Tag Archives: Sleep tracking

Health, Lifestyle, News

[IFA 2023] Withings Elevates Health Tracking with the ScanWatch 2 & the ScanWatch Light

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Withings ups the ante with hybrid wearables with the release of the ScanWatch 2 and ScanWatch Light. These two hybrid smartwatches build upon Withings’ legacy of delivering cutting-edge health monitoring in sleek, fashion-forward designs.

The ScanWatch 2

The ScanWatch 2 inherits the beloved features of its predecessor, including an impressive 30-day battery life, ECG capabilities, blood oxygen measurements, and seamless integration with Apple Health.

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In addition, it introduces several new features that elevate its health-tracking prowess. The ScanWatch 2 comes with continuous body temperature tracking which allows users to keep tabs on their body temperature. Together with body temperature tracking, female users of the ScanWatch 2 can now effortlessly track their menstrual cycles, including symptoms and emotions, empowering them with valuable insights.

Together with his, the new ScanWatch also comes with the ability to track Heart Rate Variability allowing users to track the response of their heart to different stimuli and events. This plays very well with the Improved Auto Activity Tracking which can now recognize over 40 different activities. You will also be able to track Respiratory Rate Readings which gives a new dimension to insights from the watch.

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Withings has also upgraded the software aspect of the ScanWatch 2. HealthSense OS now features PowerSense Pro, optimizing battery life and data accuracy.

The ScanWatch Light

For those seeking affordability without compromising on essential health monitoring, Withings is introducing the new ScanWatch Light. While it may not boast all the advanced features of its counterpart, it provides key health-tracking capabilities.

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The ScanWatch Light will be able to track heart rate, sleep and activities. It also places particular emphasis on menstrual cycle tracking, allowing women to log cycle stages and align their routines accordingly.

Both models cater to diverse health needs, and Withings’ unwavering focus on extended battery life and comprehensive health tracking makes these smartwatches compelling choices for individuals seeking seamless health monitoring. Pre-orders are already open, with retail availability scheduled for October 2023.

ScanWatch Light

With the ScanWatch 2 and ScanWatch Light, Withings continues its tradition of combining cutting-edge technology with timeless design, setting new standards for health monitoring and style. These timepieces empower users to seamlessly integrate better health into their daily lives, marking a significant stride in the evolution of health-centric wearables.

Pricing & Availability

The ScanWatch 2 comes in various finishes and sizes to ensure both style and comfort, with additional options planned for the future. It is set for release in October. It is priced at $349.95.

The ScanWatch Light, on the other hand, is priced at $249.95.

Health, Lifestyle, News

Garmin Unveils Venu 3 Series Smartwatches

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Garmin has once again upped the ante in the world of smartwatches with the announcement of the Venu 3 and Venu 3S. These new additions to the Venu series bring an array of advanced features designed to support your health and fitness goals, all wrapped in a stylish package.

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Source: Garmin

The Venu 3 series comes in two sizes: the Venu 3 with a 45mm case and the Venu 3S with a 41mm case. While they may vary in size, both models offer exceptional features to cater to your individual needs.

One standout feature of the Venu 3 series is its battery life. In smartwatch mode, the Venu 3 boasts an impressive 14 days of battery life, allowing you to wear it day and night without the hassle of nightly charging. The Venu 3S, although slightly smaller, still offers a substantial 10 days of battery life.

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Both models include Garmin’s advanced sleep-tracking features. The Sleep Coach feature provides you with a personalized sleep score and coaching recommendations based on your sleep patterns, exercise routines, and recovery data. Additionally, these smartwatches can automatically detect and track your naps, ensuring you get a comprehensive view of your sleep quality.

One of the most noteworthy additions is the Wheelchair mode, a feature tailored for users in wheelchairs. This mode tracks daily pushes and offers insights into weight shifting, providing valuable data for those with mobility challenges. Animated on-wrist workouts specifically designed for wheelchair users are also included.

The Venu 3 series is loaded with fitness insights, allowing you to better understand your body’s needs. You’ll receive a detailed overview of sleep, recovery, heart rate variability (HRV) status, and more through the morning report. These insights help you make informed decisions about your daily activities and exercise routines.

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Customizing your workouts is made easy with the ability to create custom interval workouts for running and cycling directly on the watch. Whether you’re a seasoned athlete or just starting your fitness journey, these features cater to all levels of fitness enthusiasts.

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Source: Garmin

Garmin understands the importance of staying connected, even when you’re on the move. The Venu 3 series comes equipped with a built-in speaker and microphone, allowing you to make and take calls directly from your wrist when paired with a compatible smartphone. You can also respond to text messages using your smartphone’s voice assistant.

