Samsung is making a play for the high-end smartwatch market with the all-new Galaxy Watch Ultra, following hot on the heels of their budget-friendly Galaxy Watch FE. At $649.99, the Ultra sits firmly in Apple Watch Ultra territory, and its design cues leave little doubt about Samsung’s inspiration.
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The Galaxy Watch Ultra boasts a titanium case, a sapphire crystal lens, and a prominent orange “Quick Button” – features that feel strikingly similar to its Apple counterpart. Even the new strap system bears a resemblance. However, Samsung doesn’t simply copy. The Ultra retains its signature “squircle” design, a chunky yet distinct look that offers a digital bezel for navigation (though it lacks the satisfying physical rotation of the Apple Watch Ultra).
Durability is a key focus for the Ultra. It boasts 10ATM water resistance, an IP68 rating, and can withstand dives. Athletes will appreciate the new multisport profile, runner-focused Race feature, and cyclist-friendly Functional Threshold Power metric. There’s even an 85dB emergency siren for added safety.
Battery life is impressive, with up to 100 hours overall and 48 hours during exercise, thanks in part to new power-saving modes. The display gets a significant upgrade too, reaching a peak brightness of 3,000 nits for easy readability in any condition.
The Galaxy Watch 7 offers a more muted update. The design remains unchanged, with new strap colours being the most noticeable difference. It retains the same size, battery life, and price as its predecessor. However, under the hood, the Watch 7 shares most of the internal hardware and software improvements found in the Ultra.
Both watches receive the Wear OS 5 and One UI 6 Watch upgrades, sport a new 3nm Exynos W1000 chip, and offer features like LTE, fast charging, and dual-frequency GPS. The upgraded Samsung BioActive Sensor promises improved health monitoring, including a new “Advanced Glycation End Products (AGEs) Index” metric to track biological aging (though details remain a bit fuzzy).