Galaxy Watch Ultra: Big, bold and accurate

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Ultra is the biggest redesign of a Galaxy Watch in a long time. It’s unmistakably large, which is something Samsung’s watches have been. It’s also unmistakably inspired, to put it politely, by Apple’s Watch Ultra, which has just moved on to its second generation. The overall orientation and positioning of Samsung’s Ultra watch and even a few details are so like Apple’s that it’s led to some eye-rolling. But well, Apple’s watches work with iPhones and not Android devices, so there’s a gap there despite the presence of brands like Garmin. Enter Galaxy Watch Ultra, a device that costs ₹59,999, though there are variations on that price.

At 47mm this is a watch that will overflow off slim wrists. The shape of the watch is commonly described as a ‘squircle’ because it’s really a circle in a squared off contour. That lends it a masculine and tough air - and indeed it is supposed to be rugged. It’s also IP68 rated water resistant. It’s built with sapphire crystal and titanium and is supposed to be military grade. The default strap - a bold tango orange - emphasises the rugged look and lets water drain away. You can change straps by snapping another into place into allotted slots but the mechanism is not designed to take on watch straps from previous Samsung watches unless you use an adaptor. It also isn’t that easy.

In addition to being large, this watch is a little heavy, which might make it awkward for those who want to wear it to track sleep. The Apple equivalent is no lighter. As it happens though, users do get accustomed to the heft and aren’t bothered by that aspect soon enough.

For all that, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is very premium looking - as it should be. It might even look more so with an interesting strap. The finishes are in three shades: Titanium Silver, Titanium Gray and Titanium White.

A beautiful 1.5-inch Super AMOLED always-on display shines out brightly at you, unless it’s dark all around and night-time which is when it goes into a red text mode so as not to hurt the eyes. Regular Galaxy watches used to have a rotating bezel that worked to navigate the device and this was arguably one of the best features. Sadly, this has now been replaced with a digital bezel. New users of a Galaxy watch will probably love it while seasoned users will miss the physical bezel.

The new bezel makes for smooth and fluid movements when swiping along the inner periphery to reach any of the tiles rapidly. Otherwise, navigation remains as usual: swipe down for a quick menu, swipe up for apps, swipe left-to-right for notifications, and swipe right-to-left for tiles. This is a WearOS watch, meaning that it uses Google’s operating system for watches and has a good app ecosystem from the Google Play Store. The watch supports all standard functions that smartwatches have become known for - and more.

There are three buttons on the side, the middle one being the quick button that brings up workout modes, though it can be assigned for other actions as well. The top button brings you back to the home watch face from any screen. The lower button is essentially the back button and takes you back one step at a time in whichever app or screen you were using. A long press of the lower button is configured to the Samsung wallet. A long press of the middle button (quick button) for 5 seconds also brings up a siren, which is high-pitched and loud at 80+ dB, and audible up to 180 metres away to announce an emergency. The watch also supports a series of gestures. Double-pinch, shake, etc. There are even tutorials on the watch to make sure you get these right.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra works on Samsung’s Exynos W1000 (3 nm) with 2GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. It’s very fast and fluid. It’s also very accurate with all that it measures. Set side by side with other watches, like the Apple Watch, there’s barely a difference in various readings as well as essentials like GPS.

An ‘Ultra’ watch is expected to be configured for users who are sporty, athletic, or at least those who take care not to lead a sedentary life and who take activity seriously. It’s also for those who want to better their performance at various sports. The watch supports several workout types and even has a multi-sport mode to be used when an activity is completed, and one moves on to the next. This is automatically tracked. The workouts tried out and tracked included, treadmill, walking, bike indoor, circuit training and weight machines. All were tracked accurately. You can also make your own routine, and add both targets and breaks. Earlier versions of the timer on Galaxy watches did not support seconds - only hours and minutes, but now it supports seconds as well. Timers also support presets so you can craft a workout right down to the second.

Health is one of the main focus areas of the Galaxy Watch Ultra, and it comes packed with health options. All the standard ones are there, of course: ECG, blood oxygen, stress, cycle tracking. Also added now are blood pressure, though you are asked to calibrate it with an actual blood pressure monitor initially. After that, it’s quite accurate. Detection for sleep apnea has also been added. Samsung has also introduced an Energy Score, similar to what is available on Garmin watches and this gives you an overall score for body readiness and fitness. There is also a new AGEs score, which is currently an experimental feature and more than a bit confusing as users don’t know how to interpret it.

The Health app on the phone is very comprehensive and can be used to manage these features on the watch quite easily. The app can be downloaded on other Android phones as well, though some features will work on Samsung phones only.

Battery life is about 48 to 50 hours, though it depends on what you use and how hard the watch has to work. The advertised 100 hours will work in power saving mode, though many point out that one doesn’t buy an expensive watch to restrict its features. That said, there are many situations, such as long hikes and trips, that might require just that.

If you’re trying to decide between the Galaxy Watch Ultra and the Galaxy Watch 7, which costs ₹29,999, the Ultra is your better bet if you want high accuracy, more features, better battery life, and better hardware, including build materials.