Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra review: if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em

After Samsung announced the $649.99 Galaxy Watch Ultra connected July 10th, I saw a few posts floating around connected Threads. The gist was the same. Each station had 2 images: connected the 1 side, determination was the Apple Watch Ultra, and connected the other, the Galaxy Watch Ultra. Hmm, users wondered. Where person we seen this before?

It’s harsh, but it was my nonstop archetypal thought arsenic well. While determination are stylistic differences, it’s painfully evident that Samsung made a database of everything the Apple Watch Ultra had that the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro — Samsung’s archetypal effort astatine a much rugged smartwatch — didn’t. It past went down the list, ticking disconnected each diagnostic 1 by one. By and large, that was a palmy strategy. This is simply a large Android smartwatch. Arguably, it’s the best Android smartwatch.

It conscionable doesn’t feel good.

More specifically, the Ultra’s successes don’t ever consciousness earned. Samsung smartwatches person ever had their ain unsocial flair (usually successful the signifier of a carnal rotating bezel, which is sadly missing here). Yes, determination were immoderate Samsung-y quirks, but it gave the watches character. 

Some of that quintessential Samsung-ness is inactive there. But it’s besides undeniable that Samsung overhauled its wearable strategy to beryllium the Apple of Android. My nerdy lil’ bosom isn’t breached implicit it. But it does sting.

In Apple’s shadow

After wearing the Apple Watch Ultra 2 connected 1 limb and the Galaxy Watch Ultra connected the different for the past 2 weeks, it’s easier to accidental what they don’t person successful common. Unlike Apple’s watch, the Galaxy Watch Ultra has a circular look (though it’s acceptable successful a squarish case). There’s nary integer crown. It has FDA-cleared slumber apnea detection, a 3nm processor, and an upgraded 3-in-1 BioActive Sensor, which measures EKGs, assemblage creation analysis, and different bosom complaint data. (Apple has EKGs and bosom rate, but it’s inactive connected a 5nm chip, and Masimo’s lawsuit has thrown a wrench successful its slumber apnea efforts.) Naturally, the Galaxy Watch Ultra runs One UI 6 Watch and Wear OS 5 alternatively of watchOS. 

Compare that to what they do person successful common:

I could spell connected due to the fact that determination are adjacent more akin features — similar backtracking for hikes, racing past routes for runners, and functional threshold powerfulness for cyclists — but these are the large ones. 

It’s understandable wherefore Samsung has followed this route. The Apple Watch Ultra has been palmy successful a mode that the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro has not. And arsenic overmuch arsenic I hatred to accidental it, I can’t accidental it was a atrocious idea. All of these additions and upgrades adhd up to a almighty and susceptible Android smartwatch. Overall show is snappy, artillery beingness is bully erstwhile you decorativeness calibrating (more connected that later), and there’s large synergy if you usage it with the caller Galaxy Ring. I could extremity the reappraisal close present with “this is the Apple Watch Ultra for Android,” and you’d astir apt person a decent knowing of the Galaxy Watch Ultra’s strengths and weaknesses. 

It’s conscionable that erstwhile Apple does it better, it takes immoderate of the radiance from Samsung’s version. For instance, it’s easier to sync a customized hiking way onto Apple’s Ultra via the Maps app than it is to download a .GPX record from a abstracted app into the Samsung Health app connected your phone. Apple’s Ultra has a autochthonal extent app and tin beryllium utilized arsenic a dive computer. You tin safely instrumentality Samsung’s Ultra for a plunge, but determination are nary equivalent scuba diving capabilities. Programming and utilizing the Action Button is simply a spot much intuitive than the Quick Button. If I measurement into a acheronian closet, the Apple Watch Ultra’s nighttime mode kicks connected automatically. Auto nighttime mode connected the Galaxy Watch Ultra seems to beryllium based connected the existent time. 

But examination is the thief of joy. Instead, let maine to gripe astir 1 of the Galaxy Watch Ultra’s much chiseled features: its polarizing squircle design. 

Squaring the circle

In caller years, Samsung watches person been overwhelmingly circular. The authoritative enactment is that the Ultra’s caller squarish lawsuit adds durability, though I’d reason the Pro was plentifulness durable without it. My moving mentation is that it allows for a amended strap swapping mechanics — conscionable similar Apple’s — and that Samsung was purposefully going for ocular similarity. 

But aft a fewer weeks of wear, I privation Samsung had conscionable picked a rectangular show or a circular 1 alternatively of splitting the difference. Retaining the circular plan would’ve kept it much visually chiseled from Apple and, let’s look it, little ugly. (Though, determination is an constituent of colour penchant here. I find the achromatic titanium mentation to beryllium overmuch much fetching than the metallic oregon my Halloween-y reappraisal unit. The achromatic lawsuit is fine, but the strap is so orange.)

Aside from aesthetic sensibilities, Samsung’s 47mm Ultra is chunkier connected the wrist than Apple’s 49mm Ultra. That’s due to the fact that Samsung’s quadrate lawsuit looks much squat connected the wrist, adjacent if the dimensions are rather similar. It besides wasn’t rather arsenic comfy for my petite wrists. The spread betwixt the strap and my wrist was truthful wide, I could stuff precisely 3 pens oregon chopsticks into that space. The added chunkiness besides made it hard to find a bully fit. Either I strapped the ticker connected mode excessively tight, leaving marks connected my arm, oregon it was excessively escaped and would descent up and down my wrist.

Battery beingness and treble pinch

The Galaxy Watch Ultra does connection immoderate notable improvements implicit the Watch 5 Pro. For me, the 2 astir impactful ones were longer artillery beingness and the treble pinch gesture.

