Ever wanted a powerful, rugged wearable like the Apple Watch Ultra, but more — well — Samsung?
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is the company's first premium-tier, rugged smartwatch, and thus a natural competitor with Apple's most powerful wearable. It's even called Ultra, so there's no mistake in what Samsung's aiming for here.
Now that the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is official, we can compare the two watches, side-by-side. And yes, there are a couple of ways in which Samsung's wearable wins big. Let's dig in.
Apple Watch Ultra 2 costs $799, while the Samsung Watch Ultra will cost $649.99 when it becomes available for pre-order on July 10. Yes, it's quite a big difference, and you could spend that $150 surplus towards accessories such as additional bands for the Samsung smartwatch.
It's difficult to compare smartwatches spec-for-spec, as specs typically don't tell the whole story. You need to actually use the watch to see how it performs. That said, Samsung put some powerful hardware inside the Galaxy Watch Ultra, including a 3nm processor (a first for a Galaxy Watch), 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, a complex,13 LED sensor system that tracks your heart rate and other biometric data, and a dual GPS system. The display is a 47mm AMOLED with a 480 x 480-pixel resolution.
Apple Watch Ultra runs on Apple's S9 chip, 64GB of storage memory, and also has a ton of sensors, including an electrical heart sensor, an optical heart sensor, and a temperature sensor. Its Retina OLED display is a bit larger at 49mm, with a 502 x 410-pixel resolution.
Before we saw the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, we thought this would be a very simple choice: rectangular (Apple) vs. circular (Samsung). But to our surprise, Samsung upped the ante by making the Galaxy Watch Ultra's case rectangular-esque while keeping the watch face circular.
The result is a pretty sweet looking watch that clearly differentiates itself from "regular" Samsung smartwatches. It's a best of both worlds, in a way, and we think it's a win.
Size and weight are similar between the two devices. Apple Watch Ultra measures 49x44mm and weighs 61.4 grams, while Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra measures 47.1 x 47.4mm and weighs a little less at 60.5 grams.
In terms of ruggedness, an important selling point for this type of device, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra has a titanium case, is water and dust resistant up to IP68 specifications while also being resistant to MIL-STD 810H military standard. Plus, it can withstand temperatures as low as -4F and as high as 131F.
In comparison, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 also has a titanium case, and it has also been tested up to MIL-ST 810H standard and has IP6X dust resistance. Additionally, Apple says you can take it for recreational scuba diving up to 40 meters of depth.
Another tidbit that shows that Samsung was most definitely inspired by Apple Watch Ultra is the addition of the Quick Button, a customizable side button that lets you easily start, pause, or stop your workouts and more.
Finally, the colors. While the Apple Watch is only available in a titanium finish, Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra comes in three colors: Titanium Gray, Titanium White, and Titanium Silver, which is a mix of silver and black.
Beyond merely measuring your heart rate and tracking your sleep, Samsung's Galaxy Watch Ultra also keeps track of your Energy Score, as well as offer Wellness Tips based on your sleep and workout data. The company also boasts an enhanced AI sleep algorithm, which reportedly provides more accurate sleep analysis.
And thanks to the all-new sleep apnea sensor, the Galaxy Watch can detect if you're having serious breathing issues while you're trying to get restful sleep.
When it comes to fitness tracking, Samsung's new watch offers Heart Rate Zones, allowing you to keep precise track of whether your workout has crossed that anaerobic threshold. The Race feature lets you compete against yourself. Cyclers will appreciate the new Functional Threshold Power Test, which helps you figure out your max power on the bike.
Apple Watch Ultra offers similar functionality, and has quite a few additional features for divers, though you need to purchase the dive app separately from Apple's App Store. Apple Watch Ultra also has a lot of features related to cardiac health, including irregular rhythm notifications, as well as high an low heart rate notifications.
This is a big one. Apple Watch Ultra reigns supreme among Apple watches, with a 36-hour battery life in normal use and up to 72 hours of battery life in low power mode.
Samsung's Galaxy Watch Ultra, however, offers up to 60 hours of battery life in daily use (up to 100 hours if you've turned on power saving mode) — and up to 16 hours of battery life when tracking workouts with GPS on, which goes up to 48 hours if you turn on the exercise power saving mode. We need to test this for ourselves before passing final judgment, but Samsung's watch is a winner in this regard, at least on paper.
The jury is still out on this one as we haven't had time for a proper review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra just yet (it's coming, though). And comparisons between Apple and non-Apple smartwatches are always difficult, as it makes almost no sense to have an Apple Watch and an Android phone, or an iPhone with a Samsung smartwatch.
For now, though, we'll say that someone rocking a Samsung (or another Android) phone has a decent option to pair it with a premium Samsung smartwatch.
