Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra review – premium watch with a rugged design

• Samsung has launched the Galaxy Watch Ultra smartwatch in India.
• The GTR 4 is priced at ₹59,999 and comes in three colour options.
• Here’s my review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra that will help you decide whether you should buy the smartwatch or not.

Samsung recently launched the Galaxy Watch Ultra, the company’s premium rugged smartwatch, alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 smartphones. The Galaxy Watch Ultra is the company’s most premium smartwatch offering.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra is aimed at users looking for a highly rugged and durable smartwatch, especially those who partake in extreme sports.

I have been using the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra smartwatch for a few weeks now, and here is my detailed review of the smartwatch that will help you decide whether you should buy the smartwatch.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra comes in a single 47mm variant and is priced at ₹59,999. The watch comes in Titanium Gray, Titanium White and Titanium Silver colour options.

In the box

• Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra
  
• Charger
  
• Documentation
  

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra pros and cons

Pros

• Durable design
• Health tracking features

Cons

• Some health features are limited to Samsung phones
  

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra design and display

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra comes in three colour options – Titanium Gray, Titanium White and Titanium Silver. I tested the Titanium Silver colour variant, which I think is the best among the three options.

The Titanium Silver colour variant comes with a Dark Grey strap. You can easily replace the strap on the Galaxy Watch Ultra thanks to the dynamic lug, allowing you to get different straps. This also means that you cannot use your older straps with the watch.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra is the largest among the smartwatches sold by the company at 47mm. Considering the display and the battery size, the watch is on the heavier side at 60.5 grams.

Despite being packed with features and offering a durable design, the Galaxy Watch Ultra at 12.1mm is thinner than the Apple Watch Ultra.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra has a circular face and is placed in a squarish design with rounded corners. While I was a bit sceptical of the design during the launch, it looks quite good when you actually wear it. It sits well on the hand and makes a separate place for itself in a market filled with circular smartwatches for Android devices.

The smartwatch comes with a highly durable case built using Titanium Grade 4 that gives it a premium look and feel. It comes with a matte finish, preventing fingerprint smudges and dust build-up.

In line with its rugged characteristics, the smartwatch comes with 10ATM water resistance and an IP68 water and dust rating. Additionally, it comes with MIL-STD-810G certification, making it extremely durable.

Samsung has claimed that the watch can survive temperatures ranging between -20 degrees Celsius and 55 degrees Celsius.

The back of the watch which is packed with sensors such as the BioActive sensor is made using ceramic and sapphire glass.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra features a home button, a back button and a new customisable quick action button. The quick action button is quite handy and can be set to perform various actions such as opening the exercise menu, opening the stopwatch, torch and more.

The watch comes with speakers on the right side and a microphone on the left side between the buttons.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra features a 1.5-inch Super AMOLED always-on-display. It comes with Sapphire glass protection and offers a peak brightness of 3000 nits, ensuring excellent outdoor visibility.

The watch is durable and I did not notice a single scratch during my usage.

Software and app

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra runs on WearOS with One UI 6 Watch on top. This is basically WearOS with Samsung’s tweaks on top. The watch can be connected and managed using the Galaxy Wearable app, which is easy to use. To track your health and activities, you need to download the Samsung Health app.

Like any WearOS or Samsung watch, the interface on the Galaxy Watch Ultra is smooth and easy to use. You can install applications from the Play Store and use them on the watch.

You get a ton of watch faces and customisation options to choose from. If you aren’t happy with these, you also have the option to download more from the Play Store.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra comes with its own watch face, offering a red-coloured night mode.

Like most gadgets these days, the watch also comes with AI baked in, allowing you to quickly reply to messages and more.

One issue that I faced with the watch is that for some important features such as taking an electrocardiogram (ECG) or getting a blood pressure report, you will need to connect to a Samsung smartphone. These features are not available on other Android smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra features and performance

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is powered by the Exynos W1000 chipset, equipped with a 5-core CPU, which is claimed to offer nearly four times better performance than its predecessor, along with 30% improved power efficiency. The chipset is paired with 2GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra comes with a new Siren feature, allowing you to hold down the Action Button to enable a loud siren, which can come in handy during emergencies.

Samsung has packed the device with features and offers a ton of health tracking sensors. It comes with a new Samsung BioActive Sensor, which includes an optical bio-signal sensor, electrical heart signal and bioelectrical impedance analysis sensor.

The watch also comes with an optical heart rate sensor, a temperature sensor, a light sensor, a geomagnetic sensor and more.

For positioning, the Galaxy Watch Ultra comes with L1+LG dual-frequency GPS, offering improved accuracy.

The watch accurately offers activity and fitness tracking, making it a great option for those looking for accurate activity tracking in a smartwatch.

The watch was also accurately able to track my sleep patterns, along with blood oxygen during sleep, skin temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate. If you track your sleep regularly for seven days, it starts offering more insights about your sleep patterns and also offers recommendations.

Another area where Samsung has deployed AI is to determine your energy score. It uses aspects such as sleep time and activity to help you determine your energy levels for the day. It also offers suggestions if any particular thing needs your attention.

One of the key health metrics that the watch offers is ECG and BP tracking.

The watch offers alerts for abnormally high or low heart rates and can detect irregular heart rhythms that can indicate atrial fibrillation.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra is powered by a 590mAh battery, which is claimed to offer up to 100 hours of battery life with workout detection in power-saving mode.

With AOD and regular HR tracking enabled, I managed to squeeze out nearly three days of battery life from the device, which is quite good.

Samsung has offered a wireless magnetic charger with the watch and it does not work with regular wireless chargers. It takes nearly 2 hours to charge, so you need to plan accordingly.

Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is a feature-packed watch and is the only such option in the market. While watches from Garmin are packed with health tracking features, they lack the OS that Samsung offers and are not as fun to use.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra ticks all the right boxes, including a vibrant display, durable design, excellent health and activity tracking and a decent battery life. If you don’t mind the Samsung-exclusive health tracking features and the slow charging speeds, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is an amazing choice.

Disclaimer: The content on this website is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a purchasing guide or recommendation. We advise readers to do additional research, including hands-on usage of the device at a retail outlet, before making a decision.

SEE ALSO:

Alienware AW3225QF 32-inch QD-OLED gaming monitor review – for the perfect gaming experience

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review – the complete package

Dell Latitude 9450 2-in-1 review – a premium business laptop with a compact design