The industry is forever chasing the Apple Watch. After all, the smartwatch has been a rare bright spot in a plateauing wearables category. Even Fitbit recently found itself heading in that direction, finding a fair bit of success with the Versa. Samsung’s approach, on the other hand, has always been very, well, Samsung. The company’s watches are big, hulking things, covering chrome with a kind of Swiss Army knife approach customary of its various other products. Announced alongside the Note 9, the Galaxy Watch wasn’t the departure many expected. While the name implied a potential shift toward Android Wear, the company is intent on sticking with Tizen. And why not? Samsung’s spent a lot of time making Tizen its own — multiple generations have been devoted to tweaking the operating system to its specifications. It’s the result of a pretty clear cost-benefit analysis. The biggest drawback of not embracing Wear OS is the relative lack of third-party app support on Tizen. The biggest advantage: support for Samsung’s unique bezel-based navigation. To this day, it’s the best of the bunch, beating the more finicky crown control most of the competition relies on. It was an early choice for the company and continues to be one of the best elements of Samsung’s watches. That’s as solid a foundation as any, really. Several different models have helped the company fine-tune its watch offerings, including last year’s Gear Sport, which finally found Samsung introducing a much more manageable 42mm model. It was the first such device from the company that recognized not every user is looking to place a massive device on their wrist. The fact that there’s been a name change here owes much more to branding than it does any sort of radical departure on the hardware side. Instead, the watch is more of a fine-tuning for the line. Multi-day life aside, there’s not enough here to justify an upgrade for those who own a recent generation, but over the course of several years, Samsung has slowly been fine-tuning one of the better smartwatches in the game. I wore the Galaxy Watch around for a few days, and used every opportunity I could to quiz others on their thoughts about the aesthetics. The results were largely positive. I don’t know that any onlookers were particularly wowed, but in most cases folks said they would consider wearing the watch. That’s certainly something. Samsung’s among the companies that have subscribed to the notion that smartwatches ought to look like watches — an entirely different school than the Apple Watches and Fitbit Versas of the world. If I’ve had one complaint about the company’s design choices, it’s the push toward over-detailing — all of the numbers and notches. The design language clearly draws inspiration from sport watches. For me, the pinnacle of the line was the hyper minimalist S2. It was subtle, modern and went pretty well with just about anything else you had on, from work to work out. Samsung, clearly, has gone in an altogether different direction here, targeting those who have a fondness for the classic outdoor style from companies like Casio. That said, the design is thankfully more subtle than past versions (see: the Gear S3 Frontier). More importantly, in terms of appealing to a wider audience, the watch finally gets two distinct sizes — 42 and 46mm. The groundwork for the decision was laid with the last year’s Gear Sport, which brought a smaller size into the mix. The addition of the 42mm case makes the Sport somewhat redundant, though the company tells me it’s keeping it around for the time being. It’s a smart move on Samsung’s part. By just going large with the watch, the company was ceding a large potential user base to Apple, including a big portion of female smartwatch wearers. Now that Fitbit is serious about smartwatches, the company clearly needs to do more to appeal to a larger segment of Android users. The company’s watches have always felt large on me, and I’m around six feet tall. When I asked smaller colleagues to try them out, they looked downright cartoonish. The 42mm version fits much more comfortably on my wrist — though if you have a smaller stature, I’d strongly encourage finding a store and trying one on first. Even the smaller version is by no means compact. The spinning bezel is back, because of course it is. It’s long been the best part of Samsung’s watches. It’s also the best smartwatch control mechanism in the industry, including Apple’s crown. It’s swift, it’s smooth and it’s much easier to use when exercising. That said, I still find myself using the side buttons with more frequency — they’re a much easier way to get where you’re going quickly. The bezel is apparently the main reason for keeping Tizen around — Wear doesn’t support that sort of input method. And honestly, it’s a pretty good justification. Besides, Samsung’s done a lot to tweak the operating system to its specifications, and we’ve got a pretty good and well-rounded wearable operating system as a result. There are a number of good reasons to go with Google’s OS, including better Android integration and a more robust app store, but Samsung’s always been interested in developing its own ecosystem — and besides, Tizen isn’t broken, so Samsung ain’t fixing it, as the saying goes. Exercise tracking is another bit that’s benefited from several generations of tweaks. Fitness is pretty widely understood as the primary driver of smartwatches’ purposes, in spite of the existence of fitness trackers, and as such, all the major players are constantly attempting to one-up one another. There’s nothing exceptional here on the exercise side, but the Galaxy watch is a workhorse. There’s autotracking on board and 40 trackable exercises. I’m a runner, and found the tracking to work pretty well, along with plenty of reminders to get off my lazy ass. Not great for my self-esteem, but good for my waistline, I suppose. There’s sleep tracking on board, as well, though that’s become a pretty standard feature across all of these devices. More compelling is the addition of stress tracking.