Pixel Watch to get free blood pressure and insulin resistance trends. Older models will also receive them

Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5 will receive new free health overviews: blood pressure trends, insulin resistance trends, and sleep breathing quality assessment. According to Engadget, Google is starting to add them to the Google Health app this week. The first trend reports are expected to arrive in early October.

The suite is called Health Guardian. Google announced it along with the Pixel Watch 5, which it introduced last month. When we reviewed the fifth generation, the features were not yet available. Owners of the latest watches are therefore receiving them now, simultaneously with people wearing older generations.

What Health Guardian tracks and how to interpret it

The new feature focuses on three areas: blood pressure, insulin resistance, and breathing during sleep. For blood pressure and insulin resistance, Google refers to trends, and for sleep, to breathing quality.

The word “trend” is crucial for interpreting the results. I would consider the new numbers as a guide for when to pay attention, not as a replacement for a blood pressure monitor or a doctor’s examination. How exactly the watches obtain these values and whether the functions have medical certification is not yet clear.

Which watches will get what

• Pixel Watch 3: blood pressure and insulin resistance trends, sleep breathing quality
• Pixel Watch 4 and 5: the same, plus Breathing Emergency Detection in European countries
• Fitbit Air: blood pressure and insulin resistance trends later this year, only with a Google Health Premium subscription

For European owners, the most interesting feature is the breathing emergency detection. When the watch detects a significant drop in blood oxygenation, it will automatically contact emergency services. However, Google will only offer this to the fourth and fifth generations; owners of the third generation will not receive it.

Google is less generous with Fitbit Air. Without a Google Health Premium subscription, you won’t get access to the trends, and the exact launch date has not yet been announced.

Czech Republic still without a clear answer

It is not yet known whether blood pressure and insulin resistance trends will also be available in the Czech Republic. European countries are explicitly mentioned in the announcement only for breathing emergency detection. Anyone with a Pixel Watch 3 or newer does not need to purchase anything extra or subscribe. In early October, it will be worth opening Google Health to see if the first reports have appeared for you.

Which features will your Google watch receive?

Source: Engadget