It’s a hot Google summer, as the company recently announced its newest lineup of Pixel devices, with the biggest stars being the new Pixel 9 lineup and the Pixel Watch 3. Though the Pixel 9 phones got a big redesign, the Pixel Watch 3 looks mostly the same, though it now comes in two sizes.
But Google made the Pixel Watch 3 stand out more than expected with a new feature that hasn’t been on any wearable until now: Loss of Pulse Detection.
This was a surprise feature of the Pixel Watch 3, as it was never leaked, unlike everything else before the reveal. After learning about it, I hope it sets an example for other brands, especially Apple, to include something similar on their wearables, as it’s quite literally life-saving.
The Apple Watch is getting left behind
When Apple launched the Apple Watch in 2015, it pioneered the next wave of wearables, as before that, we just had basic activity trackers like Fitbit. Sure, these trackers got the job done for things like counting steps and calories burned, workouts, and even heart rate monitoring, but they weren’t yet at the point where they would be considered a smartwatch.
Meanwhile, Apple began to add more impressive health and fitness tracking features to the Apple Watch year after year, mostly starting with the Apple Watch Series 4. Since then, Apple has added ECG, fall detection, SpO2 monitoring, and temperature sensors. The Apple Watch Ultra has even more features, including its depth gauge and water temperature sensors.
However, it seems that Apple has slowed down with the big and exciting new features on the Apple Watch in recent years. The Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 did not have any new improvements from their predecessors besides the new S9 chip, Double Tap gesture, and extra storage capacity.
Meanwhile, Samsung has added the ability to check blood pressure since the Galaxy Watch 4 series. The new Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra also include sleep apnea monitoring, plus a way to track your body’s aging process through the AGEs metric.
Now, Google is adding Loss of Pulse Detection to the Pixel Watch 3, a new feature that has not yet been seen on a wearable. With all of these advancements from its competitors, Apple needs to step up its game with the Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch Ultra 3.
Loss of Pulse Detection is a game-changer
The Pixel Watch 3’s Loss of Pulse Detection feature uses biosensing information, heart activity, and AI algorithm magic. It’s one of those features that you hope you don’t need to use but one you’ll be thankful for if you do.
When someone loses their pulse, it’s linked to critical health emergencies that require urgent medical attention. Examples include cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, blood circulation issues, a drug overdose episode, or even poisoning. In these situations, emergency responders say the “golden hour” is about getting to the victim and rendering medical aid within 60 minutes of the emergency.
With the Pixel Watch 3, if it detects that the user has lost their pulse, it will call emergency services and relay the victim’s location through an automated message. The downside is that the feature is limited to select EU regions and the U.K. at launch, but even so, it’s wildly impressive.
We need this on the Apple Watch
As much as I love the Apple Watch, it’s hard to ignore that it’s grown stagnant regarding health sensors and features in the past few releases. This is even more true when you also remember the Masimo lawsuit against Apple for blood-oxygen monitoring, which forced Apple to remove SpO2 tracking from its wearables earlier this year.
Not only does this make it look like Apple is losing momentum but it also means Apple Watch wearers are without important new health features available on other smartwatches. Loss of Pulse Detection is technically impressive, but it could also be the difference between you getting life-saving medical attention or not. I think everyone can agree that it should be on the Apple Watch, and I hope it happens soon.
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