Can the Apple Watch make you healthier?

Ever the tech pioneer, Apple has been making waves since it first announced its foray into the wearable tech market late last year. In addition to the product's obvious time-telling capabilities, gadget geeks love the idea of receiving texts, emails and phone calls without touching their iPhones, and fashion lovers are always in the market for an in-demand accessory. But Apple’s new timepiece won’t just complete your outfit — it could make you healthier. Here are five features that could make Apple Watch–wearers harder, better, faster and stronger.

It monitors your heart rate Using a combination of LED and infrared light, the Apple Watch can detect the amount of blood flowing through your wrist at any given time. The result is a super-accurate heart-rate monitor, which checks your pulse every 10 minutes to tally how many calories you burn throughout the day — even when you’re not working out.

It gets you moving Now you can wear your gym buddy on your wrist — sort of. Whether you’re setting out for a brisk run or lengthy bike ride, the watch displays the elapsed time and distance of your workout in graph form. (Science!) It will even flash a motivational message at its wearer half-way through and at the end of their workout. Or, if you’ve been sitting too long at your desk, its built-in accelerometer will gently recommend that you get off your butt and take a little stroll.

It DJs your workout Motivation through music! With two gigabytes of internal storage, this timepiece can hold up to 250 of your favourite tunes. It’s also Bluetooth-compatible, so you can exercise without getting tangled up in headphone cables. You can also connect the watch to Bluetooth-compatible health devices such as blood-pressure monitors and blood-glucose trackers.

It helps you plan your meals We are living in the future when a watch can help you eat better. Apps like Green Kitchen or Lifesum not only suggest meals, but track what you eat and help you measure out proper portions.

It affords you endless fitness-app options Developers are already putting the finishing touches on exercise apps like Nike + Running, Runtastic and Strava, all of which sync up to Apple Watches (no iPhones needed).