Differences in pulse measurement
Question: Hi, have read your and many others reviews of heart rate monitors and no one even mentions the most important thing but a heart rate monitor. That is, the ability to measure the pulse. I myself have gone from a watch that measures with a chest strap to one that measures on the wrist. It differs quite a bit. On the one hand, a pulse of approx. 10-20% lower is shown on the wrist, on the other hand the watch seems to be sensitive to various external influences, such as sunlight, skin differences, the structure of the wrist (ie narrow, thick wrist etc.) and possibly empty step frequency?
It can be useful to know if all watches that measure heart rate on the wrist are equally sensitive and what differentiates them.
Elias Nordling answers: In general, it is difficult to comment on the accuracy of the heart rate measurement. Partly because it is difficult to test more than two watches (and one heart rate band) at a time, and partly because, if they differ, it is difficult to determine who is most right. Usually, however, in tests we have rarely discovered major differences in heart rate measurement accuracy between different watch models, expensive or cheap.
Differences in pulse measurement
Question: Hi, have read your and many others reviews of heart rate monitors and no one even mentions the most important thing but a heart rate monitor. That is, the ability to measure the pulse. I myself have gone from a watch that measures with a chest strap to one that measures on the wrist. It differs quite a bit. On the one hand, a pulse of approx. 10-20% lower is shown on the wrist, on the other hand the watch seems to be sensitive to various external influences, such as sunlight, skin differences, the structure of the wrist (ie narrow, thick wrist etc.) and possibly empty step frequency?
It can be useful to know if all watches that measure heart rate on the wrist are equally sensitive and what differentiates them.
Elias Nordling answers: In general, it is difficult to comment on the accuracy of the heart rate measurement. Partly because it is difficult to test more than two watches (and one heart rate band) at a time, and partly because, if they differ, it is difficult to determine who is most right. Usually, however, in tests we have rarely discovered major differences in heart rate measurement accuracy between different watch models, expensive or cheap.
What we can say after testing many watches and sometimes even compared to heart rate bands, is that the results can differ somewhat in the moment, but usually become similar over time and in general. That is, at any given moment it can differ quite a bit in what they show for heart rate, but if you look at the sum of the number of heart rate minutes in different heart rate zones, the result is usually similar.
That the wrist generally gives a 10-20 percent lower heart rate does not match my experience, but on the other hand, I have noticed, as you have, that for example, falling sunlight sometimes seems to be able to cause it, and on some days I get too high or too low a heart rate in the watch for unknown reasons. This is also difficult to comment on in individual tests, if we notice it we will of course point it out, but it may not happen during the test period. Therefore, it is also difficult to determine whether a watch is better or worse at this.
Move e-SIM between phones
Question: I wonder how to move an e-SIM between two different phones. I’ve been scared off by e-sim a bit after having one that was sort of stuck in an Ipad, without being able to get it out.
Erik Mörner answers: Hello, yes it is not always possible to move an e-SIM between different devices. However, that doesn’t have to be a problem. Of course, it may feel natural to just move esim out of the old device, just like you do with a physical SIM card, but it is not required. You can ask your operator for a new qr code for installation and install the esim card on a new device without removing the old esim. When you activate the card in the new device, the esim in the old one will stop working.
Many Android phones support transferring esim to another Android and the same applies to Iphone. But for it to work, the operator also needs to support it and not all operators do, so in most cases it is probably easiest to log in to your operator’s website with your subscription details and BankID and then download the subscription again in the phone you want to move the SIM to.
Old smart speakers also get new Gemini?
Question: I read about Google’s new smart speaker and that it will have Gemini built-in. What makes it different from the speakers Google has had before?
Erik Mörner answers: Yes, it makes less of a difference than you might think at first. Because the fact is that even previous speakers with support for Google Assistant now get Gemini when you choose to upgrade your smart home, which you do in the Google Home app. Since a few months ago, even older speakers have been able to get Gemini and since the intelligence is in the cloud, Google’s smart speakers are only smart when they have a connection to Google’s servers, it may not require that much of the hardware itself. Admittedly, Google themselves say that the new speaker with Gemini must be created to be able to hear your voice well even in noisy environments with a lot of other noise, so on that level it may differ compared to existing speakers. However, when it comes to what the speaker can respond to using Gemini and what it can control in the home using your voice control, the functions are the same.
