monitor your health around the clock: the Pulse Ox sensor measures the level of blood oxygen saturation during the day and during sleep, the device monitors your pulse, reporting frequent indicators during rest, and breathing, monitors sleep and assesses stress levels. The water balance is also monitored, but for this it is necessary to independently record the amount of liquid consumed and the state of the body in order to determine the optimal time for exercise and rest. And for the female half, information about the menstrual cycle with reminders and symptoms for each day will be useful.

Smartwatches will be an excellent assistant during training, both in the gym and outdoors (using GPS). You will get more than 20 pre—installed sports apps, animated workouts that will show you how to do exercises correctly, as well as Garmin Coach, a virtual trainer who will prepare you for a half marathon or distances of 5 and 10 kilometers. You can create your own workouts in Garmin Connect and upload them to your device, and to add drive to sports, the gadget allows you to download music and listen to it through wireless headphones.

The battery life is claimed to be up to 7 days during normal use, but GPS and listening to music reduce it to 5 hours.

The flagship model of 2020 replaced the first Galaxy Watch, while the Galaxy Watch 2 was decided to skip — apparently due to the presence of the Galaxy Watch Active 2 in the assortment. Traditionally, two versions are available: a more compact 41-millimetre, as well as a 45-millimetre, which we will talk about today. This is a more solid model with a large screen and a leather strap, which is more suitable for a large male hand. Fortunately, it is removable, since it is not friendly with water, so in this case it is better to have a spare silicone one. At the same time, IP68 water protection is claimed, which provides immersion of the device in fresh water to a depth of 1.5 metres for up to 30 minutes.

They also left the main feature of Samsung smartwatches — the rotating bezel, which makes it easy to navigate through the menu and simply interact with the gadget. In addition, there are two physical buttons on the side for control. The 45-millimetre version received a 1.4-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 360x360 pixels and the Always on Display function.

The watch connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, after which you can not even take it out of your bag or pocket. All chats and notifications are displayed on the display of the wearable device, and in full — not only with text, but also with images. You can answer both messages and calls, and 8 GB of internal memory allows you to download music and listen to it while jogging without being tied to a smartphone, but with the presence of wireless headphones. But with NFC not everything is so smooth — you can make contactless payments, but only through Samsung Pay, and this service is not available everywhere.

In addition to a stylish accessory, the smartwatch will also take care of your health and monitor your performance during workouts. The optical sensor on the back side has been updated and is able to measure not only the heart rate, but also the level of oxygen saturation in the blood. The gadget can do an electrocardiogram and report signs of atrial fibrillation — but, again, not in all countries, because this requires the approval of local regulatory authorities. With the help of Samsung Health Monitor, the device measures blood pressure without an inflatable cuff, but first you still need to calibrate using a conventional tonometer. The accelerometer records the user's falls in order to send an SOS signal to selected contacts if the owner does not rise. And at night, the watch tracks different phases of sleep to make rest more effective. For sports, there are about 120 preset programs, recommendations on running techniques and various motivations that stimulate more activity.

In addition to the Exynos 9110 chip, a 340 mAh battery is installed inside, one charge of which will last for several days, depending on the activity of use. The watch runs out faster during workouts, listening to music and with GPS running. They are charged via a magnetic docking station that connects to a USB Type-A port.

In terms of design, the model is not much different from the previous Apple Watch 5 and other smartwatches of the company. Apple still uses a square shape with a rounded protective glass at the edges, a Digital Crown crown and a physical button on the side. But there are still innovations: these are the new blue and red colours and the so—called mono-straps — straps without any fasteners and fasteners. But they have different sizes, so the choice will take longer.

Also, the size of the case, the location of the microphone, speaker, buttons, materials and screen have not changed. The 40-millimetre version received a 1.57-inch display with the Always on Display function and a resolution of 324x394 pixels, which, according to the manufacturer, has become 2.5 times brighter. However, the difference is not too noticeable, since even in the bright sun the information on the screen is clearly visible. But the "filling" has undergone changes: the watch has a newer Apple S6 chip, and Wi-Fi supports a frequency of 5 GHz.

As before, the smartwatch displays notifications from a smartphone, allows you to answer incoming calls and messages, call the Siri voice assistant and pay for purchases using Apple Pay. But since the gadget was created during the pandemic, Apple has added more functions to track health status. Firstly, a pulse oximeter appeared to determine the level of oxygen in the blood, as a result of which sensors on the inside were added. Secondly, you can do an electrocardiogram, and the "ECG" application will help to detect the presence of signs of atrial fibrillation in the heart rhythm, that is, serious cardiac arrhythmias. But it is not available in all countries.

In addition, the watch measures the pulse, monitors sleep, monitors hand hygiene, reminders of the required washing time, supports various sports modes and motivates sports, and the altimeter is now always on and constantly monitors ascents and descents. The latter will be interesting to fans of hiking in the mountains.

Unfortunately, the battery life has not changed and is still 18 hours, that is, you will have to charge the gadget every day. In addition, there is no longer a charging unit in the kit. Apple justifies this by protecting the environment, because why increase the amount of plastic, if, theoretically, every home already has a charger. Well, if not, you will have to buy the adapter separately, even though the watch itself is not cheap.

By the way, the Apple Watch 6 also has a 44-millimetre version with an enlarged screen.