Samsung's watch and ring get a smarter sleep apnea check

Samsung has announced a more advanced version of its sleep apnea detection for Galaxy wearables. Sleep apnea means your breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. The new version rolls out in November, starting in Korea, and the US is expected to follow.

What changed

Samsung first added sleep apnea detection to Galaxy devices in 2024, after getting FDA approval in the US. That version simply warned people who might have frequent breathing interruptions so they could seek medical help.

The new version uses an AI program to look at breathing disturbances per hour. It breaks them down in more detail, closer to what a dedicated sleep study does. Samsung still says it does not replace a doctor's diagnosis.

• It needs at least five hours of sleep recorded on two nights within 10 days.
• It works on the Galaxy Watch and the Galaxy Ring.
• The Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch 8 get it after the first rollout, if they run Wear OS 7.0 or newer.
• The current tool on the Galaxy Watch 4 and later stays in place.

What is not known yet

The Korean rollout follows approval from that country's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The material gives no US date, and it does not say how the US review will go for the new version. It also does not list every device that gets the feature at launch, and it does not mention a price.

For anyone who snores or wakes up tired, the result may give a doctor better information. It is a prompt to ask questions, not an answer.