Samsung drops Vascular Load Tracking for US Galaxy Watch users

Samsung is discontinuing the Vascular Load tracking feature on its Galaxy Watch devices for users in the US. According to notifications received by users, the metric will be officially removed in late July alongside the rollout of the One UI Watch 9 software update and version 7.0 of the Samsung Health application.

The experimental feature, which was introduced last year to help individuals monitor vascular stress, appears to be facing removal exclusively in the US market, which could mean the decision may be tied to regional regulatory challenges. To replace the outgoing tracking tool, Samsung has announced the introduction of a new Blood Pressure Trend feature. This upcoming addition is designed to provide users with a long-term picture of their cardiovascular metrics.

However, unlike the passive tracking offered by Vascular Load, the new system will require users to calibrate their smartwatch using a traditional, dedicated blood pressure cuff before the device can begin logging trend data. Samsung expanded its standard blood pressure tracking to US users earlier this year, a system that also mandates recalibration with a medical cuff every 28 days to maintain accuracy.

The company noted that the Blood Pressure Trend feature will be available on the upcoming generation of Galaxy Watches (Galaxy Watch9, Galaxy Watch 2 Ultra). It remains unclear why the original Vascular Load metric is being dropped while standard blood pressure monitoring remains available, especially considering that the existing blood pressure tools have not received formal FDA clearance either.