Pricing & Availability

The Venu 3 and Venu 3S offer a variety of colours and straps. The Venu 3 comes in whitestone/silver and black/slate with an etched bezel, while the Venu 3S offers a range of colourways, including pebble gray/slate, sage gray/silver, French gray/ soft gold, dust rose/soft gold, and ivory/soft gold.

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Source: Garmin

Both models are priced at USD$449.99 and MYR2,220. The will be available on Shopee, Lazada, the AECO e-store, Garmin Brand Stores and all authorised retailers.

Lifestyle, News

Amazfit Balance Unleashed with AI-Driven Features for Holistic Wellness

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Amazfit has unveiled its latest creation – the Amazfit Balance. This feature-packed smartwatch is set to revolutionize the way we approach health and wellness, with a host of AI-powered features that cater to both body and mind.

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Source: Amazfit

The Amazfit Balance boasts a 1.5-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 480×480 pixels and an impressive peak brightness of 1,500 nits. This display not only delivers vibrant visuals but also ensures readability even under direct sunlight.

AI-Powered Wellness

What sets the Amazfit Balance apart is its holistic approach to wellness. Powered by Zepp Aura, this smartwatch integrates AI-driven features that provide insights into your mental and physical well-being.

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Source: Amazfit

One standout feature is the readiness score that is delivered every morning. This score is a result of analyzing your sleep patterns, offering valuable insights into how sleep impacts your mental and physical condition. It’s a window into the delicate balance of activity and recovery that’s crucial for overall wellness.

Users can also conveniently measure body fat percentage, skeletal muscle, muscle mass, water percentage, bone mass, protein levels, BMI, and Basal Metabolism, all from their wrist with the Amazfit Balance. While the watch focuses on the upper body, pairing it with the Amazfit Body Composition Analyzer Mat1 provides a more detailed picture of your overall body composition.

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It’s become increasingly accepted that ensuring a good night’s sleep is vital for overall wellness. The Amazfit Balance offers AI-powered sleep guidance and relaxation tools through Zepp Aura’s rest and wellness service. This subscription service intelligently adjusts soundscapes for sleep, rest, meditation, and more based on biometric data picked up by the watch.

For fitness enthusiasts, Amazfit introduces Zepp Coach AI Chat, which responds to your questions in a friendly and informative manner. Zepp Aura AI Wellness Coach focuses on rest and wellness-related queries, while Zepp AI Fitness Coach zeroes in on sports and fitness-related questions. It’s like having a personal trainer right on your wrist.

Contactless Payments

Amazfit adds an extra layer of convenience with Zepp Pay, facilitated by a partnership with Mastercard. This contactless payment feature simplifies transactions, enabling users to make purchases using their Amazfit Balance smartwatch. Linking your bank accounts and credit cards to the Curve Super app streamlines your daily transactions, eliminating the need to carry cash or cards.

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Despite its advanced features, the Amazfit Balance doesn’t compromise on battery life. It can last up to 14 days with typical usage and an astonishing 25 days with battery-saver mode activated. This longevity ensures that your smartwatch keeps up with your active lifestyle.

Pricing and Availability

The Amazfit Balance is now available for purchase in select countries, with prices starting at USD $ 229.99 (MYR1,068.33) or EUR€249.90 (MYR1,245.43).

While it’s currently available in select countries, Amazfit has teased a potential local launch in Malaysia, leaving us eagerly awaiting its arrival.

Lifestyle

Amazfit Bip 5 Makes Sure You Don’t Miss a Thing with a Super Sized 1.91-inch Display

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Amazfit is no stranger to fitness-centered wearables. The company has been hard at work churning out multiple watches for every user segment. This year alone, we’ve already seen at least 4 new entries which not only bring extended functionalities but also a diverse range of designs. The latest smartwatch to join the line is the Amazfit Bip 5.

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The hallmark of the Amazfit Bip 5 is its supersized 1.191-inch display. The large display is paired with a lightweight design with a plastic bottom case. Coming in at only 26g, the fitness companion is bound to seamlessly integrate into your everyday life. It’s not just lightweight though, it’s also rated for IP68 water and dust resistance and comes with 2.5D tempered glass protection. What’s more, it has a 320×380 pixel display with a pixel density of 260ppi which is one of the sharpest on the market.

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The Bip 5 runs on ZeppOS 2.0. The OS can track over 120 types of exercise and comes with extensive customisation options allowing you to make the Bip 5 fit your style. It also comes with a huge selection of apps and games that you can use on the watch itself! Of course, it goes without saying that a majority of these apps will help you achieve your goals of being more active and healthy.

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Like many other smartwatches, the Amazfit Bip 5 can also be your personal assistant on your wrist. You’ll be able to take calls, schedule your day and even make and take things off your to-do list seamlessly. You’ll also be able to do this only with your voice thanks to Amazon Alexa integration. Oh, speaking of personal assistance, it will even give you a summary of your previous day every morning.

