What you need to know
- The FDA has signaled approval for the Loss of Pulse Detection feature on the Pixel Watch 3.
- It detects if the user is experiencing "primary cardiac arrest" or "respiratory or circulatory failure."
- Loss of Pulse Detection was previously available in 14 European countries, but will not arrive in the U.S. until late March 2025.
A key draw to the Pixel Watch 3 is its Fitbit-branded health sensors for detecting heart issues. On Wednesday, Google announced that the FDA has given clearance for Loss of Pulse Detection to be used on its smartwatch in the United States, signaling that the feature is accurate enough to be trusted on a consumer device.
As the name implies, Loss of Pulse Detection can "detect when you’ve experienced a loss of pulse." It will then vibrate with a check-in message before starting an alarm to alert people nearby; if you continue to be unresponsive, it will attempt to call 911 and send an automated message with your location to the emergency responder.
Google heavily advertised this feature when launching the Pixel Watch 3 in September, but while it arrived quickly in 14 countries in the EU and United Kingdom, Google had to get regulatory approval before launching it in the United States. Since this isn't an active feature, many American Watch 3 buyers may have assumed it was available.
Thankfully, Google announced that "we’ll begin rolling it out in the U.S. at the end of March," so we won't have too much longer to wait. This feature won't be available on older Pixel Watch models, however.
The Pixel Watch 3 sells in 32 countries, meaning a majority of them still don't have Loss of Pulse Detection. The current list is Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom; Google claims that "additional countries will be added as regulatory clearance is obtained."
While this feature only becomes necessary in drastic circumstances, the Pixel Watch 3 also has more preventative heart health tools. It has an ECG to detect signs of atrial fibrillation (AFib) during active checks, as well as automatic irregular heart rhythm notifications to catch warning signs throughout the day.
Plus, the Watch 3 can detect if the user experiences a sudden fall or a car crash, with a similar method of calling emergency services if the wearer cannot respond to prompts.
Among Android smartwatches, the Pixel Watch 3 is one of the most accurate when it comes to heart rate data, both generally and during workouts, so we're happy to have this feature arriving for worst-case scenarios. And we're curious what new health features will come to the Pixel Watch 4.
