The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 will be able to measure your blood pressure (report)

(Image credit: Samsung x LetsGoDigital)

One of the most interesting emerging trends in camera phone technology is health functionality. It's pretty commonplace for your handset to be able to measure your step count, but many manufacturers are taking this a step further. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is set to move health functionality on camera phones even further, with reports that this fold phone will be able to measure a user's blood pressure.

If this is true, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 could be set to become one of the best Samsung phones, offering users the ability to consistently measure their blood pressure. This technology has been seen before in Samsung's smartwatches, such as the Galaxy Watch 3 and the Galaxy Watch Active 2.

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This interesting rumor comes from LetsGoDigital, which has uncovered a patent entitled 'Foldable electronic device and method of estimating bioinformation using the same', which was filed in April 2020 and approved on 25 March 2021.

This patent shows a Galaxy Fold design, suggesting that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 could feature these bioinformation features. LetsGoDigital explains how the handset would be able to take the user's blood pressure, "Two image sensors are built in under the flexible screen in the bottom part of the screen. By placing your index finger on one or both sensors, image data can be obtained. The pixel intensity is converted into a pulse wave amplitude, in order to then gather information about your health by means of an amplitude conversion model".

This sensor will reportedly be able to provide information on a user's blood pressure, vascular age, aortic pressure waveform, arterial stiffness, vascular compliance, stress index and fatigue level.

It's great to see Samsung experimenting with health functionality in these patents, but it's unclear whether we'll see this technology appear in the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 – which is due to appear around July 2021.

With over a decade of photographic experience, Louise arms Digital Camera World with a wealth of knowledge on photographic technique and know-how – something at which she is so adept that she's delivered workshops for the likes of ITV and Sue Ryder. Louise also brings years of experience as both a web and print journalist, having served as features editor for Practical Photography magazine and contributing photography tutorials and camera analysis to titles including Digital Camera Magazine and Digital Photographer. Louise currently shoots with the Fujifilm X-T200 and the Nikon D800, capturing self-portraits and still life images, and is DCW's ecommerce editor, meaning that she knows good camera, lens and laptop deals when she sees them.

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