Wellness Wearables

FROM TRACKING VITALS TO HELPING YOU STAY FIT, PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY, WEARABLES ARE NOW A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME ALTOGETHER. WHILE SMARTWATCHES AND SMART BANDS ARE STILL THE MOST PREFERRED, A NUMBER OF INNOVATIVE ONES ARE MAKING THEIR PRESENCE FELT

- NIDHI SINGAL

FITNESS TRACKERS

Apple Watch Series 6

Apple launched the Watch Series 6 in September last year, right in the middle of the pandemic. Besides tracking workouts and keeping an eye on your heart rate, it also measures your oxygen levels via an all-new sensor and Blood Oxygen app, and checks your heart rhythm with its ECG app. The Blood Oxygen app can take on-demand as well as background SpO2 readings. The four-lead ECG app can measure atrial fibrillation — a serious irregular heart rhythm. There’s also the Breathe app that sets breathing sessions (there's an animation on the watch face, you inhale when it grows and exhale when it shrinks), and a new Sleep feature that helps establish a regular sleep routine (monitors sleeping time, night-time disturbances etc). It, however, does not automatically track the sleep cycle.

OnePlus Band

This is a smart fitness band that records essential vitals and helps you stay fit. It measures both SpO2 and heart rate. But unlike Apple, sleep tracking kicks in automatically and the sessions are divided into deep sleep, light sleep and wake time. Among daily activities, tracking step-count is the easiest. In addition, the band tracks 13 other activities, including outdoor run, indoor run, fat burn run, outdoor walk, outdoor cycling and indoor cycling, among others.