Year after year, Samsung presented a new generation of smart watches at the Berlin IFA trade fair. They have new names Galaxy Watch. After a cursory reading of the basic specifications, the owner of the previous model may think that the new name is the most radical change that the watch has undergone. And it won't be far from the truth. Galaxy Watch it continues to run on an improved version of Tizen and the design is certainly not unlike a smartwatch Gear Sport. Some more changes took place inside. However, the absolutely fundamental reason for the transition is the number of details that Samsung has won with and which make everyday wearing of the watch much more enjoyable. But will it be enough to get ahead of the competition, which has not been idle in the course of the past twelve months?
Available designs: everyone chooses
Samsung launched a total of three smart watch models Galaxy Watch. They differ mainly in color, dimensions and battery size.
The basic version is Midnight Black. The body is black, the diameter is 42 mm. The 20 mm wide strap has the same color.
The dimensionally identical Rose Gold design is different only in color, the body is gold and the strap is pink. It is intended especially for women. However, just change the belt and with Rose Gold, even men don't have to be afraid to go out into the company.
The latest version of Silver differs from the previous two in many ways. The band and bezel remain black, the rest of the body is silver. The watch is slightly larger. The diameter is 46 mm. It takes a significantly larger battery capacity. The strap is 2 mm wider. The display resolution remains the same. This must necessarily mean a reduced pixel density when the display is enlarged. However, the average user probably won't notice the difference. It should be added that the customer will pay an additional 500 crowns for this watch.
Gallery
Package contents and first impressions: luxury body, cheap strap
I had the opportunity to try the Rose Gold variant. After swapping out the strap and default dial, I had no problem declaring that the watch is equally suitable for men and women.
The known dimensions and design of the box immediately suggest that we won't see any big changes inside either. In addition to the watch itself, the package contains a stand for wireless charging, a charging cable with an adapter, a manual and a spare strap in size L.
At first glance, the watch caught my eye with its simple design, which gives it a truly luxurious impression. The rotating bezel, which I consider to be the most advanced way of controlling a smart watch, is especially unusual. Immediately after placing it on my wrist, I appreciated the smaller dimensions and light weight. I was disappointed by the strap, which has a downright cheap feel. That's partly why I replaced it right away. Control is very intuitive, the watch can be set up and learned to use in less than an hour from the first start.
Gallery
Overall finish: top quality
Smart watch dimensions Galaxy Watch they are compact enough, at least in the version I tested, and thanks to the weight of 49 g, I forgot after a while that I even had them on my hand. The majority of the body is made of stainless steel.
The upper part of the watch is dominated by a beautiful slightly recessed Super AMOLED display. The bezel around it is largely used by the rotating bezel. Controlling the watch using this element is downright addictive. In addition, the bezel protects the display from damage and emits a quiet click when rotated.
The lower part of the watch consists of durable hard plastic, from which the heart rate sensor protrudes. On the left, you can find the millimeter output hole for the microphone, and on the right, three similar holes used by the speaker. Although the sound quality is not high, the volume far exceeded my expectations.
There are two rubberized hardware buttons on the right side of the watch body. The upper one goes back and the lower one goes home. A second press of the bottom button opens the application menu, then a double press activates the Bixby voice assistant.
Display: find five flaws - or at least one
Everything revolves around the display. And literally. In short, Samsung can do displays and it can be seen here Galaxy Watch. Readability in direct sunlight is perfect as are the viewing angles. In addition to the bezel, durable Corning Gorilla Glass DX+ protects the display from damage. It managed to arrange 1,2 pixels on a diagonal of 360 inches. This number has become a kind of standard for smart watches from Samsung, which probably won't change easily. Pixels are practically unrecognizable with the naked eye and therefore there is no point in increasing their density further. In winter, the ability to control a smart watch with gloves will definitely come in handy. The response of the display to attempts to control it while wearing gloves is surprisingly good, and in combination with the rotating bezel, the reasonably thin gloves do not create any barrier between the user and the user interface of the watch.
