You may look at the Gear S2 in all its well-designed beauty and think, “it can’t get any better than this,” but you’d be wrong. Specifically, you’d be wrong about the Gear S2: it can get better than its beautiful design. Why? Well, buried within the Gear S2 is a feature that all other smartwatch makers should emulate. It lies within Samsung’s own pre-installed smartwatch apps, and it’s called Auto HR (or Auto Heart Rate).
What is Auto HR? It is a feature within Samsung’s own pre-installed apps that allows you to set up the frequency with which the device monitors and records your heart rate automatically (without you touching the screen for each heart rate monitoring event). Unlike smartwatches of the past (and the present) that still rely on you to monitor your heart rate manually, Samsung’s Gear S2 allows you to “set it and forget it” when it comes to heart rate monitoring: you need set it once and let Auto HR do it’s thing.
Here’s how to set up Auto HR on your Gear S2:
- Find Samsung’s S-Health app in your apps list and select it.
- Once inside S-Health, scroll over until you see S-Health settings. Select the icon beneath the word (“settings”).
- You’ll see Auto HR beneath “step target” and above “Alert.” Select it to set up your Auto HR.
- As for frequency, you can choose between three options: 1) Frequent, 2) Moderate, and 3) Off. Select between frequent and moderate.
- Once you make your decision, swipe your way out of the app or press the bottom side button to return to your watch face. That’s it!
Now, your Gear S2 will monitor your heart rate based on your frequency selection. You can still do it yourself, but it’ll be easier to keep up your exercise without frequently checking your wrist or tapping on the display when you’re active.
