A rotating bezel would have been even better.
Samsung’s most high-end smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch Ultra , has been released overseas and is now available for pre-order in USA. Like the Apple Watch Ultra, it’s big and sturdy, and is positioned as ” the most amazing smartwatch ,” but does it actually feel that amazing? annualsmartphone.com reporter Kyle Barr used it for about two weeks and came to this conclusion…
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is a great smartwatch, and at first I thought it might be too much for me. I do some cycling and hiking, so the Galaxy Watch Ultra is useful, but it also feels a bit too much for my taste.
But the Galaxy Watch Ultra is a great smartwatch for people who live for their daily fitness goals and don’t mind being constantly reminded by their watch. I’m not sure if I’m that type of person yet.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra
What is this? Samsung’s most expensive smartwatch
◾️Price: $650
◾️What I like: 2-day battery life even when exercising, highly customizable watch face, comfortable to wear and long-lasting
◾️What I don’t like: It’s really big, it doesn’t have many exclusive features, it would be nice if it had the rotating bezel of the Galaxy Watch Classic…
At $650 , the Galaxy Watch Ultra is a step up from the $300 Galaxy Watch 7 in a lot of ways: It has a longer battery life, a more durable case and screen, is waterproof to a depth of 100m, and gets better stats about your cycling and running habits thanks to Samsung’s WearOS 5 app.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra is naturally compared to the Apple Watch Ultra 2, given its name. However, the price is $650 for the Galaxy Watch Ultra and $800 for the Apple Watch Ultra 2 (Japanese price: 128,800 yen), but the Galaxy has features such as blood oxygen concentration measurement and sleep apnea syndrome detection , which the Apple does not have. This is because Apple is currently in litigation, as it is alleged that these features infringe on other companies’ patents.
Like the Apple Watch Ultra 2, the Galaxy Watch Ultra also has some very niche features for athletes, like scuba diving. I haven’t been able to test all the in-depth features in this article, but I can tell you how it feels to wear every day. It’s like carrying a mountain on your arm . The silicone bands, like the “Marine” in the photo, seem a bit over the top, but the “Trail” and “Peakform” ones might be okay.
Also, while it may be convenient to be able to collect various health-related data with the Galaxy Watch Ultra, it can also detect sleep apnea syndrome and measure advanced glycation end products (AGEs), so it can become a bit overwhelming .
The Galaxy Watch Ultra has exclusive watch faces, a wealth of data, and customizable viewing options. But I do miss some sort of analogue control . The 47mm screen is big for a smartwatch, but a little small for my fingers, and I wish it had a rotating bezel like the Galaxy Watch Classic! There are customizable “quick buttons,” but no equivalent to the Apple Watch’s Digital Crown .
Still, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is a great sports watch. Its battery life can last more than a full day, and you can get through multiple workouts in that time. If you’re going to use it for exercise, it’s hard to beat the Galaxy Watch Ultra.
Anyway, it’s huge.
The design of the Galaxy Watch Ultra is called a “cushion case” with a round display surrounded by a square body. It doesn’t mean that it feels like a cushion, but it is relatively comfortable. You won’t completely forget you’re wearing it, but it’s not so bad that it makes it hard to fall asleep.
But it’s big. The screen is 47mm, and the case makes it feel even bigger. I have an average-sized wrist, and the Galaxy Watch Ultra case takes up most of the width. It ‘s also 12.1mm thick , so it gets caught on doors, shelves, towels, and other things. Luckily, the case is sturdy, and so is the dynamic lug system that connects the watch to the band.
It has a premium look and is very “Ultra”-like. The orange and titanium gray color scheme is nice, and the dial design can be changed in various ways. I went with the standard Ultra Analog design, but changed the colors to red and black. The eight complications on the dial can also be customized, allowing for countless combinations. If you don’t like regular dials but still want information at a glance, the Ultra Info Board dial is a great option that is very well organized.
The night mode , which is an Ultra-exclusive feature that turns on when it’s dark , also has a beautiful deep neon red color. The brightness of the surroundings is automatically detected, and it was able to distinguish between direct sunlight and a dark room.
Health features exclusive to Ultra (though I don’t use them much)
The Galaxy Watch Ultra’s software is largely the same as the Galaxy Watch 7, with a few added features for workout and health tracking . The Galaxy Watch Ultra also has a quick button that can be assigned to any function, which I assigned to start a workout. I found this quick button more convenient than the double pinch gesture.
