Samsung discontinues Vascular Load feature on Galaxy Watches in US, but here's the alternative

Samsung introduced an experimental Vascular Load feature on its Galaxy Watch family last year, allowing you to keep track of vascular stress. Unfortunately, it looks like this feature is disappearing in the US.

Redditors reportedly received a notification telling them that the Vascular Load feature would be discontinued in the US (h/t: SammyGuru). This feature will be removed in “late July” as part of One UI Watch 9 and version 7.0 of the Samsung Health app.

Samsung says it’ll introduce a Blood Pressure Trend feature in lieu of Vascular Load. The company says you need a blood pressure cuff to set up your watch before you can start tracking blood pressure trends. Samsung also explains that the new feature will be available on its upcoming Galaxy Watch.

For what it’s worth, the company finally brought blood pressure tracking to Galaxy Watches in the US earlier this year. This also requires the use of a blood pressure cuff every 28 days to maintain accuracy. However, the new Blood Pressure Trend feature will ostensibly give you a long-term picture.

It’s unclear why the company has decided to drop Vascular Load tracking. The fact that it’s only being dropped in the US suggests it could be related to regulatory issues. Then again, the existing blood pressure monitoring feature isn’t subject to FDA clearance, either. It’s also possible that the feature is being dropped in markets where Blood Pressure Trend will appear.