The various display lighting modes are interesting and useful. These are very closely related to the watch's ability to estimate when we are looking at the display. A compromise between battery life and user comfort is a mode in which the watch reacts by turning on when the hand is tilted towards the face. This function can be completely deactivated, the watch is then woken up by using one of the mechanical controls. The often useful always-on function never turns off the display completely, which is important informace will appear on it in grayscale with reduced brightness. However, it is necessary to take into account the increased demands on the battery. The water lock is also connected to the display control, which allows you to deactivate the touch layer before entering the water.
Parameters and functions: legacy of previous generations
The operating memory is sufficient, the smart watch easily gets by with the allocated 768 MB, and in a fortnight of intensive use, I did not notice a single hang, a single application crash. A little worse is the size of the internal memory. Of the 4 GB, 1500 MB is actually available. The rest is occupied by the fourth-generation Tizen operating system and pre-installed applications. A pleasing finding is that the available apps are usually in the MB range, and if you don't intend to download a lot of music to the watch, you'll probably be fine with the storage.
The waterproofness of the watch is guaranteed by IP 68 certification and the MIL-STD-810G military standard. This means that you can swim with the watch without worry. This means only swimming on the surface, diving can be a problem, the watch may not be able to handle the effects of fast flowing and pressurized water.
The watch can only be fully used after connecting it to a smartphone. Of course, the best results can be expected after connecting to a Samsung smartphone. The watch can be connected to a smartphone via Bluetooth technology. Content can also be downloaded to them via a Wi-Fi network. The environment of the mobile application is pleasant, it allows you to comfortably carry out a number of activities that would take an unnecessary amount of time on the small display of the watch. The GPS module is a matter of course. In the specifications it is possible to read something about NFC, but unfortunately it has no use in the Czech Republic due to the unavailability of the Samsung Pay service.
Fitness features: it would like a compass and more believable sleep tracking
Galaxy Watch they don't have it easy in this category, given that the previous generation of Gear Sport smartwatches was directly focused on sports activities. Although many features have been improved and some completely new ones have been added, sometimes it is almost impossible not to notice that everything is not working as it should. GPS plays an irreplaceable role in tracking fitness activities. The watch is also equipped with three important sensors – barometer, accelerometer and heart rate sensor. The compass is still missing. With their help, it is possible to monitor heart rate, number of steps taken, floors climbed, level of stress, quality of sleep, calories burned, speed and altitude. The watch also allows you to keep track of the number of calories consumed, glasses of liquids and cups of coffee consumed.
The watch manages to measure heart rate very well. There is also a relative reliance on the number of steps taken and floors climbed. The level of stress should be taken with a grain of salt, the system will allow it to be measured even immediately after the end of the sporting activity. In this case, the increased heart rate is automatically evaluated as stress. In particular, I almost did not manage to detach myself from the zero level of stress, although I subjectively often perceived stress during the testing.
I was interested in the expanded possibilities of measuring the quality of sleep. The smart watch analyzes the heart rate and movements during sleep and, based on this, divides sleep into the phases of awakening, light sleep, deep sleep and REM. Or at least they try to. I've never gotten past 30 minutes of deep sleep, even though I know it should be around 90 minutes of total sleep. The average was even somewhere around 10 minutes of deep sleep, and some nights the watch didn't register it at all.
The watch is also suitable for active athletes. It is possible to notify them manually of the intention to go in for sports (start recording a specific fitness activity via a special watch face), or they are able to recognize basic physical activities by themselves within ten minutes. Subsequently, important data about the progress of the activity are shown on the display.
I mainly ran and cycled with the watch and was satisfied with the records of these activities. I visited the water park specifically to test my behavior in the water. The watch survived a three-hour stay in the water and proved itself excellent when calculating the distance swam.
An overview of all important data related to exercise and a healthy lifestyle is available in the S Health app. I can only recommend the excellent application Endomondo, which offers a full-fledged alternative to the default application.
