Over the past few weeks, you've probably heard the news about the Apple Watch being banned. Some medical technology companies have accused Apple of infringing on their patents related to sensors. That medical technology company is his Masimo, known in medical circles for its pulse oximetry technology used to measure blood oxygen levels.
The company also wants to be known for something else. It's the latest smartwatch with the same technology that caused problems with the Apple Watch.
Masimo isn't traditionally a gadget maker, but its new watch, Freedom, is intended to be a true consumer device. Something that looks stylish on your wrist, relays notifications, and lets you track your health while you use it. In theory, it's very similar to the Apple Watch.
We got to see an early prototype of Freedom at CES last week, and it was indeed an interesting product. First of all, it is visually different from the Apple Watch in that the Digital Crown is not visible, opting for a circular display with a leather band. To scroll, it has its own touch bar on the right, which you swipe up and down to move. If you squint, you'll see a small button on the left that you use to select items in Freedom's interface. At 46mm, it's chunky for my petite wrist, but it didn't look out of place on Eugene Goldberg, Masimo's president of consumer health.
“In addition to tracking everything the consumer is doing, it's really adding useful features that consumers are used to,” Goldberg says. Freedom will come with features like notifications, timers, and a smoother app experience. On the health side, it also features insights into sleep and stress.
Still, what I saw was the bare bones of a fairly basic smartwatch. There weren't that many menus to run through, and the software was clearly a beta that wasn't ready for prime time. As a prototype, it was clear that the platform was still evolving.
Focusing on smarter features is a change in strategy for Masimo. Technically, the company has tried smartwatches before. The Masimo W1 was released last year to little if any fanfare. But W1 was leaning heavily towards health. It was FDA cleared for blood oxygen and pulse rate, but lacked in smarts and productivity. Goldberg describes the W1 as a device you'd give to an elderly relative concerned about their health, not someone interested in a tracker that acts as an extension of their smartphone. The W1 looks like an Apple Watch, but it's more like Freedom's smartwatch fitness band.
Goldberg stressed in the meeting that Masimo's goal with Freedom Watch is to demonstrate the accuracy of the sensor, not to attack Apple. In particular, he said that unlike some competitors (Goldberg declined to name them), Masimo's blood oxygen technology does not address challenges such as movement, low perfusion or poor blood flow, and skin pigmentation. He emphasized that it can be dealt with. Goldberg also said it's a little too early to tell whether Freedom will receive FDA clearance, but he said Freedom will have the same medical-grade sensors as the W1.
“We need to create expectations about how much accuracy and ‘continuity’ we will get even as technology generally improves. [monitoring] Actually means. “If you go to the CES show floor, you'll see the word 'continuous' everywhere in the digital health space, but I don't necessarily believe that they're all really continuous,” Goldberg said. says. “We want to know where we have good data and where we have bad data. And what do we actually do with that data as medical professionals? That's where it all goes.”
Goldberg is right about the shortcuts other watches take to get health readings. Many popular wearables don't actually scan your heart rate (or blood oxygen) every second. Many people choose to prioritize battery life by measuring her once in a few minutes. Other companies are also trying to make this differentiation a selling point. Movano touted the accuracy of its medical-grade smart ring at this year's CES, and a few years ago Omron unveiled an FDA-cleared smartwatch that can measure your body. blood pressure.
Even so, Masimo's timing is amazing. At the time of the W1 smartwatch's launch, the company was relatively unknown to consumers, but then the Apple Watch ban catapulted the company and its blood oxygen sensor technology into the news. While it still doesn't have the same level of recognition as Apple or Samsung, the drama helped Freedom stand out a little more from the myriad of trackers and wearables on the CES show floor.
Whether or not this watch continues to stand out will depend on whether the watch that launches later this year can maintain its status, and perhaps whether blood oxygen functionality returns to the Apple Watch.
