Masimo, the company that sued Apple for proprietary infringement has unveiled its new smartwatch. It is called the Masimo Freedom smartwatch. Masimo had sued Apple concerning the blood oxygen function in the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra. The company is now building on that success by releasing the Freedom smartwatch with blood oxygen monitoring.
With the release of the Freedom smartwatch, Masimo will be leaping from its original business model as a medical technology company. It is now expanding its focus to cover consumer-friendly gadgets. Although the company released the Masimo W1 smartwatch in 2023, the model was more health-centered, but Freedom could have an expanded customer base.
The Masimo Freedom prototype was part of the lineup at CES 2024 and it seems to be quite distinct from the Apple Watch. It has a round display with a navigation touchbar on the right-hand side, as well as a button for selecting objects. The company is pursuing its own distinct identity because it could get clipped by Apple if there were any noticeable Apple patent infringements. Massimo says that the Freedom is designed to highlight the accuracy of the brand’s health monitoring technology. The brand’s blood oxygen monitoring is more accurate than that of its competitors, according to the company. It says it can account for different factors such as low perfusion, motion, skin pigmentation, or bad blood flow for more accurate readings.
The Masimo Freedom smartwatch could also track an array of health features including hydration index, pulse rate variability, pulse rate, respiration rate, and detect when a user falls over. These features are in addition to the standard complement of functionality such as sleep tracking. It can continuously monitor your vitals on a per-second basis and will be a great choice for the elderly.
Pricing & Availability
The smartwatch is expected to go on sale later this year although its specs could have some departures from the prototype. The model is projected to cost $999 although Massimo is yet to get FDA approval for the health features. The Massimo Freedom is available for reserve via the Massimo website with a $100 deposit.
