Globally and now even in India, Apple Watch is a hugely popular wearable for varied reasons—as an aspirational device with great flaunt value, a fitness partner that provides meaningful health insights, and nowadays, even as a potential life-saver. Fact is, it’s great at being both a watch and a worthy fitness tracker and there’s nothing that comes close to Apple Watch in terms of user experience. You can measure your blood pressure, check your heart rate or take an ECG.
Anytime, anywhere. Then there are other innovations such as mindfulness and sleep tracking in the latest Series 7 (available in 41mm and 45mm sizes). The best part: measurements are highly accurate. However, people who have small wrists/ hands may find the Watch 7 a little too big.
We check out the tools for health and wellness in the latest Apple creation.
Blood oxygen
The Blood Oxygen app can allow you to measure the oxygen level of your blood on-demand directly from your wrist, providing you with insights into your overall wellness. The Blood Oxygen app is installed during the setup in the Health app. Make sure that your Apple Watch is snug but comfortable on your wrist. Open the Blood Oxygen app on your Apple Watch. Stay still, and make sure your wrist is flat with the Apple Watch facing up. Tap Start, then keep your arm steady for 15 seconds. You will now receive the results. It’s that simple.
ECG
The ECG (electrocardiogram) app is installed during the ECG app setup in the Health app. With the ECG app, Apple Watch Series 7 is capable of generating an ECG similar to a single-lead electrocardiogram. Electrodes built into the Digital Crown and the back crystal work together with the ECG app to read your heart’s electrical signals. Simply touch the Digital Crown to generate an ECG waveform in just 30 seconds. The ECG app can indicate whether your heart rhythm shows signs of atrial fibrillation—a serious form of irregular heart rhythm—or sinus rhythm, which means your heart is beating in a normal pattern.
Heart health notifications
You can enable notifications from the Heart Rate app on your Apple Watch to alert you to high or low heartbeat rates. The irregular heart rhythm notification on the Apple Watch can alert you if an irregular rhythm suggestive of Atrial fibrillation is identified. Open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone, go to My Watch, then tap Heart. Turn on High Heart Rate or Low Heart Rate, then set a heart rate threshold, turn on irregular rhythm notifications.
Track your menstrual cycle
Use the Cycle Tracking app to log daily information about your menstrual cycle. The app uses that information to provide period and fertility window predictions. The app can also use heart rate data from Apple Watch to improve predictions.
Activity & workouts
Apple Watch can track your activity and workouts, and encourage you to lead a more active life through gentle reminders and friendly competition. The Sleep app doesn’t just keep track of your sleep. It also helps you create a schedule and a bedtime routine so you can meet your sleep goals. It even tracks your respiratory rate while you’re sleeping. Then, the new Reflect feature in the Mindfulness app includes written prompts and soothing, energetic animation that guide you to be more present and mindful. You can tap into dozens of workouts. Squat, spin, stride, you name it—Apple Watch has a workout for it. There’s even Tai Chi and Pilates to get your endorphins going.
Bottom line: Apple Watch Series 7 is the most durable Apple Watch ever. The larger display (over 50% more screen area than Series 3) enhances the entire experience. Its design is refined with softer, more rounded corners, users also benefit from an all-day 18-hour battery life, now complemented by 33% faster charging. The big draw for this Apple wrist-wear lies in its innovative tools for health and wellness, that helps users stay healthy, active, and connected too.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Dimensions: 45 x 38 x 10.7mm (H x W x D), 38.8g weight
Display: 45mm, 396 x 484 pixels, 1,143 sq mm display area
Processor: S7 with 64-bit dual-core processor
Connectivity: GPS + Cellular
Battery: Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery, upto 18 hours
Estimated street price: Rs 53,900 (45mm, Starlight Aluminium Case with Sport Band)
What’s hot: Bigger, brighter display, crack resistant front crystal, blood oxygen & ECG tracking, 33% faster charging
What’s not: Too big for small wrists/hands