The Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch Ultra are the first Samsung smartwatches to ship with the new FDA-approved sleep apnea detection feature. According to two users who shared their stories on Naver, it's already working wonders and changing lives.
Samsung initially released the De-Novo FDA-approved sleep apnea detection tool for Galaxy Watches in the USA earlier this year. However, the Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch Ultra ship with this new health tracking tool out of the box in more markets, including Korea.
In at least two cases shared on the Korean online platform Naver, the sleep apnea detection tool prompted Galaxy Watch users to seek medical advice and professional help. Doctors confirmed these users suffered from severe sleep apnea and were able to improve their quality of life by prescribing PAP (Positive Airway Pressure) machines. Here are some snippets from their stories.
Galaxy Watch 7-series changes lives
One Galaxy Watch 7 wearer in their 30s wrote on Naver that they were waking up tired and with a headache. Data gathered by the Galaxy Watch 7 suggested they might be suffering from severe sleep apnea. Samsung Health was showing a sleep score of a mere 35 points and blood oxygen levels of nearly 70% during sleep.
After seeking medical advice thanks to this Galaxy Watch 7 data, doctors told the user they should be using a PAP machine. “After a week of using it, I woke up with no headache or feeling like I hadn't slept.” This user's sleep score jumped from 35 to 95, and their blood oxygen level stayed within normal levels – above 90%.
The story continues after our Galaxy Watch Ultra review video
Another Galaxy Watch 7 user on Naver shared that the smartwatch let them know they were suffering from low blood oxygen levels during sleep.
Similarly, after seeking professional help from a nearby clinic, doctors confirmed that this Galaxy Watch 7 user was suffering from severe sleep apnea. They were prescribed a PAP machine, and their oxygen levels improved dramatically. “Using the Watch was a huge help,” said the user, adding that they “woke up feeling much more refreshed and had a good night's sleep.”
As some readers might recall, last year, several other Galaxy Watch users shared how devices like the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro came to their rescue through the ECG features, which helped them detect symptoms of sinus rhythm and atrial fibrillation. The latest Galaxy Watch models have only gotten better since. And the Samsung Health platform, as a whole, has grown with the addition of the Galaxy Ring.
