Smart Android And Trik-Commenting on Andorid indeed never endless, because smart devices this one is often updated every certain amount of time. So that the market can always be garapnya menerinya with pleasure. And it is not denied if this device has become the lifestyle of each society. To not wonder if the 6th business information and many are turning to mobail smartphone. With Android which thoroughly dominated the mobile industry, choosing the best Android smartphone is almost identical to choose the best smartphone, period. But while Android phones have few real opponents on other platforms, internal competition is intense.
Introduction
Saying that smartwatches have become an integral part of our lives would be an overstatement but we are (probably) headed in that general direction. And we believe that Samsung, as one of the pioneers in the field, has got quite a lot of things right. The current Galaxy Watch3 is the epitome of excellent craftsmanship and software optimization so even with that steep price tag of around €460, there are a couple of good reasons why you'd want to buy one. It's easily one of the best, if not the best alternative to Apple's Watch.
Sadly, we only received the smaller, 41mm model so we couldn't get the most out of the experience as the display on that model is just 1.2" while the 45mm offers a larger 1.4" panel. Also, the battery on the 41mm model is 247 mAh as opposed to the 340 mAh battery on the 45mm model. Both options are somehow of a downgrade compared to original Galaxy Watch but we do appreciate Samsung's efforts into keeping the feature gap between the 41mm and the 45mm variants as low as possible. The 41mm this year gets an LTE option and a loudspeaker, which can be used for making phone calls. Features that are usually left out in smaller-sized devices from Samsung and other makers as well.
Smartwatches these days are quite more fragmented than smartphones in terms of the hardware and software they use. Since Google's Wear OS platform failed to deliver a competitive user experience and because manufacturers are always looking for ways to make their products stand out, you have much more variety with smartwatches. Some are geared for battery longevity and only relay notifications from your phone, while others are capable of running apps on their own and be more independent.
The Galaxy Watches fall in the second category. They run Tizen-based wearable OS, they can run apps, they have Wi-Fi and GPS, and certain models even have LTE connectivity. As a downside, they don't last very long on a single battery charge - you are looking at 2-3 days at most.
Samsung Galaxy Watch3
- Body: 45mm: 46.2x45.0x11.1mm, 54g; 41mm: 42.5 x 41 x 11.3 mm, 48.2g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass DX), stainless steel frame 316L or titanium frame; MIL-STD-810G compliant, 50m water resistant (IP68); .
- Display: 45mm: 1.40", 41mm: 1.20"; Super AMOLED, 360x360px resolution, 9:9 aspect ratio; Always-on display.
- Chipset: Exynos 9110 (10 nm): Dual-core 1.15 GHz Cortex-A53; Mali-T720.
- Memory: 8GB 1GB RAM; eMMC.
- OS/Software: Tizen-based wearable OS 5.5.
- Sensors: Accelerometer, gyro, heart rate, barometer; NFC; Natural language commands and dictation.
- Battery: 45mm: 340mAh; 41mm: 247mAh; Qi wireless charging.
- Misc: Samsung Pay, CG certified, Blood pressure monitor, Compatible with standard 20/22mm straps, Rotating bezel, Loudspeaker, LTE connectivity even on the 41mm variant, Colors: Mystic Bronze, Mystic Black, Mystic White.
In terms of hardware, the Watch3 has few upgrades over the original Galaxy Watch. The Exynos 9110 still powers the whole thing, but the operating memory gets a boost up to 1GB and internal storage is 8GB for both models. The display is brighter as well while retaining the same 360 x 360px resolution.
Galaxy Watch3 45mm
The best part, however, is the physical rotating bezel. With the Galaxy Watch Active and Active2, we thought that this iconic feature of Samsung smartwatches is now gone. But we guess the company has listened and the rotating control is back once again and it's better than ever.
Galaxy Watch3 45mm
And while hardware-wise the Galaxy Watch3 isn't bringing a staggering upgrade, the health and fitness-related features get a significant boost. You now get ECG, and a blood pressure monitor and other tracking functionalities. It's unfortunate that only a few markets can get the most out of the ECG-certified monitor. At least for now.
Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy Watch3
The watch comes in a typical for a classic watch box containing the usual user manuals, a wireless magnetic Qi wireless charger and the device itself. The latter can't be charged on a regular Qi wireless charger, though.
