Healthcare giant Philips finally introduces smart gadgets to track your wellness

The Dutch technology conglomerate Philips has already made a name for itself in the burgeoning internet of things space, entirely thanks to its popular Hue line of programmable lightbulbs. It’s now taking the lessons it’s learned from building connected devices and applying it to a space Philips knows really well: Healthcare.

Today, it launched four different connected healthcare devices: a ‘smart’ body analysis scale, a health watch, an ear thermometer, and a blood pressure monitor. Each of these are designed to work with the Philips HealthSuite app, available for Android and iOS.

What each device does is pretty obvious. The blood pressure monitor looks like a sleeker version of the one you’d use in a doctor’s office. It measures diastolic and systolic blood pressure, as well as heart rate. Both wrist and arm versions are available, retailing for $89.99 and $99.99 respectively.

The weighing scale comes in both black and white versions, and can measure weight, calculate BMI, and make estimates as to the user’s body fat level. This sells for $99.99.

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As for the in-ear thermometer, this can determine your body temperature in just two seconds. This is the cheapest of the bunch, and goes for just $59.99.

Finally, there’s the sleek Philips Health Watch, which tracks activity, heart rate, and the user’s sleep patterns. This isn’t a smart watch, per se. It won’t show you your phone notifications. It’s not running Android Wear, and it doesn’t support third-party applications. It doesn’t even have a touchscreen.

But Philips thinks that this doesn’t matter, as it can give you the metrics you need to make better choices about your health and lifestyle.

Healthcare has long been a major interest of Philips, to the point where it represents a sizable portion of its earnings. If you go into any hospital, there’s a good chance the CT scanner or MRI machine was made by Philips. It makes sense that healthcare would be an important part of its smart home strategy, too.

Philips is entering a space that’s increasingly crowded. There are already a plethora of fitness trackers, and Wi-Fi enabled weighing scales. But given the reputation Philips has earned in the healthcare world, it’s likely these devices are going to stand out from the crowd.