Samsung’s latest products are open ripoffs of Apple

Android phones bring unique form factors that we may never see on an iPhone, like Samsung’s latest foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Galaxy Z Fold 6. Unfortunately, Samsung’s accessories paired with these new devices foldables are anything but original.

When I say Samsung’s latest announcements look like knock-offs of Apple, I’m not talking about the phones or the all-new Galaxy Ring. Instead, I’m referring to the Galaxy Watch Ultra, which has the same shape and design as the Apple Watch Ultra, and the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, which are almost a carbon copy of the AirPods Pro 2. It’s a shame that originality is taking the place of back here, and frankly, it feels like a regression for a company that spent a decade trying to escape its former reputation.

Galaxy Watch Ultra works in form above

Sometimes when a company copies another, it will try to be subtle and discreet about it. Not Samsung though. The Galaxy Watch Ultra is a ripoff of the Apple Watch Ultra down to the name – surely Samsung could have thought of another adjective to describe this rugged and powerful smartwatch.

Samsung also seems to have taken inspiration from Apple’s band design, which has been a staple of the Apple Watch for years but is more prominent on the Ultra model. It also has similar orange accents, but I’ll give Samsung a pass on this one because both companies use variants of International Orange, a color created by the aerospace industry used to meaningfully differentiate objects from each other.

However, it’s much harder to give Samsung a license to steal the chassis and band design from the Apple Watch Ultra.

To be clear, I’m a fan of the band shape of the Apple Watch Ultra, and the first-generation model was my daily flagship smartwatch for nearly two years. But I don’t like the design of the Galaxy Watch Ultra, and it’s not just because of a lack of originality.

See, Samsung copied the body shape of the watch, but didn’t actually change the screen size. It’s a circular display inside a mostly square chassis that it calls a “cushion design,” which results in massive, odd-looking bezels.

Part of what made the Apple Watch Ultra great was the large screen and small bezels. It’s also as minimalistic as a large watch can look. By comparison, the Galaxy Watch Ultra has thick bezels and a cluttered look. Samsung copied the design of the Apple Watch Ultra, but forgot to pull off the features that made it successful, resulting in an uninspired smartwatch that could have been better if Samsung did something new.

The Galaxy Buds 3 Pro doesn’t even try to look unique

These headphones look like Aliexpress AirPods, straight up

I’m actually glad Samsung copied Apple’s design here. I find that the previous Galaxy Buds don’t fit as well as the AirPods, and that the longer earbuds help them fit better and make them easier to control. However, it’s still true that Samsung’s new Galaxy Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro take almost all of their inspiration from their respective AirPods pairs. The overall shape, trunk, case and even the pricing structure feel remarkably similar to what Apple offers.

Samsung cleverly calls the stems of the Buds 3 “blades,” but that doesn’t change the fact that they’re the same stem design as the AirPods. The company is also making the Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro in a variety of different colors, and these hide the fact that the design of the Buds 3 is little more than a knockoff.

When you look at the Buds 3 in white, they look LOT similar to AirPods. The chassis, microphone and vent locations, and charging case appear to borrow Apple design cues. It’s hard to blame Samsung for this, because AirPods are wildly successful. According to Statista, Apple has sold 392 million units of AirPods, and that’s almost as many units as it sold the iPod (450 million) over a much longer period of 21 years.

This is unbelievable, and it makes sense that Samsung would want to take a piece of that success. However, reversing and removing Apple’s design is essentially an admission of failure by Samsung. After years of making the Galaxy Buds, it couldn’t do a better job with an original design than Apple.

Be original, Samsung

Samsung in 2024 looks like Samsung in 2010 again

Samsung has proven that it can produce good and original products. For example, the rotating bezel on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic was one of my favorite features, and it’s something I wish the Apple Watch Ultra had. Samsung found something unique that people liked, but tossed it aside in favor of the sameness of an Apple Watch. Even the rotating crown on the new Galaxy Watch Ultra fails to sync with what’s on the screen.

As someone who likes to try a little bit of everything, it’s disappointing. I don’t want a Galaxy Watch to look like an Apple Watch, nor do I want Galaxy Buds to look like AirPods. I want the products to be unique, original and ambitious, so that consumers have a choice between different material options and ultimately choose what they like best. Clearly, that’s not what we’re getting from Samsung’s latest wearables.