Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Review

About the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra

Curiously, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra has the exact same naming convention as its key competitor, the Apple Watch Ultra, but just as Apple’s wearable requires an iPhone, Samsung’s Galaxy Gear Ultra requires an Android 11 (or newer) phone to pair it with—so perhaps not exactly rival devices in that regard.

By taking its time to release its first adventure-proof model, Samsung has clearly done its homework to see what competing devices have to offer—from the likes of Apple, Suunto and Garmin, no doubt—to ensure Galaxy Watch Ultra has all the bells and whistles you’d expect out of a ruggedized watch.

There are three color variations to choose from in terms of the casing—Titanium Silver, Titanium Gray, and Titanium White—which can be paired with your choice of one of three straps (including a promotion that gives away a second strap for free). Provided by Samsung in Paris at its Unpacked event, my review unit included a black silicone band, partially made with recycled plastics.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra specs

• Price: $649.99
• Size: 47mm
• Processor: Exynos W1000
• Storage: 32GB
• System Memory: 2GB RAM
• Display: 1.5" 480 x 480 ppi
• Ports: Proprietary disc-shaped wireless induction charging to USB-C
• Connectivity: LTE (optional, but all models are eSIM ready), Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 2.4+ 5 GHz, NFC
• Battery: 590 mAh; up to 1 day on regular use, up to 100 hours in Power Saving mode
• Weight: 60.5 g
• Dimensions: 47.4 by 47. 1 by 12.1 millimeters
• Color: Titanium White, Titanium Gray, Titanium Silver
• Band Type, Color: Marine, Trail, Peakform (Dark Gray), White also available in Marine Band
• Durability: 10 ATM, IP68
• Compatibility: Android 11 or higher
• Warranty: One year on limited warranty

What we like

It’s durable and rugged with a bright display

Unlike Samsung’s Galaxy Watch7 which comes in two sizes, 40mm and 44mm, Galaxy Watch Ultra is only available in a 47mm size (specifically, 47.4 by 47.4 by 12.1mm) and built for extreme durability thanks to its tough and scratch-resistant Titanium Grade 4 military grade material (MIL-STD-810H) that can withstand extreme temperatures of -20°C to 50°C (similar to Galaxy Watch7, interestingly).

Total weight of this somewhat chunky casing is 60.5 grams and has IP68 ingress protection, which means the watch can withstand dust, dirt and sand, and can be submerged in up to 1.5 meters of water (more than 4 feet) for up to 30 minutes or as deep was 100 meters (approximately 328 feet) for up to 10 minutes. By comparison, Galaxy Watch7 can survive at a depth of up 50 meters, or about 164 feet, for up to 10 minutes. (In terms of altitude, it can also be used at heights of 9,000 meters for, say, cycling through the mountains).

Also designed to withstand bumps and knocks, the 1.5-inch Super AMOLED display is made from tough sapphire crystal, running at resolution of 480x480 pixels, and is super bright at 3,000 nits to read even in the harshest of sunlight. It automatically kicks into night mode in dark environments, too.

From a design perspective, Galaxy Watch Ultra is a “squircle” shape, as the display is round but molded into a square-ish case with rounded edges. It works. But while some may find this watch too big (as my partner Kellie said), it’s smaller than Apple Watch Series 9's 1.7-inch display and second-gen Apple Watch Ultra's display at 1.9 inches.

You can operate Galaxy Watch Ultra via its touchscreen or via the three physical buttons on the right side, including a new and large Quick button, which can be customized in a variety of ways (such as launching a specific exercise).

Quick performance and a plethora of health features

Galaxy Watch Ultra is zippy. When you flick around the screen—such as swiping down on the face for a quick panel of options, swiping up for apps, swiping right for notifications, or swiping left for exercise tiles—it’s super responsive, largely due to the competent Exynos W1000 processor and maturing One UI 6 platform based on WearOS 5.

The interface proved clean and mostly intuitive. It’s simple to switch around watch faces, track multi-course workouts, glance at some Google apps, or review health metrics captured by the watch. The watch also borrows from Apple’s one-handed Double Tap gesture (on Apple Watch and Vision Pro), which lets you conveniently do something on your device, like hang up a call, by quickly tapping your forefinger to your thumb together twice.

Yes, as a wearable fitness tool, Galaxy Watch Ultra can monitor about 100 different workouts, says the company, like running, swimming, hiking, cycling and triathlons (same with Galaxy Watch7). It includes the addition of the new Functional Threshold Power (FTP) for accurate cycling measurements in just 4 minutes (with AI-powered FTP metrics) and an advanced Personalized HR Zone based on your individual abilities.

