Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is more rugged, bulkier, and bolder than other Galaxy Watch devices — but is it worth the higher price?
Pros
- Rugged, durable build
- Programmable button
- Excellent health-tracking
- Bright display
- Great performance
Cons
- A little pricey
| Buy From | List Price | Sale Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | $649.99 | $649.99 | See It |
Samsung is taking a page out of Apple’s playbook. Along with giving the new Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 and 3 Pro a stem, just like the AirPods, Samsung is releasing a new tier of smartwatch, conveniently titled the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra. The new device is bigger and bulkier than other Galaxy Watch models, has a design with orange highlights, and, of course, costs a whole lot more.
But to be clear, in these situations, it’s not a bad thing that Samsung is following Apple’s lead. The Galaxy Buds 3 and 3 Pro are a whole lot more comfortable and easier to control than previous Galaxy Buds. And the new Galaxy Watch looks a whole lot cooler, while offering that more distinct and bulky design that many users love.
Apple justifies the higher price of the Apple Watch Ultra through the more premium build and stronger design, and it’s largely worked. Not only have I seen lots of people out and about wearing an Apple Watch Ultra, but I personally wear one in my day-to-day life, knowing that for me personally, the device doesn’t necessarily add much more in the way of functionality. Can Samsung get away with the same thing? I’ve been using the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra for a while now to find out.
A bold and inspired design
Samsung has certainly taken inspiration from other smartwatches for the design of the Galaxy Watch Ultra. The device retains the circular display of other Samsung Galaxy Watch devices, which is a move that makes sense, but around that display, it uses a squircle-shaped body, which arguably makes less sense. The result of this design is that the corners of the watch itself expand out from the display.
Thankfully, it still looks relatively natural, but I can’t help but wonder what this device would have looked like if the display filled the top of the watch. Overall shape aside, it’s a good-looking smartwatch. Just like the Apple Watch Ultra, Samsung has included orange highlights throughout the build, including on the crown and the bezel. On the right side of the device, there are two standard buttons and a crown, though, for all intents and purposes, the crown is another standard button, considering the fact that rotating it doesn’t actually control the software. That’s a bit unfortunate to see, and we would have liked the crown to be a little more useful.
That said, the extra button compared to the standard Galaxy Watch 7 is useful. The button is actually programmable, so you can set it up to control something of your choosing. I loved that on the Apple Watch Ultra, and I love it here too.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra is built to be bulkier and thicker than the standard Galaxy Watch, and indeed it is. While the Galaxy Watch 7 is available in 40- or 44-millimeter cases, the Ultra is only available in a 47-millimeter titanium case. It’s thicker, too, at 12.1 millimeters, and if you have a smaller wrist, you’ll notice the thickness. But that added bulk does mean a larger battery, and the device is rated for 10ATM waterproofing, which is better than the 5ATM waterproofing offered by the Galaxy Watch 7.
That said, unfortunately, Samsung specifies that the Galaxy Watch Ultra isn’t suitable for water sports like scuba diving or jet skiing. These are things that the Apple Watch Ultra can handle just fine, and it’s a little disappointing that Samsung’s version can’t be used for those activities. The Galaxy Watch Ultra can be used for basic swim tracking; however, that’s something that the standard Galaxy Watch 7 can do too.
While not specific to the Watch Ultra itself, I generally like the band system offered by Galaxy Watches. Bands are easy to place and remove, which makes a difference for those who plan on using the device with multiple bands.
The band that the Watch Ultra ships with, of course, is even more Apple Watch-inspired. It’s an orange rubber band, and it looks great. I don’t mind that it’s heavily Apple Watch inspired, as I generally like the band overall.
While the Galaxy Watch Ultra is certainly big and bulky, many will appreciate the design. It looks good, and with the titanium case, it feels good, too.
A bright display that could be bigger
The display on the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra sits at 1.5 inches, which is a little disappointing to see. That’s the same size as the display on the larger Galaxy Watch 7. I would have liked to see Samsung leverage the larger build for a bigger display, which again could have been achieved by pushing the corners of the display out into a squarer shape.
That said, it is a very good-looking display. The screen has a resolution of 480 x 480 pixels, and it’s a Super AMOLED screen with a sapphire crystal covering, making for better durability. It gets relatively bright and supports Always-On functionality, though that will impact your battery life. The display is also brighter than that on the Galaxy Watch 7, and I found it easy to see the display in all situations — including in direct sunlight.
None of this is surprising, of course. Samsung always includes high-end screens on its devices, and that remains true in the Galaxy Watch Ultra. I just wish Samsung included a bigger screen here.
A long-lasting battery
Samsung has added a number of new features to its smartwatches for this generation. However, many of the features are available on both the Galaxy Watch 7 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra, essentially meaning that the Galaxy Watch Ultra doesn’t necessarily offer all that much in the way of additional features. This isn’t all that surprising — the same is true for the Apple Watch Ultra compared to the Apple Watch Series 9. The Galaxy Watch Ultra is more about a bolder design and a more durable build than anything else. Plus, the bigger body means it has better battery life.
