Only works with certain Samsung phones
Smartwatches offer numerous fitness and health functions: They count calories, determine running distances and heart rate (compared to smartwatches). Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 3 now also measures blood pressure on the wrist via LED sensors.
The prerequisite is a Samsung smartphone with an operating system from Android 7, with which the smart watch is paired. Blood pressure measurement does not currently work with other cell phones (to the cell phone test).
First the clock has to be adjusted
In addition to the smartwatch, users also need a classic cuff blood pressure monitor. With its help, the smart watch is precisely adjusted before the first measurement. We used our test winner.
In addition to the “Samsung Health App”, which can be used to document the fitness data of the smartwatch, the “Samsung Health Monitor App” is also required for calibration.
Recalibrate the blood pressure monitor once a month
The calibration itself takes about 5 minutes and is simple thanks to the intuitive user guidance in the app. Samsung recommends repeating the process once a month to increase the accuracy of the readings. If another user wants to measure blood pressure with the watch, he must also recalibrate it.
There is a quick guide online
We tested the operation, user-friendliness, reliability and accuracy of the blood pressure measurement function. This is currently not yet described in the Smartwatch’s user manual, but there is a quick guide with a detailed instruction video on Samsung’s website.
Blood pressure measurement takes only a minute
The watch must be worn relatively tight on the wrist. We measured blood pressure at different times of the day because it changes throughout the day for most people. A measurement took about a minute. To ensure the value, we repeated each measurement three times and compared the results using our classic measuring device, which was used on the other arm.
Tip: You can find all the important information and test results for medicines related to blood pressure in our Medicines under test database.
Strict rules: no coffee, no exercise, no alcohol beforehand
Our test results: The watch can be operated intuitively, its menu navigation is clear and easy to understand. It also provides relatively solid and trustworthy blood pressure readings. But it only does that if you strictly follow Samsung’s guidelines: no sport, alcohol, coffee or nicotine 30 minutes before measuring. The values differed significantly after our testers drank a coffee or exercised.
Users must remain calm
Calm down. When measuring, the arm must be completely motionless. © Stiftung Warentest / Ralph Kaiser
Important: The arm must be kept completely still on a stable surface – for example a table – the measurement stopped at the slightest movement. How often this happened depended in part heavily on the test person. One had problems with every third measurement, the other only with every 15th.
Before and after the measurement, the Watch 3 indicates that no “medical measures” should be taken based on the blood pressure values. Medical advice is required before medication is dosed differently or replaced.
Complete documentation in the apps
A plus is the automatic documentation of the measured values over the years in both apps. The values can be displayed for the selected period – day, week or month – as a list or over time. In addition, the watch also provides average values. The “Samsung Health App” presents the measured values most conveniently. For example, it shows the daily average values on a time axis.
Conclusion: Practical, but expensive
A handy new feature for smartwatch fans that makes it easy to measure blood pressure anywhere. It is a pity that the watch, which costs around 320 euros, does not allow measurement under physical stress or while sleeping. If you only want to determine your blood pressure, you can get away with a classic measuring device much cheaper. There are good ones from 25 euros (to test blood pressure monitors).