Samsung Watch Ultra review

Even a cauliflower could see where Samsung got its inspiration from. The Watch Ultra feels outdoorsy, military spec and ready for both, global warming and an ice age and it is. Samsung has opted for a “cushioned” form factor that puts a circular dial inside a squircle to give it the necessary differentiation. The usual home and back buttons are now assisted by a “Quick” button that can be customised and mapped to a few actions. Yes, just like the Action button on Apple’s Ultra. The one place where Samsung could’ve scored big was to retain the rotating bezel from its Watch 6. Still, instead, Samsung (obviously) wanted to ensure maximum IP rating and that meant minimising moving parts and making it touch-sensitive. However, it does feel like an extra-sensitive dial edge instead of the actual bezel reacting to the fingertip.

Specs-wise, the Galaxy Watch Ultra shares the display with the common man’s Galaxy Watch 7, which means the same 3000nits brightness, the same 3nm Exynos W1000  SoC, the same bioactive sensors, the same WearOS 5, the same set of AI features that provide you with an Energy Score and the same dual-band GPS. The difference lies mostly in the battery life that is slightly more extended on the Ultra and the ability to go diving, thanks to its 10ATM rating as opposed to the Watch 7’s 5ATM rating. There are no dive-specific apps but the bright orange Marine Band means business with quick draining holes. Two other straps, Trail Band and Peak Form are available and perhaps are better suited for everyday Indian weather conditions.

In addition to differences to the Watch 7, the Watch Ultra also has certain features locked exclusively to Galaxy phones. Double pinch and double knock gestures, AI-enabled energy score and suggested replies are a few of them. While they will no doubt improve the ownership experience, it’s nice to know that it can be paired with virtually any phone without too much compromise. Some of the more advanced features are landlocked to only the US market, such as the FDA-approved Sleep Apnea detection which is potentially a game changer for those suffering from it.

Hinting at its ultra intentions, the Multisport workout is one of the first features that strikes you as the ideal use of the Quick button. It starts tracking your activity immediately and can even be customised as long as your choice of activities includes some form of cycling, running or swimming. Walkers need not apply.

The 1.5in display set in the 47mm dial makes it a chunky-looking thing but to Samsung’s credit, it got a lot of looks and questions from curious gadget-heads. The orange strap may have had a role to play in garnering more attention because clearly, it wasn’t the arms. The Always-on display now also gets a Night Mode similar to Apple’s Watch Ultra but is limited to just one kind of watch face.

Battery life is claimed to even out after the first few days of calibration and after three days of wearing it 24x7, firing up all sensors for HIIT, exercise and sleep, the best we got was the lesser part of two days. Heading out into the wilderness for the weekend without a charger would be as naive as watching a Sallu bhai movie for acting chops. Power-saving mode and putting select apps to sleep will certainly extend this but it still leaves you wanting more, especially from an “ultra” watch.

One of the useful AI features is the Energy Score, which based on your daily activity, sleep, sleep heart rate and variable heart rate gives you a score out of 100 and indicates if your body is ready to be pushed with a workout. It’s more of a feel-good feature since it doesn’t really coach you into making specific changes, but works as a general indicator of your well-being on any given day. You need to wear the Watch Ultra to sleep for a couple of days for this to take effect and here is one of the biggest downsides of this wearable. Its sheer bulk, even further emphasised by the grippy Marine Band, made it highly uncomfortable to wear through the night without being woken up. Ironic, considering you would be using it to measure your sleep cycle. With one of the fabric bands perhaps this would be less of a niggle, but even the dial size and heft make it less than ideal compared to a regular Galaxy Watch 7. Make that a strong consideration if one of your primary requirements from a smartwatch is sleep tracking. The Ultra isn’t the most comfortable to bed.

It comes into its own during sports activities though, The UI is blazingly quick, faster even than the Apple Watch Ultra and the Exynos W1000 more than keeps up with the fluidity. Whether it’s changing workout modes from the Quick button, checking your email and even replying to them or recording a voice memo and converting it into a text summary using Galaxy AI. Customising the many watch faces was also a faster affair than on an Apple Watch but there aren’t enough fun native watch faces as on Apple WatchOS. However, the third-party support here is a lot stronger and potentially endless.

Its knock-knock feature can be mapped to the torch function to instantly brighten up dark cupboards or shelves your hand might find itself in and the double pinch gesture works well to take a picture, answer calls or turn off alarms. Samsung has even built in a siren for SOS which plays slightly louder than Apple Watch Ultra’s and that may be a marketing flex, but what is genuinely noticeable is the audibly better voice quality from the Galaxy Watch Ultra. Phone calls, voice messages or even following the drill sergeant instructions of the 7 workout app, it’s all clear and intelligible without the need to stick the watch to your ear like an ape.

Accuracy across the board is of a very high order thanks to the bioactive sensors and dual-band GPS, running data is rich and can genuinely help you improve your cadence, stride and consequently, your technique. Heart rate zones too help immensely in ensuring you stay in your desired zone of BPM during a workout and are a great motivator if you workout without a coach hovering over you.

Owning a smartwatch goes beyond needing one. It’s about wanting one as well and the Galaxy Watch Ultra makes a strong style statement with its distinctive dial. But everything else feels like too much of an easy way out, having just copied Apple’s homework. It does have more sophisticated sensors to monitor your AGEs (Advanced Glycation End products) that tell you your metabolic health, FTP (Functional Threshold Power) for checking power index and Body Composition Tool to ascertain your body fat and skeletal muscle. It is for the fanatics who want to measure every measurable metric that is possible via a smartwatch in 2024. It may not necessarily make a lot of sense to count on a consumer wearable to prepare for the next Olympics, but for the average Joe, there is plenty to impress here. If only Samsung had been more innovative with the concept and designed it to be more comfortable for all sizes, even the average battery life could have been overlooked.