On July 10th, at the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked Event, along with the Galaxy Z Fold and Flip 6 phones and the Galaxy Ring, the Samsung Galaxy Ultra Smartwatch was announced. We heard quite a bit about what this new watch will bring to tech, and now that it’s finally available to purchase, it’s time for our honest review.
So check out our review of the Samsung Galaxy Ultra Smartwatch now!
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What is the latest version of Galaxy Watch?
To begin with, let’s take a look at how the watch is advertised on Samsungs official website. Available for £599.00, the watch is offered in 3 colours, titanium grey, silver and white and the Samsung Galaxy watch straps are available in 4 colours, dark grey, green, white and orange with 3 different band types, marine band, trail band and PeakForm band.
When ordering from the official website, the product arrives at your door with the watch and band itself, plus a charger.
What devices is Galaxy AI available on?
As mentioned at the Unpacked Event and on the Samsung website, the Ultra smartwatch is heavily partnered and advertised alongside Galaxy AI, Samsungs artificial intelligence feature which was released in January 2024. The AI is being used to power the health and fitness features of the smartwatch, some of these features include…
BioActive Sensors – To track you closely to produce helpful insights into your fitness to safely push you to your limits.
Double Pinch – Double pinch your hand to complete an action, this can be programmed to take photos, answer calls, cancel alarms and more.
What does the Samsung Ultra do and look like?
Now we’ve looked at how the watch acts on the inside, and we’ve seen how it looks on the website, now let’s check out how it looks on the outside with the design aspects.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra has been described many times as Samsungs ‘toughest Galaxy watch ever’, being designed for outdoor purposes. The watch's face has a cushion design which protects the screen against impactful drop damage, and the screen itself is made from sapphire crystal glass which is scratch-resistant and is a generally strong material. (it is also an expensive material, adding to the watch's price tag.)
But it isn’t only the smartwatch casing and face that have been designed for outdoor use, the bands themselves are also weather resistant and durability guaranteed. With help from the Marine Band, its material helps stop water collecting on the band and its shaping helps to drain water off the watch. It also has a water lock option so if you want to track your exercises whilst in the water, you don’t have to worry about swimming and getting the item damaged.
Performance specs
- Price: £599.99
- Release date: 24th July 2024
- Processor: Exynos W1000
- Case: 47mm square
- Screen: 1.5-inch AMOLED, 3,000 nits
- Software: Wear OS 5
- Battery: 590 mAh battery, up to 40 hours in Exercise Power Saving Mode.
- Heat capability: Up to 55-degree heat
- Altitude capability: 9000
- Water pressure: 10ATM
Is the new Samsung Galaxy Watch worth it?
Online, fans have been widely praising the watch. With all 4 and 5-star reviews, the Ultra has been praised for its design and performance features and also elevated positively for what it was described for, outdoor durable use.
We agree, the performance and outdoor design of the watch is impressive and of course stunning, great for any environment we certainly think this Ultra model is the one to choose if you love adventuring and travelling this summer. But of course, this can’t be a fair review without some form of criticism. So what do we think needs improving?
Improvements:
The only major issue we had when reviewing this product was the blatant copying from Apple. It is disappointing to see the Samsung Ultra is almost identical to the Apple edition, the Apple Watch Ultra. Both watches sport the same name despite the Apple Ultra releasing 2 years prior in September 2022. Both watches have the iconic orange wristband aspect and offer that square casing shape with bezels along the same side of the watch.
Considering Apple already took the ‘Ultra’ approach, we think the Galaxy Ultra would have stood out so much more if they kept their name and colour choices completely separate from Apple. Performance-wise, we think the Samsung watch has the possibility of being better than the Apple Ultra, however, its colour and name choices have completely ruined its chances of individuality.
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Conclusion:
But what do you think? Will you be checking out the Samsung Galaxy Ultra now it’s available? If you’re not too keen on this new smartwatch why not check out our options on our website? We have plenty of Apple watches, Samsung and even FitBits waiting for you!
