Its already two years since Galaxy Watch was released, is it still worth buying in 2020? I will try to answer this question in this Samsung Galaxy Watch in-depth review. There’s already a successor to the Galaxy Watch in Galaxy Watch 3 which comes with more health tracking features, higher storage, and a more refined design. Although the original Galaxy Watch still stands out as one of the best smartwatches today, it has got an outstanding design, performance, and lots of features. I’ll talk about its design, fitness tracking features, battery life, managing notifications, media, and more.
Don’t want to read through, watch the Samsung Galaxy Watch in-depth review video.
Samsung Galaxy Watch (46mm) Bluetooth Model Review – 4 Months After
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Althoug released in 2018, Samsung Galaxy Watch is still one of the best smartwatches on the market today. Its
a comprehensive smartwatch with a sturdy build, lots of features and a long battery life that lets you go multiple days from a single charge.
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What I Like
- Sturdy, durable and rugged build.
- Lots of fitness tracking features.
- Easy to navigate especially with the physical rotating bezel.
- Up to 4 days long battery life
- Bluetooth calls.
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What I Don’t Like
- It’s quite heavy, bulky and thick.
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Design
- Galaxy Watch is sturdy and tough
- Navigation
- Watch Faces and Apps
- Samsung Wearable App
The Galaxy Watch has sophisticated aesthetics that is very durable and sturdy. It comes in two sizes; 42mm and 46mm and both sizes are also available in LTE and Bluetooth only models. The case is made of stainless steel while the straps are made of silicone. You can get the Galaxy Watch in black and silver colors for the 46mm model, while the 42mm model is available in rose-gold color which makes it ideal for women. I own the 46mm Bluetooth only model which is what I’m reviewing in this post.
Certified MIL-STD-810G, Galaxy Watch is a tough and rugged smartwatch with a rather bulky body at 46mm, although the 42mm model is more compact. I don’t like the fact that the Galaxy Watch is quite heavy at 63grams for the 46mm. So this isn’t the best choice for sports activities or for anyone with a thin wrist, the 42mm is a more suitable smartwatch for individuals with thin wrist as well as for women.
While the 46mm model has a 1.3 inches display size, the 42mm model has a 1.2 inches display size, both of which are powered by AMOLED. It’s very colorful and easy to read. Galaxy Watch has a touch-sensitive screen alongside two physical buttons and a physical rotating bezel which makes it extremely easy to access. I never had any problem accessing this smartwatch, it was always very easy to find what matters most to me especially with the widget features.
Talking about widgets, you can add a maximum of 15 widgets at a time to the Galaxy Watch. There are 33 widgets in total, my favorite ones are the stress widget, recent apps shortcuts, and the sleep widget.
When you swipe left, you get to see your list of notifications. And when you swipe right, you see the widgets which contain different types. You can add a maximum of 15 widgets. When you swipe down, you get access to the quick panel which contains functions such as always-on display, brightness, and more. Pressing the top button takes you back to the previous menu, while the down button takes you to the home screen and when you press again, it shows your list of apps. A shortcut can also be assigned to the home button, by double pressing on it, you can access whatever shortcut has been assigned. By default, Bixby is assigned to the home button. You can change this by going to settings>>advanced>>Double press Home key.
There are lots of watch faces to choose from on the Wearable app or you can access Galaxy Store where you will find thousands of watch faces from both Samsung and third parties. You can also install apps from the Galaxy store.
I like that you can install watch faces and apps directly from the Galaxy Watch as long as the connected phone is nearby and has access to the internet. This makes it very easy to add watch faces and apps without opening the Wearable app.
Samsung’s Wearable app is the companion app for the Galaxy Watch, it allows you to setup the watch, and you can from the app manage settings like notifications, add content to the watch, setup quick replies, and many more. From the Galaxy Wearable app, you can install watch faces and apps, you can also choose the apps that you want to receive notifications from.
