How Does Samsung Galaxy Watch Measure Your Stress? (Answered)

The Samsung Galaxy Watch has long remained the pioneer when it comes to introducing new features to Android smartwatches. Even trading blows with the Apple watch, and it carries some distinct creatures which separate it from Apple’s offering. One such feature is the ability to measure your stress using just the reading taken from your watch’s sensors.

However, this begs the question, how does the Samsung Galaxy watch actually measure your stress? And if it does measure your stress (which it does), how accurate is its reading? We’re going to be answering all that and more. So, read on!

What Is Stress Measurement In Samsung Galaxy Watch?

First things first, stress management is not a novel feature on the Samsung Galaxy Watch. In fact, it was introduced to the Samsung lineup of devices with the Samsung Galaxy S9. While the technology and accuracy of the measurement have inherently changed over the years, the core functionality and the way stress is measured remain indifferent.

In essence, you were able to use the Samsung Health application, which was present on your phone, and place your finger right on the health sensor where your stress would be measured over time. However, these readings remained inaccurate due to their reliance on proper finger positioning.

Stress Measurement on the Galaxy Watch

Once the Galaxy Watch series rolled out, though, the stress measuring feature was implemented into the smartwatches but with some slight modifications. Firstly, the measurement now used the vast array of sensors baked into the watch, which measured everything from your heart rate to even your blood pressure in recent iterations.

Moreover, instead of having you place your fingers for 20 seconds on a sensor, the watch now had the capability of constantly measuring your heart rate throughout the day, thereby allowing it to keep a track record of what your average heart rate was given any situation. These readings helped provide more accurate measurements to the end-user in terms of their stress.

While Samsung has not officially commented on how exactly stress is measured, we’re fairly sure that the method we’re going to be talking about now is how they measure stress. Samsung measures the variation in your heart rate over a given period of time in order to calculate your stress. To explain further, your measurements from throughout the day are taken into account alongside your current heart rate. So, if there were larger variations between your heart rate, your watch would quantify that as you having higher stress at that particular instance.

Here’s an example:

	Person 1	Person 2
Average Heart Rate (bpm)	60	90
Heart Rate at Time (bpm)	90	95
Variance (bpm)	20	5

In this particular instance, while Person 2 has a higher average heart rate, their variance at a particular time period is only 5. Therefore, the watch would consider them at an average stress level.

On the other hand, Person 1 while having a lower heart rate has a higher variance. Therefore, the watch would consider them to be highly stressed.

With that said, it is clear to assume that the higher number of recordings a watch has of your heart rate, the more accurate its reading will be.

Is Stress Measurement On The Galaxy Watch Accurate?

Yes, the stress measurement on the Galaxy Watch is quite accurate. However, it may not provide the most accurate results in certain situations. For example, if you were to exercise, you’ll naturally have a higher heart rate. If you were to calculate your stress at that particular instance, your watch would display a high-stress level even though that clearly isn’t the case.

Therefore, for the most accurate measurements, you should only measure your stress when you are rested as any variance in heart rate during that time would strictly be due to stress.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 has the BioActive sensor, which takes in more readings, such as your blood pressure. Therefore, they’ll be able to provide you with even better readings.

However, you should never rely on your watch or phone completely. They act as great reference points, and you should consult your physician before taking any medication for your high-stress level.

How To Measure Stress on Samsung Galaxy Watch

Now that you’ve got the hang of the inner workings of measuring stress on your Samsung Galaxy Watch, here’s what you need to do to get a reading:

Clean the sensors present on the bottom of the watch using a micro-fiber cloth. (Don’t use tissues!)
Wear the watch tightly on your wrist
Next, open the Samsung Health application and scroll down to the Stress Section.
Once there, you’ll get your previous reading and will have the option to measure a new one.
Once you tap on Measure, hold your wrist straight, and the watch completes its reading. (Avoid talking as it can mess up the reading.)
After the measurement is complete, you’ll be able to view your stress level on your watch or the Samsung Health application on your phone.

Bonus Tip: If you want your Samsung Galaxy Watch to measure your stress continuously or at specific intervals, scroll down in the stress management section, tap on the gear icon, and select Measure HR and Stress Continuously or whatever setting you please!

Ernests

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I bought my first smartwatch in 2018 and have been wearing one ever since. It might get frustrating at times to receive 100 notifications a day. That's why we need to know how to make the best of them and how to use them to improve our daily lives, not the other way around. I write about the newest smartwatches, I create top picks, and I write helpful guides and simply explain complicated things.