Samsung’s much-touted Galaxy AI smarts is partially at play here, including a daily and gamified Energy Score that analyzes key indicators of your overall condition (based on sleep, heart rate, physical activity and more). You can also race against yourself based on saved data from certain activities, like cycling to see if you can best your own previous performance. (In the racing video game world, this is often referred to as ghost mode.)

Like Apple Watch Ultra, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Ultra’s dual-frequency precision GPS translates to greater accuracy when on outdoor runs and hikes. Find yourself lost while on a run in a very remote area? By long-pressing the Quick button for five seconds, you can activate a loud (86-decibel) emergency siren from the watch, which can be heard up to 180 meters away (almost 600 feet).

I engaged in a variety of fitness activities on two of the five days with the watch, to see how it fared. I liked the optional audio guide that gives you spoken feedback about your target and laps. It was a mostly positive experience, except for a crash that required a reboot when swimming, which we’ll get to momentarily.

On the health side, Samsung says they’ve added a new BioActive sensor to the watch, which promises greater accuracy when measuring key metrics such as ECG testing, high and low heart rate (and an irregular rhythm), sleep quality, blood pressure, blood oxygen levels, skin temperature monitoring (stress), and cycle tracking for insight into one’s menstrual cycle. Samsung says it also enables what’s referred to as an advanced glycation end products (AGEs) index, to assess various biomarkers to help predict the risk of conditions like stroke and diabetes.

Galaxy Watch Ultra is also the first FDA-approved watch with sleep apnea detection. Essentially, users who are 22 or older can be assessed for this common (and chronic) sleep condition that could lead to health risks if undetected. The watch looks for signs of sleep apnea over at least two 4-hour sleep periods within ten days.

Impressive battery life

While we got about a day and half of moderate use between charges (not at peak brightness), Samsung says Galaxy Watch Ultra can last up to 100 hours in Power Saving mode, which is very impressive (that’s about four days compared to Apple Watch Ultra’s three days on Low Power Mode). Since I only had a few days with the watch, this claim was not tested for the purposes of this initial hands-on review.

What we don’t like

There’s no digital crown

While the large, orange-rimmed Quick button was convenient, I kept trying to twist the knob like a Digital Crown (found on all Apple Watch models) to cycle through options, like workouts or apps. Instead, you need to swipe and select what you’re after on the screen itself.

As the author of Apple Watch For Dummies, perhaps I’m partial to Digital Crown’s functionality, but it seems you can do more in fewer moves on Apple’s device—especially with sweaty hands during a workout.

Speaking of a design improvement, some people have complained online about removing and replacing the watch strap on Galaxy Watch Ultra, but it worked just fine for me by pressing in on the silver teeth on the back of the watch and snapping out one band for another.

Buggy software

It only happened once, but after taking Galaxy Watch Ultra for a swim, about 20 minutes into some laps I received a critical error on the screen and had to perform a Watchdog Reset reboot for it to work again. And no, the watch didn’t bang against anything. It was just wet, unless the splashes from an arm crawl were too much for the watch, but I doubt it.

I felt a series of haptic feedback vibrations on the wrist, and after leaving the pool, I noticed the error and followed the instructions to reboot. It was fine after that. An isolated incident, but in all the years I’ve had an Apple Watch, this hasn’t happened before. Also, the Quick button would sometimes show a blank orange screen instead of what I assigned it to show. Maybe a software update can fix this.

Almost the same features as Galaxy Watch7

Aside from some of the ruggedized specs and battery life, there isn’t a lot of difference between Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Watch7. The screen is the same, as are many of the fitness and health tracking sensors. It has the same processor, same storage, and dual-frequency GPS.

Sure, there’s a couple of other differences, like Watch Ultra has a built-in eSIM whereas on Watch7 you need to buy an LTE-ready model, and Watch Ultra has that large Quick button, but for most people who aren’t crazy adventurers, Galaxy Watch7 may be the better (and cheaper) pick for you. Galaxy Watch Ultra is $649.99, while Galaxy Watch7 costs $249.99 (or from $349.99 for the LTE version).

Should You Buy Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra?

Yes, if you need the features over the Galaxy Watch7

Random issues aside, Samsung really has delivered the goods with Galaxy Watch Ultra—especially for outdoorsy types, serious fitness fans, and those who want some help keeping an eye on their health.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch7, is also a great pick for those who don’t need an adventure-proof watch, as it’s virtually the same in every other regard—and at a much lower price.

Hype aside, Galaxy Watch Ultra is the best watch Samsung has launched in its more than a decade in this space. Those who can afford the $650 price tag—and who uses an Android phone—should seriously consider Samsung’s latest and greatest