Leaks and hints from Samsung suggest that a Galaxy Watch Ultra will be launching this summer instead of the long-rumored 7 Pro. We’ll find out the truth at the next Unpacked event; The real question is: what will a Samsung “Ultra” watch look like and how will it differ from the Apple Watch Ultra series?
Last week, I ended my Apple Watch Ultra 2 review by saying, “Your turn, Samsung,” because I hoped the brand would take inspiration from its premium features for the upcoming Galaxy Watch 7 Pro. Days later, by a stroke of luck, Samsung announced that it would launch “new premium models” of Galaxy Watches with “upgrades” on its Q1 2024 earnings conference call. Officials didn’t elaborate, but soon after, Android Headlines claimed to have discovered the names of the “Ultra” and “Fan Edition” watch models in its One UI beta code.
I don’t care if it’s called the Galaxy Watch Ultra, 7 Ultra or 7 Pro. What’s important to me after testing the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is that Samsung gets its “premium” smartwatch right from the start, even if it has to steal tricks from Apple, OnePlus, Garmin or other brands to do so this.
It should give Apple a leg up in terms of battery life
The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, launched in 2022, had a fairly consistent battery life of three days, although natural capacity losses and annual One UI updates reduced battery life. My colleague Andrew Myrick, who owns the 80-hour 5 Pro and the 36-hour Apple Watch Ultra, says his Ultra will last longer in 2024.
A Wear OS flagship, whether from Samsung or not, costs the same as a mid-range smartphone, if not more. An “Ultra” watch needs a corresponding level of longevity, otherwise Samsung’s most loyal customers will feel burned.
A Samsung leak in April suggested that the next flagship smartwatch would have a 578mAh capacity, which would be on par with the Watch 5 Pro. We rarely see a watch go above 600mAh; More capacity would make any watch too thick or too heavy. So how does Samsung make its Ultra last longer than the Pro? I can only think of one option.
The new Wear OS hybrid interface was first introduced with the 100-hour OnePlus Watch 2, but can be used by any watch. Without getting into the minutiae, Wear OS watches can assign background tasks like notifications, watch face data, and heart rate tracking to a low-power coprocessor, saving the battery-guzzling tasks for the main processor.
Almost all Android watches use a processor and a co-processor, but Exynox chips seem to be the exception. For example, the last model’s Exynos W930 chip had two Cortex-A55 cores; Compare that to the Pixel Watch 2’s Snapdragon W5, which has four Cortex-A53 cores And a 22nm Cortex-M55 coprocessor.
Samsung watches are fast and durable, but it needs to be proven that the Galaxy Watch Ultra will still be “premium” in four years.
Samsung watches have excellent, efficient performance speed. The transition to a low-power hybrid system could be more difficult for Samsung and its Exynos division than for rivals dependent on Qualcomm.
Perhaps the rumored Exynos W940 could change that; It is said to be 50% more efficient. But Samsung could easily offset this efficiency with more RAM to achieve ultra-quality speed.
The other (unlikely) option is for Samsung to add a second grayscale screen that turns on when the battery is low. It’s the method used by Mobvoi Ticwatch Pro 5 and it works really well! But the Samsung display leaks I’ve heard have been about squircles or micro-LED technology, so I wouldn’t count on that.
I don’t know what an “ultra” Android watch looks like
At 61g, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is at the limit of comfort thanks to the lightweight nylon strap and relatively thin titanium case. It also features a 1.9-inch display – in the shape of a circle, of course – that makes reading notifications a breeze.
Compare that to the 1.5-inch Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, which weighs just two grams less thanks to its rotating bezel and stainless steel frame. One would assume that a Galaxy Watch Ultra would have a balanced result greater The display lives up to its name, but there comes a point where smaller wrists can no longer support the weight.
Samsung can (A) go painfully heavy with a rotating bezel, (B) go capacitive despite the drawbacks, or (C) go the Apple/Google route with a crown.
Thanks to the capacitive bezel, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro was able to keep its weight down. However, when I asked my colleagues, they all insisted that every Ultra watch needed a better solution – either the rotating bezel or a crown. They would prioritize ease of use over convenience.
Samsung reportedly wants to switch to a Galaxy Watch in the future, but Android watch owners see this as the responsibility of Apple and its imitators; You may hate the Switch because of its appearance, even though the square screen makes reading and typing easier. Still, I can’t think of any other way to get a larger display without damaging our wrists.
Samsung doesn’t leave the Ultra alone
Samsung would like to network its devices with each other, just like Apple. This is why you need a Samsung phone to check Galaxy Watch ECG readings, or Samsung is working on making the Galaxy Ring compatible with other non-Galaxy phones.
That probably won’t change with the Galaxy Watch Ultra, even if it does Cost enough to be a standalone device. It probably has built-in cellular data for making calls and all the health sensors in the world – maybe even for blood sugar monitoring – but Samsung still wants you to analyze your data on its phone.
Of course, die-hard Samsung fans with disposable income also buy a Galaxy Watch Ultra to go with their S24 Ultras because they want the best possible technology at all times – the same applies to buyers of the Apple Watch Ultra 2. The question is whether Samsung can get out of this niche and what added value it can offer in addition to “big battery, big screen”.
In the future, AI like Gemini will be the backbone of wearable technology, giving you a natural way to access information or send answers without relying on a tiny screen. However, the difficult launches of the Rabbit R1 and the Humane AI Pin prove just how far away that future is.
Luckily, there is another “AI” option that Samsung can take advantage of.
Samsung’s ultra path lies in health and fitness
Apple nerds aside, one type of person regularly buys smartwatches in the $500 to $1,000 price range: athletes, gym rats, and fitness freaks.
That’s why the year the Ultra was released, Apple began to fully focus on fitness, focusing on runners, hikers and cyclists. It was aimed at people who would normally spend a lot of money on high-quality Garmin watches like the Epix or the Fenix.
Serious athletes won’t settle for a traditional smartwatch because they need a battery life of several weeks, not days. However, Apple has still won over the weekend warriors who want solid fitness features when they have time, but better smarts and apps during the week.
I’ve repeatedly pointed out Samsung’s lack of fitness progress over the past few years. To its credit, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro added offline GPX maps, a popular feature in fitness watches. However, it took them until last year to add heart rate zones, and Samsung still lags behind in areas like GPS accuracy and everyday readiness.
Samsung will take a step forward in health monitoring this summer with the Galaxy Ring, which will give you a daily “Vitality Score” based on your sleep quality. Samsung will call it an “AI” tool, but it’s basically the same algorithm that other fitness watch brands have used in recent years.
The next step is to incorporate training data and your VO2 max to determine how long you need to recover after training or how many active training minutes you need that day to safely get fitter. It’s the main feature that Garmin and Fitbit watches offer, and I have no doubt that Apple is working on its own version.
Even though some people just want the Galaxy Watch Ultra to be as RAM-packed, durable and massive as possible, Samsung can’t escape the fact that many people see watches primarily as exercise tools or health trackers. Aside from Android superfans, no one is going to buy an “Ultra” watch that doesn’t go above and beyond when it comes to fitness software.