Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra review: A behemoth

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The thing that really gets me with the Galaxy Watch Ultra is the name. Apple has had an “Ultra” version of its Apple Watch for two generations now.

Samsung, looking to move into the more premium active user market, decided that the best name for its product was also “Ultra”.

There are so many other options Samsung could have gone with. Personally, I would have called it “Ultimate”, as it has echoes of “Ultra” but sounds even better. But it could just as easily have been called the Galaxy Watch “Supreme” or “Active” or “Rugged”.

By going with “Ultra”, this device cheapens the things it does really well by sounding like an attempt to be Apple. And that’s a shame because there are plenty of things that Samsung has done really well with the Galaxy Watch Ultra.

What is the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra offering?

The Galaxy Watch Ultra is Samsung’s first smartwatch designed for that really premium active user. It’s an absolute beast, both in terms of size and specifications.

That size thing is going to rule it out for a lot of users straight off the bat. I have a medium build, and this watch felt gigantic on my wrist. For a laugh, I popped it on my more petite wife’s wrist and not only did she hate it, it looked ridiculous.

Part of that could be the fact I was sent the Titanium Grey version, which comes with the bright orange wrist strap, notches around the bezel and action button. It’s extremely masculine, but also demands attention. I probably wouldn’t choose the colour if I was buying it, but tastes may differ.

Either way, the large, circle 47 mm screen sits within a squarish body, and houses the Exynos 5 core processor, LTE connectivity and 32 GB of storage.

The watch is rated IP68, as well as MIL-STD-810H military spec and waterproof to 10ATM, which means you can take it underwater to about 100 metres.

It’s the middle of winter, so I didn’t test the watch under anything more than some running water, but that waterproof spec is a nice promise, particularly given the health features Samsung has packed in here.

While you can track heaps of different sports on the watch, the big selling point is the ability to create multi-sport activities, like a triathlon, and control it all from your watch.

It doesn’t have to be a triathlon, either. If you wanted to track an indoor run and indoor bike, you could do that.

What does the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra do well?

Because it has a gigantic screen, the Galaxy Watch does an impressive job of communicating all the information you need on its watch faces.

I took the watch for a hike around Mount Canabolas near Orange, NSW, and it was easy to track all the key information of the walk, including the elevation, route and heart rate for the walk.

The dual-frequency GPS makes picking up your precise location noticeably faster than the Apple Watch Series 9.

The watch is powered by Google’s Wear OS 5 operating system, which is straightforward to use, though a tad different for those coming from Apple Watch.

Battery life is fantastic. I was typically charging every second day, though the day I went hiking I needed to give it a bit of extra juice after about 36 hours.

That said, there’s a power saving mode that can stretch the battery life out to 100 hours, and is particularly good if you’re not being overly active for a while.

Better health monitoring

I’ve been collecting personal health data for years now, and I love how much the Galaxy Watch Ultra can collect.

Sure, it tracks steps and heart rate and body temperature and blood oxygen, but it can also record stress, and body composition and blood pressure.

The honest truth is that you probably don’t need most of this information, but I’m a big fan of Samsung’s “Active” score, that takes all the different health metrics it has and combines them into a daily score.

It then offers a bit of guidance on how to maintain or improve the score. So for example, after my big Mt Canobolas hike, I took a bit of a rest day, and the watch rewarded that because I had exceeded my activity levels on the previous day.

It’s a nice holistic view of your health that I’d love to explore more, if the watch wasn’t so uncomfortable to sleep with.

What could the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra improve?

The number one problem I had with the Galaxy Watch Ultra was its bulk. It was generally fine during the day, though it was difficult to get comfortable while wearing long sleeved shirts or jumpers or jackets.

But at night it became really problematic. This watch is far too bulky to be comfortable to wear at night.

Now Samsung has a plan to solve this with its Galaxy Ring. I can see how you would wear the ring at night, the Galaxy Watch Ultra through the day and end up with a comprehensive health profile.

But for the health tracking to be really beneficial, you need a good record of your sleeping data. And the Watch Ultra is not a good way to track your sleep.

The other challenge I found with the Watch Ultra is that it took a long time to charge.

With the Apple Watch Series 9, and even last year’s Galaxy Watch6, I would throw the watch on the charger when I hopped in the charger, and it would be good to go by the time I’d finished breakfast.

The Ultra requires a good couple of hours to get from low battery to 100%. That’s busy time I’d typically spend doing stuff, and not having that tracked was a big frustration for me.

Verdict

This is a solid product, make no mistake. At $1,299, it would want to be.

But it’s not going to suit most people. Even those who typically buy the most premium version of a product because they want the “best” may end up looking elsewhere.

The bulky design means it’s typically going to be best for men, rather than women. And even for men, it’s not a comfortable product to sleep with, which is problematic given how important sleep is for Samsung’s health tracking scores.

I’m eager to see how the Galaxy Watch7 performs as a point of comparison, given its more compact size and similar software.

But if you are after a premium Android-friendly smartwatch with advanced hardware, multi-day battery life, this is a product the market has been missing.

Buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra online

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra

The Galaxy Watch Ultra offers solid hardware and great health tracking features at a premium price, but its design limits its appeal.

Check price @ Amazon