Design and build
As far as looks are concerned, the watch looks a lot like the good old Gear Sport. Put side by side with the 41mm version we received, we are hard-pressed to see any noticeable difference. It's probably has something to do with the rotating bezel. Sure, it's also reminiscent of the original Galaxy Watch but after spending a week or so with the device, it started to feel a lot more like the Gear Sport.
Galaxy Watch3 41mm and Gear Sport
Anyway, the materials and feel of the watch are nothing short of premium. We have a body made of stainless steel while only the 45mm model can get you the expensive titanium case. Samsung says that the new Watch3 is 14% thinner and 15% lighter than the original Watch while employing bigger screen. This is only true for the titanium 45mm version but the 41mm one retains the 1.2-inch screen. Still has a considerably smaller body, though.
Galaxy Watch3 45mm
Going back to the build itself, the device offers non-plastic back or at least it doesn't feel remotely plasticky to touch. We would assume it's aluminum, though, and not stainless steel. Still, that's good news as we often see "premium" smarwatches with plastic casing on the back. The Galaxy Watch was one of those.
In addition to more natural navigation, the rotating bezel doubles as a "screen protector" to some extent. We noticed that the protruding bezel often takes the first hit when we brush or bump the watch somewhere. We think that it's good that the ring picks up the scuffs instead of the display.
One noticeable difference between the Gear Sport and the Watch3 are the navigation buttons. They are not rubberized and are instead are made of brushed metal.
Our only small complaint would be about the straps. Samsung says they are made of genuine leather but we can't shake off that cheap feel. There's something to them that doesn't feel right and it could be due to the unnatural-looking color. The back of the straps are strengthened and should withstand moisture, sweat and discoloration. The good news is that they are changeable and our review unit can take any standard straps which are 20mm wide. The 45mm one uses 22mm straps.
Speaking of color, the 41mm model comes in two colors - Mystic Bronze and Mystic Silver. We got the former and from a man's point of view, it's this color must be targeted at the gentler part of the population. The 45mm variant, on the other hand, has the Mystic Black and Mystic Silver as options and looks more masculine.
Overall, the watch feels solid and lightweight at the same time. The advertised MIL-STD-810G compliance suggests the phone should have no problem withstanding the occasional drop, extreme temperatures, dust, shock/vibration, and low pressure/high altitude. Yet Samsung advises avoiding excessive, sudden temperature changes and high-velocity activities.
The device 5ATM/IP68 rating means you can wear it while swimming but it's best that you rinse it in fresh water and dry it after use in sea water or chlorinated water.
Usability and controls
We've already expressed our satisfaction with the return of the rotating ring so you've probably guessed that we also like the way Tizen navigates thanks to that very same ring. Of course, you can always do the good old-fashioned finger swiping and sometimes you have to - the drop-down menu for the quick toggles is just one example. Still, the ring helps you navigate more intuitively without having to smudge the display that often and also without obstructing the content on the screen.
Not to mention that the ring feels awesome. It has definitely improved since the Gear Sport and the original Galaxy Watch times. It's clicky without being obnoxious. In fact, we often found ourselves just fidgeting around with it.
The bottom button acts as a home button while the one on the top is often used to go back. It's also used to pause your workout.
We would also like to add that this is one of the few devices that get the "lift-to-wake" function right. About 9/10 times the screen turns on when you turn your wrist to check the time. This is really important from a usability standpoint because if you don't want the Always-on display toggle turned on to conserve battery, you are stuck with the second-best option, which is lift-to-wake.
Hardware
The Galaxy Watch3 employs a 1.2-inch, circular Super AMOLED panel with 360 x 360px resolution, at least the 41mm that is. The 45mm offers a significantly larger 1.4-inch display but retains the 360 x 360px resolution. Both are protected by a Gorilla Glass DX as opposed to the DX+ on the older Galaxy Watch. Samsung doesn't specify how bright the display gets but we found it to be sufficiently bright in all conditions and as always, colors look amazing on it. It just shows how experienced Samsung is with OLEDs.
All those pixels are driven by the good old Exynos 9110 chipset based on the 10nm manufacturing process using a dual-core processor running at 1.15GHz. The SoC is designed for smartwatches and dates back to original Galaxy Watch. We would have appreciated a more advanced chipset but then again, this one seems to do its job just fine. With the included 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, everything feels snappy and responsive. We are happy with the bump up of the internal storage as the 4GB on the previous generation just wasn't enough.
The much-optimized Tizen OS 5.5 runs perfectly on the device and we didn't have any hiccups or stutters. One could argue that lowering the performance could squeeze out a little bit more of the battery but we like it that way. Take Hauwei and Honor's smartwatches, for example. They offer superior battery life but fail to impress in terms of performance. All animations are choppy and navigation feels rather laggy. Quite the opposite of what Samsung is offering with its Tizen OS.
