Withings’ latest watch, the ScanWatch Horizon, includes a slew of heart-health monitoring features, but the brand seeks to differentiate itself from competitors with its “luxury watch” look. 

The analogue watch includes heart rate, ECG, breathing disturbances, blood oxygen levels, sleep and physical activity tracking. Users are able to use the watch to identify heart rhythms, as well as the ECG feature to help detect AFib. 

The watch comes with a 30-day battery life and is water resistant, so it can be used to track swimming sports. 

Withings designed the watch to look different than a typical tracker. It has sapphire-glass casing and an anti-reflection coating, and comes with a stainless steel wristband. Currently the watch is only available in France, Germany and the U.K. The wearable will set customers back €499.95/£499.95. The company said that it is looking to launch the product in the U.S. during Q4 of this year, following FDA clearance. 

WHY IT MATTERS

Increasingly wearables are including features to help individuals monitor their cardiac health and activity levels. According to the CDC heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S., causing roughly one in four deaths. 

In addition to cardiac health, the watch also helps detect breathing interruptions, which indicate sleep apnea. 

THE LARGER TREND

Withings has quickly been expanding its smartwatch capabilities. In 2020, the company unveiled the ScanWatch, which came with ECG monitoring and Sp02 sensors. 

The wearable industry as a whole has had a focus on cardiac health for some time. In September 2018, Apple made headlines when it announced that its Series 4 Apple Watch would have ECG capabilities. Fitbit has also released new wearables with an ECG feature. 

The French company got its start on analog fitness watches but has expanded with other products, including connected blood pressure cuffs, health-tracking smartwatches and under-the-mattress sleep-tracking mats. In May, the company announced that its Body Cardio smart scale can identify a users’ vascular age. 

ON THE RECORD 

“ScanWatch Horizon will get your heart racing and take your breath away with its stunning design, yet can detect the disturbances and physiological effects with its medical-grade sensors,” Mathieu Letombe, CEO of Withings, said in a statement.

“Our core mission is to create beautiful devices people choose to use and wear every day, so the clinical data they provide can make meaningful impacts on their lives. Diver watches were created in the 1920s to give navy personnel an underwater timepiece for accuracy during manoeuvres.

"In the 1950’s scuba divers and enthusiasts made them fashionable for any occasion. Now enthused with advanced medical capabilities, Withings aims to bring connected health timepieces to even more users.”