Samsung is mulling over making you pay a subscription fee for certain core Galaxy Watch features.
In an interview with Samsung’s head of digital health, Dr Hon Pak, the company apparently told CNET that it was exploring a premium subscription model like that of rivals services Fitbit Premium and Garmin new Connect Plus.
This would seemingly only be for so-called ‘advanced coaching features’. Access to these might also be free for newer devices – such as the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 – leaving owners of older Galaxy Watch devices – potentially including the current Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 – to pick up the subscription slack.
However this subscription model shakes out, it would represent a first for Samsung. The company didn’t even implement a subscription fee with its health-focused Galaxy Ring wearable, as many suspected that it would.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
One UI 8 Watch health features
Samsung’s new wearable OS, One UI 8 Watch, will add a bunch of new health and fitness-related metrics. One of those will be Vascular Load, which measures the strain on a wearer’s heart and vascular system while sleeping.
Bedtime Guidance, meanwhile, will supply personalised recommendations for ideal sleep and wake up times, following a three day period in which it observes your sleep patterns.
Antioxidant Index will enable your Galaxy Watch to measure carotenoid levels in the skin, simply by placing your thumb on the back of the watch sensor for a few seconds – no needles required. You’ll receive a score, alongside advice on habits that might improve your antioxidant levels. In future, it might even recommend specific recipes or supplements.
All of which sounds very impressive, but if any or all of these health features end up being hidden behind a paywall, they might not take off as mainstream propositions. This is virgin territory for Samsung, so it would be well advised to tread lightly.
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