Valencell‘s PerformTek biometric technology is still better than the Apple Watch at measuring cardiac activity, the company says.
The assertion is the result of testing conducted at Valencell’s Biometric Lab, where its wrist-based PerformTek sensor was tested head-to-head against the Apple Watch. Both products were compared against a biometric chest-strap, which was seen as the benchmark standard. And Valencell says (via press release) that its technology “significantly outperformed the Apple Watch in all phases of testing.”
The testing involved 22 participants exercising while wearing all three devices. Scoring the wrist-based devices’ by how often they reached within 5 percent of the benchmark Polar chest strap readings, Valencell says that its technology attained an accuracy rate of 82 percent, while the Apple Watch’s accuracy reached only 47 percent.
Assuming that the testing conducted by Valencell within its own labs is accurate in reflecting the superiority of its technology, the distinction could prove important. Smartwatches are a new category of consumer electronics, and could pose a valid threat to the fitness trackers already established in the market. Competition is likely to only get more intense in this area, and going forward it could prove crucial that companies specializing in fitness-tracking devices establish their devices as the only truly accurate ones available. Valencell has demonstrated its technological prowess thus far, and continuing to push this message going forward could allow it to maintain an edge as it competes with the all-purposes capabilities of smartwatches.
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