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Comment by wlesieutre | Hacker News Reader

Speculated to be included in the Apple Watch S6 this fall.

https://9to5mac.com/2020/03/08/apple-watch-blood-oxygen-satu...

At the time they reported that there were mentions of it in an iOS 14 leak, but it wasn't clear if it would be a software update to existing watches (somehow able to detect it with existing heartrate hardware) or in a watch hardware revision. Since it wasn't mentioned in the watchOS news at WWDC, looks like it'll be new hardware.

Either that or the code they found in iOS 14 was related to the health app and support for 3rd party oximiters, but that's not how the 9to5 post frames it so best I can do is take their word for it.

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IIRC, Fitbit has products on the market that has them. Works both on iOS and Android.

https://www.wearable-technologies.com/2020/01/fitbit-adds-bl...

Retired M.D. (neurosurgical anesthesiologist) here:

Just bought a Huawei Honor 5 watch with pulse oximeter and heart rate functions: numbers seem correct and the device is fast: results in 5 seconds for O2 sat; almost instantaneous for HR.

Compare to Apple Watch HR function which takes at least 10 seconds to show result. Simultaneous side-by-side comparison of 2 devices: near identical numbers.

Even more impressive: Honor 5 costs $33 here: https://www.walmart.com/ip/HUAWEI-Honor-Band-5-Smart-Watch-B...

Superlight, compact, and comfortable. Huawei is no humbug!

Garmin also has them on several devices: https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=SK2Y9a9aBp5D6n4sXmPBG7

Garmin seems to be highly inaccurate at measuring oxygen and the devices take a very long time compared to a finger oximeter. I get 93% but a cheap Walmart finger oximeter shows me at 99%.

Wow they finally did it. After the hardware being there for _years_ they managed to get around to enabling the software. I already jettisoned them for Garmin after waiting so long.

Same frustrations here! Couldn't believe when I bought their smart device based on advertising that said they had the hardware to do it.... but it wasn't enabled.

They didn't really. The UI showing variation while sleeping (with an unlabeled y axis) is the only information that is surfaced to the user afaict.

Does anyone know, in general, if a watch device already has a pulse measurement LED system, whether that can also serve as a pulse ox measurement? or are they different hardware requirements?

You need two LEDs (one visible, one IR) to measure oxygen level, but only one for pulse.

Apple has apparently had both since their first watch models, but only uses them for heart rate. https://www.theverge.com/2014/9/9/6126991/apple-watch-four-b...

EDIT: Apple says it uses green LEDs during workouts and IR for background measurements. Maybe it’s for energy reasons? https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204666

For those with respiratory issues (I have CF) that would be great.

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