This New Samsung Health Feature Wants To See Photos Of Your Food

Health and wellness tracking with wearables is no longer just about activity, sleep, and even vitals. Nutrition plays a big role, too, which is why we're seeing more devices come to market with nutrition tracking options. Samsung is the latest to add this to the mix with an update to the Samsung Health app you might use with a Galaxy device like the new Galaxy Watch 9. It adds, among other upgrades, the option to scan your meal, then see useful information about it.

The feature is available in beta right now for customers in the United States. All you do is snap a photo of whatever you're eating — from there, Samsung Health will tap into AI to figure out what it is along with the serving size and give you an estimate of the calories and macros in this meal, along with other detailed nutritional insights. It's a feature that is already available through other wearable companion apps, like Google Health (with a Premium subscription), Garmin, and even Oura. But Samsung Health offers an interesting addition in Diet Score, along with tailored programs that include guides, challenges, and meal planning.

To try the Scan Meal feature if you have access to the beta in the U.S. (and once it's officially available), use the Samsung Health app to take a photo of your plate of food or even a packaged item, like a protein bar. The app will determine what it is and deliver nutritional data. As with other apps, you'll be able to modify details if necessary, such as if you have balsamic dressing on your Cobb salad versus ranch, if the bun for your sandwich is gluten-free or extra-protein bread, or if you need to adjust portion size.

As for the Diet Score, this is calculated using Samsung's nutrition assessment model, and it's one feature that sets Samsung Health apart from others. After you continuously log meals, the app calculates the data to provide one of four assessments (Needs Attention, Fair, Good, or Excellent) to help guide you toward healthier eating. Maybe you're exceeding guidelines for carbs and sweets, or conversely, you're getting enough protein and vegetables to meet your goals. Other trackers have similar features, like Google Health assessing what you ate throughout the day and giving you recommendations for dinner. Overall, the option to take a photo makes logging simple and means you'll be more inclined to do it for every meal. It's unclear if there's an option to manually add a meal if you forgot to snap a picture before it was devoured, but there likely will be.

I haven't tried Samsung Health meal logging yet, but I have used a similar feature with other wearables. The best is arguably Google Health Premium, but that requires a subscription — whereas, at this time, Samsung Health does not. With that app, you can snap a photo or advise the AI Coach via text or voice that you just had roast chicken with broccoli and a baked potato, or a bowl of a specific brand of cereal with oat milk, and it will log the food along with the necessary nutritional information. Others do something similar, including Oura and Garmin, but both also require a subscription for this specific feature (Garmin with Connect+ if used with a tracker like the Garmin Cirqa).

So, even if the Samsung Health option isn't as feature-rich, accurate, or able to tap into as large of a database as Google Health, the lack of subscription is refreshing. That said, Samsung's Head of Digital Health Dr. Hon Pak confirmed last year that the company is exploring a premium subscription tier. If this moves forward, it would likely include nutrition tracking and other unique features like Antioxidant Index. So, you'd better try this feature out now while it's free — this will help you determine how well it works for you and fits into your lifestyle before the possibility of having to pay for it. Compared to others, it's nothing groundbreaking, but it's nice to finally have for Samsung devices and features like Diet Score and meal planning stand out.