Now that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 is here, we know that the early glimpse we saw was correct: New AI health modes and scores are at the core of the new wearable.
Its recent changes mean that Samsung Health understands your body better than you do, and the company has brought all the app’s metrics into the wearable.
Most smartwatches let you track your sleep and workouts. The selling point of the Galaxy Watch 9 is that it takes all this data and turns it into simple scores to provide actionable feedback on your body.
I’ve used past Samsung Galaxy wearables, as well as those from other brands, but sometimes find myself drowning in stats and data.
That’s why I’m really interested in testing this new wearable, and three features in particular, to see if they change things.
Daily Cardio Load to monitor your workouts
No more exercise burnout
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 now has a Daily Cardio Load feature, which will prove useful to runners, cyclists, swimmers, or others who regularly partake in cardiovascular workouts.
In short, this feature tells you how much exercise you’ve been doing recently, whether your body can handle it, and if you’re at risk of overexerting yourself.
To create this information, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 will take your exercise data to estimate your cardio stress. It’ll balance this with recovery data, like your sleep metrics and resting heart rate, to work out whether you could work out or should rest.
Many dedicated running watches have tools like this, but it’s not as common in smartwatches, which tend to let you interpret your data in your own way.
I’m hoping that the amount of data the Watch 9 collects makes it accurate.
I’ve tested wearables with this feature that provide feedback that goes against what my body says, because they don’t collect enough information to create an informed decision.
A big rival has a similar tool. The Google Pixel Watch 3 Cardio Load and Target Load features work similarly; however, they’re hidden in a menu.
In the Galaxy Watch 9, it’s a core part of the smartwatch, giving frequent runners a one-look notification so they know if today’s a rest day or a run day.
I’ve used features like this on rival smartwatches, and they’re handy for pointing you towards the workout your body really needs, rather than the one you think it needs — though when in doubt, listening to your body is your safest bet.
Heart Health score, for preventative pointers
Keep your ticker ticking
When briefing press about the Galaxy Watch 9 and its new features, Samsung emphasized that preventative health features were the key selling points of the watch.
Heart Health score is one of them. The focus of this tool is on your body’s wellbeing. Despite the name, Samsung pitched this as a wider-reaching health assistant.
The tool takes various metrics recorded on the watch and boils them down into a score. These include skin temperature, sleep data, your respiration rate, and blood oxygen count.
Heart Health doesn’t just throw a number at you, though. It also gives you personal recommendations, so you know how to improve that score (and, by extension, your health).
For example, if your sleep is poor, the feature can use the data it collects to understand why and to give you actionable tips.
It’ll likely work in tandem with Cardio Load, helping you better understand when to push yourself and when you need a rest.
In Samsung Health, Heart Health can also give you dietary pointers based on your body composition to push you towards a diet that complements your workout style.
Fitness Index, so you know how you compare
The great web of Samsung Health
Plenty of fit people don’t like comparing themselves to others, preferring to enjoy their workout. Fitness Index certainly isn’t for that kind of person. I’m competitive, so I’m curious to see how it affects me.
The tool analyzes various metrics, like some of the other modes mentioned above, but it takes them a step further. It compares them to other Samsung Health users of your demographic.
Fitness Index uses five criteria: body composition, cardio, endurance, flexibility, and strength. Each of these is measured against others of your age and gender, to see how you compare.
As with Heart Health, this tool isn’t only a way to flex about how healthy you are.
Fitness Index gives you pointers for ways to improve, based on how you stack up against your peers. You could see personalized goals or recommendations tailored to you.
For example, if you’re stronger and more flexible than others at your age, yet have below-average cardio capability, the Index will let you know, so you can add a few runs to your workout schedule.
Constant reminders of improvement potential
None of the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 features are new. Anyone with Samsung Health can already see this information, and a lot more using the best hidden Samsung Health features.
You have to open your smartphone and boot up Samsung Health to see it, though, which means people with older Galaxy Watches might miss these new features.
The benefit of the Galaxy Watch 9 isn’t that it creates these metrics, but that it puts them front and foremost, so you’re always up-to-date with your body’s status. That’s why we’ve been saying that its real upgrades are hidden inside a relatively unchanged body.
