Smartwatches are seen by some as too intrusive. They bring the pesky notifications closer than ever before, on a device that can’t be easily put away, and they monitor our every move, more so than a smartphone can. But smartwatches can improve our lives if we use them properly. They can help us organize better, they can increase our efficiency, and they can even help us become healthier. The ASUS VivoWatch excels at the latter. Its primary focus is on health monitoring, not on traditional smartwatch features like messaging and call control. We thought it would be a good idea to explore the positive effect an ASUS VivoWatch 5 can have, so here are five ways in which it helps you lead a healthier life:

1. Sleep monitoring

Any doctor will tell you that the most important thing you can do to preserve your health is to get enough sleep. If you don’t believe us, read this impressive article on the extraordinary importance of sleep.

The VivoWatch 5 from ASUS can certainly help with this. It doesn’t sing you any lullabies, but it does monitor your sleep very closely. First of all, it tracks your sleep cycles. Ideally, you want to get as much deep sleep as possible (Comfort, as it appears in the graphs) with very little awake time.

Analyzing sleep patterns gives valuable insight on what you can do to improve your rest

Secondly, since the watch monitors the heart rate continuously, you can evaluate your sleep patterns with a high degree of accuracy. This means you have a better chance of spotting detrimental or beneficial behavior patterns - for example, the poor sleep quality after a late dinner, or better sleep after you clean the dust in your bedroom.

Pulse summary for 24 hours

This level of sleep monitoring really helps when trying to figure out why you wake up tired or why overall you have very low energy levels. You might be sleeping the “prescribed” eight hours every night, but if most of your sleep is light, the energy recovery might not be sufficient. From here on, you can try various solutions: more physical exercise, isolating yourself from noises, installing an air purifier, changing the mattress or the pillows, etc.

2. Fitness goals and reminders

An active life is a healthy life. Even if you spend hours upon hours at the desk or in front of the computer screen, it’s super important to take a walk or go for a run for at least 30 minutes per day. The ASUS VivoWatch 5 allows you to set specific walking goals and notifies you when you achieve them. You can set the target directly from your VivoWatch, but you need the ASUS HealthConnect app on your smartphone (available for Android and for iPhones) in order to activate/deactivate notifications.

You can set your target directly on the smartwatch

The smartwatch even monitors how much you climbed throughout the day, so if you live in a multi-storied building, you might get an additional small incentive to use the stairs and not the elevator. You can also turn on an inactivity notification, which reminds you every hour to stretch or move around. The watch detects when you are asleep and won’t notify you during rest hours.

You can enable various reminders and notifications in the ASUS HealthConnect app

Every little motivation boost can help, especially when you’re transitioning from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one. Seeing that step counter go up, reading the “Goal achieved” notification might make the difference between “Nah, I’ll do it tomorrow” and “I can do this!”

3. Activity tracking

With all kinds of restrictions and lockdowns, many of us have had a hard time sticking to our usual sports routine. Thankfully, the ASUS VivoWatch 5 is there to help you track your activity when you do get the chance to exercise. It currently has several activities that you can choose from to enjoy a more precise tracking: jogging, biking, walking, swimming, hiking, yoga, core stretching, and dancing, with more being added all the time. The smartwatch has a built-in GPS sensor, so you don’t necessarily have to carry your smartphone with you while jogging, for example.

The GPS receiver on the ASUS VivoWatch is precise

You can also take the ASUS VivoWatch 5 with you in the pool. Haptic alerts will notify you when exceeding aerobic heart rates, so that you keep your heart rate in check without constantly looking at your smartwatch.

A better fitness tracking leads to increased yields and more efficient workouts. The ASUS VivoWatch 5 makes sure you get the best out of your workouts.

4. Heart rate, SpO2, PTT, and stress measurements

Even when not exercising, the ASUS VivoWatch 5 keeps a close watch on your heart rate and vital signs. You get around-the-clock monitoring of your heart rate and SpO2 levels and on-demand measurements of your Pulse Transit Time (PTT) Index (which is a good indicator of blood pressure) and stress levels.

A full measurement of the PTT index, SpO2, and pulse on the ASUS VivoWatch 5

In the ASUS HealthConnect app, you get detailed graphs for each, so you can easily detect when you get stressed the most or when it’s time to do some breathing exercises.

The HealthConnect app displays all the readings in great detail

If you’re worried about your health or you want to make sure your vitals are “within spec”, the ASUS VivoWatch 5 does a stellar job at providing you with the necessary information. It isn’t a medical device, of course, but for general health monitoring, it might just be what the doctor ordered.

5. Detailed visualization and analysis with the ASUS HealthConnect app

A big advantage of the ASUS VivoWatch 5 over other smartwatches is the ability to function just fine without a connection to a smartphone. It still collects the same amount of data, but it lacks the ability to display it in a detailed manner. This is where the HealthConnect app comes into play: apart from enhancing the capabilities of the smartwatch, the app provides a wealth of data visualization options in an easy-to-read interface. Its customizable Health data tab shows the relevant stats at a glance, while clicking on any item displays graphs, averages, minimums, and maximums over 24 hours or 7 days.

The app displays all the information collected by the smartwatch

After monitoring your activity for a week, the Health AI assistant is able to provide you with tips and recommendations regarding sleep, fitness targets, and other issues.

Health AI gives you useful, personalized health tips

If you have other fitness devices, the compatibility of the ASUS HealthConnect app with Strava and Google Fit can further enhance your insight into your daily activities.

ASUS HealthConnect can share its data with Google Fit and Strava

Having a good health tracker is important, but the synergy with its software is crucial in making sense of all that information. The ASUS VivoWatch 5 and the HealthConnect app make a good combination of detailed monitoring and good visualization. Furthermore, with constantly improving features and even completely new ones being added with each update, the ASUS health ecosystem shows promise for the future.

What are you looking for when buying a fitness tracker?

These are just five ways in which the ASUS VivoWatch 5 can improve your health. Each of us has different health needs and objectives, so we’d be very interested to know what features are most important to you when choosing your fitness tracker. Do you want the latest features like blood pressure or stress measurements, or do you settle for devices with better, more accurate monitoring of basic characteristics like the heart rate? Let us know in the comments.