Galaxy Watch Ultra Titanium Gray
Dubai - UAE
(This is a Subjective Personal Experience Review/Thoughts)
First of all, let me get this out of the way, the pre-order delivery was delayed, which is fine and it can happen for several reasons, it happened before and was not a big deal. This time in my case, 2 straps were not ready, and instead of sending the watch like they did previously with other pre-orders and then send the rest later, the whole order was delayed, and the best part, nobody bothered to update me, neither on the website, nor the app, nor by mail nor by call.
I still insist that the Customer Service level needs improvement, compared to previous years, this is the 3rd time I encounter something related to lack of communication. I went to chat with an agent, his response was just the generic stuff like "when it’s ready they will advise you" (transcript saved), so I opened a complaint which you know where this is going, was not actioned nor looked at for 3 days, then called customer service and one agent admitted there is a delay and was surprised how I was not informed, and again, nothing happened. Eventually, after 4 documented calls, complaints, I got the watch sent with a missing strap that will arrive later once it's in stock, I just don’t understand why wasn’t it sent on the 19th, but one week later with still missing items.
The above was reported to the proper channels(Regional) along with the transcripts, just for improvement purposes, nothing else.
On to the Beautiful Gorgeous watch now 😍
This is my 7th Watch from Samsung, and 4th with Wear OS. I pre ordered the Ultra LTE 47mm variant because I like to change the watch every year, and add to the existing collection.
I currently have on hand theGalaxy Watch 5 Pro 45mm, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic 47mm, and have compared the specs in a table for your viewing with the Galaxy Watch Ultra.
Galaxy Watch 5 Pro | Galaxy Watch 6 Classic | Galaxy Watch Ultra | |
Weight | 46.5g | 59g | 60.5g |
Body | Titanium | Stainless Steel | Titanium |
Size | 45mm | 47mm | 47mm |
Physical Bezel | No | Yes | No |
Screen Size | 1.4” | 1.5” | 1.5” |
Band Size | 20mm | 20mm | 20mm |
Screen Glass Type | Sapphire crystal | Sapphire crystal | Ceramic/Saphire |
OS | Android Wear OS 3.5, One UI Watch 4.5 | Android Wear OS 4, One UI Watch 5 | Android Wear OS 5, One UI Watch 6 |
Chipset | Exynos W920 (5 nm) | Exynos W930 (5 nm) | Exynos w1000 (3nm) |
Memory / RAM | 16GB 1.5GB RAM | 16GB 2GB RAM | 32GB 2GB RAM |
Bluetooth | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.4 |
Battery | Li-Ion 590 mAh | Li-Ion 425 mAh | Li-Ion 590 mAh |
Should You Upgrade?
Well, depends on which watch you currently own, so this maybe applies on the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro owners more, but not necessarily to the rest, reason for that is it’s a different line of watches. This is the first “Ultra” Watch, and it’s far from the Classic, which is called Classic for a reason, and has a rotating bezel.
The Galaxy Watch 5 Pro was not a replacement to the Galaxy Watch Classic line up, but more of a Sporty Durable, Outdoorsy tough model, targeting a different audience, so if you own a Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, this could qualify as an awesome brainless upgrade, or if you own another model, and you want the tougher more durable style, this is the one for you.
For the time being, I’m keeping my Galaxy Watch 6 Classic until the new classic comes out, and might get rid of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, as this one makes it redundant. Will have to use it for a couple of weeks before making up my mind.
My Personal Design/Price Remarks:
- The missing rotating bezel story again, I kind of got used to using the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro without it, but once you use the Classic models, you instantly know why you miss it, but I guess if you want durable, you have to let it go? Nope.The Galaxy Gear Sport, that was released in 2017, had a rotating bezel, and it’s what the Galaxy Watch Ultra was exactly copied from, not the Apple watch, if you don’t know that, take a look at the Galaxy Gear Sport below and you can see that it’s the same watch but on steroids or just larger, the only “copied” thing from the Apple watch Ultra (As Claimed By The Internet) is the strap colour and the Ultra name, if Apple indeed owns the rights to those, which they don’t, neither for the technology Samsung decides to use in their devices.
