Leaks and hints from Samsung indicate that a Galaxy Watch Ultra will arrive 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 differentiate itself from the Apple Watch Ultra series?
Last week, I ended my review of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 by saying, “Over to you, Samsung,” as I was hoping the brand would take inspiration from its premium features for the upcoming Galaxy Watch 7 Pro . A few days later, by happy coincidence, Samsung announced that it would launch “new high-end models” of Galaxy Watches with “upgrades” during its first-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. ‘ve not given details, but shortly after, Android Headlines claimed to have spotted the watch model names “Ultra” and “Fan Edition” in its One UI beta code.
It doesn’t matter if it’s called Galaxy Watch Ultra, 7 Ultra or 7 Pro. What matters 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 achieve this. do it.
This should give Apple a boost when it comes to battery life
The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro launched in 2022 with a fairly consistent three-day battery life, but natural capacity consumption and annual One UI updates reduce its battery life. My colleague Andrew Myrick, owner of the 80-hour 5 Pro and 36-hour Apple Watch Ultra, says his Ultra will last longer in 2024.
A Wear OS flagship, made by Samsung or otherwise, will cost as much as a mid-range smartphone, if not more. An “Ultra” watch needs longevity to match, otherwise Samsung’s most loyal customers will feel burned out.
A leak from Samsung in April indicated that its next flagship smartwatch would have a capacity of 578 mAh, on par with the Watch 5 Pro. We rarely see a watch exceed 600 mAh; larger capacity would make any watch too thick or heavy. So how will Samsung make its Ultra last longer than the Pro? I can only think of one option.
The new Wear OS hybrid interface debuted with the 100-hour battery OnePlus Watch 2, but any watch can use it. Without diving into the finer details, Wear OS watches can assign background tasks like notifications, watch face data, and heart rate tracking to a low-power coprocessor, saving battery-intensive tasks for the main processor.
Almost all Android watches use a processor and coprocessor, but Exynox chips seem to be the exception. The Exynos W930 chip of the latest model, for example, had two Cortex-A55 cores; compare this 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 and efficient performance speed. The transition to an energy-efficient hybrid system could be more difficult for Samsung and its Exynos division than for its Qualcomm-dependent rivals.
Perhaps the rumored Exynos W940 could change that; it’s supposed to be 50% more efficient. But Samsung could easily negate this efficiency with more RAM to achieve ultra-grade speed.
The other (unlikely) option is for Samsung to add a secondary grayscale display that activates when the battery is low. This is the method used by the Mobvoi Ticwatch Pro 5, and it works really well! But the Samsung screen leaks I’ve heard about have involved squirrels 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 borders on comfortable, thanks to the lightweight nylon strap and reasonably thin titanium case. It also has a 1.9-inch screen – shaped like a circle, obviously – which makes it easy to read notifications.
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 might assume that a Galaxy Watch Ultra would have an equal lifespan bigger the display lives up to its name, but you’d reach a point where smaller wrists could no longer support the weight.
Samsung can (A) go extremely heavy with a rotating bezel, (B) go capacitive despite the drawbacks, or (C) go the Apple/Google route with a crown.
The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro has reduced its weight thanks to its capacitive bezel. However, when I asked my colleagues, they collectively insisted that any Ultra watch would need a better solution: either the rotating bezel or a crown. They would prioritize usability over comfort.
Samsung reportedly wants to move to a circle-shaped Galaxy Watch in the future, but Android watch owners consider this to be the purview of Apple and its imitators; they might hate the Switch for its looks, even though the square screen makes it easier to read and type. Still, I don’t see any other way to get a bigger screen without killing our wrists.
Samsung won’t let the Ultra stand on its own merits
Samsung likes to make its devices interconnected, just like Apple. This is why you need a Samsung phone to check the Galaxy Watch’s ECG readings, or why Samsung is “working” on making the Galaxy Ring compatible with other non-Galaxy phones.
This probably won’t change with the Galaxy Watch Ultra, although it costs enough to be a standalone device. It’ll probably have built-in cellular data for calls and all the health sensors in the world – maybe even blood sugar monitoring – but Samsung will still want you to analyze your data on its phone.
Naturally, die-hard Samsung fans with disposable income will buy a Galaxy Watch Ultra with their S24 Ultra, because they want the best possible technology at all times – the same with Apple Watch Ultra 2 buyers. The question is whether Samsung can break out of this niche and what kind of value it can offer outside of “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 responses without relying on a small screen. However, the rough launches of the Rabbit R1 and the Humane AI pin prove just how far away that future is.
Fortunately, there is another “AI” option that Samsung can take.
Samsung’s Ultra path is health and fitness
Besides Apple nerds, one type of person consistently buys smartwatches in the $500 to $1,000 range: athletes, gym goers, and fitness enthusiasts.
That’s why Apple started going all-in on fitness the year the Ultra came out, focusing on runners, hikers, and cyclists. It targeted people who would normally spend a lot of money on high-end Garmin watches like the Epix or Fenix.
Serious athletes won’t settle for a traditional smartwatch because they need weeks of battery life, not days. However, Apple has always won over weekend warrior types who want solid fitness features when they have time, but better apps and smarts during the week.
I’ve been harping on Samsung’s lack of progress in fitness over the past couple of years. To its credit, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro added offline GPX maps, a popular feature on 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 daily readiness.
Samsung will take a big step forward in health tracking this summer with the Galaxy Ring, which will give you a daily “vitality score” based on the quality of your sleep. Samsung will call it an “AI” tool, but it’s essentially the same algorithm that other fitness watch brands have used in recent years.
The next step is to integrate the training data and your VO2 Max level to determine the recovery time after a training session or the number of minutes of active training you need that day to be at your best. form safely. This is the key feature offered by Garmin and Fitbit watches, and I’m convinced Apple is working on its own version.
Even though some people just want the Galaxy Watch Ultra to be as RAM-rich, durable, and massive as possible, Samsung can’t escape the fact that many people view watches as a workout tool or health tracker. , first of all. . Beyond Android superfans, no one will buy an “Ultra” watch that doesn’t go beyond fitness software.
