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Most useful bit of the announcement, coming to all Google wearables it seems: Blood pressure, sleep breathing, and insulin sensitivity trends > Built on sta

Most useful bit of the announcement, coming to all Google wearables it seems: Blood pressure, sleep breathing, and insulin sensitivity trends > Built on state-of-the-art Health Foundation Models trained on billions of minutes of sensor data from opted-in users and rigorously validated against gold-standard clinical measurements, these models power three new monthly trend summaries: blood pressure trends, sleep breathing quality trends, and insulin resistance trends. Rolling out soon — with your first detailed summary arriving after one month of wear — these reports illuminate metabolic, respiratory and cardiovascular shifts early, giving you clear insights to help you take control of your long-term health. Plus, monthly summaries will soon be available across our wearable portfolio, including the new Google Fitbit Air.

jeffbee 2mo ago
That is pretty interesting. I am keen to know in the end whether better models or better sensors win this game.
ChemSpider 2mo ago
"insulin resistance trends" - whaaaaat? how would they do THAT? That would be huge for so many people, including diabetics, obese people or women with PCOS (PCOS alone affects more than 10% of women of reproductive age) Is that measurement accurate? Like, a person starts taking Metformin -> and a few days later the watch detects a drop in insulin resistance?
- jerlam 2mo ago
  It does monthly trends: https://m-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/452350-image/insulin.webp https://m-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/452350-image/in... That image also implies that not only does it know trends, but it also has an absolute good/bad value.
- Someone1234 2mo ago
  Yeah, I was researching this just last week and there is tons of funding going into wearable blood sugar monitors but nothing wearable sized coming out (several lab sized ones though). I’d love to read more about what this is, and what technical signals / data they’re using.
- ortusdux 2mo ago
  FDA compliance has been tough for optical measurement of blood sugar and blood pressure. I'd imagine that this is why they are doing a monthly averages and keeping their claims subdued.
- obmelvin 2mo ago
  I'm quite curious. Friends I've talked to have been very pessimistic about accurately measuring blood sugar via a watch. If they are actually able to get an optical measurement which is good enough for MoM or WoW trends, I'd agree it's pretty big even if they can't provide anything precise enough for real time / daily use. Just being able to roughly validate diet changes for women with PCOS could be very impactful and that's the smallest of the 3 populations you called out.
- basisword 2mo ago
  Yeah I find this one interesting. It's been rumoured for pretty much every Apple Watch for a decade, so they're clearly throwing tonnes of resources at it, and every year nothing materialises. This is one sensor feature that could really impact a lot of people.
- croemer 2mo ago
  No, it's not a glucose sensor. Extrapolating from the Google research published in Nature a few months ago on how they estimate insulin sensitivity using wearables (and not just BMI, age, etc): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10179-2 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10179-2 Insulin sensitivity correlates with obesity, activity, sleep, etc. so it's not impossible that a wearable can give some degree of prediction. I guess it's mostly good motivation to support habits that increase sensitivity (physical activity, low stress).
- sulam 2mo ago
  Definitely not. Get a cheap CGM subscription if this is something you want to monitor and you need any sort of real data. They’re easy to apply, update quickly (within 15 minutes of a Hcg spike you will see it in the data) and you can derive A1C from it. Actual insulin resistance itself still requires a fasted blood draw at minimum and is not really recommended (too many methods with different ways of measuring each of which is clinically significant but needs interpretation — or you can do a 3-4 hour research lab test but the value is pretty limited). Any time you see “trends” in a press release you should be very suspicious. It’s a sign that they can’t pass regulatory scrutiny and are trying to apply the research anyway. Your scale cannot measure fat percentage, your Samsung watch cannot measure blood pressure and your Garmin cannot measure VO2Max. These are all things they’d like to be able to do (and “trends” can have some value if they’re used correctly) but they are not the thing itself.
varispeed 2mo ago
Combined with poor battery life, this is quite pointless. I can imagine that would be okay if the watch lasted for a full month, then you could buy two watches and swap them out every now and then.
- ValentineC 2mo ago
  > Combined with poor battery life, this is quite pointless. Seems like it'll work with the Fitbit Air too. That has a 7 day battery life.
  - net01 2mo ago
    > 7 day battery life Been using the fitbit air since day 1 and it never died on me. Charge it when I shower. The only issue is the fabric strap is getting dirty, and the sensor gets a bit dirty (dead skin, etc.) compared to an Apple Watch. Other than that, it's spectacular, and now with Apple Health, it's on par if not better than the Apple Watch. apple health only synced to the 4-5 of July, though. :/
- hbbio 2mo ago
  This. I don't see the point of using a Pixel Watch or an Apple Watch or any watch that has 1 or 2 days of battery max. My 3 year old Garmin has 2+ weeks battery life and is tracking activity, ox (ok, it's not medical grade), sleep, etc. Also it does _not_ have a mic (something we're going to pay extra in a few years the way things go) and is not connected to anything wirelessly. No need for another device to set it up and you decide when you get data out using USB.
  - IshKebab 2mo ago
    Just charge it at night? I don't see why you need more than 2 days battery life.
    - varispeed 2mo ago
      How do you track sleep then?
croemer 2mo ago
[dead]
sulam 2mo ago
Noninvasive blood glucose measurement has been a holy grail for wearables for over 10 years. People have thought they were going to crack it but the research just hasn’t panned out. You’re much better off getting a cheap CGM subscription, especially now that they’re available OTC most places.

jeffbee 2mo ago

That is pretty interesting. I am keen to know in the end whether better models or better sensors win this game.

