Gadgetory

so when it comes to the Samsung Galaxy s5 one of those things that you just notice on the back because it's well kind of hard not to notice is the heart rate monitor but is it really ultimately useful for you general users out there well that's what we're about to find out because it's Joshua Garr from Android thorny what's going on everybody and this is the future focus on the Samsung Galaxy s5 regarding the heart rate monitor all right and here we are with the Samsung Galaxy s5 as you can see here and we're taking a look at the heart rate monitor which is as you can see right there right below the camera so we'll go ahead and just jump right into the usage of the heart rate monitor I'll just get into the operating system here and here is s health now s health comes with a number of the same functions that you may remember from the Samsung Galaxy s4 including the ability to just have the phone let's say in your pocket when you're going out for a run or a walk and you can see that the pedometer is right there you aren't also able to track your exercise any different form and also as you can see up here there is a calorie monitor using a database full of all of the different foods that you might use so you can track your calories but we're talking about the heart rate monitor here so I'll go ahead and just click on that and here you go now you'll see the most recent reading that you did on the heart rate monitor but basically what happens here is once it is ready you just have to put your finger over the actual as you can see the information the little tutorial there you have to put your finger over the sensor and you don't have to press all that hard and you just have to keep still while you're doing it and by still they mean your entire body they don't want your moving at all if you use let's say the gear 2 or the gear fit it tells you to be as still as possible and also to be quiet which is a little peculiar but you didn't want to have an inaccurate reading because of anything extra that you're doing so I'll just hit OK on there let's turn this phone over and there we go you see the red light right there and here we go measuring my heart rate I'm not being quiet though and there you go 93 beats per minute yes my heart rate is a little bit higher than normal but that that does happen from time to time but trust me I am in good health and as you can see here it's it's a one time reading and it's not a gun it's not going to be a continual reading which is a little bit of a little bit of an issue that I'll get into in a little bit but we'll just do one more reading just in case I was talking during that last one so let's try one more time there you go that's a little bit more like it so this should tell you for all intents and purposes that's the heart rate monitor on this and perhaps on the wrist watches or the fitness bands that they might not be completely accurate maybe not a hundred percent of the time just because I was talking a little bit more during the first test that you saw here I had a heart rate of 93 beats per minute but this time around when I was just as still as possible and also quiet I had a heart rate of 80 which is a little bit more in line with what my heart rate should be okay so I looted to this about a minute ago already but I just wanted to reiterate that the heart rate monitors on the phone especially but also on the wrist watches and the fitness bands are single time readings now that's not that huge of a deal because if you're doing a workout and let's say you're doing some intervals with running cycling or in some cases even some of your resistance training you will be able to check your heart rate between your intervals to make sure that you're going as well as you should not too hard and not too soft but the issue that I have with it is now I'm not a fitness nut by any means I just really like running and because of that I have invested in a heart rate monitor the kind that straps around your chest like around your sternum and has a transmitter that is constantly checking your heart rate and sends the information to a wristwatch so that even in real-time during your workout if you think you're going too hard it'll tell you if you are or not and you can adjust your workout in real time if you need to that won't really necessarily be the case when it comes to the Samsung Galaxy apparatuses you'll only be able to check the one at a time you know at the times that you are able to so in a way for those of you who are much more in tune and much more dedicated when it comes to fitness this may not be the solution that you're looking for but for the general users out there who just want a quick snapshot of maybe just one little facet of your health then yes that would make this useful but ultimately it's not one of those things that really distinguishes the Samsung Galaxy line there's a true Fitness companion at least in the case of the heartrate monitor after that you are able to track your various heart rates throughout the times that you test them even right down to the hours that you do it so if you are a bit of a fitness nut and you really want to know what your heart rate is after let's say some exercise or even just throughout the day to make sure that you are healthy at least by those standards you can test your heart rate let's say every hour every half hour whatnot and you'll be able to see the progression as it goes along as you can see mine kind of went down a little bit it takes the average and that would be 87 across the few that I've done on this phone and even over the month so you can kind of see what your overall health is from a longer standpoint and here is a quick log of my heart rate and then finally some of the heart rate accessories that would be available like the gear 2 or the gear fit accessories that would be able to share the heart rate monitoring that it does to your phone if you use those for your fitness or your daily needs and so there you have it for this feature focus on the heart rate monitor found on the Samsung Galaxy s5 smartphone itself stay tuned for more coverage of the Samsung Galaxy s5 here at Android authority as well as our coverage of the smartwatches and the fitness bands as you can see here I am actually wearing my gear 2 neo so keep it tuned to android authority for all of that best coverage and also for the coverage from my colleagues in Android that would be Joe Jase and Kevin the tech ninja keep it tuned here drop us some likes in our videos because we love to see those thumbs up subscribe to our channel if you haven't already and once you're done with all of that head on over to Android authority comm because we are your source for all things Android