Samsung’s July Unpacked event devoted almost as much time to smart wearables as it did to the company’s foldable Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6. Granted, the Galaxy Ring got a lot of attention, but it’s still clear that Samsung is making a strong push to push fitness and health trackers.
But despite the addition of two new products to the Galaxy Watch lineup, you’d be forgiven for feeling a little underwhelmed. We covered the Galaxy Ring, which inexplicably costs more than the Galaxy Watch7 40mm. The Galaxy Watch Ultra is quite similar to the Apple Watch Ultra, and we agree that it lacks Samsung’s special qualities – like a rotating bezel.
Even weirder, the new quick button, essentially a crown, whirl but it’s disconnected from the UI and basically does nothing.
But let’s give the Galaxy Watch Ultra a chance to redeem itself. On the surface, this is an impressive smartwatch. Its case is made of titanium and features sapphire glass on top of the display. The new watch case looks interesting. Samsung calls it a “cushion” design, and it’s a square on the outside with a circle embedded inside – the term “squircle” is used to describe it.
It’s definitely an interesting design and goes a long way to making the Galaxy Watch Ultra stand out among its Galaxy Watch counterparts and Android watches in general. Apple Watch loyalists will call this an Apple Watch Ultra clone, but this unit has a rectangular display with the Galaxy circle.
A word about buttons. The Galaxy Watch Ultra has the usual home and back buttons at the top and bottom right. But there’s also the new quick button in the middle. You can program a single press to open an app or a workout and decide what a double press does. A 5-second press activates the emergency siren.
We’ll reiterate that rotating this Quick Button and not moving the interface is a trick. Instead, you can drag your finger on the edge of the circular display to scroll through the UI screens, just like on the bezel-less Galaxy Watch7.
It’s also a bit of a shame that the screen on the Galaxy Watch Ultra isn’t bigger. It’s the same 1.5-inch 480x480px unit as the Galaxy Watch7. Phone logic dictates that having Ultra in the name means having a bigger screen. In this case, it mostly means having a stronger case and a bigger battery.
That last point is key — the Galaxy Watch Ultra ties the two-year-old Galaxy Watch5 Pro for the company’s biggest battery in a watch at 590mAh. Samsung says you can expect 60 hours of typical use, 48 hours in exercise power saving and up to 100 hours in regular power saving mode.
It looks like the Galaxy Watch Ultra took the place of the Galaxy Watch Classic in this year’s lineup, leaving us with a successor to the regular Galaxy Watch6 – the Galaxy Watch7.
On the surface, the 7 looks identical to the 6 – you get an Aluminum Armor case and a flat-topped sapphire crystal display cover. There’s an improved BioActive sensor on the bottom of the Galaxy Watch7, as well as a more advanced 3nm Exynos W1000 chip inside.
Samsung boldly claims that the new chip has three times the performance, and we’re eager to put it to the test. Samsung also says to expect 30% better efficiency, meaning the Galaxy Watch7 will be able to get an extra battery life from the same battery pack.
Another improvement over last year’s Galaxy Watch6 is the addition of dual-band GPS, something that other Wear OS watches like the Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro have. This makes the GPS faster to lock in and more accurate.
Both the Galaxy Watch7 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra pioneer a new “dual grip,” which works when you bring your thumb and index finger together on your watch hand. This didn’t work while we were hands-on, but it should work by the time we have the new watches to review. It works in the same way as Apple’s Double Tap on its latest smartwatches.
Thanks to the power of AI and the new second-generation BioActive sensor, the new Galaxy Watch7 and Watch Ultra can spot potential signs of sleep apnea—something you’d normally need expensive devices to monitor.
The new watches also bring some new faces and bars. You can choose between a fabric band, a metal band and regular silicone bands in a variety of colors and color combinations. Samsung is including a fabric strap to go along your default silicone band for free during the pre-order period.
Different belts for