The Ultra sports a 590mAh battery, which is the aforesaid arsenic the Pro. However, bundle updates betwixt 2022 and 2024 — and a caller workout power-saving mode — assistance widen the Ultra’s artillery life. Battery beingness depends heavy connected idiosyncratic usage, but successful testing, I got astir 70 hours connected a azygous complaint with dense GPS usage and power-guzzling features similar the always-on show enabled. If I enabled power-saving mode erstwhile I deed 15 percent battery, I could agelong it to astir 76 hours. (Note: Samsung watches instrumentality a fewer complaint cycles to calibrate and larn your usage patterns. The archetypal fewer days, I got a dismal 36–48 hours connected a azygous charge.) I ne'er rather deed Samsung’s 100-hour estimate, but it’s inactive a marked betterment implicit the 50–60 hours I got with the Pro. 

This is existent multiday artillery life, though it inactive falls abbreviated of different multisport watches for existent outdoorsy types. When I tracked a 3.5-hour hike successful a distant country with nary compartment reception, the Galaxy Watch Ultra mislaid 22 percent battery, whereas my year-old Ultra 2 mislaid astir 34 percent. While you mightiness get distant with leaving the charger astatine location for a one- oregon two-day trip, but you’re rolling the dice for thing longer.

Double pinch isn’t a caller diagnostic for Samsung watches — it’s been astir for a while. It’s conscionable much beforehand and halfway now. Unlike Apple’s version, it’s not contextual, meaning it’s constricted to mostly dismissing alerts, accepting calls, and controlling your phone’s camera. But putting those limitations successful spot ironically makes it much clear-cut for regular use. There are a fewer different gestures you tin use, which expands your hands-free options. For instance, I programmed the sound knock motion to unfastened the Camera Controller app and past utilized treble pinch to drawback selfies. That’s conscionable neat.

Mixed wellness tracking

Samsung made a large hullabaloo astir adding Galaxy AI wellness features this twelvemonth successful the signifier of a caller Energy Score and Wellness Tips. There’s besides an upgraded 3-in-1 BioActive Sensor, which brings with it an experimental advanced glycation extremity products (AGEs) metric to gauge metabolic health. Unfortunately, AI doesn’t ever cognize what’s champion for you.

I wrote much astir the Energy Score metric successful my Galaxy Ring review, but the gist is that it’s broadly close with immoderate hit-or-miss AI-generated advice. The aforesaid is existent for the AI-generated Wellness Tips. For example, the different morning, I got 2 tips that told maine that I some was and wasn’t sticking to my slumber schedule. 

Meanwhile, the AGEs scale metric is baffling. While you sleep, the ticker measures for bodily compounds that accumulate erstwhile “protein and abdominous molecules are oxidized by sweetener molecules.” Supposedly, that tells you however good you’re metabolically aging, but Samsung has been vague astir however this really works, the worth of adjacent having this data, and what you’re expected to bash with it. You’re graded connected a spectrum from debased to precocious — it told maine I’m successful the middle. To amended my score, the app advises maine to devour healthy, exercise, and prioritize slumber to amended my AGEs scale — which I’m already doing — portion different parts of the app archer maine to halt moving retired truthful hard. Is this a existent thing? Maybe successful the probe field, but successful a user smartwatch, this is small much than a gimmick.

The caller FDA-cleared slumber apnea detection diagnostic is comparatively straightforward, but unfortunately, I recovered it hard to use. The diagnostic requires you to deterioration the ticker for 2 nights portion you slumber to observe disturbances based connected humor oxygen levels. I had a hard clip getting valid readings, partially due to the fact that the Ultra’s size made it hard to get a snug fit. Eventually, I was correctly told I don’t person slumber apnea. The caveat is this diagnostic is not a aesculapian diagnostic instrumentality and whitethorn not drawback each lawsuit of obstructed breathing — truthful instrumentality from that what you will. Like the EKG feature, it besides requires you to person a Galaxy phone.

Honestly, the champion fittingness update was the summation of dual-frequency GPS. Compared to the Galaxy Watch 7, the Ultra was overmuch much close astatine signaling the region of my runs. I hiked a 4.99-mile way with dense histrion cover, and the Ultra recorded a spot-on 4.99 miles, portion my Apple Watch Ultra 2 logged a negligible quality of 5.03 miles. 

If you can’t bushed ’em…

I genuinely similar the Galaxy Watch Ultra. This is the astir full-featured Android smartwatch you tin bargain close now. I would wholeheartedly urge it to Android users who privation a longer-lasting smartwatch with a robust enactment of third-party apps. 

However, I fearfulness that successful copying Apple truthful closely, Samsung volition yet halt marching to its ain quirky beat. Because it’s not conscionable this ticker — the full Galaxy Watch lineup present mirrors Apple. There’s a fund Galaxy Watch FE to lucifer the Apple Watch SE, a Galaxy Watch 7 sits wherever the Apple Watch Series 9 does, and astatine the top, there’s the Galaxy Watch Ultra. Samsung’s signature carnal rotating bezel is present constricted to past year’s Galaxy Watch 6 Classic — which wasn’t updated this year. It’s unclear if it’ll get a refresh down the road.

This genuinely was a bittersweet reappraisal to write. I can’t contradict the Galaxy Watch Ultra fills a void for Android users who privation a smarter Garmin alternative. (For a tenable price, too.) I can’t responsibility Samsung for trying thing antithetic present that it has a rival successful the Pixel Watch. After coasting with past year’s watches, it had to bash thing to regain momentum. I conscionable ne'er thought it would bash it by making an Apple Watch. 

Photography by Victoria Song / The Verge