Thread by @ManeeshJuneja

Withings claim their #Scanwatch is the world's most advanced health wearable. I've paid £280 to find out how good it is in the real world. It certainly seems packed full of sensors. I am curious if it's particularly suited to #longcovid patients? #DigitalHealth

@benlovejoy has published a useful writeup of the Scanwatch vs the Apple watch (he wore one on each wrist) - impressive that he got 21 days charge out of the Scanwatch despite heavy usage 9to5mac.com/2020/09/07/wit…

An interesting experiment I want to run is to see whether the data gathered during sleep from the Withings Scanwatch is different from the data gathered during sleep from my Withings sleep mat (under my mattress)

So I did run this experiment comparing sleep data from both Withings devices (will share the interesting results later in this thread) - This is how the scanwatch looks vs Apple watch (left) & Galaxy watch 3 (right) - once again, another wearable with a proprietary charger

I can see why some might prefer the look of the Scanwatch, i.e. classic watch style with a tiny screen (which is why battery life is so long) but I prefer Apple watch/Galaxy watch type of smartwatches as I can see a lot more info on the screen

Set up takes a while, as you have to activate all the "health" features of the Scanwatch, which involves having to read a lot of information to understand what each feature can and cannot do - this is for the "medical grade ECG" feature

It's an interesting way of capturing the 30 second ECG, i.e. you don't need to keep a finger on the button on the side like the Apple watch - worked first time round, you can see the report that you can generate and share after taking the ECG

I activated the Afib detection feature too - the graphics and visuals during setup are quite clear

Taking blood oxygen level is easy, similar to the ECG feature, in terms of just turning the button on the right to select the feature, pushing the button and waiting 30 seconds, easier than having to carry a separate pulse oximeter with you

So sleep tracking activated on the scanwatch too. Personally, I prefer not wearing a watch when sleeping (taking my apple watch off at night is part of my "disconnect" from my day routine) but some people might not have an issue with wearing a watch in bed for health tracking

The Scanwatch does not feel uncomfortable to wear (the strap is very soft and light) but whenever I do wear a smartwatch to bed for sleep tracking, I'm always "aware" that it's there, especially when changing positions during sleep

Now the results of my experiment. Is the sleep data from my Scanwatch (white) identical to the data from my Sleep mat under my mattress (black)? Well, the "total sleep" time seems very close. Start/End time different. Sleep score lower with the watch.

The scanwatch (white) seems to have detected one more interruption vs the sleep mat (black) - Average heart rate for both is almost identical

What about the classification of sleep stages? The Scanwatch (white) says I had deep sleep between 04:22 and 04:25 whilst the sleep mat (black) says 04:09-05:04 was light sleep!

What about the breakdown of sleep stages? Well, this is where the Scanwatch (white) and the sleep mat (black) disagree, especially on the presence of REM sleep. I have no idea which device is closer to the truth though, as I don't have a reference device to validate against.

Did a spot check on heart rate at 02:04, Scanwatch (white) very close to sleep mat (black)

How many times did I wake up last night and how long was I awake for in total? Scanwatch (white) seems to be picking up 1 more interruption and shows my total awake time to be higher than the sleep mat (black)

What about breathing disturbances? So the Scanwatch (white) is pending validation for detecting sleep apnea, so it just shows sleep disturbances whilst the sleep mat (black) can detect sleep apnea and additionally also shows snoring episodes

Naturally, this was only one night's comparison between the sleep data from the Scanwatch vs the sleep mat. I should repeat for a week to see if a pattern emerges and if the discrepancies I found today are consistent night after night

As a health tracking wearable, my first impressions are that the Scanwatch is packed full of features (have yet to try the activity tracking), comfortable to wear but the huge advantage is the claimed 30 day battery life, which is even more useful if you are away from home a lot.

When it comes to sleep tracking, would you be comfortable wearing a smartwatch whilst sleeping or would you prefer the sleep mat that sits under your mattress and is permanently plugged in to the electric socket?

Since the Scanwatch is a hybrid smartwatch, there are limitations with regards to the small screen