Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Said to Skip Body Temperature Tracking Feature: Ming-Chi Kuo

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple couldn't make its body temperature algorithm work, and neither could Samsung.

By Apoorva Sinha | Updated: 3 May 2022 20:44 IST

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Said to Skip Body Temperature Tracking Feature: Ming-Chi Kuo

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 40mm will have a 276mAh battery

Highlights

Samsung facing difficulties coding temperature reading algorithm
Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 may not get the feature
Apple is also facing a similar issue with its smartwatch range

Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, the next smartwatch in the South Korean tech giant' smartwatch range, has been rumoured to come with a thermometer feature that can be used to track skin temperature, which is useful to detect early signs of infection and track ovulation cycles. However, it seems like Samsung might not be able to add this feature to its upcoming smartwatch. Apple is also trying to bring this feature to its next-gen smartwatch, but hasn't had any success yet, according to noted analyst Ming-chi Kuo. Therefore, he believes that that if Apple could not do the same with their smartwatch, Samsung too can't do it.

Reportedly, Samsung is facing difficulties coding the temperature-reading algorithm for the Galaxy Watch 5, almost similar to what Apple had gone through while adding this feature to Apple Watch 7 Series. However, this process is said to be necessary to enable the hardware sensors to deliver accurate readings. Previous reports, once again by TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, have hinted at Apple working to include the same feature to measure body temperature in the Apple Watch Series 8. Kuo said due to lack of a qualifying algorithm, Apple didn't add the body temperature feature to Apple Watch Series 7.

Kuo, through a tweet, claims that "Apple has already given up on implementing body temperature readings for this year's 7th-gen Apple Watch (it looks like a "better luck next year" scenario) and speculates that Samsung won't be able to do the same for the Watch 5."

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(3/3)
Samsung is facing this challenge as well. Unlike previous media reports, I think Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 in 2H22 might not support the body temperature measurement due to algorithm limitations.
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) May 1, 2022

The challenge both Samsung and Apple are facing somehow relates to the fact that surface skin temperature can vary depending on external factors. Meanwhile, both the companies are trying to work on hardware that is capable of reading surface temperatures in order to allow their smartwatches to take accurate readings.

Moreover, Apple might win by solving this puzzle with the Apple Watch 8 Series before Samsung and can bring this feature to the market. Samsung's Galaxy Watch 5 may offer other new features and design, but if recent claims are to go by, then the smartwatch may not come with a body temperature sensor.

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A recent report claimed that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 may launch with slightly larger batteries for the 40mm and 44mm models compared to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 series. The report said the Galaxy Watch 5 40mm (EB-BR900ABY) will have a 276mAh battery, up from 247mAh (+29mAh). The larger Watch 5 44mm (EB-BR910ABY) will have a 397mAh battery, up from 361mAh (+36mAh). The Galaxy Watch 5 generation won't be unveiled until the second half of this year, the report added.

Are affordable smartwatches worth it? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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