Withings Move ECG is ready to monitor serious heart health in Europe

The Withings Move ECG, the first hybrid smartwatch to measure clinical-grade heart rate data, is now available to do just that in Europe.

After the French tech outfit unveiled the hybrid back in January it had to wait for the necessary regulatory approval to be allowed to offer those serious heart health insights that could even be shared to a doctor.

Hands on: Withings Move ECG review

While it still doesn't have FDA approval in the US, it has now received a CE marking for medical devices to go on sale.

Unlike the Watch Series 4, the Move ECG is a hybrid smartwatch as opposed to a full fat one like Apple's, so it retains the look of a traditional analog watch while adding those smarts in more subtle ways.

The headline feature is the introduction of an electrocardiogram, which means the Move ECG is capable of detecting conditions such as atrial fibrillation (Afib). It does this via three electrodes, two of them discreetly integrated inside the main body of the watch. The third lies inside of the watch’s stainless steel bezel.

Touching both sides of the bezel takes an ECG measurement and takes no longer than 30 seconds. The watch will vibrate to notify the user a reading is taken and then is synced to the Withings Health Mate app. From here you’ll be able to see if the heart is beating in a normal pattern and find additional heart data that can be shared with a doctor or healthcare professional.

Away from its new serious health monitoring skills, the Move ECG brings the usual array of activity tracking skills we’ve come accustomed to find on Withings’ watches, plus a few new extras. It’ll track steps and display progress on the sub dial of the watch. There’s automatic exercise recognition for the likes of swimming, cycling (that's new) and running. For the first time on a Withings watch, you can also track elevation.

Essential reading: Atrial fibrillation explained

The watch offers connected GPS, so you can piggyback of your phone’s GPS to map outdoor activities (but can't use it standalone) and you’ll get to benefit from all of the latest Withings sleep monitoring features.

The Move ECG is water resistant up to 50 metres and promises to deliver battery life for a year before the battery needs to be replaced. It’s available now priced at and is available in white and black watch face options.