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Galaxy Watch Sleep Scores Inaccurate When Reading in Bed

If you read, watch TV, or relax in bed before sleeping, your Galaxy Watch sleep scores may be wildly inaccurate. This is a known issue with how the watch calculates sleep latency.

The Problem​

The sleep latency metric (time to fall asleep) is broken:

  • Too Quick Penalty: Fall asleep in under 1 minute? Your score gets penalized
  • Too Slow Penalty: Lie in bed reading for 30 minutes? Also penalized
  • Lose-Lose Situation: There's no "right" latency time that doesn't hurt your score
  • Couch Counting: If you relax on a couch before bed, watch may start counting latency there

Sleep Session Splitting Issue​

After software updates, another problem emerged:

  • Split Sessions: Wake up to use bathroom, and watch creates two separate sleep sessions
  • Only First Counted: Some users report only the first sleep segment counts toward their score
  • Lost Hours: 3-4 hours of sleep may be completely missing from calculations
  • Inconsistent Merging: Sometimes sessions merge, sometimes they don't

Why This Happens​

The watch can't distinguish between:

  • Relaxing in bed while reading or watching content
  • Trying to fall asleep but having difficulty
  • Already asleep but in light sleep that looks like wakefulness

The algorithm assumes you're "trying to sleep" the moment you get in bed, which doesn't match real behavior.

Workaround 1: Stay Out of Bed Until Ready​

The most reliable fix is behavioral:

  1. Read, relax, or watch TV outside your bed
  2. Only get into bed when you're actually ready to sleep
  3. This prevents the watch from counting reading time as latency

Workaround 2: Remove Watch While Reading​

If you prefer reading in bed:

  1. Take your watch off when you get into bed to read
  2. Put it back on when you're actually ready to sleep
  3. The watch only tracks from when you put it on

Workaround 3: Ignore Latency Metric​

Focus on other sleep data:

  • Total Sleep Time: Usually more accurate
  • Sleep Stages: REM, deep, light sleep distribution
  • Blood Oxygen: Overnight SpO2 readings
  • Heart Rate: Resting heart rate during sleep

Ignore the sleep latency score entirely since it's unreliable.

Workaround 4: Manual Sleep Entry​

Override automatic tracking:

  1. Open Samsung Health on your phone
  2. Go to Sleep Add sleep
  3. Manually enter your sleep and wake times
  4. This bypasses the automatic detection issues

Split Session Fix​

If your sleep keeps splitting:

  1. Open Samsung Health
  2. View the split sleep sessions
  3. Some users report they can manually merge sessions
  4. Alternatively, use manual entry for accurate totals

What Samsung Says​

Samsung hasn't officially acknowledged the latency calculation as a bug. The algorithm is designed to:

  • Encourage going to bed only when sleepy
  • Discourage screen time in bed
  • Promote "sleep hygiene" practices

While well-intentioned, the implementation punishes normal behaviors.

Realistic Expectations​

Current state of sleep tracking:

  • Sleep Duration: Generally accurate
  • Sleep Stages: Reasonably accurate
  • Sleep Latency: Unreliable, often wrong
  • Wake Detection: Sometimes misses brief wakes
  • Score Calculation: Heavily influenced by broken latency metric

Focus on trends over time rather than individual night scores.

See Also: Galaxy Watch Sleep Tracking Issues|Galaxy Watch Samsung Health Sync|Galaxy Watch Ultra Shift Worker Sleep Tracking

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