Masimo, which typically operates in the medical tech sector, seems to be a making a shift towards consumer-friendly devices as it has launched the Freedom smartwatch with blood oxygen monitoring. It is the same company that sued tech giant Apple for patent infringement and due to which the iPhone maker had to remove the blood oxygen feature from the new Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 devices, in the US. Even as Masimo has previously introduced wearables, such as the health-centric Masimo W1 last year, their latest effort appears to target a broader audience, aiming to appeal to the general smartwatch user.
What Is Masimo Doing Differently This Time With The Freedom Smartwatch
Masimo is making a significant departure from its traditional medical technology focus with the launch of the Freedom smartwatch. Venturing into consumer-friendly gadgets, this move represents a shift from its original business model, says a report by Gizmo China. While the Masimo W1 smartwatch released in 2023 had a health-centered focus, the new Freedom model likely has a broader appeal.
The Masimo Freedom smartwatch incorporates a smart design and has features such as notifications. However, it remains unsurprisingly centered around health functionality, like a regular smartwatch.
The Verge had got an exclusive look at a prototype of the Masimo Freedom during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2024 in Las Vegas, highlighting its distinctiveness from Apple's offerings. The watch features a round display, a navigation touchbar on the right-hand side, and a small button for object selection. Notably, there's no presence of Apple's trademark Digital Crown or a rotating bezel.
However, according to Eugene Goldberg, Masimo's president of consumer health, was quoted as saying that the primary goal of the Freedom smartwatch is to showcase the precision of the company's health-monitoring technology. Goldberg further explained that Masimo's blood oxygen technology surpasses that of unnamed competitors due to its ability to factor in various elements such as motion, low perfusion, skin pigmentation, or impaired blood flow.