The latest wearable from Asus isn’t an Android Wear smartwatch… but it is something you wear on a wrist. The Asus VivoWatch BP is set to become one of the first wearable fitness trackers with a built-in blood pressure monitor.
It looks more like a medical device than a sleek watch, but if you suffer from hypertension and need regular blood pressure monitoring, an ugly watch might be better than the alternative.
The Asus VivoWatch BP should be able to monitor your blood pressure in about 15 seconds, and it can take automatic measurements to track your health data over time or allow you to take manual measurements at any time.
It also has other features you’d expect from an activity tracker, including:
- Step counting
- Sleep tracking
- Heart Rate monitoring
- GPS
- IP67 water and dust resistence
Asus says the VivoWatch BP uses two PPG optical sensors for heart rate detection and two EKG sensors for tracking blood flow in your wrist and fingertips.
The device can automatically figure out if you’re on foot or on a bicycle and log your activity appropriately. Data can then be synchronized with an Asus HealthConnect app running on an iPhone or Android device via Bluetoooth.
The company says the VivoWatch BP should get up to 28 days of battery life, which is one of the advantages to a device that’s not a full-fledged smartwatch. There’s no support for third-party apps and the VivoWatch BP runs a custom operating system called KoodOS.
Asus says the VivoWatch BP should hit the streets in Asia this summer, but it won’t be available in the US until 2019 because the company is still waiting on FDA approval. It’s expected to sell for about $169.
via Asus EdgeUp and Asus Computex press release
Blood pressure monitoring is a great feature, all higher-end activity trackers should have this.
Is there a higher-end smartwatch+activity-monitor with blood pressure monitoring?