InBody WATCH is a smart watch that has recently made headlines at CES 2017. Read our InBody WATCH review to find out if it’s the right wearable for you.
What is the InBody WATCH?
The InBody WATCH is a new wearable created by tech company InBody (best known for its InBody Band). The new InBody WATCH was introduced at CES 2017, where it was recognized as a CES Innovations Award Honoree.
Like other smartwatches, the InBody WATCH monitors your heart rate and activity. However, it provides far more actionable health data than other smartwatches. For example, the InBody WATCH measures something called Pulse Wave Velocity (PWV) that lets you measure arterial stiffness.
InBody describes arterial stiffness as “the key to helping you catch cardiovascular risks early on”. By regularly monitoring your PWV using the InBody WATCH, you can get a better indication of your overall cardiovascular health.
The InBody WATCH even lets you track things you didn’t know a smartwatch could track – like your body fat percentage and muscle mass.
The smartwatch is not yet available on the market. Inbody plans to start shipping in late 2017.
InBody WATCH Features
InBody WATCH offers all of the following features:
- InBody Test: Check your muscle mass and body fat to get a better understanding of your body.
- Heat Rate Monitoring: The InBody WATCH continuously monitors your heart rate, allowing you to maintain the appropriate intensity during exercise and prevent overtraining.
- Pulse Wave Velocity: As mentioned above, PWV is a measurement of arterial stiffness, which is one of the early warning signs for cardiovascular problems.
- Activity Tracking: Track and graph your daily activities, creating preset targets and recording achievements and goals. You get all of the features you would expect in a fitness tracker, including step counting, distance traveled, calories burned, sleep tracking, and activity tracking.
- Easy Training: InBody WATCH will automatically recognize your movements during exercise and help you get the best results. InBody describes this as “a personal health coach, right on your wrist.”
- Sleep Analysis: Analyze your sleep patterns to create a better sleep schedule, allowing you to be more energetic every morning.
- LCD Display: The LCD display sits on the top of your wrist.
- Multiple Sensors: Two bioelectrical impedance sensors hug the display module, and two more sit underneath it. These shiny metal strips might not look like much, but they measure your body fat and heart rate.
- One Physical Button: The InBody WATCH has just one physical button. You use that physical button to wake the display, then scroll through different stats – like steps, distance, and calories burned. You press the button once to show the time (the watch isn’t on by default at all times, so it’s not a “true” watch replacement).
- USB Charging Port: The left side of the InBody WATCH features a microUSB charging port. That port is protected by a small silicone door.
- Flexible Silicone Strap: Similar to other fitness trackers, the InBody WATCH uses a flexible silicone strap to secure itself to your wrist. You can purchase this strap in small, medium, and large sizes.
- Battery Life: The InBody WATCH is expected to last 7 to 10 days on a single charge.
- Water-Resistant: The InBody WATCH has IP56 water-resistance, which is worse than most other electronics on the market today. It means the watch will withstand light water splashes, but you should not swim or shower while wearing it.
- Body Key App Support: InBody’s Body Key app lets you input information like your gender, height, and weight to help the watch measure things like body fat percentage, muscle mass, and body mass index (BMI).
How Does the InBody WATCH Work?
If you’re like most people, then you didn’t even realize that a smartwatch could track things like body fat percentage. So how exactly does the InBody WATCH work?
Well, the watch uses PPG and ECG sensors to track Pulse Wave Velocity. In other words, it runs a gentle electric current through your body. You can’t feel this electric current.
We’ve seen similar technologies employed on recently-released smart scales, which run electrical current through your feet to give you an estimated body fat percentage.
The InBody WATCH doesn’t track your body fat percentage continuously. That would be ridiculous and stressful. Instead, you need to undergo a brief body fat test while wearing the device. During this test, you separate your arms from your body, lifting your hand to just in front of your stomach (about 4 inches away). Then, with the band sitting just above your wrist bone, navigate to the test page on the display by pressing the side button twice. You’ll then place your thumb and index fingers on the top electrodes of the InBody WATCH, pressing the bottom electrodes into your wrist.
When the InBody WATCH senses your fingers, it will start tracking your body fat percentage over a 30 second period, then display that percentage when complete.
InBody WATCH Pricing
The InBody WATCH is available at a preorder price of $180 USD.
The watch will start shipping out in late 2017. InBody hasn’t given us a specific release date as of yet.
About InBody WATCH
InBody is a South Korean company known for making comprehensive body composition machines. With the InBody WATCH, the company has brought the core of that technology into a convenient wearable device.
The company’s US headquarters are in Cerritos, California.
Should You Buy the InBody WATCH?
The InBody WATCH builds off the success of the InBody Band. It’s a smartwatch that tracks way more than just your calories burned and steps taken. It tracks your body fat percentage, sleep patterns, and even your arterial stiffness, something you don’t see in any other fitness trackers (and certainly not in fitness trackers at the $180 price range).
If you’re interested in getting further insight into your personal health, then the InBody WATCH is one of the best ways to do that. The watch has already been generating a lot of attention at CES 2017, and is scheduled to be released in late 2017.
