Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Review: It’s Ultra, but Not for Everyone!

Samsung has been in the smartwatch game for a considerable time now. Through a series of incremental — and sometimes major — upgrades over the years, it has managed to remain a force to be reckoned with in the wearables segment. Now, with the launch of the Galaxy Watch Ultra, it’s attempting to strengthen its position and take the fight to Apple and its existing line-up of Ultra smartwatches.

We’ve had the Galaxy Watch Ultra with us for a bit now, giving us the opportunity to test it in-depth and figure out if it’s worth the money that Samsung is asking for it. So read on for all that you need to know about it.

Is the Design Trendy Enough

The watch is clearly not for everyone. The form factor itself can be a turnoff for some. But if you are really looking for an Android watch that is fully loaded and checks off most of the boxes, be it battery, health, and what not, it might just be the watch for you.

So when I opened the box, paired the device, and put it on for the first time, the only thing that came to my mind was, “God, it’s huge for a wristwatch!” Words and photos might not do justice and I would encourage you to try one in a store physically to see if it’s something you can commit to wearing on your wrist daily for the next couple of years.

The watch has a squircle design and a circular screen within it. Everything about the watch’s material and build quality is premium. The grade 4 titanium body and the sapphire crystal that protects the screen are the best out there and will surely protect you from some basic scratches and day-to-day wear and tear.

Now, the watch and band weigh approximately 90 grams, and I must say that again, the watch is not for everyone. Every time I was working on my laptop, even while writing this review, the watch just sat on the desk instead of on my wrist. I wore it to bed just once to track my sleep and was not able to do so again because of its heft—not even for this review.

Interestingly, the bezels are non-rotating. Yes, they are fixed and it might have to do with the fact that the watch is 10 ATM water resistant for up to 10 minutes and is IP68 rated. So forget about swimming, you can even take it diving.

Can the Hardware Hold Its Own

The Galaxy Watch Ultra is a mixed bag in the hardware department. On the outside, it uses a 1.5-inch OLED display that’s crisp and sharp. Interestingly, it’s also the same display we’ve seen on the Galaxy Watch 6 last year.

This panel is capable of good brightness levels and is also protected by Sapphire glass to protect it from scratches and wear and tear from day-to-day use. Not to anyone’s surprise, it comes with a horde of sensors, including a Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Sensor, an Infrared Temperature Sensor, and an Optical Heart Rate Sensor, to name a few.

To handle such sensors and to improve the functionality, Samsung has used a new SoC underneath the hood—the Exynos W1000. This is a brand-new chipset built using an advanced 3nm manufacturing process.

The benefit of using the newer manufacturing node translates to the watch offering good battery life (more on this later) and snappy performance in general. The latter is also because of the presence of plenty of RAM—2GB to be exact. Since this is the Watch Ultra, Samsung has also enhanced the built-in storage to 32GB so you can store more images and music directly on the device.

Apart from this, you get LTE, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi support. At the same time, you get an all-new L1+LG dual-frequency GPS instead of just L1 GPS for improved tracking accuracy.

Software, Fitness, and Tracking

The Watch Ultra can detect most of the workouts or sports you would want it to, and just like any other smartwatch, you can get an estimate of calories you have burned. And the HR zone that is displayed on the screen is a better way to track the fat you might burn.

The HR sensor is quite accurate and gives you an idea of how far you can push yourself while running on the treadmill or riding the bike. The GPS and LTE help me keep the phone at home, and the Watch can take care of the music and tracking all by itself.

The auto workout detection worked every time for me while I was on the treadmill, elliptical trainer, or just taking a brisk walk out in the open. The trigger time and mode depend on the activity you are performing, and there might be occasions when it does not trigger at all.

The hand gesture feature, like pinch and shake to reject, is also helpful. With the pinch gestures, you can manage incoming calls, workouts, a stopwatch, and even music—much like what Apple Introduced with its Apple Watch 9 Series.

Sleep tracking is also there, but sleeping with the watch was just so uncomfortable that I just did it for a night for the sake of the review. And as you can see, the sleep pattern is all over the place and I blame the watch for the same.

The watch also supports ECG and Blood Pressure; however, this feature is only available if you have paired it with a Samsung phone. The body composition analysis (BCA) is available on any Android phone, and while the readings are marginally constant, they are not 100% accurate. When compared to InBody, it showed a slightly lesser fat percentage and more muscle mass for me.

You also get Samsung Pay with multiple card support, and Tap-to-Pay is just an added advantage. So paying for public transport with a tap just makes it so convenient, and there is no need to find your phone at a busy terminal.

The watch’s big screen also helped me on the golf course. While it took me some time to get used to swinging with a bulky watch on my wrist, it was easier to enter a score, read the fairway, and get an approximate distance with the help of a companion app. So, all in all, I was pretty happy with the golfing experience.

How Good Is the Battery Life

While playing an 18-hole golf game with GPS and workout tracking enabled, you need a watch with good battery life, or it will die in between the games. The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra lasted the entire 18-hole game and then some more, which I would say is great.

On normal day-to-day usage, you get two days of battery life with AOD and active workout training. It might even have extended to 2.5-3 days if I had turned off the AOD and enabled the Power Saving mode while not using the watch for tracking workouts.

However, the charging speed is super slow, but then again, it’s Samsung, and what more can I say? It takes almost 2 hours to fully charge the device from 0 to 100. And if you are not wearing it to bed, overnight charging is what I would recommend.

Should You Buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra

So, if you are looking for the best smartwatch for your Android device that can compete with the Apple Watch Ultra, this is the answer. But as I said, the Galaxy Watch Ultra from Samsung is not for everyone. Some might not like the design, and for some, the price can be something to think twice about.

But if those two are not an issue and you want an all-around smartwatch that can track most of the daily health parameters you expect from it, the Samsung Galaxy Ultra is definitely a good option.