Latest news with #Galaxy Watch 8
Phone Arena
17-07-2025
- Phone Arena
Galaxy Watch 8 gets a new setting most users will want to turn on
There's a new "battery protection" feature on the newly announced Galaxy Watch 8 series that's designed to extend the timepiece's battery longevity. We all know that not many people upgrade their smartwatches every year. And upgrades are not always huge from one year to the next, so many people opt to keep their current smartwatch until a bigger upgrade comes along, or it starts experiencing issues. One issue that many smartwatches experience over time is battery degradation, though. Despite that, most timepieces don't have serious battery protection features, so you have limited options to protect their battery longevity. Well, now it seems smartwatch makers are starting to pay attention to this issue, and Samsung is also eyeing battery longevity with a new feature coming with the Galaxy Watch 8 lineup. In other words, the feature keeps your Galaxy Watch battery between 85 and 90% of its maximum capacity when charging. Image Credit - Android Authority Previous Galaxy Watch models had only two options in the "Charging" section of Battery settings. You had "show charging info" and "auto power on". The first one controlled whether your device would show its battery level while charging, and the other one basically determined if your watch would automatically power on when connected to a charger. This new feature brings things to the next level. You may know that having smartwatches (or any device with a lithium-ion battery) consistently at 100% charge can shorten the battery's longevity. The 100% charge comes with a stress level for the battery because of the high state of charge. Nowadays, many new smartphones have similar protections, like limiting the charging to 80%. For the Galaxy Watch 8 , it's 90%. Understandably, although 80% is better than 90%, smartwatches have smaller batteries, so Samsung likely didn't want your smartwatch to run out of juice when you're out and about. It's not clear at this point whether the feature will come to older Galaxy Watches with the One UI 8 Watch update, or it's just reserved for the newer models. Meanwhile, Apple has a similar feature on the Apple Watch. I've noticed it on my Apple Watch SE 2 – an automatic behavior where the watch limits its charge if I haven't been using the full battery and I charge it every night. It's likely part of the Optimized Battery Charging feature, but instead of timing the charge to finish right before I take it off the charger, it simply caps the battery before it reaches 100%. But unlike Samsung's new feature, this one is automatic and triggered in certain conditions only (like charging every night). Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
Digital Trends
14-07-2025
- Health
- Digital Trends
The Galaxy Watch 8 is the first to have this lifesaving feature
Have you ever noticed your heart racing or felt like your heart skipped a beat? There are many plausible reasons this can happen, but one of the most common is the occurrence of ectopic beats. An ectopic heartbeat is when your heart beats too soon, and it's extremely common. Like many intermittent health symptoms, it may not appear when you're at the doctor's office, which makes diagnosing it much harder. Recommended Videos Thankfully, there's a new way, and it's a world first. Last week at Galaxy Unpacked in New York City, I was invited to a panel with a handful of other reporters to learn more about the new Galaxy Watch 8 series, which was announced alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7. During this panel, Samsung also announced that the Galaxy Watch 8 is the first smartwatch to detect an ectopic heartbeat. Here's how it works and why it's so important. What is an ectopic heartbeat? You've probably noticed an ectopic heartbeat, even if you didn't know it was called that. It's an extra or premature heartbeat that can cause a fluttering or pounding sensation in the chest, dizziness or lightheadedness, or a brief shortness of breath. It sounds fairly serious, but almost everyone will experience an ectopic heartbeat during their lifetime. It's a natural part of the heart's rhythm, and you will likely have seen it displayed on an ECG graph if you've run one. Lifestyle factors such as stress, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, some medications, lack of sleep, or hormonal changes can all impact ectopic beats. Still, given its prevalence, it's not a concern for most people. However, if you have underlying conditions, it can be a cause for concern or something to watch for. An exciting development for wearables If you experience ectopic beats frequently, that's when it can become more serious. The chances of having an ectopic heartbeat while being measured for it in a doctor's office are slim to none. However, the ability to test for it automatically from your wrist? That's far more useful for both doctors and patients alike. The Galaxy Watch 8 measures for an ectopic heartbeat as part of its ECG feature. A 30-second single-lead ECG can be run directly from the Galaxy Watch 8 or the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, and it adds an ectopic heartbeat as one of the determinations under the Inconclusive category. The addition of the ectopic heartbeat as a listed response sets the Galaxy Watch 8 apart from the competition, like the Apple Watch Series 10 and Pixel Watch 3. Both of these rival wearables capture ECGs — and you can detect an ectopic heartbeat in the ECG results — but neither directly lists the ectopic heartbeat as a result. I've never been diagnosed with an ectopic heartbeat. Still, I've had a heart attack before, which puts me at risk, as cardiac disease is listed as a high-risk medical condition. I would never have thought to look for an ectopic heartbeat before, so it's particularly useful that I know the Galaxy Watch 8 can detect it, and specifically call it out. It also affects my colleague Gareth Beavis, who has experienced an increase in unusual heartbeats, especially when tired or recovering from strenuous exercise. He said that while he doesn't receive many of the heartbeat notifications from rival devices, this feature on the Galaxy Watch 8 would be useful in helping determine whether it's worth worrying about. The Galaxy Watch 8 has plenty of new features It's not the only new Galaxy Watch 8 feature, representing a significant update to Samsung's wearable lineup. This feature wasn't even mentioned during the main keynote, as the other key new features will also improve your life and could make it one of the best smartwatches. First, there's the new antioxidant feature, which uses a combination of the new yellow, blue, violet, and IER LEDs to detect carotenoids in your skin. It's a key biomarker of your antioxidant level, which are molecules that help protect the body from damage caused by unstable molecules that can lead to disease in excessive concentrations. There are many different types of carotenoids, but the Galaxy Watch 8 is designed to test a small range of these. Yet, as the first smartwatch to do so, it has me excited for a potential future where we can test far more from the skin. Then there's the new vascular load monitoring during your sleep. My heart attack occurred while I was asleep, and many vascular symptoms present themselves while the body is at rest. Companies have recently added more heart monitoring features specifically for while asleep, and Samsung's new feature is designed to estimate the stress on your vascular system while you're sleeping. It's a feature that I hope I never need, but I will be grateful if I do.
