Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Ultra is considered, whether the South Korean tech giant intended to or not, the Android answer to Apple’s popular Watch Ultra. Not only is Samsung the biggest competitor to Apple in most markets around the globe, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is also the first watch to run Google’s WearOS 5 (Google’s own upcoming Pixel Watch 3 also runs WearOS 5 but it is not yet on sale).
And after testing the Galaxy Watch Ultra in two separate stints for a total of two weeks, I can say the watch mostly lives up to the expectations. The Galaxy Watch Ultra is big and beautiful, feature-packed and intelligent, but there are things that keep the experience as seamless as the Apple Watch Ultra. But that latter problem will likely never be solved as long as WearOS devices have the burden of needing to work with every Android phone from a dozen manufacturers.
Hardware
The Galaxy Watch Ultra is a “more” version of the standard Galaxy Watch we’ve been seeing for the past few years. The Ultra offers more battery capacity, more screen real estate, more buttons, and of course, more features. The new watch has an improved optical heart rate sensor, an emergency siren, and multiband/dual-frequency GNSS (global navigation satellite system) for runners.
Previous Samsung watches were mostly completely circular, but this new Ultra has a shape that is best described as a “squircle,” — half circle, half square. There is a raised bezel that protects the gorgeous 1.5-inch screen. While the bezel does not physically twist the way older Samsung watch bezels did, there is now a touch sensitive panel around it that can register swipes. Satisfying haptics will provide feedback to simulate the feeling of actually twisting the bezel.
The 1.5-inch screen gets up to 3,000 nits of brightness, which means the screen can be seen easily even under harsh open sunlight. Measuring almost exactly half an inch thick, the watch does protrude from my wrist quite a bit, but its rounded edges make the fit feel more normal compared to the Apple Watch Ultra’s sharp edges.
There are a trio of buttons on the right side: two clicky buttons sandwiching a circular crown that’s rotatable and clickable. On the left side are speaker grills, which pump out surprisingly loud audio (for voice calls mostly).
The Watch Ultra has an upgraded sensor on its backside that Samsung named “BioActive.” The sensor packs 16 LED lights and project blue, yellow, violet and ultraviolet rays into the skin to track various health metrics. The sensors includes an accelerometer, barometer, blood oxygen monitor, heart rate monitor, pedometer, gyroscope, and a temperature sensor.
I have to admit that although I am quite active in terms of going to the gym and riding my bicycle around the city, I am not an outdoorsy adventure type per se, meaning throughout my review period I did not take the Galaxy Watch Ultra up high mountains or deep into nature without much cell signal. So if you’re looking to see how this watch performs for the mountaineers and deep sea divers and trekkers, you’ll have to go elsewhere.
What I did do is wear this watch almost every waking moment during my days testing. I lifted weights, I walked and biked miles around city, and the watch tracked my steps and heart rate accurately, at least seemingly. I have no professional tools against which to compare, I just compared against the Apple Watch and also my own internal counting.
The Watch Ultra runs on a 3nm Exynos W1000 chip, paired with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. The 590mAh battery has been able to power the watch for almost three full days. Not amazing, but a major increase from non-Ultra Samsung watches which practically needs charging every night.
Software
This Samsung watch is the first to run on Google’s WearOS version 5, but it does have Samsung’s additional software skin overlaid on top. But Samsung’s One UI Watch software mostly adds to the experience and does not get in the way too much, as the Galaxy Watch Ultra has a menu interface and overall look that’s stock WearOS. Useful Google apps are all here, from Google Maps to Google Assistant, although Bixby is also present and in fact is the default assistance (I think most people would prefer using Google Assistant).
I used the watch to navigate my cycling rides with Google Maps and it was able to navigate in timely manner and even give audible directions via the loudspeakers.
New to the Galaxy Watch Ultra are gestures such as pinching your fingers or knocking twice with your fist to trigger actions. This uses a combination of the watch’s sensors to detect your hand/arm movement, and it’s surprisingly accurate. I enjoyed being able to summon Google Assistant with the knocking action, which I can pull off even when riding a bicycle or scooter when I do not have a free hand.