Supersized Fitness Tracking

The Bip 5 will be able to help you track your workouts with over 120 sports modes built into Zepp OS 2.0. It’s also able to autodetect your workouts when you start one of these workouts: treadmill, outdoor running, walking, indoor walking, outdoor cycling, the rowing machine and the elliptical. Your hikes and runs can be tracked even more accurately thanks to GPS tracking on the watch itself. It’ll even help you keep pace during your workouts. Don’t worry about app compatibility as Zepp OS 2.0 integrates seamlessly into Google Fit, Apple Health, Strava, Addidas Running and more.

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The BioTracker PPG biometric sensor allows the Bip 5 to keep track of your vitals 24 hours a day. It will continuously monitor your heart rate, blood oxygenation and stress levels in the background throughout your day. You’ll also be able to track your sleep quality and gauge your activity with a PAI Health index at the end of each week. With the 300mah, you will get at least 5 days of use. If you’re a regular user, it should be able to last you up to 10 days.

Pricing & Availability

The Amazfit Bip 5 is available now from retail partners and the Amazfit stores on Shopee and Lazada. It is available in Pastel Pink, Soft Black and Cream White and will retail at MYR329.

Health, Lifestyle, News

Amazfit GTR Mini is Now Available in Malaysia; Priced at MYR599

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If you’ve been following wearables and health-centric tech, you should know the brand Amazfit. The brand by Zepp Health has built a portfolio of intelligent, wearable tech which includes smart bands and fully featured smartwatches. This time, the company is introducing a new smartwatch that marries form and function, making it one of the most fashionable pieces of tech in their lineup of smartwatches.

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The new Amazfit GTR Mini is a slim, chic and compact smartwatch which brings the complete suite of functionality we’re used to seeing on an Amazfit smartwatch. The 9.2mm thin body allows the smartwatch to seamlessly transition between sporty fitness and suave elegance. The circular watch is complemented with a hypoallergenic wrist band and weighs only 24.6g. Together with its minimalist design anbd 2.5D glass display, the GTR Mini is made to be both your go to health monitor and fashion accessory.

It’s minimalist design packs a whole lot of tech and customisations. It comes with over 80 watch faces to make its HD AMOLED display uniquely yours. You’ll also be able to track over 120 sports activities and smart recognition for seven of them. Zepp Health also claims that the smartwatch comes with a whopping 14-days battery life. You’ll also be able to track your hikes more accurately with its 5-satelite positioning system. It’s also got water resistance for up to 5ATM of pressure.

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It’s not just about tracking your activities either. The GTR Mini also comes with health tracking features including blood oxygen, heart rate, stress and sleep monitoring. It can even help you keep track of your menstruation for better overall health monitoring. With Zepp Health’s own Zepp OS 2.0, the smartwatch also comes with mini apps which help you achieve your goals and even gamify your health journey.

Pricing & Availability

The Amazfit GTR Mini is now available from retailers for MYR599. If you’re in luck, you can even get it at a discounted MYR579 as part of the launch promotions.

Health, News

Ultrahuman Ring Brings Health Insights to your Fingertips

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Healthcare is going through a revolution right now. Never have scientists and healthcare professionals had access to the amount of biological data that we do now. Smartwatches, Health Trackers, Smart Scales and more have made it possible for doctors and healthcare professionals to offer even more personalised treatments. Another piece of technology is looking to be part of the revolution – The Ultrahuman Ring.

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Source: Ultrahuman

The Ultrahuman Ring brings your regular set of sensors including a heart rate sensors (photoplethysmograph), temperature sensor and also a motion sensor. The ring itself does not come with any display and haptics. Instead, users will have to pair the Ultrahuman Ring with their mobile app to view any of the insights. This apparently was done intentionally to reduce distractions coming from the Ring. Using its sensors, the Ultrahuman Ring allows users to view their heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV) and body temperature. It also is able to track sleep allowing users to track when they were in REM and non-REM sleep.

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Source: Ultrahuman

The ring is made from “fighter jet” titanium with a tungsten carbide coating. The coating helps ensure the durability of the ring particularly during activities like weightlifting, grappling activities and even swimming. While Ultrahuman doesn’t outright mention any IP rating, their inclusion of swimming in their website alludes to some form of water resistance. The sensors also come with hypoallergenic contacts which allow users to keep the ring on for long periods.

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Ring + M1 – the Ultrahuman combination

That said, Ultrahuman isn’t designing its product to function alone. In fact, the Ultrahuman Ring works better when paired with the Ultrahuman M1 – a patch which continually monitors glucose levels. The M1 comes with a hollow needle which creates a small puncture in the skin to measure the glucose in interstitial fluid. This data is then used to produce a metabolic score based on food intake and exercise.

