How to use the new blood pressure tool on your Samsung Galaxy Watch

After years of regional limits, Samsung is finally unlocking blood pressure monitoring for Galaxy Watch users in the United States. Starting Tuesday, the feature will roll out to the current market. Galaxy Watch 8 series as well as older models dating back to the Galaxy Watch 4. It’s a major addition for anyone following cardiovascular trends, but you shouldn’t expect a simple “plug and play” experience.

To get started, you’ll need to own (or purchase) a traditional blood pressure cuff to calibrate the smartwatch’s function. And you will need to download a separate app, the Samsung Health Monitor app, on your smartphone. Then you will need to recalibrate the cuff every 28 days to ensure accurate readings.

In other words, the blood pressure monitor requires a blood pressure monitor to work.

Samsung first introduced blood pressure monitoring on its watches in 2020, then gradually rolled it out to other countries, but regulatory delays prevented it from being usable in the United States.

Unlike Samsung’s ECG and sleep apnea detection features (both cleared by the FDA), the blood pressure feature has not received FDA clearance and is intended for wellness purposes only. This means that it is not a diagnostic tool and should not be used to identify or treat high blood pressure. Readings are also on-demand only, so you have to take them manually through the watch rather than doing them automatically in the background.

This last part may change. Samsung’s announcement also states that passive monitoring of blood pressure trends will take place later this year.

Apple launched FDA-approved hypertension alerts on new Apple Watch models in September 2025, which passively monitor and alert owners when they detect signs of high blood pressure. Oura and other wearables companies are working on similar features thanks to long-term data trends, although true on-demand blood pressure readings remain out of reach for most consumer smartwatches.

The blood pressure feature is compatible with the Galaxy Watch 4 and will only work on watches paired with a Samsung Galaxy phone running Android 12 or higher. It will not be available on other Android phones or on Samsung’s Galaxy Fit tracker. And even if you check all those boxes, you might not get it right away. Samsung says it will roll out this feature in stages.

If you have access (and an armband handy), setup is pretty simple. Once your watch is connected to your phone, download the Samsung Health Monitor app, enable blood pressure tracking, and follow the calibration steps while using your cuff. Just know that you’ll need this cuff nearby anytime you want to keep your readings accurate.