Samsung Says New Watches Will Offer Clues on Biological Age

An updated sensor in the new Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Watch 7, which Samsung unveiled Wednesday at its Unpacked event, will dig deeper into its assessment of how healthy you are with a feature the company says can give you insight into your biological age and metabolic health.

The feature is an advanced glycation end products (AGEs) index, which is a measurement of byproducts or compounds that build up in the body and are often affected by diet, lifestyle factors and aging. Your AGEs could be an indicator of how fast your body is aging (biological age) and your overall metabolic health.

The watch gets this information, according to Samsung, from a newly improved BioActive sensor, which includes more LED colors that are “optimally” arranged on the sensor. By giving people a slice of health information pulled from the watch, they may make daily changes that could influence their health. Higher AGEs, for example, have been linked to diabetes and risk of other health problems, and you may consume more depending on the foods you eat and how you cook your food.

Samsung’s AGEs feature shouldn’t be used to diagnosis anything or replace professional medical advice.

To be “metabolically healthy” is a loosely defined measurement of how well your body metabolizes energy (food), as well as your risk for developing common but chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease. Because so much of real-time metabolic information is tied up in your blood sugar levels, which wearables can’t accurately measure, metabolic health has been mostly uncharted waters for wearables like smartwatches and smart rings.

Biological age is another term that’s hard to get a grip on, but it basically describes the toll that someone’s cells have taken based on environmental factors, genetic influence and other elements of daily living. Since this is typically measured on a cellular level, and experts have questioned the usefulness of consumer tests claiming to tell you your biological age, more information will be needed to see how Samsung’s new BioActive sensor stacks up in terms of improving someone’s wellness or metabolic health.

In addition to its AGEs feature, Samsung says its BioActive sensor will also give you improved readings on heart rate, sleep quality, stress and other measurements. Health-tracking announcements on the Galaxy Watch comes on the heels of Samsung’s other wellness moves, including sleep apnea detection and the launch of the Galaxy Ring, which is available for preorder now.