ChemSpider 2mo ago

"insulin resistance trends" - whaaaaat? how would they do THAT? That would be huge for so many people, including diabetics, obese people or women with PCOS (PCOS alone affects more than 10% of women of reproductive age) Is that measurement accurate? Like, a person starts taking Metformin -> and a few days later the watch detects a drop in insulin resistance?

jerlam 2mo ago
It does monthly trends: https://m-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/452350-image/insulin.webp https://m-cdn.phonearena.com/images/articles/452350-image/in... That image also implies that not only does it know trends, but it also has an absolute good/bad value.
Someone1234 2mo ago
Yeah, I was researching this just last week and there is tons of funding going into wearable blood sugar monitors but nothing wearable sized coming out (several lab sized ones though). I’d love to read more about what this is, and what technical signals / data they’re using.
ortusdux 2mo ago
FDA compliance has been tough for optical measurement of blood sugar and blood pressure. I'd imagine that this is why they are doing a monthly averages and keeping their claims subdued.
obmelvin 2mo ago
I'm quite curious. Friends I've talked to have been very pessimistic about accurately measuring blood sugar via a watch. If they are actually able to get an optical measurement which is good enough for MoM or WoW trends, I'd agree it's pretty big even if they can't provide anything precise enough for real time / daily use. Just being able to roughly validate diet changes for women with PCOS could be very impactful and that's the smallest of the 3 populations you called out.
basisword 2mo ago
Yeah I find this one interesting. It's been rumoured for pretty much every Apple Watch for a decade, so they're clearly throwing tonnes of resources at it, and every year nothing materialises. This is one sensor feature that could really impact a lot of people.
croemer 2mo ago
No, it's not a glucose sensor. Extrapolating from the Google research published in Nature a few months ago on how they estimate insulin sensitivity using wearables (and not just BMI, age, etc): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10179-2 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10179-2 Insulin sensitivity correlates with obesity, activity, sleep, etc. so it's not impossible that a wearable can give some degree of prediction. I guess it's mostly good motivation to support habits that increase sensitivity (physical activity, low stress).
sulam 2mo ago
Definitely not. Get a cheap CGM subscription if this is something you want to monitor and you need any sort of real data. They’re easy to apply, update quickly (within 15 minutes of a Hcg spike you will see it in the data) and you can derive A1C from it. Actual insulin resistance itself still requires a fasted blood draw at minimum and is not really recommended (too many methods with different ways of measuring each of which is clinically significant but needs interpretation — or you can do a 3-4 hour research lab test but the value is pretty limited). Any time you see “trends” in a press release you should be very suspicious. It’s a sign that they can’t pass regulatory scrutiny and are trying to apply the research anyway. Your scale cannot measure fat percentage, your Samsung watch cannot measure blood pressure and your Garmin cannot measure VO2Max. These are all things they’d like to be able to do (and “trends” can have some value if they’re used correctly) but they are not the thing itself.

varispeed 2mo ago

Combined with poor battery life, this is quite pointless. I can imagine that would be okay if the watch lasted for a full month, then you could buy two watches and swap them out every now and then.

ValentineC 2mo ago
> Combined with poor battery life, this is quite pointless. Seems like it'll work with the Fitbit Air too. That has a 7 day battery life.
- net01 2mo ago
  > 7 day battery life Been using the fitbit air since day 1 and it never died on me. Charge it when I shower. The only issue is the fabric strap is getting dirty, and the sensor gets a bit dirty (dead skin, etc.) compared to an Apple Watch. Other than that, it's spectacular, and now with Apple Health, it's on par if not better than the Apple Watch. apple health only synced to the 4-5 of July, though. :/
hbbio 2mo ago
This. I don't see the point of using a Pixel Watch or an Apple Watch or any watch that has 1 or 2 days of battery max. My 3 year old Garmin has 2+ weeks battery life and is tracking activity, ox (ok, it's not medical grade), sleep, etc. Also it does _not_ have a mic (something we're going to pay extra in a few years the way things go) and is not connected to anything wirelessly. No need for another device to set it up and you decide when you get data out using USB.
- IshKebab 2mo ago
  Just charge it at night? I don't see why you need more than 2 days battery life.
  - varispeed 2mo ago
    How do you track sleep then?

croemer 2mo ago

[dead]

sulam 2mo ago

Noninvasive blood glucose measurement has been a holy grail for wearables for over 10 years. People have thought they were going to crack it but the research just hasn’t panned out. You’re much better off getting a cheap CGM subscription, especially now that they’re available OTC most places.