Speaking of battery, the 45mm Watch3 offers a downgraded 340 mAh battery compared to the 472 mAh unit on the 45mm Galaxy Watch and the same goes for the 41mm and 42mm alterations too - the 41mm Watch3 goes down to 247 mAh from the 270 mAh on the 42mm Galaxy Watch.
| Size | Samsung Galaxy Watch | Samsung Galaxy Watch3 |
|---|---|---|
| 42mm/41mm | 270 mAh | 247 mAh |
| 46mm/45mm | 472 mAh | 340 mAh |
In terms of connectivity, the device supports A2DP and LE protocols over Bluetooth 5.0, has GPS, NFC (for Samsung Pay) and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n.
We found the Bluetooth range to be quite impressive. In a 75m2 apartment with thick walls where even Wi-Fi signal struggles to get through, we were able to make a proper phone call without any disruption with the phone left on the charger in the furthest room. Our only complaint would be the volume of the phone calls. It doesn't feel loud enough. Then again, given the size of the watch, perhaps Samsung wasn't able to put a bigger speaker.
Call screen
What's more, Samsung is bringing the LTE connectivity to the smaller 41mm as well this year - a very rare find for small smartwatches.
When it comes to sensors, this little fellow is packed. There's a real ECG inside, blood pressure monitor, accelerometer, gyroscope and barometer. Unfortunately, the ECG monitor is certified to make ECG readings, blood pressure and send health alerts for irregular or abnormal heart rhythm only in South Korea and most recently in the USA. Certification is currently pending for the rest of the markets like Europe.
Battery life
For the purpose of our test, we left pretty much every setting in its default state and we were able to get an easy two days with one workout and a short bike ride in the city with the GPS turned on and a couple of phone calls through the watch.
We had the watch strapped the entire time, even when sleeping to get that sleep data in as well. Here are the settings we used and that we believe have the biggest impact on battery life.
- Screen brightness set to 6/10 with auto low brightness setting switched on
- Notifications enabled with sound and vibration
- Automatic heart rate measurements every 10 minutes
- Bluetooth constantly on and Wi-Fi set to auto
- Wake up gesture on with 30 seconds screen timeout
We believe that the bigger 45mm watch will have considerably longer battery life but we doubt it would beat the original Galaxy Watch as it had larger battery and it's hard to get around that. In any case, we weren't particularly impressed by the endurance of the 41mm variant that we had with us.
Charging isn't something special either. The provided wireless charger can get the watch from near 0% to 100% in a little over two hours. And the bad news is that even though the device supports Qi wireless charging, it can't be charged over a normal Qi-compatible pad. The watch works only with the one provided in the box.
Tizen 5.5
Tizen is undoubtedly one of the best OS' for smartwatches out there. Samsung's Tizen feels pretty mature, polished, snappy and provides a wide selection of apps and watch faces to download. And that's in case you get bored of the numerous default watch faces.
Scrolling through the available default watch faces, we see a couple of familiar faces, no pun intended. Really. The new ones, however, impress mostly with its functionality. You can customize almost every aspect of some of the watchfaces. You can switch colors and choose what relevant information you want to appear on the screen such as steps, activity level, heart rate, weather, remaining battery, etc.
Customizable watch faces
The UI itself, however, hasn't changed over the last couple of iterations. Only minor updates to the aesthetics have been introduced lately to go in line with the current flat-looking One UI on Samsung phones. A couple of features that aren't necessarily new, however, stand out.
Drop-down menu and widgets
For example, the drop-down menu is customizable and gives you access to the most commonly used functions such as find my phone, battery saver, screen brightness, theater mode, good night mode, GPS, etc.
The theater mode and good night mode are particularly useful as they disable sounds for notifications and the wake up gesture.
You can imagine how annoying it is when you are trying to sleep, turn around and the watch just wakes up and blasts the screen in the pitch black room. The same goes for when you are in the cinema.
More widgets
There's also the so-called Water Lock, which disables the touch screen in case you are swimming or taking a shower to prevent any accidental touches from the water drops. Holding the power button deactivates the screen lock and the loudspeaker blasts a couple of tons to get out any trapped water within the loudspeaker. It's a neat feature, which Samsung borrowed from Apple's Watch.
