The Smartwatch sector of the market is booming with brands such as Apple, Fitbit and Mobvoi providing smartwatches that provide all the latest in health and fitness tracking. In this review, we got the chance to review the Withings ScanWatch which takes the heath monitoring to a new level. They offer an ECG (electrocardiogram) & Pulse oximeter that focuses on the user’s daily health and notifies them of any potential AFib warnings or also provides warnings of any sleep apnea.
It may look like a normal watch but with features such as the heart monitoring, Stepometer, Distance calculator, SP02 monitor, Fitness Workouts, Breathing techniques & Alarm all of this for £239 via Amazon this watch is really quite smart.
Design
The Withings ScanWatch is known as a hybrid smartwatch meaning in appearance it looks more like a normal watch over a standard smartwatch. The one thing that indicates this is not a standard watch is the fact the display in the top middle of the smartwatch will light up with the time or a notification. Otherwise, it looks very much like a normal analogue watch.
The watch comes with a stainless steel case paired with a sapphire glass display which protects the watch and means it’s harder to scratch. The style of the watch makes it look very premium. The watch comes in two sizes 38mm & 42mm and in this review, I was provided with the 42mm model. The scanwatch comes in at 83g in weight which is not very heavy and I barely noticed it when wearing the watch. The watch also comes in Black or White for the 42mm option and for the smaller 38mm version in addition to the black and white options you have a rose gold/blue and rose gold/grey versions.
The display is slightly bigger compared to other hybrid models as you have a brighter PMOLED display. The display is nothing like what you get on something like an Apple watch but the display is good enough to show you simple notifications or when checking out the ECG readings.
The watch also comes with a raise to wake function it’s just not very sensitive in reality. You really need to flick your wrist quite hard to trigger the function. Otherwise, you will have to press the rotatable crown that is positioned on the right side of the body of the watch.
Battery Life
The manufacturer Withings advise this watch comes with 30-day battery life I have been testing this watch now for the last 15 days and I can say it’s offering excellent battery life and am not even near 50% battery life yet. However, like most devices the more features you use this will impact the battery life. If you adjust the following settings:
- Auto-Brightness to always on.
- Respiratory scan to auto
- Raise to wake feature on
- Plus tracked the number of exercises over the week
Using all the above features did make a significant reduction in battery life but nothing to be overly concerned about. Now if you manage to use all the battery then the ScanWatch has its power-saving mode, which in theory could offer an additional 20 days of usage. The power-saving mode still provides the time and will record your steps and sleep pattern over that period. When it’s time to charge the ScanWatch it will take 1 hour to 80% and 2 hours to fully charge the scanwatch.
Health Features
The stand out feature on this watch is the ECG now this ECG has been tested for its accuracy and received CE marking for medical devices.
To use the ECG simply scroll through the interface until you see the ECG icon. Press the crown and then place your finger on the watch bezel and keep it still for 30 seconds. You can then either see the recording on the display of the scan watch or you can view the results via the app on your phone. Investigating both ways was very interesting to do and the results are always stored on the app. This allows you to review the results in a bit more detail.
Now, most people’s resting heart rate is normally around the 50bpm mark but for the ECG to record correctly that needs to be a little higher. The ScanWatch will notify you if your heart rate is too high or too low. This is useful as it could be a warning sign and time to visit your GP. If you did visit the GP the scanwatch app allows you to share a complete health report with your GP.
The ScanWatch not only comes with ECG but also a Pulse Oximeter which measures the Oxygen saturation levels in the blood otherwise known as SpO2. This feature is quite common in smartwatches but is useful in the ScanWatch when giving the body a mini MOT. SpO2 readings should be around the 90% to 100% range anything below might require a trip to your GP. Running the test is done the same way as you do the ECG.
In addition to the ECG, you also have an optical heart rate sensor that provides continuous tracking and records every 30 seconds. The heart mate app does an excellent job of displaying your daily heart rate and also brought to our attention any lower or higher daily average.
Day, Week & Monthly Heart rate monitoring
My only negative is the heart rate reporting can be slightly out compared to other smartwatches like my Fitbit. However on the whole it does provide a good level of accuracy especially when exercising. The Health Mate app can also talk with the likes of Strava or GoogleFit to provide a good level of reporting for most users.
If you are a runner this watch might not be for you as the health mate app does not provide post-run analysis to the level you might want. You do get stats like:
- Distance
- Pace
- Kcal
- Heart rate zones
- Map of your workout
What the health mate does do is monitor your fitness level via V02 Max estimations in the app which will give you a score between 17-60 as long as you have the GPS connected when you go out on a run.
Sleep Monitoring
The Pulse Oximeter also works while you are sleeping and can alert you of any breathing issues when you are asleep it also tracks the oxygen levels when you sleeping as well. This is useful for detecting sleep apnea. Now the recordings can be done in the following ways:
- Always On mode – Scans you every night.
- Auto mode – Scans for three nights in a row at the start of every quarter and also allows you to reschedule if you wish.
When you run a respiratory scan it checks your heart rate, respiratory rate and oxygen levels. This combination provides an overview of any sleeping issues that occur overnight. The results are produced as follows:
- 0-30 disturbances – Few category
- 30-60 disturbances – Moderate category
- 60-100 disturbances – High category
This allows you to investigate further why you are suffering from sleep issues. In the Health Mate app, you are provided with a detailed breathing graph you could share with a GP or sleep expert. Having data like this is vital when warning you of sleep apnea. Having monitoring and reporting like this is quite rare in a consumer wearable like this.
Continuing on the discussion of sleep the scanwatch will also record the amount of sleep you get a night as well as how deep your sleep was and if there were interruptions. It then provides a score out of 100.
Fitness Tracking
The Scanwatch comes with a fitness tracker that can track over 30 sports and also offers auto-tracking for the likes of running, walking, swimming and cycling. All the stats are recorded and can be seen on the Health Mate app. When you check the stats you will be able to see the number of steps taken, distance travelled, calories burned and floors climbed.
The Scanwatch and Health Mate App do an excellent job of displaying your daily activity and sleep. Withings also provide you with a little chatbot that provides tips and we found its insights really useful.
There is also a breath mode like you might find on an Apple watch that lets you focus on your breathing and you can even adjust how many breaths you take in that minute session.
Other Features
The Scanwatch uses a small 13.8mm PMOLED display that shows notifications and health stats. The display is a little limited especially when notifications start landing. When receiving a notification like a text message the message scrolls pretty slowly from right to left across the display.
This is a slow painful process that 9 times out of 10 I just got my phone out to see the notification. I just found this feature frustrating and would like the notifications to be sped up a little.
Verdict
The ScanWatch provides you with a good level of features especially when keeping an eye on your heart health. When comparing the scanwatch to the hybrid watch market the ScanWatch is far superior in terms of medical features.
Now it’s not the only watch out there that provides similar health features the Apple Watch Series 6 comes with an ECG monitor. However, the Apple watch is more focused on fitness and smart features compared to the Scanwatch which has a focus on health.
It’s not a perfect watch and does need a few improvements, especially around the display. However, if your focus is to monitor your heart and also overnight breathing you can’t go wrong with the Withings.
If you are looking for a watch that also comes with NFC support, music storage or other smartwatch features this watch is not for you. However, the Withings ScanWatch is one of the best in the Withings range. The fact it comes with an ECG seems invaluable for those who suffer from heart conditions.
Product Rating:
Design: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Battery Life: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars
Health Features: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars
Sleep Monitoring: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Fitness Tracking: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Value for Money: 5.0 out of 5.0 stars5.0
Overall Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0 stars – 4.0 Stars
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