Samsung Galaxy S5 Heart Rate Sensor Can Also Check Stress Levels

The recent flagship smartphone of Samsung launched at the 2014 Mobile World Congress in February, the Galaxy S5, brought a few disappointments with the rather uninspiring "dimpled" back design that didn't do much to change the Korean tech giant's reputation in making premium smartphones with not so premium build quality.

However, Samsung made sure to compensate on other features of interest, such as the fingerprint sensor and the heart rate monitor.

Now, it appears that the heart rate monitor feature of the Samsung Galaxy S5 has become more functional, thanks to the new software update.

Samsung Galaxy S5 users can now check their stress levels using the heart rate monitor of the device. Basically, the stress level of a person is checked by the rapidity of the heart beat hence, there is no new technology required. Using the stress monitor post workout or run will indicate high stress level because the metric used to determine the stress levels is quite simple. Taking into consideration the accuracy of the feature, it does not necessarily seem like a very useful addition, nonetheless interesting.

The update is a patch for the S Health app and once installed, it allows the heart rate monitor to check the user's stress levels. Users need to place their finger pads on the sensor then the stress level can be monitored. Apart from testing stress levels, the app can also create graphs to monitor stress levels over a certain period of time.

Although this new feature should not be misconstrued as medical advice, it is still a nice new functionality that is worth a try. Samsung warns users that this feature is mostly for fun and it is not for medical or clinical use but it might be a good idea to see your physician if the app tells that you are pretty stressed.

Meanwhile, as for the other software update for the Samsung Galaxy S5, the Android 4.4.3 KitKat, users might wait a little longer as the latest word suggests that it will come in June at the earliest, at least for off-contract Samsung Galaxy S5 variant users.