Fitbit, one of the largest fitness tracking companies, has announced its new $329 Fitbit Sense smartwatch. It has a skin temperature reader, support for both major voice assistants, and the ability to detect signs of atrial fibrillation (pending FDA approval).

But what makes Fitbit Sense stand out among the best smartwatches is not the features it uses for productivity or fitness. [Fitbit Sense is the first smartwatch with an electrodermal activity (EDA) sensor.

The EDA sensor measures the electric current in your skin's sweat glands and indicates the intensity of your emotional state; when Fitbit *senses* this emotional excitement, it means you are experiencing anxiety or stress.

In response, Fitbit Sense prompts you with guided exercises to reduce stress. It also suggests proactive measures to reduce stress, such as staying away from social media and cable news.

Those who have struggled with mental health for a long time or, like me, have recently experienced heightened stress levels due to a stay-at-home order or other epidemic-related issues, may be excited about the advent of wearables that can help.

I was mildly disappointed when the watchOS 7 software announcement did not provide insight into the next developments in the Apple Watch mindfulness initiative. Fairly reliable leakers mentioned that watchOS 7 was in the pipeline for release, and I knew I would tolerate them, but part of me was hoping that my Apple Watch Series 5 would evolve into my exclusive stress detection tool this year.

I asked Max Weinbach of XDA Developers, one of the aforementioned leakers, for insight into where he thought a mental health tool for the Apple Watch stood.

"When we first reported on those [features], we said they were years away. There was a recent Apple study on mental health," he replied. 'I think we're going to see mental health features in the next few years.'

Is it a big deal that Fitbit Sense beat Apple to the punch? On the one hand, this is not the first time a Google-backed venture has debuted the feature. The sleep tracking feature was in place long before Apple; when Apple Watch sleep tracking finally appeared, I thought it was a great feature, so patience may once again be rewarded.

And meanwhile, Apple still holds a steady lead in life-saving features. Until recently, the Apple Watch was the only major wearable with an FDA-approved ECG reader for detecting irregular heartbeats. The Apple Watch 5 can also detect falls as well as contact emergency services.

But mental health tools are life-saving in their own right, and Fitbit is responding to those who believe that stress and panic notifications might save them from dangerous situations, such as driving, for example, and there is an Apple Watch's There is definitely an opportunity here to nibble away at some of its dominance. [It will be interesting to see if Apple adopts the EDA sensor. Like those of us who follow wearables trends, Apple is probably waiting to see how the Fitbit Sense is received and observe how the mental health tool works before making such a move. Furthermore, they could surprise us when the Apple Watch 6 arrives, which could be as early as the second week of September.

In any case, it is not something I would stress - yet.