Your smartwatch is more than just a stylish accessory or a convenient notification or communication tool. Picture: Freepik/ Teddy Rawpixel
Sleep is often undervalued, yet it remains one of the most critical pillars of overall health. Thankfully, sleep-tracking smart watches are stepping in to help us better understand and paint a picture of our sleep habits.
While not perfect, sleep-tracking wearables can monitor heart rate, skin temperature, heart rate variability and track time spent in the different sleep phases to provide personalised insights that can be used to improve your sleep and overall health.
Here's a closer look at some sleep monitoring features on smart watches that could revolutionalise how you sleep.
Many smart watches don't just tell you how long you slept, they break your sleep into the three phases, light, deep, and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep and show you how much time you spent in each.
Each phase plays a unique role in mental and physical restoration.
Low blood oxygen levels during sleep can be an early indicator of respiratory or cardiovascular issues like sleep apnea.
The SpO2 sensors in smart watches measure your oxygen saturation overnight, offering insights into any breathing irregularities.
You can even receive an alert if levels drop significantly, potentially helping you seek medical attention sooner.
Your smart watch can track HRV (the variation in time between heartbeats), which is closely linked to your nervous system's activity.
A lower HRV during sleep might indicate stress or fatigue, while a higher HRV suggests good recovery and relaxation.
These insights are what can help answer why you sometimes wake up feeling unrested despite getting "enough" sleep.
First introduced in the Apple Watch Series 4, this feature can monitor your heart’s electrical activity and detect irregular heart rhythms, including atrial fibrillation (AFib), which is a potentially life-threatening condition if left untreated.
Other brands such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch, latest Fitbit watches, and the newest HUAWEI Watch GT 5 Pro also have the same feature, with the inclusion of a report that can be generated to share with a healthcare provider if required.
According to ZDNET writer and smart watch expert Matt Miller, these are some of the best sleep-tracking smart watches in the game.
There's no denying the Apple Watch's supremacy in the wearable space, and with the Series 9 came a new and improved S9 chip which made its health sensors as “accurate and sensitive as possible”.
For those in the Android ecosystem, the Pixel Watch 2 with improved heart rate sensors is much lighter than its predecessor, ideal for comfortable sleep.
This Garmin watch is great for anybody who wants to improve their fitness quality through sleep tracking. It provides accurate sport insights that pairs with sleep tracking capabilities, making it more suitable for fitness enthusiasts or athletes.