Galaxy Watch9 have an expensive weakness. The most important health features don't work without a Samsung phone

Smartwatches from Samsung can be paired with any Android phone – that’s true, and Samsung likes to emphasize it. What they don’t say as loudly is that with a non-Samsung phone, you’ll lose precisely the features for which people most often buy expensive watches.

Two Apps That Are Easily Confused

The stumbling block is that Samsung operates two apps, and they have almost the same name.

Samsung Health is a standard app for tracking steps, sleep, and heart rate. It works on any Android phone, and there’s no problem with it. Samsung Health Monitor is something different – a medically certified add-on that processes signals from advanced sensors. And it officially runs only on Samsung phones with Android 12 and newer.

Without it, you won’t have access to four features: ECG, blood pressure measurement, irregular heart rhythm notifications indicating atrial fibrillation, and tracking signs of sleep apnea. The app has existed since 2020, when it launched in Korea alongside the Galaxy Watch Active2, and since then, two more features have been added to the original pair.

Why This Is No Small Matter

If it were about an energy score or some other made-up indicator, no one would bat an eye. But these are screening tools for conditions that affect hundreds of millions of people. Untreated atrial fibrillation increases the risk of stroke, and sleep apnea is linked to high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems.

Samsung correctly and repeatedly emphasizes for all these features that they are not intended for diagnosis and do not replace a doctor. However, this does not diminish their value – quite the opposite. Their purpose is precisely to send you to a doctor earlier than you would go on your own if a finding is made. And Samsung conditions precisely this role on the brand of your phone.

What This Means When Buying

Factor this in beforehand. If you have a Pixel, Xiaomi, Motorola, or anything other than a Galaxy, you’ll get a decent fitness tracker with good sensors from Samsung’s watches – but without the medical add-on. Conversely, with a Samsung phone, the watches transform into something quite different.

Should Samsung open up health features to owners of other phones?

Sources: Android Authority, Samsung Support, Samsung Mobile Press