Two of the best heart rate watches available for seniors

Regularly monitoring heart rate with a smartwatch is a good practice for everyone, including seniors. While a smartwatch isn’t a replacement for an event or Holter monitor, it can help one track their overall health, such as sleep quality and activity. Heart rate monitoring smartwatches are a good investment, as they also have larger displays, more accurate sensors, and a simple interface. There are various types of heart rate watches on the market, each with unique features.

Here are the options that offer reliable heart rate monitoring:

1. Samsung Galaxy Watch 5

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 is ideal for seniors who want to invest in a user-friendly and reliable health monitoring device for daily use. The smartwatch costs about $300 and offers a range of health-related features at that price. Apart from heart rate monitoring, the watch allows users to track sleep metrics, count daily steps, and monitor their blood pressure. Additionally, it uses a special technology to let users gauge body mass index (BMI). The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 has a good battery life of up to 50 hours and an IP68 water resistance rating. Moreover, Android users can talk, text, and stream content directly through the watch.

2. Apple Watch Series 9

The Apple Watch Series 9 is a premium and one of the most reliable smartwatches with a heart rate monitoring app, allowing one to track heart rate readings at any time. Apple also makes using the feature more accessible with Siri voice commands. Questions like “What’s my heart rate?” or “What’s my walking heart rate average?” will activate the feature and give users a near-accurate result. One can also open the Heart Rate app on the Apple Watch to view a graphical representation of the data. The app will also alert users to irregular heart rhythms, helping them consult their doctor as soon as possible. This data can be viewed on the available, easy-to-read 1.7-inch (44 mm) display. The Apple Watch Series 9 starts at about $400.

Apart from the two options above, one can also consider these four smartwatches for their range of features, including monitoring heart rate:

1. Fitbit Sense 2 – Feature-rich

The FitBit Sense 2 is one of the top-rated smartwatches for heart rate tracking, especially among seniors who wish to track their overall health. The device also offers easy-to-read graphs, available via the associated app. The FitBit Sense 2 is one of the few smartwatches with a battery life of about six days. It features a cEDA sensor to help identify when the body is experiencing signs of stress and to help one manage it with physical activity and deep breathing. The smartwatch costs about $250 across various retail stores.

2. Garmin Venu Sq – Value-for-money

One can check out the Garmin Venu Sq, a watch preloaded with 20 sports apps, GPS, and a bright touchscreen. This enables users to monitor health and activity metrics, including heart health. Other benefits of buying the smartwatch include stress-tracking notifications, a pulse oximeter sensor, and hydration tracking to help monitor water intake. Other perks of the value-for-money watch include contactless payments, iOS and Android compatibility, music playback, and about six days of battery life. The Garmin Sq offers all of this and more for around $200.

3. Withings ScanWatch Horizon – Top hybrid smartwatch

The Withings ScanWatch Horizon is ideal for seniors looking for reliable heart rate monitoring, prompt alerts, and user-friendly features in a hybrid design. The device’s heart rate monitoring and ECG features offer valuable insights into overall heart health, with a simple interface that lets users monitor parameters within 30 seconds. The Withings ScanWatch Horizon has features to analyze sleep patterns and let seniors adjust their overall sleep quality. Another benefit of this smartwatch is the 30-day battery life, which is available on a single charge. One could pick up this hybrid smartwatch for about $500.

4. Fitbit Inspire 3 – Affordable fitness tracker

The Fitbit Inspire 3 isn’t a smartwatch but a fitness tracking smart band that offers similar features for a much lower price. The smart band has several features for a $100 price tag. It has up to ten days of battery life, a colorful band, a bright and readable AMOLED screen, and sleep monitoring. The fitness tracker band has a heart rate sensor for seniors to keep tabs on elevations and contact a healthcare professional immediately.