After spending a couple of days with the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, I will go through what I liked about it, what I didn’t like, and how it compares to its last 2 predecessors that run the Wear OS.
Just to be fair in the comparison, the GW5 is a Pro model, targeted to a more outdoorsy, adventure loving audience with minor superior specs(Battery size, Titanium Body) so comparing the GW6 Classic to GW5 Pro doesn’t quite make sense, but that’s what I have on hand.
Before we begin, in case you missed it, here’s a link to my Initial thoughts:
In addition to the above, find the specs of the 3 watches i own which are the last 3 models released.
| Galaxy Watch 4 Classic | Galaxy Watch 5 Pro | Galaxy Watch 6 Classic |
Weight | 52g | 46.5g | 59g |
Body | Stainless Steel | Titanium | Stainless Steel |
Size | 46mm | 45mm | 47mm |
Physical Bezel | Yes | No | Yes |
Screen Size | 1.4” | 1.4” | 1.5” |
Band Size | 20mm | 20mm | 20mm |
Screen Glass Type | Corning Gorilla Glass DX | Sapphire crystal | Sapphire crystal |
OS | Android Wear OS, One UI Watch 3 | Android Wear OS 3.5, One UI Watch 4.5 | Android Wear OS 4, One UI Watch 5 |
Chipset | Exynos W920 (5 nm) | Exynos W920 (5 nm) | Exynos W930 (5 nm) |
Memory / RAM | 16GB 1.5GB RAM | 16GB 1.5GB RAM | 16GB 2GB RAM |
Bluetooth | 5.0 | 5.2 | 5.3 |
Battery | Li-Ion 361 mAh | Li-Ion 590 mAh | Li-Ion 425 mAh |
GW4= Galaxy Watch 4
GW5= Galaxy Watch 5 Pro
GW6= Galaxy Watch 6 Classic 47mm
What I liked:
- Design and Size: it’s not much different from the 2 predecessors in terms of buttons and form factor, but what makes it look better is definitely the thinner bezel, larger screen and that additional 1mm to the body.
- Physical Rotating Bezel: Samsung listened, and brought it back, I simply love it and happy it’s back.
- Screen: it’s 0.1 inches bigger, and in addition to the thinner bezels, you can spot the difference instantly, and it looks so much better on the hand. It’s also Sapphire like the GW5 Pro, so you don’t have to worry about scratches.
- OS: The Android wear 4 combined with One UI Watch 5 are awesome. It’s becoming more like the One UI on the phone. For example, on the previous OS and the GW5, the battery had a section called “Battery”, where you can only turn on the Power Saver mode or switch the “Watch Only” mode. On the GW6, it’s called “Battery and Device care”, where you can check the watch status, if there are any issues, see what app is consuming power, clear the memory, check the storage, etc. In addition to that, more settings enabled related to notifications and more unlocked options.
Galaxy Watch 6 Classic
Galaxy Watch 6 Classic
Galaxy Watch 6 Classic
Galaxy Watch 6 Classic
Galaxy Watch 6 Classic
- Speaker: I noticeably feel it’s a bit louder and the sound is definitely better and crispier.
- Strap: it has a One-Click button for quick release, which is much better than the small one we had on the oldest models, it doesn’t make sense to include that in the improvements as you can buy the newly introduced strap and put it on any older model that is compatible with the 20mm ones, but it was introduced with the GW6 so it’s a plus.
- New Sensors: The sensors are much improved, and don’t flash the green light that used to keep showing and was annoying to some users, now it’s infrared, so you won’t be distracted by it nor it will bother you during your sleep. This improvement in hardware also reflects on the Samsung Health app in terms of more accuracy and more things to track, like the temperature of the body while sleeping.
- Fast Charging: 45% in 30 minutes with the 10W fast charging, you can drop it on the charger, take a shower, come back and leave the house with a worth of battery life.
What I didn’t Like:
- Strap: Despite the quick release button, removing is easy, but I had difficulties putting the strap back on. I tried several times, it’s still not that practical for me.
- No Option To Pick The Strap Size When Buying: This is a subjective preference, I have small hands, it would have been nice to give me the option to pick the watch with the S/M strap size, or at least pick the size of the Gift strap that comes with it, both the boxed and the gift straps are M/L and I will have to either use my old watch strap/band or buy new ones.
- Markings On the inside Bezel: On the GW5 and the GW6, we have the ability to flip the watch to any orientation we want, for example wearing on any hand, and mention in the settings that it’s in the right or left arm, but also flip the watch in a way where the buttons can be on the left side instead of right, and set this up in the settings. Now that the numbers are printed inside the bezel, flipping it will show the numbers upside down.
- Battery Life: In comparison to the GW4, it’s the same battery life of 2 days or 48 hours with 10% left. It can be considered better than the GW4 if you factor the bigger screen size. But if we compare it to the GW5 Pro, it’s 2 days less unfortunately, I don’t understand how a bigger watch in size, ends up having a smaller battery. You can see below 2 photos of the GW6 and the last one from the GW5 Pro. I believe the future updates of software will definitely improve the battery life by half a day like it always happens. And please note that the 1st 3 days, it might last only 1 day, but that's just normal as it would be in the Learning Battery Pattern mode, so don't quickly judge it.
5. Exynos: This chipset is not efficient, not on the phones, not on the watches, Period.
Final Verdict:
The GW6 Classic is an improvement over both predecessors(Minus the Battery Life), i love it inside out, i personally recommend it, will keep my Galaxy Watch 5 Pro in Gray along with it so i switch them around.
The best place to pre-order it from is the Samsung online store, there are pre-order gifts, and a few hours left for the offers as it officially starts to ship on the 11th of August, hurry up!