Gallery
Operating system and applications: neither quality nor quantity pleases
The watch runs on the Tizen 4.0 operating system. It is a specific operating system that Samsung itself develops for the needs of its smart watches. There are not many differences compared to the previous version. The system remains simple and intuitive. Undoubtedly, the previously mentioned rotating bezel and hardware buttons in general play an important role here. This can only be evaluated positively, because there is no need to touch the display so much with your fingers and thus leave their fingerprints on it. Thanks to the speaker, the watch learned to tick.
If the do not disturb, cinema or sleep mode is not set, the watch can quite often alert itself with various sounds. They remind you every hour and display a whole range of notifications, which can usually be dealt with directly on the watch display. They often offer the possibility to view a specific thing on the phone.
Gallery
As usual, I tried to install and then test as many applications as possible. And for the first time in the entire time of testing the watch, I was downright disappointed. The number of applications increased only imperceptibly, so unfortunately I again managed to try a substantial majority of those that make some sense to install. I consider the lack of applications and their dubious quality to be one of the most serious shortcomings to deal with when using a watch Galaxy Watch settle. The number of applications available for Galaxy Watch and competitive Apple Watch, unfortunately it is still not possible to compare.
I will not go into detail about the default pre-installed applications such as text messages and contacts. Everyone has some idea of what to expect from them. The default watch face is undoubtedly the most downloaded type of app. I've tried dozens of them. But there aren't many really good-looking free options available. I ended up going back to the pre-installed default watch faces.
I found the application useful, which turns the watch display into a not very good, but still often sufficient light source. Of course, I didn't forget to install Spotify and the aforementioned Endomondo application. I used the calculator surprisingly often.
Gallery
Daily wear and battery life: slowly but surely getting longer
I used the watch daily for approximately a fortnight. They served me primarily for displaying various notifications and monitoring sports activities. I watched at least one every day. I used the always-on display function, I had the brightness set to a medium level, and I let the watch measure my heart rate every ten minutes. I turned on the GPS for about an hour a day and overnight had the heart rate measurement completely off and the night mode on.
With that method of use, I ended up with a 270 mAh battery that lasts for about two days. I am convinced that the Silver version would perform significantly better, in this case I expect the durability to be somewhere around three to four days. Daily charging could thus finally become a thing of the past, and Samsung could set a further goal of, for example, five-day endurance, which would give it a significant lead over the competition. There is also a power-saving mode and a watch-only mode, which extends the battery life to dozens of days. The question remains whether it is realistically usable outside of a truly crisis situation.
Charging itself Galaxy Watch is no different from charging the Gear Sport. Thanks to the magnets, the watch elegantly attaches to the stand for wireless charging and starts charging without any other external intervention. I'm still not satisfied with the charging speed, the watch always needs to rest for a little over two hours. During charging, its status is primarily indicated by a light-emitting diode, which is part of the stand. More detailed informace can be obtained on the display of the watch itself.
Gallery
Summary
Feelings that smart watch in me Galaxy Watch aroused at the very beginning were confirmed during the testing. No revolution takes place Galaxy Watch they are a successful evolution of previous generations, from which they take the best and try to bring it to perfection more or less successfully. The price, which officially starts at eight thousand, is appropriate, and in addition, it is already possible to get smaller versions of the watch for a thousand cheaper. I recommend investing the saved money in a tape of adequate quality, which Samsung could finally pack right away in the next generation.
I really liked the minimalist design, control using the rotating bezel, great display, intuitive operating system, durability and ticking.
Galaxy Watch are a device that, unfortunately, has not avoided compromises. I definitely cannot praise the slow charging, the unreliable monitoring of sleep quality and stress and, above all, the insufficient number of available applications.
Nevertheless, I think the watch will find its buyers. Despite several shortcomings, it is one of the best possible alternatives to the Gear Sport Apple Watch, which currently dominate the smartwatch market.
