How to monitor your ECG on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5
Since the release of the Galaxy Watch Active 2, Samsung has made it possible to monitor your EKG from your smartwatch. Other smartwatch manufacturers are implementing similar features, but considering how popular the Galaxy Watch series has become, it has made better health and fitness tracking metrics more accessible to a wider range of people. With the release of the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro, you can also monitor your EKG on these new smartwatches.
How to monitor your EKG on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5
To monitor your EKG on the Galaxy Watch 5, you must first install and set up the Samsung Health Monitor app. Then you need to create a profile in the app to sync your health information between the watch and your smartphone.
1. Open the Galaxy shop App on your connected phone.
2. Tap magnifying glass in the upper right corner.
3. Search for Samsung health monitor.
4. Tap To install Button.
5. Once installed, go to your Galaxy Watch 5 and swipe up to view the app list.
6. Tap ECG app icon.
7. When prompted, tap To allow to grant Samsung Health Monitor access to sensor data.
8. On your connected phone, open the Samsung health monitor apartment
9. Tap Accept to start the setup process.
10. At the top of the pop-up window, tap the toggle next to All Permissions. This allows access to the ECG sensor along with your user profile.
11. Tap Finished.
12. If prompted, fill out the required fields Create your profile.
13. Tap Getting started Button.
From here you’ll be taken through a series of screens in the Samsung Health Monitor app. These provide detailed descriptions of how the ECG app works in conjunction with your connected Galaxy Watch. It will also tell you what each of the different potential outcomes actually mean, starting from sinus rhythm to Bad recording.
Now that the Samsung Health Monitor is set up on both your Galaxy Watch 5 and your connected smartphone, you can finally record your first EKG reading.
1. Open the Samsung health monitor App on your Galaxy Watch 5.
2. Make sure that the watch strap is “snug” on your wrist.
3. Rest both forearms on a table.
4. Rest your fingertip lightly Hold the home button for 30 seconds.
As soon as you start, the watch will tell you that it has started recording. Below is a non-closable prompt informing you that the “app never checks for a heart attack”. At the top of the screen you will see the time remaining along with your current Beats Per Minute (bpm).
After the test is complete, your Galaxy Watch 5 will tell you the results, along with another warning that “the app never looks for signs of a heart attack.” If you scroll to the bottom of the screen, you will also see yours Average HRtogether with a symptoms Section.
If you want to add any symptoms like fatigue, dizziness, shortness of breathor others, tap Add to Button. Select the symptom, then tap Save on computer Button. If you don’t have any symptoms, you can just tap Finished button at the bottom of the previous screen.
How to view your EKG results on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5
Unfortunately, you cannot view ECG results directly on your Galaxy Watch 5 at this time. Instead, you can only do this from the phone paired with your smartwatch.
1. Open the Samsung health monitor app on your smartphone.
2. Tap next to your last EKG reading See details button in the top right corner.
From here you can see the entire reading that was taken the last time the ECG test was performed. At the top, the app displays a result description along with your average heart rate. If you have added symptoms, they will be displayed below the ECG graph. There is also a Extinguish Button to remove these results from the app in the upper right corner.
At the bottom of the results screen, Samsung makes sure you can share your results. When tapping the Share this report click, the results are automatically converted to a PDF file and the traditional share sheet menu appears. You can save these straight to your phone or send them straight to your doctor using your email app of choice.
There are limitations to monitoring your EKG
While it’s pretty phenomenal to see how far health and fitness tracking has come on the best Android smartwatches, there are still some things to consider. On the one hand, these should not replace going to the doctor if you have the feeling that something is wrong. Even with the additional body temperature sensor on the Galaxy Watch 5 coupled with its ability to provide EKG results, you should still see a doctor if something is wrong.
Another issue that might frustrate some Galaxy Watch 5 owners is the inability to use certain features with non-Samsung phones. That means if you want to use the latest Samsung Galaxy smartwatch with something like the Pixel 6 Pro, you won’t be able to take an EKG or your blood pressure.
That’s nothing new, as last year’s Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic had the same limitations. Unfortunately, Samsung doesn’t say whether this philosophy will change in the future. Until then, we just have to hope that a modified APK file will become available that unlocks these additional (and useful) features.