- The additional Action/Quick button, could have been used on top of what it does, as a replacement for the rotating bezel, but it’s an opportunity missed, I believe/hope the next iteration will have either or, because Samsung started listening to the consumers. But honestly, the biggest punch or missed opportunity in my opinion that could have put the watch on a different level was a rotating bezel/Dial, and as usual, not taken advantage of.
- I wear my watch on the right hand, wish they did not engrave the arrow (in this one there’s an arrow above the 12 as per the photo below) so I can flip it and let the buttons face my palm, usually the OS has a feature to let you choose which hand and if it’s flipped or not as shown, but that's just me nit-picking, the arrow was not available in the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro.
- Price is on the higher side for a Samsung watch, cheaper than the Apple Ultra 2, some might skip it, or pay a little bit more for something that is better when it comes to the Health Features measurement and lasts days more, like Garmin, Polar or other brands. But here’s the twist, the Galaxy Watch 7 has the same exact hardware specs, except the straps mechanism, the battery size, and titanium body… at half the price, so if you’re wondering which one to get between the 2, just ask yourself, are the looks of the watch as well as the battery size worth paying 300$ more?
- The straps are new, you cannot use the older model ones, I sure hope they use the same mechanism on the future watches so we don’t buy yearly. I absolutely love the one below, it's very light weight, you don't feel it, and it's easy to adjust, farbric quality is great.
- In the US, you can chose the watch colour you want, along with the strap you want, in the UAE we are limited to the orange strap for example with the Titanium Gray, I had to buy the other straps instead of receiving the black one with the watch. Off course a week from release, after I bought 2 straps, I got an email with a voucher code that offers an additional strap, and it’s for the 1st 500 people who pre-order. I was still receiving the same offer for the 1st 500 people after 12 days of release, i hope it's not due to low sales.
- No power share possible, you cannot charge it on the back of the phone, I don’t know if this will be changed, meaning that a software update can enable it if the hardware is there or it’s just not Qi Wireless Charging Compatible, the only way now is to plug the charger to the phone and charge it if you don’t have the power brick on you.
Battery Life Prediction and Comparison:
In terms of battery, I am currently getting 2 days of battery life on the Galaxy Watch 6, that’s with always on turned off, brightness at 40%, Wi-Fi off, Bluetooth on, and all the health sensors turned off and set to manual measure.
On the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, the same settings above are applied, but get 3.5 to 4 days of battery life, after 3 years of use.
I am expecting 2.5 to 3.5 days on the Galaxy Watch Ultra due to the new chipset that should be more efficient. Samsung Claimed 100 hours, but on Power Saving Mode, which was mentioned during the launch, but everywhere else like the website, the “Power Saving mode” is omitted after the sentence 100 hours!! I don’t’ know why promote a watch battery life with Power Saving on…If LTE will be enabled, should be 1 to 1.5 days?
This will need a couple of days to complete the learning cycle, then test it normally, I will post a review and comparison later.
Hardware, New Sensors and Upgrades:
The watch definitely has some exciting items, some are natural upgrades of performance as it’s a new generation of hardware, some normal and some not changed, here’s a quick recap:
- An additional customizable Quick/Action button.
- Faster more efficient chipset.
- More durable design and rating.
- Larger capacity at 32GB.
- Brighter display.
- Dual GPS for accuracy.
- Improved health monitoring like sleep apnea detection, which hopefully works everywhere and is not the same story of pending local health authorities approval, like the features that do not work in all countries in the GCC, which is not Samsung’s fault to be fair, it’s not up to them to get these approved, it's strictly up to the local health authorities, but it would be good to mention in large fonts that this might not work at your location.
All this on top of a new Wear OS, which has so many unannounced features, which i am slowly discovering by myself or finding out about them online, along with the benefits of AI, which hopefully improve the lacklustre health monitoring and fitness tracking in comparison to competitors.
Photos:
Buttons and Shape:
Front Comparison:
Back Comparison/Sensors:
Side Buttons Comparison:
Speakers Comparison:
Hand Comparison with Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic:
Finally, i simply love it, as a first generation Ultra Watch, i hope the next itiration will have the improvements and stuff we are requesting, which i'm sure Samsung will listen and implement, and as usual, If there's anything you would like to know before you buy, or want me to cover, please let me know, i will be posting in a couple of days the battery life numbers, cheers!
J.
