- VERDICT
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra has a sleek look and a rugged design and is aimed at the customer who want to go bigger with their health, go bigger with their fitness and go bigger with their adventures anywhere and anytime.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is the company’s “go big or go home” response to its line-up of smartwatches – it has a bigger display, bigger battery and a bigger band – everything is just bigger.
And let’s address the noise around Samsung copying Apple with an Ultra watch.
First, they are as alike as the Galaxy S24 is like the iPhone 15.
The biggest reaction has been Samsung using the Ultra name – the same name Apple used for its larger smartwatch.
But, in fact, Samsung first used the Ultra name back in February 2020 with the release of the Galaxy S20 Ultra which had taken over from the line-up of larger Note smartphones.
Apple introduced its Apple Watch Ultra in September 2022.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra has a large 47mm screen – it still retains its circular watch face, but it is set inside a square titanium body so you’re getting the best of both worlds.
The screen has a resolution of 480 x 480 with the brightness of up to 3000nits which makes it easy to read during the day and in direct sunlight.
The build quality is quite impressive and the band attaches with a new one click mechanism.
The watch is noticeably larger than the Galaxy Watch 7 which might not be for everyone although we hear the big watch trend is still a thing.
For us it sat on our wrist quite comfortably.
It has three buttons on the right edge which includes a customizable quick button which can be set for your favourite function.
We had the quick button open the My Exercises app where we were able to choose what activity we wanted to be tracked.
There are 3 colours – Titanium Grey (with orange band), Titanium Silver (with dark grey band) and Titanium White (with white band).
For our review we had the Titanium Grey with the orange band.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra has an LTE connection as standard and wi-fi and Bluetooth – there is no Bluetooth only option like other Samsung Galaxy smartwatches.
The idea behind the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is for customers to take things to the extreme – a place where regular smartwatches just can’t go.
To get you there the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra has a Titanium Grade 4 frame, 10ATM water resistance and can handle extreme temperatures as well as dust, vibration and shock.
The 10ATM is a water pressure measurement and means it is water resistant for 10 minutes at a depth of 100m.
It also has an IP68 rating so it can handle being submerged for 30 minutes in 1.5m of water.
But the online chatter suggests you can’t take the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra scuba diving.
But if mountain climbing, hiking, swimming in the ocean and cycling in intense environments is what you do instead of just walking and going to the gym, then the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is right up your alley.
It has Dual Frequency GPS tracking (so does the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7) which provides a more precise location even in more built-up urban environments.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra pairs with the Samsung Health app to track your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, monitor your skin temperature and track your sleep.
On the sleep side, the watch can give you a score based on how well you slept and provide suggestions on how to improve.
For us, we felt the watch was too big to wear to bed, but we generally don’t like wearing a watch to bed in the first place.
There is also a new energy score which takes into account how you’re tracking throughout the day.
The accuracy of the sensors and tracking is quite impressive.
On the fitness side it can hold its own against well-known sports watch brands in terms of accuracy.
We liked that the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra could tell that we were walking or running thanks to Auto Detection but we barely scratched the surface in terms of what this watch is capable of.
For more elite athletes, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra can also meet your expectations not only by tracking what you’re doing but also compare it to past performances.
The device can also work out your personalised HR zone to get the most out of your workouts and find the proper intensity levels based on what your physical capabilities.
If you’re a cyclist, you will love the new FTP (functional threshold power) index which can not only measure your speed but also your maximum cycling power.
Also on board is a multi-sports mode for triathletes which lets them track the three segments of their session in one place.
Under the hood, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra has a 590mAh battery which usually lasted about two days between charges and that was with Always On screen mode switched on so we could see the time whenever we looked at the watch.
Turning Always On off could potentially extend the battery life at least half a day longer.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is available from July 31 and is priced at $1,299.
VERDICT
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra has a sleek look and a rugged design and is aimed at the customer who want to go bigger with their health, go bigger with their fitness and go bigger with their adventures anywhere and anytime.
You can also read Val Quinn’s review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra at Gadget Guy
