Samsung has officially confirmed that AI wellness tools are coming to its “next Galaxy Watch lineup” as part of its One UI Watch 6 operating system.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is already on our best smartwatch list, but Samsung is looking to expand its fitness credentials with AI-powered personalization and processing.
These AI-powered tools are said to include an Energy Score, a new metric which, according to a Samsung press release, allows you to receive “a better understanding of your daily condition through a combined analysis of personal health metrics, including average sleep time, sleep time consistency, bed/wake time consistency, sleep timing, previous day activity, sleeping heart rate, and heart rate variability”.
Presumably, this is Samsung’s equivalent of the Daily Readiness Score available on the best Fitbits, but powered by machine learning rather than a more simplistic algorithm. The new AI features also include wellness tips tailored to your activity levels, and additional sleep insights using Samsung’s AI sleep algorithm, which helps you track movement during sleep and better calculate restfulness (or restlessness).
A new Workout Routine tool will allow you to use an AI to build customized workouts, presumably based on your training history, while cyclists can use the Cycling workouts on your Galaxy Watch in conjunction with an Android smartphone and power meter to calculate Functional Threshold Power, a key cycling metric, in just 10 minutes.
When these new watches will arrive, and what the new watch lineup will consist of, remains to be seen. There is also no word on whether these tools will be usable on existing watches, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, via a One UI Watch 6 software update. However, we do know some Galaxy Watch users will have access to the features via a beta program starting in June, so we can infer current watches are at least physically capable of using some of these features.
Analysis: What about the Galaxy Ring?
While we don’t know exactly which Samsung watches will be on the docket, we can make an educated guess based on recent rumors that there will be a mainline Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, a cheaper version (perhaps the Galaxy Watch FE), and a more expensive version, perhaps called the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra.
The press release stated the tools will arrive on the “next Galaxy Watch lineup” so it’s likely even the cheaper version will have access to Samsung’s new suite of AI wellness features.
We also know from our sit-down earlier this year with Samsung’s VP of Health, Dr Hon Pak, that AI wellness tools and the Energy Score will be a part of the Samsung Galaxy Ring. It’s likely the Ring will allow Samsung Health users access to the Energy Score and sleep features, while the watches also carry the Workout Routine and more activity-based tools.
You might also like
