Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Review: Where Rugged Meets Refined

The Galaxy Watch Ultra is arguably Samsung’s most exciting smartwatch to date. It builds on the brand’s core features with a rugged design, improved battery life, a handy quick button, and more. Priced at ₹59,900, it’s the most expensive Galaxy Watch yet, but it still undercuts the Apple Watch Ultra while catering to a similar audience of adventure-seeking users. Should you buy it? Let’s find answers to that and all other questions in this Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra review:

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Review: Design & Build

The Galaxy Watch Ultra stands out with a unique design that sets it apart from other smartwatches. While some have compared it to the Apple Watch Ultra, it’s more of an inspiration than a clone. The straps may resemble Apple’s offering, but the dial is distinctly different.

Swapping straps is a breeze thanks to the dynamic lug system, though you’ll need expensive Samsung’s own bands or custom bands, which limits your choices.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra is available in stylish colors: Titanium Silver, Titanium Gray, and Titanium White, each paired with a matching band. The Titanium Black model comes with a bold Orange strap, while additional default options include Dark Grey, Green, and White.

The virtual bezel and Quick Button provide alternative navigation options but are not as intuitive and precise as we experienced with the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic rotating bezel.

Samsung’s smartwatches usually stick to a two-button setup paired with touch controls for navigating everything. But with the Galaxy Watch Ultra, there’s a new button in the game: the Quick Button. This handy addition can be customized to kickstart your workouts, shift between segments, or switch to the next workout profile using the new multi-sports tile—perfect for activities like triathlons.

In my tests, everything flowed smoothly and felt super intuitive. If you’re a longtime Samsung user, you’ll slide right into this setup, even with the Watch’s fresh, bold design.

Built to endure, the Galaxy Watch Ultra features a rugged design with sapphire glass, grade 4 titanium, and ceramic components. Despite its robust construction, it remains surprisingly lightweight at 60 grams, only slightly heavier than the Watch6 Classic.

Considering its size and weight, is the Galaxy Watch Ultra comfortable to wear for long periods?

Oh, and I find the Galaxy Watch Ultra more comfortable than any other Samsung Galaxy watch I have used. While it looks chunky, it doesn’t feel heavy even when I wear it for 18-20 hours daily.

This smartwatch is designed for extreme conditions, meeting MIL-STD 810H standards like its predecessors and boasting IP68 certification for water and dust resistance. It can handle depths of up to 100 meters, doubling the Watch6 series’ capability of 50 meters. Samsung also claims the Watch Ultra can withstand temperatures from -20°C to 55°C and operate at altitudes up to 9,000 meters. However, be aware that it can pick up scuff marks easily.

What are the key differences between the Galaxy Watch Ultra and the regular Galaxy Watch7?

The key differences between the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Watch 7 are in build quality and durability. The Watch Ultra is made of Titanium grade 4 material, while the Galaxy Watch 7 is made of Armor Aluminum2. Similarly, the Watch Ultra is IP68 with 10ATM+ to survive underwater for 30 minutes, while the Galaxy Watch 7 is water resistant to up to 50 meters in depth for 30 minutes. Both Watches come with MIL-STD certification.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Review: Display

The Galaxy Watch Ultra has a 3.73 cm-inch AMOLED screen with a 480 x 480 resolution and an always-on display. It can also be switched to a new infrared-style Night mode. While I would have liked a slightly larger screen to accompany the Ultra’s bigger size, the screen itself is great. It’s sharp, colorful, and bright, with up to 3,000 nits of maximum brightness.

How does the display look in various lighting conditions, including direct Sunlight?

We have tried the Galaxy Watch Ultra in various lighting conditions and have no liability concerns. It was easily readable even in the harshest direct Sunlight.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Review: Hardware

Now, about that Exynos W1000. It’s not just an incremental upgrade; it’s a whole new and powerful SoC. This 3nm chip ditches the older dual-core setup for a more powerful five-core configuration, featuring one Cortex-A781 core for the heavy lifting and four low-power Cortex-A551 cores to keep things efficient. The GPU is the same Mali-G68 from the previous gen, but with the new processor, the whole system feels zippier.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra packs a punch when it comes to health features, thanks to Samsung’s upgraded BioActive sensor. This all-in-one sensor combines PPG heart rate, ECG, blood oxygen readings, and bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) to examine your body composition comprehensively.

It can measure water content through impedance, breaking down your body composition into lean muscle mass, body fat percentage, water weight, BMI, and even basal metabolic rate. And it’s fast—delivering 2,400 measurements in just 15 seconds.

How well does the GPS perform for outdoor activities like running, hiking, and cycling?