Essentially, the Google Home Speaker is an update and replacement for the Google Nest Audio, which was larger and had larger speakers in it, but otherwise shares many features with the new speaker, for example, that they can be connected in stereo pairs to Google TV and act as speakers for the TV. Google has stopped selling both Google Nest Audio and Google Home Mini for some time now, so the new speaker is now the only one in their range. At least for now.
Sort out Oppo vs Oneplus vs Realme please!
Question: I recently saw that Realme is entering Sweden, but weren’t they already here?
Erik Mörner answers: Well, more or less. Now Realme is here a little more, so it is appropriate to go through what happened. Oppo, Realme and Oneplus as well as the mobile manufacturer Vivo, which has never been active in Sweden, have in common that they are all owned by the group BKK Electronics. These four manufacturers are basically run as independent companies, but still have clear coordination and share resources. For example, Oppo and Oneplus merged their development departments and Oxygen OS has many similarities with Oppo’s Color OS. In the same way, there are models from one manufacturer that are almost identical to another model from one of the others, mainly Oppo and Oneplus. Oneplus has now shut down in Europe. Although Oneplus itself has not been clear about this, we notice it by the fact that they have stopped launching phones here and that large parts of Oneplus employees here have had their employment terminated. A small part of them have instead had to start at Realme. In that way, Realme is more present here in Sweden now than they have ever been. Previously, Realme’s entry into Sweden was driven by independent distributors, but now it is instead controlled by Realme themselves and part of a larger strategic direction globally.
Oppo has also recently been introduced in Sweden. They are now available with all the major operators and focus a lot on camera but have slightly higher prices than Oneplus had. Realme is not available with the operators but with retailers and has profiled itself with aggressive pricing with a lot for the money.
What does it mean when Instagram and Facebook start charging
Question: What do you get when you pay for Instagram and Facebook? Can I still use the services for free?
Erik Mörner answers: Yes, Instagram and Facebook have several types of subscriptions that cost money. You can still use the services for free with advertising, but you can also pay for one of the subscriptions and thus partly get the same service as before but without advertising, or you can pay for Plus subscriptions that give you extra functions. The Plus subscription still shows advertising and it is precisely the possibility to purchase an ad-free experience separately that was forced by the EU. If you buy advertising freedom, it also applies between Instagram, Facebook and Whatsapp for all the accounts you have in your Account Center for Meta. However, the Plus subscription only applies to individual accounts. With a Plus subscription in Instagram, you get the opportunity to give your stories higher priority in the feed of your friends, but only a limited number of times. You can also extend the time stories are visible up to 48 hours instead of 24 hours and you can peek at other people’s stories in a smaller format without being visible in the list of viewers. You can also choose a different app icon, send more eye-catching hearts when you like stories, and create different groups for events to more precisely control who sees what.
When will my Android get the new Android 17?
Question: Now saw that Android 17 is released, but when will it come to my phone?
Erik Mörner answers: Yes, Android 17 is now in most Google Pixels, while it takes a little longer with other manufacturers, exactly how long is unfortunately difficult to say. It all depends on which phone you have and which manufacturer. Google released the first beta version of Android 17 already in February and most manufacturers have started beta programs for Android 17 in the spring and this includes, for example, Samsung, Motorola, Xiaomi, Honor and Oppo. This means that we will soon see the first new phones that ship with Android 17 out of the box. For example, Samsung’s foldable phones Fold and Flip, which are expected in July, will be delivered with the new system and Samsung’s One UI 9 from the start.
When manufacturers then update existing phones, they regularly go in order from the flagships that can get the update early this fall, while older and simpler models have to wait longer, until later this year or the beginning of 2027. When this happens, today it is usually in the manufacturer’s own adaptations of the system rather than in Android itself that we find the biggest news. Samsung thus has its One UI 9, with Xiaomi the adaptations are called Hyper OS 4 when it comes to Android 17.