The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is only a few days out, but it has already received its first software update – and it’s an important one, adding important features to how your body’s fitness and quality of sleep are measure.
As detected by SamMobile, the upgrade was about 80 MB in size. If you are stopping to get a Galaxy Watch 3 because some of the features are coming ‘soon’, it is reassuring that the first batch of upgrades is already here.
Blood oxygen monitoring is one of the features now supported on the Galaxy Watch 3, and lets you know how efficiently your respiratory system is working. This can highlight potential health problems, including sleep apnea.
VO2max measurement is also included in this update – this is similar in that it tracks how much oxygen your body uses during exercise. The feature is handy for figuring out where your training limits are and for measuring how your body’s cardiovascular fitness improves over time.
Scores and analytics
Then there is the Sleep Score function, which above and then follows the normal functions for sleep tracking. Every morning it will appear on your watch to tell you how well you have slept in terms of deep sleep and REM cycles.
Finally, the update also adds more advanced run analysis to the Galaxy Watch 3, allowing you to delve deeper into the stats for your runs and will provide suggestions for where you can make improvements.
We are still waiting for the ECG feature as electrocardiograms will roll out though – this may give you an early warning about possible male irregularities, but for now it is only available in South Korea. Regular approval was given this week for the functionality in the US, so hopefully another software update is not too far away.
Speaking of update updates, not all of these features are available in all markets in which the Galaxy Watch 3 is sold, due to differences in the health laws of each province. Blood oxygen monitoring is currently unavailable in Algeria, Angola, Canada, France, Iran, Japan, Libya, South Africa or Thailand.