<doc-sep>It was my third time trying and failing to get the new Samsung Galaxy Watch to play Spotify music on my home speakers. Eventually, I gave up and just picked up my phone. That experience largely summed up my time with the Galaxy Watch, Samsung’s latest in its long line of smartwatches. Don’t get me wrong, the Galaxy Watch is good at displaying and delivering information about my schedule, the weather, and my fitness. But it falls short of addressing my digital and physical well-being. Apps like Bixby aren’t ready for prime time, and stress- and sleep-tracking features alert you to issues, but they have no way of properly addressing them. In many ways, the Galaxy Watch is an extension of Galaxy smartphones and Samsung’s own ecosystem, rather than a standalone wearable. A new smartwatch that pushes the category forward has been a long-overdue option for Android phone owners. And while the Galaxy Watch is a new wearable, it just isn’t that device. Our review of Samsung Galaxy Watch Verge Score 6.5 out of 10 Good Stuff Crisp, vibrant OLED display Battery lasts at least two days Activity tracking is kind of useful Bad Stuff BIxby / S Voice is terrible Not comfortable to wear to sleep Buy for $329.00 from Amazon Buy for $329.00 from Walmart One thing that hasn’t changed about smartwatches is price: they’re still expensive gadgets. The Galaxy Watch I reviewed is a 42mnn Wi-Fi / Bluetooth model that sells for $329, but you can go for a larger 46mm version for $349 that is topped off with a bigger battery. Samsung also sells an LTE version (with more RAM) starting at $379 for the 42mm model or $399 for the larger 46mm LTE variant. For comparison’s sake, the entry-level 38mm Apple Watch Series 3 also costs $329, while the larger 42mm goes for $359, and the LTE versions are $399 and $429, respectively. You can use the Galaxy Watch to pay for things, track up to 40 different physical activities, and track your sleep. You can wear it for days without needing to take it off and charge it. Samsung even claims there are 60,000 watchfaces in the Galaxy Apps store, but the watch already includes a handful of interactive watchfaces, including one that blocks out the hours you have meetings so you can better track your schedule. Overall, the Galaxy Watch is a great example of show-and-tell by Samsung: it’s a decent-looking wearable with good battery life, a bright OLED display, other spec upgrades, and tons of software features. But at the end of the day, it’s still a smartwatch, which means it has all of the familiar baggage. It’s a thick watch There are two unavoidable things about the Galaxy Watch: the beautiful OLED screen and the bezel. On the 42mm variant, Samsung uses a 1.2-inch screen with Gorilla Glass DX+ casing for durability. It’s a small screen, but it’s sharp, vibrant, and adjusts brightness accurately enough so you can look at in direct sunlight or in the dead of night. Around it is a metal bezel that mimics that of diving watches — with a pleasant “click” feedback every time you turn it — and it functions as a navigational tool within the watch’s software. Together, the display and bezel don’t present the most attractive face, but I don’t have any real complaints about the functionality of the display; if it’s too small for you, bump up to the 46mm variant with an ever-so-slightly larger 1.3-inch panel. Durability is an essential feature for a wearable, so I’m glad to see that Samsung reinforced the Galaxy Watch with 5ATM waterproofing and MIL-STD-810G certification for durability against drops and shocks. I’ve had the confidence to thrash it about and not worry too much about cosmetic damage. There’s even an “Eject Water” option in settings that moves water out of the speakers, similar to what you can do on recent Apple Watch models. The hardware is nice If you don’t turn the Galaxy Watch on its side, you might miss two buttons with primary and secondary functions. The bottom one triggers the home screen when you’re looking at another widget or screen or shows you all available apps if you press it from the home screen. On the flip side, the top button serves as a back function, so you don’t have to return to the home screen each time. Alternatively, you can hold it and bring up Samsung Pay. They’re straightforward, but the home screen button can also be mapped to open other apps, therefore doubling its functionality. The Galaxy Watch’s software and interface are largely unchanged from Samsung’s prior models, but there are a few new features. The major new things involve fitness tracking, including tracking 40 different types of physical activity, sleep tracking, and stress tracking. You can have 20 widgets set for different activities, apps, or controls (like music playback). The Galaxy Watch is even cross-compatible with iOS (though with limited functionality) and other Android phones. But if you are using a non-Samsung Android phone, be prepared to install at least four Samsung apps on your phone for the watch to function. Overall, it appears as if Samsung is almost too reliant on apps and plugins that you have to download to make the Galaxy Watch tick. An embarrassing example of this was having to pay for groceries but realizing I had to download a Samsung Pay plugin so my Galaxy Watch could talk to my phone, a Galaxy Note 9. It makes no sense that I still needed to download additional software when I already had a Galaxy device, let alone the latest model. Too many plugins are needed to keep it working There’s also Bixby! Well, it’s more like a rebranding of Samsung’s old S Voice voice control system that was on earlier Gear smartwatches. It hasn’t been improved, either: it doesn’t have a natural-sounding voice, it frequently mishears my voice (or not at all), and it generally just isn’t useful.