Samsung has signed a partnership with women’s health app Natural Cycles, the South Korean tech giant announced earlier today. The collaboration aims to introduce new temperature-based cycle tracking capabilities to the Galaxy Watch5 smartwatch series, combining Samsung’s sensor technology with Natural Cycle’s fertility technology to give users more detailed insight into their menstrual cycle.
For the uninitiated, Natural Cycles is claimed to be the world’s first app that is powered by a proprietary algorithm that uses body temperature and other key fertility indicators to determine each user’s unique fertility status. Meanwhile, complementing the app is Samsung’s BioActive Sensor on the Galaxy Watch5, which uses infrared technology to accurately track skin temperature changes, and to provide users with more detailed readings.
The new temperature-based Cycle Tracking feature was recently approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) in South Korea, as well as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US and complies with CE (Conformité Européene) Marking requirements. It will be available through the Samsung Health app on the Galaxy Watch5 and Watch5 Pro, and first distributed within the second quarter of 2023 to 32 markets. These include Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S.
As you can already see from the list above, Malaysia has yet to be included. This is unsurprising, given the fact that Cycle Tracking is a health-related app that first needs approval from authorities before it is allowed to be distributed and used. A similar situation also applied to the Blood Pressure and ECG features on Galaxy Watch5 and Watch5 Pro, which only received their approvals in Malaysia from the local Medical Device Authority (MDA) earlier this year.
To quickly recap, the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 and Galaxy Watch5 Pro was launched in Malaysia back in August of 2022. The former has a starting price of RM 1,099, while the latter is currently retailing for RM 1,899.
(Source: Samsung [newsroom])
