Don't dismiss the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra as a meaningless Apple Watch Ultra clone. I reviewed the new watch, and it surprised the heck out of me.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra MSRP $650.00 Score Details “The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is one of the most eye-catching smartwatches available in 2024, and it's a joy to use.” Pros Cons Is the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra a shameless Apple Watch Ultra clone? Is it nothing more than a copycat without any original ideas? Those were the initial thoughts going through my head when I first saw it, and I think it’s what a lot of people’s first reaction to the watch is, too.
For all the comparisons people want to draw to the other Ultra smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch Ultra’s design is wholly and unabashedly unique — and it’s a big reason why I’ve enjoyed wearing it so much. There’s a real sense of character with this design. It looks unlike any other smartwatch on the market today, and that’s not something I get to say very often.
What I don’t love, though, is the absence of a physically rotating bezel or crown. Considering the importance of the crown on the Apple Watch Ultra — and even Samsung’s own expertise here on watches like the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic — not offering this type of navigation is a huge miss. You can move your finger along the edge of the screen to use the “digital bezel” to more quickly navigate through screens/menus, but it’s not the same.
Here are Samsung’s own words: “It is not suitable for high-pressure water activities and diving. It may be used for shallow-water activities like swimming in a pool or ocean.” By comparison, the Apple Watch Ultra is a great diving smartwatch and can effectively be turned into a full-fledged dive computer with the Oceanic+ app.
Along with better performance, the new chip is also more efficient than previous ones. Combine that with a 590mAh battery — the largest battery ever in a Galaxy Watch — and the Galaxy Watch Ultra delivers very good battery life. Similar to the Readiness Score you get on the Oura Ring, I really like the addition of the Energy Score to the Watch Ultra. It’s a helpful metric to work with, and I’ve found the scoring accurate to how I actually feel. After a restful day with a lot of sleep, my score the next day was 87. After a night out accompanied by a few alcoholic drinks, my score dipped to 44 the next day.
What about the rest of the Galaxy Watch Ultra’s health/fitness suite? It’s fantastic. Like the Apple Watch, your activity is tracked by three easily obtainable goals: Motion, Time, and Calories. You can customize these pretty extensively, and they provide a clear, understandable goal to work toward each day.
And that’s not even everything! Through the Samsung Health app, you can also monitor your stress throughout the day, track your water and food intake, measure your body composition, follow guided workout routines, and more. Best of all, all of this is offered for free with no subscription. Previous Next 1 of 2 The Galaxy Watch Ultra also comes with a few new watch faces to try: Ultra Analog, Simple Ultra, Spatial Number, Simple Digital, and Ultra Info Board. As someone who typically doesn’t like Samsung’s watch faces, these all look pretty good! The Ultra ones, specifically, complement the Galaxy Watch Ultra’s design nicely and are the ones I’ve stuck with.
Samsung Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Smartwatches
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