Samsung has applied to patent a way to estimate deep belly fat outside a clinic by combining UWB radar in a phone with a bioelectrical impedance sensor in a smartwatch.
- Samsung’s US application 19/062,890 was published in June 2025, and Google Patents lists it as pending.
- The method puts a device with ultra-wideband radar against the stomach, for example within 3 to 10cm of the navel, and uses the reflected signal to estimate the fat under the skin.
- Impedance readings and body data such as height and weight then give the total fat area across that section of the abdomen.
- Visceral fat, which is the fat around the organs, is calculated by subtracting the fat under the skin from the total.
- The application names a smartphone with built-in UWB radar as the radar device and a smartwatch as the impedance device, and it also describes doing both on a single smartphone.
- Samsung says CT and MRI scans are accurate to about 5 square centimetres but are expensive and slow, and the application gives no error figure for its own method.
What it means for Galaxy Watch owners
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch range already has the impedance half of this system, and Galaxy Watch 9 measures body composition that way. Samsung’s support page for the feature lists body fat percentage, body water and skeletal muscle mass as the results.
A feature built on this application could tell owners how much fat sits around their organs, and they could repeat the check at home rather than booking a scan. In the arrangement the application describes, they would hold a phone with UWB radar against the stomach while also taking the watch reading. This is a patent application, so it does not show that Samsung plans to ship the feature or how accurate it would be.
Quick answers
Can a Galaxy Watch measure visceral fat?
Samsung’s support page for Galaxy Watch body composition lists body fat percentage, body water and skeletal muscle mass. The patent application describes a separate method for estimating visceral fat that adds a radar reading.
Would Samsung's method need a phone as well as a watch?
The main arrangement in the application uses a phone with UWB radar for the stomach reading and a smartwatch for the impedance reading. The application also describes doing both on a single smartphone.
Samsung’s other recent wearable filings are covered in Oura, Samsung and Amazfit grab interesting patents and the weekly Trademark and Patent Filing series. For trackers on sale now, see the best fitness tracker guide.
Last Updated on 9 November 2026 by tfk the5krunner
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. See the gear tfk uses. ID