<doc-sep>South Korean company – no 3 in market behind Apple and Fitbit – confident about appeal of latest models launched under Galaxy brand on Sunday<doc-sep>Samsung is back with a new smartwatch and fresh branding. The company announced its Galaxy Watch at its annual Galaxy Note phone event today. It features 3G / LTE connectivity and charges wirelessly. There will be two models: a 46mm silver version and smaller 42mm black and rose gold versions. The company’s forgoing its previous Gear branding and is instead tying the watch more directly to its Galaxy smartphone and tablet line. The Galaxy Watch will be available in the US on August 24th and in Korea on August 31st. Additional markets will receive it on September 14th. In the US, the Galaxy Watch Bluetooth 42mm version will cost $329.99 while the 46mm version will cost $349.99. It’ll be available through Amazon, Best Buy, and Samsung.com. The LTE version will be available through AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Samsung.com later this year. We don’t have that pricing yet. Anyone who preorders the Bluetooth models through Samsung.com before September 8th will receive a free watch band. It features: Either a 1.3-inch (46mm) or 1.2-inch (42mm) Super AMOLED touch display with Gorilla DX+ glass 5 ATM water resistance and IP68 dust resistance Either a 472mAh battery (46mm) or 270mAh battery (42mm) Runs Tizen OS 4.0 Exynos 9110 dual core 1.15 GHz processor A heart rate monitor, ambient light sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, and barometer The LTE version include 1.15GB of RAM and 4GB of storage The Bluetooth version includes 768MB of RAM and 4GB of storage The company says its improved battery life should provide “several days” of use on a single charge. The Galaxy Watch also features some health-oriented features, including heart rate monitoring to build a baseline for each user. So when it detects that your heart is racing, it’ll prompt you to relax. It also tracks fitness and allows users to pick their activity. It’ll track sleep patterns as well, and it will try to qualify how well you’re sleeping. The watch looks similar to the Gear S2 Classic with its less-obvious bezel. Last year’s watch — the Gear Sport — was designed for athletes, and Samsung is shying away from that specific use case with the Galaxy Watch. It’s definitely intended to be an everyday timepiece that can handle fitness tracking along with other more daily activities.<doc-sep>
Samsung Galaxy Watch UK release After two years of waiting, Samsung has finally updated its flagship smartwatch with the launch of the all-new Galaxy Watch. This latest wearable was unveiled at the Korean firm’s Unpacked event in New York earlier this month with it offering plenty of bonus features you won’t find on the older Gear S3. So, if you’re thinking of upgrading to this latest digital watch here’s five things to know before you buy one. THAT BATTERY LIFE CLAIM Samsung made big noises about the fact its new Galaxy Watch will last for a week on a single charge. This is a major deal especially as its largest rival - the Apple Watch - only lasts for around 24 hours. However, before you get too excited about this power it’s worth noting that this extended battery life is only available on the larger 46mm model. If you opt for the smaller 42mm Galaxy Watch you’ll get four days of life before it will need to get a refill. The larger 46mm watch has 7-day battery life IT’S BETTER FOR SWIMMERS The Gear S3 can cope with a splattering of water but it’s not made to survive long spells in the drink. Samsung has now fixed this issue on the new Galaxy Watch with this device able to last much longer in the local pool. In fact, it can cope in up to 50 meters of water and can even take a dunk in the sea. Samsung is making it clear that this doesn’t mean you can go scuba diving with it on and users are warned to rinse it off if it’s been submerged in sea or chlorinated water. But this new water resistance does now mean it can fully track your exercise regime in the pool. The Galaxy Watch features improved water resistancy Samsung introduce the new Galaxy Note9 YOU CAN USE IT WITHOUT YOUR PHONE BUT IT WILL COST YOU Samsung is following Apple by adding 4G cellular technology to a new version of its Galaxy Watch. This means it can be used to make calls, send texts and tweets without the need for a smartphone. Samsung hasn’t revealed UK pricing or a release date for this top-end connected device but, in the US, it costs $50 more than the standard non-4G model. Along with that extra upfront cost, it’s likely that you’ll have to pay a monthly subscription of around £5 to a mobile operator to allow a connection to the 4G network. At launch, EE is the only company that will have compatibility with cellular Galaxy Watch - expect more news on this device soon. The Galaxy Watch comes in two sized and three colours IT WILL WORK WITH YOUR IPHONE Samsung clearly wants its watch to work for as many people as possible and that means they are allowing it to connect to both Android and Apple smartphones. Although iOS owners won’t get all the features you’ll find on Android, the Galaxy Watch will sync with Apple devices via a Bluetooth connection. This is a pretty smart move especially as Apple doesn't allow its Watch to connect to anything other than an iPhone. The smaller 42mm Galaxy Watch arrives in Back and Rose Gold