Apple has taken smartwatches to the next level by adding an EKG sensor to the Apple Watch. Withings, maker of the popular hybrid smartwatch that lasts months on a charge, has upped the ante on medical-grade features with its $249 ScanWatch. [The ScanWatch, which will be available in the second quarter of this year, can diagnose atrial fibrillation (like the Apple Watch) and sleep apnea. This watch can literally save lives.

Withings is awaiting clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before announcing an official sales date for the ScanWatch. However, in a demo of the device I saw on the Sunday (January 5) prior to CES, I was impressed.

The watch's built-in ECG sensor can detect atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm that can be a sign of heart disease, as in the Apple Watch Series 4 and Series 5. Withings has also included an SpO2 sensor to measure blood oxygen saturation in in its newest watch. This sensor can detect whether breathing stops during sleep. If multiple severe episodes are detected, the watch alerts the user to a diagnosis of sleep apnea.

This is a big problem. Many people are unaware that they have sleep apnea and need to undergo a sleep study with a physician for a formal diagnosis. This feature in an affordable smartwatch could encourage people to make healthy changes (e.g., quit smoking or lose weight) to address sleep apnea.

The watch scans for sleep apnea only on the first night it is worn to conserve battery life; according to Withings, the ScanWatch lasts 30 days on a charge, which dramatically exceeds the Apple Watch's 18-day battery life.

The ScanWatch is a hybrid smartwatch with a sapphire glass watch face and stainless steel case. At first glance, it looks like a traditional watch, but its small display shows at-a-glance data such as step count, heart rate, and SpO2 levels. All information is synced to the Withings Health Mate app for more in-depth analysis.

The long battery life is due to the lack of a full-color touchscreen display, which consumes a lot of power. But if ScanWatch saves your life, the trade-off may be worth it.

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