Anyone got a Smart Watch?

Have a look at the Withings website. Their latest one has an ECG function.

DH has an Apple 6 watch. It checks all sorts of vital signs, including heart monitoring. I think you have to programme things in to get specific readings. He likes it as it monitors his fitness and tracks his bike riding activities.
Beware, he was chopping wood and the watch thought he had fallen. It gave out an alarm and was about to call 999! He quickly cancelled it!

Thank you for these ideas - no chance of me chopping wood!

Does anyone know if they work in a stand-alone way or if they must be partnered up with your smartphone in some way?

DH’s is partnered with his phone, it also works as a phone. I’m sure there are types that are stand alone.
All too technical for me . I carry around a sun dial! (Solar driven watch)

Hi all, first-time posting here and just adding my tuppence worth.

I have an Apple watch series 5, bought just over a year ago to monitor my heart rate and to be able to detect AF - which it duly did, resulting in taken off by ambulance to A&E and finally getting some long-overdue treatment started (other attempts to monitor occasionally having failed because my type was intermittent - Paroxysmal).

It links to my iPhone; the Heart Reports app on there will generate a report for any set of given dates which I save as a Pdf, then print off ready for the next appointment with the GP or Cardiologist. My GP loves its functionality and highly approves of the extra scope it gives her when discussing the next steps.

The report can show as much or as little as you want: I have mine set to show average daily heart rate, activity, sleep, plus it also alerts me when there's a too-high or too-low heart rate and time-stamps it. It's a great tool for general information about trends and the like, plus I like the ECG function. This last is how I managed to call for help when I needed it.

It's been a life-saver for me, pure and simple. The medication I'm now on lessens my risk of fatal stroke during an episode which I never knew about - a definite case of ignorance not being bliss.

A bonus of the watch is the fall-detection function, but as J52 has said, be wary of doing things which result in jolts - like playing rugby! - maybe best to take it off. Personally I like the reassurance that if I was on my own and fell help would find me.

Having said all that, I am not joined at the hip to all this, and these days glance at it to see if it's going to rain on the washing soon, or the latest news headline.

The only reason I got this one was a) my tech-savvy son recommended it over all the others at that time and b) it would just work seamlessly with my iPhone. If you don't have that brand of phone, I'm guessing there will be other watches/monitors out there now which will probably do as good a job, and cheaper . Hope that helps.

Thanks for all that! Glad you are still with us. I too have PAF, and have had problems with the medication so am just on an anticoagulant.

I have an android phone and am trying to find out which smart watches are compatible with it - it is quite hard to winkle out this information!

Hello Scotsmum, nice to see you here. I was just thinking that I’ve missed BP and heart checks because of C——, so maybe I should get Santa to bring me a Smart Watch

I've got a Samsung active as my phone is android.
I don't use any of the health apps but mainly use it to alert me to calls and messages as I never hear my phone.

Fit it’s operate as stand alone Smart Watches but the Apple Watch needs to be paired with an iPhone. I have one and love it. It is like having your phone on your wrist and I use all the health monitoring as detailed in other posts. I particularly the sleep monitor function. We have a Ring doorbell and that is linked to the watch too. You can tell we are a techie household.

Luckygirl.

Hi there do you mean a fitness tracker that monitors heart rate, sleep and activity?
If so they cost around £25 and are very good.
You will need to link it to a smartphone to get the most from it.
It will track your heart rate and keel a record of it on the app.
I have a make called letscom from Amazon.
It’s accurate and works around 4/5 days before it needs charging.

A smart watch is basically very small and expensive phone on your wrist.
It will track your heart etc but it’s no better than a fitness tracker for health monitoring.

It is not a fitness tracker that I need but one with an ECG facility. I know some do have this, but I am not clear quite how it works and if you need to have a compatible phone - and how to know when your phone is compatible or not.

Yes Lucky you will need a compatible phone.
It usually boils down to iPhone or Android. An Apple watch will only work with an iPhone. There are lots of brands of watches that will work with an Android phone, just look for one with the functions that you want.