When it comes to positioning, the Watch Ultra steps up with L1+LG dual-frequency GPS, an upgrade from the standard L1 GPS. This enhancement improves tracking accuracy, making it a game-changer for runners who often find traditional smartwatches lacking compared to outdoor-focused devices like those from Garmin.

Does Samsung Watch Ultra support a Satallight connection? Is there any emergency feature built-in?

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra lacks satellite communication but has useful emergency features:

– Emergency SOS: Trigger an SOS alert by pressing the home button five times to send a message and provide the location to emergency contacts. Long-press the action button to sound an ear-splitting siren.

– Fall Detection: Automatically sends an SOS alert if unresponsive after a hard fall.

– Medical Information: Store important medical information for first responders to access in emergencies.

Samsung Galaxy watch Ultra Review: Software

The Galaxy Watch Ultra is among the first smartwatches to launch with Wear OS 5 and Samsung’s One UI 6 Watch interface. At first glance, it feels very similar to previous Samsung models, but there’s a noticeable layer of refinement throughout. The UI is snappier, notifications are more reliable, and overall performance is smoother.

This year’s standout feature is “Double Pinch.” Though it’s hard not to see the similarities to Apple’s Double Tap, Double Pinch lets you control certain aspects of the Watch Ultra by tapping your index finger and thumb together. You can use it to answer calls, dismiss alarms, control music playback, and snap photos with your paired Samsung phone.

Double Pinch works reasonably well but sometimes fails to recognize the gesture.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra also introduces a few new watch faces: Ultra Analog, Simple Ultra, Spatial Number, Simple Digital, and Ultra Info Board. These are solid. The Ultra-themed faces, in particular, complement the Watch’s design nicely and have become my go-to options.

Samsung promises four years of updates, ensuring you’ll receive the latest software through July 2028.

Can I make contactless payments with the Watch using Samsung Pay or Google Pay?

The Galaxy Watch Ultra supports Samsung Walet for Contactless payments.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Review: Fitness and Health

When we talk about fitness and health features, the question that comes to my mind is how accurate the health and fitness tracking features like heart rate monitoring and sleep tracking are?

Being Samsung’s most expensive Watch to date, the Galaxy Watch Ultra supports heart rate, SpO2, sleep, ECG, stress, and much more. The Galaxy Watch Ultra introduces several new health features, but the standout for me is the Energy Score. Each morning, the Watch gives you a score between 1 and 100, gauging your energy and readiness for the day ahead. This score is calculated based on factors like sleep consistency, bed and wake times, previous day’s activity, sleeping HRV, and more. Alongside your score, you’ll get a personalized explanation that adds context to the number you see each day.

I found the Energy Score to be a pretty accurate reflection of how I actually felt. After a solid night of sleep, my score hit 80. The next day, after some exercise, it dipped to 68—a clear indicator of how my body responded.

However, while the Galaxy Watch Ultra is technically compatible with any Android smartphone, you’ll need a Samsung phone to unlock its best features. For instance, you’ll need to download the Samsung Health Monitor app to access Blood Pressure and ECG readings.

Key features like irregular heart rhythm notifications, the Energy Score, and Galaxy AI Wellness Tips also require a Samsung phone with the latest software. And if you’re eager to try out the new Double Pinch gesture (similar to what Apple introduced with the Apple Watch Series 9), you’ll need a Samsung device running One UI 6.1.1. At launch, that’s limited to the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6. I tested it with my Pixel 9 Pro XL and then switched to the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which I typically use for Android watch testing.

Sleep tracking on the Galaxy Watch Ultra is also impressive. Samsung offers a wealth of data, including sleep stages, sleep time restfulness, blood oxygen levels, skin temperature, and more. All these factors contribute to a nightly sleep score that comprehensively looks at your rest quality.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Review: Battery Life and Charging

The Galaxy Watch Ultra has made strides in battery life compared to the previous Galaxy Watch models.

How long does the battery last with features like GPS and always-on display enabled?

Battery performance varies depending on how you use it, but in my testing, I got around 70 hours on a single charge, even with power-hungry features like GPS and the always-on display turned on. When I switched to power-saving mode at 15 percent battery, I could push it to about 76 hours. While this isn’t the longest battery life you’ll find on a Wear OS smartwatch, it’s still solid.

How long does it take to charge the Watch fully?

The charging speed is where the Watch Ultra falls short. Using the included charging puck with a charger that supports 10 watts or more (as Samsung recommends), it took over 90 minutes to go from 10% to 100%. That’s fine if you’re charging overnight or have time to spare, but if you need a quick power boost, this Watch won’t deliver it.

Does the watch support wireless charging?

Sadly, the Galaxy Watch Ultra doesn’t support wireless charging.