Fitness Tracking
Beyond the many fine features of the Galaxy Watch that makes it a reputable lifestyle smartwatch, it’s also a fitness-focused smartwatch that’s equipped to track your active life comprehensively. The Galaxy Watch is equipped with an accelerometer, heart rate sensor, inbuilt GPS, gyroscope, and barometric altimeter. This enables it to track a whole lot of fitness tracking features.
- It tracks all basics
- Sleep Tracking
- Heart Rate Tracking
- Stress App
- Inbuilt GPS
- 39 Preloaded Sport Modes
- Samsung Health App
The Galaxy Watch tracks all the basics like my steps, calories, distance, and floors climbed. It has many widgets like the steps and health summary widgets that allow you to easily see tracked metrics. For instance, the activity ring widget shows calories burnt in a given amount of time.
I do wear the Galaxy Watch to sleep oftentimes and it tracks my sleep in four stages which are deep, light, awake, and REM. It also detects breaks like when I woke up in between the night. It shows my total sleep time and efficiency score. You can view more sleep data in the Samsung Health app which is the companion health app for the Galaxy Watch. You can also choose to record your sleep manually.
The Galaxy Watch tracks my heart rate continuously depending on the settings. You can choose to track your heart rate intermittently every 10 minutes, manually and continuously. It shows my current heart rate, resting heart rate, and heart rate for the day, as well as my heart rate range overtime.
There’s a stress app on the Galaxy Watch which allows you to manage stress through a guided breathing session.
Galaxy Watch has an inbuilt GPS that allows it to track your outdoor activities such as my real-time pace, routes, and distance. I have worn the Galaxy Watch for running exercises a couple of times, it shows my current and maximum heart rate, real-time pace, routes and location, and many other metrics.
The Galaxy Watch offers you up to 39 preloaded sport modes. This includes running, walking, rowing, elliptical, treadmill, and more. It can also auto-detect and track 6 exercises which include walking/running, cycling, elliptical trainer, rowing machine, swimming, and dynamic workout.
Samsung Health app is the fitness companion for Samsung smartwatches including the Galaxy Watch. Although, you can view your tracked sleep, heart rate, and even routes on the Galaxy Watch, but the app allows you to see more data. I like the clean and simple interface of the Samsung Health app.
Media And Connectivity
Another thing I like about the Galaxy Watch is its media features. It has 4GB storage out of which about 2.5GB is available for use. And it also has a microphone and a loudspeaker. You can play music loud and you can also make and receive calls directly from the watch.
Galaxy Watch syncs my phone contacts which will allow me to easily call directly from the watch when the connected phone is nearby. You can access Bixby, thanks to the built-in microphone. Adding content to the Galaxy Watch is very easy which can be done from the Galaxy Wearable app.
Notifications
Like many smartwatches out there, the Galaxy Watch allows you to manage notifications effortlessly. You will need to choose apps you want to receive notifications from in the Galaxy Wearable app, and you can reply to notifications with your voice, texts, and emojis. You can so set up quick replies from the Wearable app. There are many quick replies which can be customized.
Battery Life – I got up to 4 days on average
While the 46mm Galaxy Watch has a battery capacity of 472mAh, the 42mm has a smaller battery capacity of 247mAh. When I tested the battery life of the Galaxy Watch with always-on display turned off, a couple of notifications turned on, 30 minutes outdoor walkout daily, I got a battery life of approximately 3 days. It lasted 3 – 4 days when I didn’t do outdoor activity tracking. This test is for the 46mm model, the 42mm model has a shorter battery life.
Fitbit Versa 2 Full Specifications
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Conclusion
I think the Galaxy Watch is still one of the best smartwatches in the market today. I don’t like the fact that the 46mm model is quite bulky and heavy, but beyond that, this smartwatch is attractive and rugged, has a long battery life, and is also a comprehensive fitness tracker that can help you stay fit and reach more fitness goals.