I need a watch that will monitor HR, BP and Oxygen Levels - Without GPS

June 14, 2023 7:54 AM

So for health reasons, I am looking for a nice watch, that will do what it says it will, basically monitoring heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels. The only thing is, I don't want to be tracked, don't need internet, don't want blue tooth and just turning off those features won't pass. Is there such a thing as a smart phone that isn't that smart for people who don't want to be tracked and their every move going into a supercomputer? Thanks for any help with this.
posted by watercarrier to Technology (7 answers total)

If it helps narrow the field at all: Having GPS on a device does not mean it's sending any information to any other system. GPS means information goes from a satellite to the device about where it is; it does not send any information from the device to that satellite or anywhere else. Think of GPS as being like a very fancy compass, not a 2-way system like a cell phone. I also recognize this may not comfort you if turning off WiFi/bluetooth isn't sufficient, because my own normal answer to this would be to get a device and just never set up those connections, preventing it from communicating. But I do think it's worth saying that GPS is only ever a one-way connection, and in order to find out where a device is, it needs some other kind of system than just GPS.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:21 AM on June 14, 2023 [15 favorites]

The main downside of GPS is that it will run down your battery faster. That's important on a device with a tiny battery, like a watch. Which is why you can turn it off. I've used various Wear OS (Android) watches and all of them have an option to use the phone's GPS instead of the device's. Having GPS in the watch is still handy if you're not taking your phone with you on a run or whatever.

Unfortunately most* smart watches cannot be set up without at least Bluetooth, because all the setup and configuration is done on your phone. A watch might not even keep accurate time if you don't keep it connected to your phone because it relies on regular syncs with an Internet time server.

* I say most because there might be some out there that don't require Bluetooth, but I don't know any.
posted by kindall at 8:42 AM on June 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

Another note is that Blood Pressure is still a pretty new feature for watches in general. The only FDA approved one that I'm aware of is the Omron Heartguide. It's also probably the closest to what you want re: tracking in that it doesn't have GPS or WIFI but does really on bluetooth to a phone for setup / data. Also, it doesn't look like it has an O2 monitor.

Honestly, any of the watch based BP monitors are not going to win a lot of accuracy records. Right now, the most accurate solution might be an automatic BP cuff. Add an O2 fingertip monitor and a physical log and you're set.
posted by macfly at 9:09 AM on June 14, 2023 [6 favorites]

Checking out this Mozilla.org's privacy researcher's writeup, Garmin's fitness monitors might meet your needs. Maybe. Less odious than most, certainly.

further details.
posted by sebastienbailard at 9:14 AM on June 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

Many Garmin watches (but probably not all) work fine without any connection to a phone, and thus won't transmit your data anywhere. However blood pressure monitoring is not commonplace, and even O2 monitoring via watch leans more on the side of "shiny useless widget" rather than "medical device".
posted by meowzilla at 9:51 AM on June 14, 2023 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: I think I need to clarify that I don't want the wifi. That really is the bottom line. Instead of writing GPS, should have written wifi. I just want a phone that's intelligent enough to work as a tiny health unit fitting into a watch. :)
posted by watercarrier at 9:54 AM on June 14, 2023

Timex has a product called Timex Senior Connect. I can't tell from what I've read if it connects directly to a smartwatch or not. Or maybe it can, but doesn't have to. It does look like it needs its own cellular telephone number, and allows calls and texts only from an approved "white" list.

The advertising stresses security in a "don't confuse Grandma, but give her some protection" sort of way.

The same or similar hardware is available on a "Family Connect" basis presumably more flexible, but more open to hackers.

I bring it up because it does seem to be a slightly different approach than the Apple, Google, Samsung, Garmin model. Find a good review that tells you whether it actually works in the wild or not.
posted by SemiSalt at 6:32 AM on June 15, 2023