The Consumer Electronics Show 2019 (CES) is underway in Las Vegas and we’re starting to see companies unveil their latest offerings. Yesterday, we saw Garmin launch the LTE variant of its Vivoactive 3 Music smartwatch. Now Withings has come up with an Apple Watch Series 4 rival, and it’s a lot cheaper.
The French company introduced multiple wearables at the event, including a new watch that can take electrocardiograms (ECGs). Called the Move ECG, the watch is part of a new Move line of smartwatches by Withings.
Move ECG has 12 months of battery life
The Apple Watch Series 4 got the ECG feature last month after the approval from the FDA. Though the feature cannot replace the traditional methods of diagnosis or treatment, it does takes one abnormal reading to alert you to a problem you may have been unaware of before. And it was only a matter of time that a competitor for the Apple Watch comes up.
The Move ECG by Withings features three electrodes to measure electrocardiograms: two inside the back of the smartwatch and a third in the bezel. To take a reading, users need to touch both sides of the bezel at the same time while wearing the watch. The watch will vibrate when it has a reading, normally after about 30 seconds. It then sends the data to the company’s companion smartphone app, Health Mate. The ECG feature of the Move ECG is currently under review for FDA clearance.
The other big thing about the Move ECG is its battery life. The watch apparently has an estimated battery life of twelve months. That’s a lot.
The watch has an analog watch face giving it a bit more traditional look than most of the smartwatches, but it does boasts a number of smart features. It can track users’ activity levels and steps based on their phone’s GPS, and also monitor sleep. The watch has a 50-meter water resistance for swimproof. The Move ECG, however, lacks an optical heart-rate monitor.
The newly announced watch by Withings will be available in Q2 2019 with a price tag of $129.95. The company is also selling a ECG-less variant of the device, simply called the Move. It comes with 18 months of battery life and is available to pre-order now. Withings will start shipping the $65.95 priced watch on February 5.