Don't forget to use screen lock when in contact with water because this one time, a watch we had did a full hardware reset as drops from the shower found their way through the UI all the way to the reset menu. Not joking!
When it comes to apps, TizenOS does have more than most Werable-based OS, except Apple's WatchOS and Google's WearOS, of course. The Galaxy Store for wearable apps might have you interested in a couple of paid and free apps. The better ones are paid, however. There's a standalone map with navigation available, a ton of fitness-related apps, but the one that stands out with proper integration is Spotify. The app allows you to download your favorite playlist onto the watch and since the device allows you to pair Bluetooth headphones, you can just leave your phone behind and still listen to Spotify. Of course, the app also allows you to control remotely the device on which Spotify is playing. That can be your smartphone or even your PC.
In all fairness, most of the apps on the Galaxy Store are just alternative versions of the pre-installed apps like timer, alarm clock and even Samsung Health. Rarely have we felt the need to install additional apps on our Tizen-based smartwatches.
Oh, and if you are a Samsung smartphone owner and there's Samsung Pay enabled in your region, this watch supports it. Obviously, since the Watch3 isn't running on WearOS, Google Pay isn't supported.
Samsung Galaxy Watch3 plugin
Upon starting the device for the first time, Samsung asks you to install its Galaxy Watch3 plugin on your phone so you can adjust a variety of settings and customize your watch through your phone. It's also necessary for your notifications to get through.
And speaking of notifications, this is by far the best notification handler we've seen for a smartwatch. There are plenty of controls, per-app toggle and even though it's not essential, the fact that Samsung is able to extract the correct app icon (even if you change your icon pack on your phone) and display it on your watch, is awesome. It just adds to the overall experience.
We also found the option to mute your phone's notifications when you are wearing the watch and is connected to the phone pretty clever and useful. Why would you want to hear your notifications on your phone if you are already getting them on your watch anyway?
Notification settings
Most of the settings found within the app can be adjusted on the watch but things like re-arranging the app list or widget screens as well as browsing for new watch faces is much more convenient on your phone's big screen.
Galaxy Watch Plugin settings
If you are coming from a previous Samsung watch, you will definitely find your way around the app itself. Even the old Gear Sport has most of the features and settings the Galaxy Watch3 plugin has to offer. With one small exception - gestures. In the Labs sub-menu, you will find two experimental gestures. Rotating your wrist twice will mute incoming calls or alarms while making a fist and opening your palm again will answer an incoming call without having to touch the smartwatch at all.
Gestures
Samsung Health app and fitness tracking
As with almost all smartwatches, one of the main selling points are the fitness and health tracking features. And the Galaxy Watch3 along with the Samsung Health app can do plenty of tracking. From extracting detailed information during your sleep and rating your sleep patterns to measuring your stress levels and VO2 Max during a training session. In case you are a bit stressed out, the watch will guide you through a short breathing session to calm you down.
Sleep data
Things such as irregular heart rate and notifications about abnormal heart behaviour can only be turned on if the watch's ECG has been certified in your country as all such metrics are associated with the ECG monitor.
Now as far as heart rate tracking goes, we can say that heart rate measuring seems about right even though we haven't tested it against a chest strap or other smartwatches. We believe that smart wearables, especially high-end ones, have matured enough to do some proper heart rate readings.
Sleep tracking on the other hand is pure guess-timation and hardly anyone does it right. But the level of detail is enough to bring your attention to potential issues with your sleeping routine - like going to bed too late or not getting enough Z's.
Samsung Health app home screen and weekly activity summary
No on to the available workout modes. And they are a lot. The list just goes on and on but the most important thing is that you will definitely find a workout mode suitable for your type of activity. Even weight training isn't left out and most of the commonly performed exercises are there such as bench press, overhead press, deadlifts, squats, all kinds of cable machines, pull-ups, crunches, rows, biceps curls and even lateral dumbbell raises.
Setting up a workout routine might come useful for those who hate counting reps and keeping track of sets. The watch can do all of that for you by counting each and every rep with audio and visual feedback, tell you when to rest and when to get back under the bar.
However, we didn't find a way to adjust the rest times between sets, you can only choose the number of sets and reps. Not everyone will be fine with the 30-sec rest pauses. Moreover, we found that it may miss a rep or two at times.
Hiking and bike rides are one of the most reliable modes for obvious reasons. They are much easier to track the burned calories based on your weight, heart rate, speed and distance. Calories burned during weight training are ranging a lot from person to person and the watch seems to calculate that based just on heart rate and personal data you've put in. It doesn't account for how much weight you put on the bar, which is pretty important. Additionally, you burn a lot more calories after a weightliftibng session and less during one. The same isn't true for running, hiking or cycling.