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Source: Ultrahuman

Complementing the M1 with the Ultrahuman Ring will provide users with a more holistic picture of their metabolic health. It allows users to see how their food and exercise interact with their sleep and how this impacts overall health.

Pricing & Availability

The Ultrahuman Ring will be available starting on December 2022 for USD$299 (MYR1,332.8). It’s available in four colours: black, grey, silver and gold.

It’s now available for pre-orders with offer prices starting at USD$199 for the first 3000 orders.

Health, Lifestyle, News

Are You A Giraffe, A Bear or A Dolphin? Fitbit’s new Sleep Profiles will Let You Know

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Sleep has become a crucial factor in overall health over the past few years. In fact, doctors and other medical professionals have changed their blanket from 8 hours a night to a more general 6- to 8-hour range. As our understanding of sleep develops, so too has our appreciation of its role in health. This has become so crucial that we have been seeing more and more companies gather data for research and develop ways to measure and monitor the quality of sleep.

Fitbit has been one of the few fitness trackers and smartwatches which allow you to track your sleep in detail and view a breakdown of your sleep quality in a visual way. They’re also upping the ante when it comes to tracking by introducing a new feature for Fitbit Premium users called Sleep Profiles.

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After much research and study of over 1,000 features of sleep, the company has determined that there are 10 key metrics that are beneficial to the user. Using these metrics which include pre-existing ones like sleep duration, restfulness and REM sleep, Fitbit has been able to develop a more holistic view of sleep. Additionally, they’ve also identified new metrics such as schedule variability, the time before sound sleep and disrupted sleep that help paint a better, month-long picture of overall sleep quality. Users will have access to a monthly report which breaks down each of these 10 key metrics with their personalised metrics as well as their ideal ranges.

In analysing over 1.87 million sleep logs, Fitbit was able to isolate numerous sleep archetypes. They’ve chosen six major archetypes which describe a vast majority of the profiles studied. To better communicate a user’s sleep pattern, Fitbit has chosen to represent each of the six profiles with an animal. Fitbit Premium users will be able to get their profile each month which will categorise them into one of six chosen animals: Giraffe, Bear, Hedgehog, Turtle, Dolphin and Parrot. These animals share similar traits to the six archetypes that Fitbit has identified.

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There is no perfect profile, nor is a sleep profile fixed. Users will see it change from month to month. More importantly, Fitbit is also giving some feedback to help improve sleep quality with their profiles. This feedback can take the form of addressing REM sleep or sleep times to improve sleep quality.

Fitbit users with a Fitbit Premium subscription will begin to see these profiles starting on July 7. After the first report, profiles will be reported on the 1st of each month. However, the feature will only work with the Sense, Versa 3, Versa 2, Charge 5, Luxe or Inspire 2 at launch.

Health, Lifestyle, News

Fitbit Unleashes the Charge 4, Now with GPS, Active Zone Minutes and More

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Fitbit has become a brand synonymous with health and fitness. While the company has recently been acquired by Google, it doesn’t seem to have slowed them down. In fact, Fitbit has just announced a new entry to their Charge line up, the Charge 4.

Introducing Fitbit Charge 4

The new Fitbit Charge 4 comes with all the features that made everyone fall in love with the previous Charge devices. However, it has a few upgrades. The Charge 4 is the first tracker in the line up to have GPS. This allows you to track where and how far you’ve gone on your runs. This comes as an enhancement to the now essential features of any fitness tracker including customisable watch faces, notifications and even sleep tracking.

The Fitbit Charge 4 introduces Active Zone Minutes. This is developed based on the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Heart Association. Both organisations recommend that everyone should have 150 minutes of moderate or 75 minutes of vigourous activity weekly. Based on this recommendation, the Charge 4 will track your heart rate with Fitbit’s PurePulse 24/7 heart tracking. Using personalised data, it will determine how much effort you are exerting for an activity. This will allow for better tracking. In fact, the Charge 4 will be able to notify you each time you enter or exit zones. This will allow you to better optimise your workouts. If you want to get more detailed data, it’s accessible via the Fitbit App.

The Charge 4 comes with a promised 7 days battery life or 5 hours if you’re continuously using GPS. It is water resistant up to 50 metres and is swimproof. According to Fitbit the Charge 4 is able to operate between -20° to 60° C and up to an altitude of 8,535m.

Pricing & Availability

The Charge 4 will be available in stores starting late April. The regular version will retail for MYR 698. It will be available in black, rosewood and storm blue/black. The Special Edition will be available at MYR 798 in granite reflective/black wooven band. It will also come with a classic band for when you workout.