Another feature exclusive to the Galaxy Watch Ultra is the ability to measure your ” functional threshold power (FTP) ” for cycling, the maximum exercise intensity you can maintain for an hour. This is a feature that allows you to set goals that are tailored to you by knowing your limits, but to use this feature you need a power meter, a device that you attach to your bike pedals, and a Galaxy smartphone. That means you’ll need to spend another tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yen. You can also see data like cycling speed and gradient with the Galaxy Watch7, so it’s not very useful for me, who only rides my bike whenever I feel like it.
The only other thing exclusive to the Galaxy Watch Ultra is the multi-sport settings, which you can use to train for short periods of time, such as running, cycling, and swimming… but that’s about it. Everything else is available on the Galaxy Watch7 . That means a reconfigured set of health sensors, which also lets you see your AGEs (still a beta feature in Samsung Health), more accurate GPS tracking, and blood oxygen levels to detect sleep apnea.
Samsung makes it clear that these features aren’t a substitute for proper medical screening: For the Galaxy Watch Ultra to detect sleep apnea, you have to wear it for two nights while you sleep, and it will refer you to a doctor if it detects abnormalities in your blood oxygen levels, as well as heart rate and ECG monitoring.
GPS accuracy not so good?
While using the Galaxy Watch Ultra, there were a few times when I noticed something a bit odd.
For example, I woke up at 6am to check my phone, but it said I woke up at 7:10am . I don’t know if that makes my sleep score look better than it actually is, but Samsung Health usually gives me a score of “fair” to “good.” I rarely have days where I’d consider my score “fair” or “good,” so maybe I need to hit 100 to feel great.
The GPS is supposed to be more accurate with a dual-band GPS, but it’s still not perfect in the city. It worked fine on the bike path along the main road in Brooklyn, but in Manhattan it seemed to warp between buildings.
There are some benefits from WatchOS 5. WatchOS 5 is said to be faster, and while the Galaxy Watch Ultra isn’t blazingly fast, I didn’t notice any lags or issues. The tile interface is still incomplete, making it difficult to rearrange tiles quickly and only allowing for 15 widgets. You can select tiles by moving your finger across the screen, but it would have been easier to do this with a physical bezel.
The larger the battery, the safer it is
The Galaxy Watch Ultra may not have many exclusive features that are a deciding factor, but the battery life may be what gets you in the mood. The battery capacity is 590mAh , which is a significant increase from the 300mAh and 425mAh of the previous Galaxy Watch series. In fact, when I actually used it, I felt that the battery life was better because it was larger .
After using it for a few days to fully calibrate the battery, I was able to use it for 46 hours straight, including two workouts in one day, and still have power left before going to bed. And that’s without using the power saving mode or the power saving mode during exercise.
Even when I was using the sleep apnea detection function at night, the battery only dropped by about 10%. Still, I think it’s a good idea to bring a charging pad with you when you’re traveling or staying away from home for a while.
While previous Galaxy smartwatches could be charged by attaching them to a Samsung smartphone, this is not possible with the Galaxy Watch Ultra. Samsung says that they changed the design of the sensor on the back, which has increased the distance between the internal charging coil and the smartphone, making reverse charging impossible .
What’s a bit reassuring for me at this time of year is that even when I was wearing the Galaxy Watch Ultra in the heat of summer, it didn’t get any hotter than the surrounding temperature . The Galaxy Watch Ultra’s operating temperature range is -20°C to 55°C, so it should be able to withstand most extreme cold and heat.
Should I buy it?
More than any other watch I’ve ever used, the Galaxy Watch Ultra keeps me plugged in all the time , whether I’m working out or walking around town, constantly reminding me to stand up when I’m at my desk, it catches on me when I’m getting dressed, and even a quick glance at its bright screen lights up like a big puppy dog’s grin.
It’s a little cheaper than the Apple Watch Ultra, but it’s still not a “cheap” smartwatch, and it’s twice the price of the Galaxy Watch 7. However, I don’t think it has any decisively positive features to make up for that.
But personally, I prefer the Galaxy Watch Ultra to the Galaxy Watch 7. I don’t have to worry about the battery running out in the woods while hiking, and it has a lot of complications on the dial. If it had a rotating bezel, I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who can afford it.
