So, I purchased a new wearable a couple of months ago when my old Garmin forerunner’s battery started to fade. My new Garmin is still a lower end, relatively unobtrusive looking, purposely missing the whistles and flashing lights that are developed and added to new models to keep the consumer spending. However, last week … and without so much as a by your leave … the company added a whole slew of features from the high end models to my vivoactive. Two of the add ons are breathing analysis and pulse oximeter! An extra drain on the battery if full time use is enabled…but each charge lasts plenty long enough so no problem.
My experiment so far shows even overnight breathing pattern. Not always the case for me…I’m very susceptible to altitude change and husband has commented on a tendency to altitude induced sleep apnea overnight when we first came to live here and on trips to higher elevations (potential trigger for Afib). Other…the pulse ox shows an SpO2 92%. Looks “low” until you realize this is at an altitude of 6200ft or so. Tends to be a bit higher at the cardiologist’s office down at O2 rich 5280ft!!!
Husband and I always comment on how easy exercise feels down at sea level when we take our trips back to the UK…and my Garmin guesstimated VO2MAX always rises noticeably … we’ll be able to check whether it’s real or imagined now. FWIW.