Speaking of battery life, the battery on the Galaxy Watch Ultra is indeed quite good. Samsung rates the battery as lasting between 48 and 100 hours, depending on how you use the device. I was actually able to use up the battery in around 42 hours, though. That involved keeping the always-on display on and sleep tracking. However, it also involved having the device disconnected from a phone for much of the time while I was running battery tests on my Galaxy Z Fold 6. This isn’t a use-case that most will go through, and I think most users will end up landing between that 48- and 100-hour mark. That’s very good, and it means that you can use the device for two days without having to charge it up. If you’re good at charging your device before bed, you’ll have no issue with the battery — and if you use something else for sleep tracking or don’t care about sleep tracking and charge the watch overnight, you won’t really have to worry about battery life at all.
Helpful health and fitness features
When it comes to fitness features, the Galaxy Watch Ultra offers a huge range of them, despite the fact that almost all of these features are offered by the Galaxy Watch 7, too. You’ll get a heart rate monitor and blood oxygen sensor, along with things like a body composition sensor that has been available on Samsung Watches for a few years now. New for this generation of watches is a sleep apnea detection feature, which requires use for a few nights and tracks decreases in blood oxygen to find signs of obstructive sleep apnea. This is an excellent feature, as plenty of people have sleep apnea without actually knowing it. I don’t have sleep apnea, so I didn’t really test the feature, but I’m glad that it’s here.
There are still some features unique to the Galaxy Watch Ultra, though. For example, Samsung has included an improved BioActive Sensor that it says can more precisely track heart rate and sleep. So, while the new sensor doesn’t add extra features to the device, it does presumably make those features better. Additionally, there’s a multi-sports tracking mode that could be useful for things like training for a triathlon. And the device has the ability to measure your Functional Threshold Power (FTP) when you’re cycling, which could be helpful for those super into cycling. Most will find that the fitness tracking features on the Galaxy Watch Ultra are the same as those on the Galaxy Watch 7, though.
Over the years of testing consumer health tracking devices, I’ve found that while they can all get in a similar ballpark of tracking, they’re usually all a little different in how they track. When I looked at the sleep tracking from my Galaxy Watch Ultra compared to my Apple Watch Ultra, I did find some differences in the data collected. Ultimately, health data like this is better used for tracking trends over time rather than super-specific metrics at a single point in time. That’s because, for example, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is going to track sleep in the same way each night. So, if it says you slept better one night versus another, you likely did.
That said, I do appreciate that the Samsung Health app is getting better. It offers access to a huge range of metrics collected by the Galaxy Watch Ultra. For example, it’ll give you details about what it thinks about your restfulness and mental recovery over a night of sleep. These are features that Apple has yet to implement.
Capable, advanced smartwatch software
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra are the first smartwatches to run Google’s Wear OS 5. On top of that, they run a range of Samsung-specific features, but in general, I’ve found Wear OS to be easy to navigate and full-featured, and it’s a whole lot better than Wear OS was just a few years ago. From the home screen, you can scroll between different tiles, and you can customize which tiles you want to have access to as well. You can also swipe up to access apps or down to access quick settings. Side note: sleep tracking is hidden in a little modes setting, which looks like a checkmark in a circle. It’s a bit confusing, and it took a while to find the setting the first time I wanted to use it.
The watch offers access to a number of watch faces too, and they’re built largely to match the rugged design and build quality of the Galaxy Watch Ultra. Out of the box, the default watch face shows things like heart rate, date, temperature, and more, and there’s even a compass around the edges.
There are dozens of other watch faces to choose from in the Wear OS app, and while they’re certainly not all for me, they do all look relatively useful overall. You don’t have to stick with the rugged design, either. You can choose something a little more simple and scaled back. Through testing, however, I stuck with the Ultra Analog watch face installed by default.
Conclusions
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is a high-end, capable smartwatch. Does it borrow from the Apple Watch in terms of design? Sure, but you’re also not going to confuse the two. I like the rugged build, and I love the fact that it adds additional battery life.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra isn’t about whether or not you need it; it’s about whether or not you want it. In day-to-day life, most will find that it offers the same features and software as the standard Galaxy Watch 7. That’s not a bad thing — the Galaxy Watch 7 is already a very capable smartwatch. Is the higher price worth better durability and better battery life? Not for everyone, but it very well could be for you.
The competition
There are plenty of rugged smartwatches out there, even when you ignore the Apple Watch Ultra. Garmin, for example, offers a number of rugged devices that offer excellent health tracking features. If you’re a heavy Android user and want a device that can heavily integrate with the rest of your smart devices, then the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is the way to go.
Should I buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra?
Yes. It’s a highly capable, full-featured Wear OS smartwatch.
