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CES: Wearables steal the show
At CES 2020 in Las Vegas this week, wearable makers have gone all out to maximise the benefits of health tracking while keeping the devices small. BRYAN TURNER surveys the best of the best
Withings, a French fitness tracking company, has unveiled the Core ScanWatch: a clinically-validated smartwatch that looks out for a ton of health aspects. They include ECG monitoring for AFib (Atrial Fibrillation or irregular heart rhythm) alerts, heart rate variability with a PPG sensor, and a SpO2 that’s used to detect sleep apnea. It also features 25-day battery life, sleep detection, water-resistance, and notifications.
While you might be thinking “Apple Watch does ECGs”, they technically don’t yet. While ECG and AFib detection on Apple Watch exist on a hardware level, both have yet to be enabled in South Africa. At this stage, if Withings has the license to enable ECGs in South Africa, South Africans may be better off with a Core ScanWatch than an Apple Watch.
This is also a boon for smartphone users across the board, because ECGs and AFib detection are now available to non-Apple Watch users. The sleep apnea detection is also a great feature that is not available on other wrist wearables.
This is done by activating the Overnight Scan that can detect signs of sleep apnea via the SpO2 sensor, and delivers sleep heart rate, oxygen saturation levels, heart events, and tracks REM sleep. The user will then wake to all data via a complete in-app report.
Other features include 50M water resistance, all-day heart rate tracking, and a stainless-steel watch case.
Visit the next page to read about a watch strap that measures hydration, and a chip that can give lab results just by sitting on one’s skin.