Overall, there is room for improvement in this respect.
Walking and cycling information
If you turn on your GPS during a cycling session, you will be granted with tons of data like average speed, average heart rate and how much time you spent in each heart rate zone, elevation, pace, distance, average speed, maximum speed, etc. During the cycling session, the assistant's voice will give you audio feedback on how fast you are going, your average heart rate and what distance you've covered within certain time frame. The best part is that the wake up feature when you look at the watch works while in the previous Tizen iteration you had to bump the screen with your nose to see what's going on. Not very convenient.
And without going into much detail about steps, as this is a feature that every single wearable has, we just want to say that it's pretty darn accurate. Even when you aren't swaying your arm while moving, the watch counts every step correctly.
And one setting we feel is pretty important - the Samsung Health app lets you turn off step counting on your phone (as we found this to be a battery hog) and extract data just from your watch instead.
Competition
A couple of years ago, it was just Samsung and a handful of other smartwatch manufacturers and the Korean tech giant was often touted as the best smart wearables vendor. In 2020, however, things have changed. Now we have the Oppo Watch, Huawei's Watch GT 2 and, of course, Apple's Watch. Although, the last one is strictly for iPhone users and despite the fact that Samsung's watches are compatible with iOS devices, you don't get the full range of features. What we are trying to say is even if Samsung's Galaxy Watch3 is probably one of the best Apple Watch alternatives, it's highly unlikely that an iPhone user would consider Samsung's watch. And even more so, an Android user - Apple's Watch.
So how it stacks against its fellow Android-compatible alternatives? Well, the Oppo Watch is the first that springs to mind and if you are liking the form factor, you should definitely consider it. The device has two OS' to boot from, one that promises whopping 21 days of battery life but it turns into a smart band, while the full-fledged Wear OS from Google can get you barely through 36 hours, which is even less than the 41mm Galaxy Watch3 that we've tested.
Huawei Watch GT 2 • Honor MagicWatch 2 • Apple Watch Series 5
On the other hand, having an untouched Wear OS on your hand ensures a wider range of apps and seamless integration with pretty much every Android device out there. We are not saying Samsung's Tizen OS is lacking in this department but it there's undoubtedly a wider range of apps for Wear OS than Tizen.
Huawei's Watch GT 2 and Honor's MagicWatch 2 are both capable alternatives and definitely worth considering. They have far superior battery life, can measure your heart rate even during your swimming session and are considerably cheaper. Whereas Samsung Watch3's Tizen OS feels a lot smoother, the downloadable apps can enhance the built-in functionality and Samsung's Health app and Galaxy Watch plugin give you more granular control over settings and features.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Watch3 launches with a steep price of $400/€400 for the small model and some extra for the larger one. But it also has a ton of features, feel and performance to back it all up. Samsung has made one of the best smartwatches on the market - the Galaxy Watch3.
We love the fact that the Watch3 brought back the physical rotating bezel, which is undoubtedly the best way to navigate through the device's menus. It even beats Apple's famous crown on the Watch.
We also love the way the way Tizen and the Android companion apps have matured. Oh, and if you are looking for something small like a 41 or 42mm form factor, Samsung's Galaxy Watch3 is unbeatable in this regard as it retains all the features you'd normally find on the bigger 45mm form factor. We are talking loudspeaker and LTE connectivity.
Still, there are some hurdles that even Samsung wasn't able to get through and the biggest one is battery life. Going beyond two days on the 41mm version is a struggle to say the least. And another big hurdle is the ECG certification. It's sad to see such a great feature being disabled in a number of markets (except the US and South Korean) just because it lacks a certification. The good news is that this is something that can change in the near future and we are looking forward to it.
Pros
- Premium build, nice and light feel.
- Great OLED screen as always with good visibility in all conditions.
- The iconic rotating ring is back!
- ECG monitor, VO2 Max and a plethora of other health tracking features.
- Mature Tizen OS and proper companion apps like Samsung Health and Galaxy Watch Plugin.
- One of the best notification handling out there.
- LTE and loudspeaker for direct phone calls even on the 41mm version.
Cons
- Disappointing battery life, even compared to its predecessor.
- The leather straps feel kind of cheap.
- Expensive no matter what version you choose.
- The ECG-related features are certified to work only in the US and South Korea.
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