There’s still a few weeks to go before Samsung’s newest wearable, the Galaxy Watch Active 2, will go on sale in the US, something Samsung confirmed last month about the device — which will also go on sale this Friday in South Korea, the same day, incidentally, that Samsung will supposedly release its first foldable smartphone.
Regarding the watch, we already knew that the wearable would be lacking the Apple Watch 4’s best features at launch. However, a new report confirms that the Active 2, which will include a digital rotating bezel, will add the ability to detect when its user has fallen as well as an ECG feature in the first quarter of 2020.
That’s according to SamMobile, which says it’s confirmed Samsung is still waiting on FDA approval for both of those features. The expectation is that ECG and Afib notifications will start arriving for US users of the watch in February, while fall detection is tipped for some time in the first quarter.
The Apple Watch has become a vital tool for managing personal health thanks to features like these and others, so it’s certainly no surprise Samsung wants to produce a product that’s similarly useful for non-Apple consumers who want to take more control over their health. You’ll be able to pre-order the watch starting later this week, and once these new features roll out to the device in early 2020, the health benefits will be enormous.
The ECG, for example, will allow a user to take a heart reading straight from their wrist, which can detect signs of atrial fibrillation — a condition characterized by an irregular heartbeat that can lead to serious complications. Fall detection, likewise, can be just as much of a lifesaver. If the wearer faints, for example, or falls in such a way that he or she is incapacitated, it can be set up to first prod the wearer for a response and to call emergency responders if the user doesn’t respond.
