Pixel Watch 3 gets FDA clearance for Loss of Pulse alerts

It’ll roll out to US users at the end of March.

by Victoria Song

Feb 26, 2025, 4:58 PM UTC

Loss of Pulse Detection is already available in the EU, but needed FDA clearance to launch in the US.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

Victoria Song is a senior reporter and author of the Optimizer newsletter. She has more than 13 years of experience reporting on wearables, health tech, and more. Before coming to The Verge, she worked for Gizmodo and PC Magazine.

Google just announced it’s received FDA clearance for the Pixel Watch 3’s Loss of Pulse Detection feature. It will start rolling out to US devices sometime at the end of March.

The Loss of Pulse Detection feature is exactly what it sounds like: if the Pixel Watch 3 senses that you’ve lost your pulse through an event like a heart attack or an overdose, it’ll send you a prompt. If you don’t respond, it’ll automatically call emergency services on your behalf. Back in August, Sandeep Waraich, Google’s senior director of product manager for Pixel wearables, told The Verge that the Pixel Watch 3 is capable of differentiating between a genuine loss-of-pulse event and a person simply taking the watch off.

This feature has been available in the European Union since September 2024. However, high-stakes health features like Loss of Pulse Detection require regulatory clearance, and each country has its own governing bodies and procedures. Whether it rolls out to other regions will depend on the relevant local regulatory agency.

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