Totally banana. When tested on fruit, the watches showed the same incorrect values as on the wrist. © Institute of Diabetes Technology Ulm
You can buy smartwatches online that supposedly measure blood sugar levels. In reality, they do not measure anything, as one study shows.
Researchers from Institute of Diabetes Technology from the University of Ulm warn against smartwatches that supposedly measure blood sugar levels. Watches with this function are being advertised in online stores, although no method for reliable glucose measurement without blood sampling is yet available, they write in a Study in the journal Diabetes, Metabolism and Heart.
Same values for humans and bananas
The team verified the reported values of two Amazon Marketplace devices. In the test, both repeatedly showed similar value curves when supposedly measuring glucose – which had nothing to do with the test subject’s actual blood sugar level. The watches also showed the same measurement curves when operated on a banana instead of the wrist. Apparently the watches don’t measure anything, they just show pre-programmed curves. Such devices are, of course, completely unsuitable for diabetes therapy.
Even more serious watches give unreliable values
Even watches from bigger vendors like Apple, Garmin and Samsung don’t always live up to their promises when it comes to health. They do not falsify measurements. But like ours Testing the health functions of smartwatches shows, the quality of their information varies greatly. Although some models provide good results for blood pressure, oxygen saturation or calorie consumption, they are quite wrong when it comes to determining fertile days.
Tip: We summarize how ideal Therapies for type 2 diabetes to look. In the big Comparison test of smartwatches and fitness trackers Stiftung Warentest regularly evaluates new models.