Some people need a smartwatch that doesn’t compromise on functionality while offering an extra degree of protection. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is such a device, one that offers an expansive feature list, including solo operation and a wide array of apps, inside a MIL-STD 810H certified case.
The ‘go anywhere, do anything’ ethos that built Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra comes at a cost. But, for those whom the Korean electronics giant has designed the device, there is nothing else than can match Watch Ultra for its combination of high-tech and high-strength.
Looking Tough
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra works its rugged chassis into a visual feature rather than working around it. The tough frame with its thick titanium housing is rounded off and frosted, and offered as a pleasing contrast to the round and glossy bevelled edges surrounding the top plate.
The included strap is an eye-catching safety orange, with matching dial marks surrounding the watch face. Again, this is safety and security worked into the visual design that we loved.
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The strap is ridged, and uses a double-pin latch for more secure fastening. The double punch holes on the strap offer a little more air circulation to the skin under the wide wrist strap.
Being Tough
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra can survives dunks of up to 100m underwater, with Water Lock mode enabled, and flights up to 9,000m altitude. Without Water Lock mode enabled, the device’s IP68 rating allows it survive up to 1.5 metres for around 30 minutes, as well as being dust-tight.
The unit is also designed to operated comfortably in temperatures of up to 55 degrees Celsius, and as low as minus twenty degrees.
Facing the Elements
The 1.5-inch diameter display is similarly ready for the outdoors. Fronted by sapphire glass, the display can hit a peak brightness of 3,000. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is perfectly legible, even in direct sunlight.
The 450 x 450 pixel resolution can produce extremely fine detail, more than the best of eyes can handle. The AMOLED panel produces a pleasing contrast and surprisingly vivid colour. UI elements, images in messaging apps, and certain watch faces really pop.
Menu and UI
There are three buttons on Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra – the Home Button, the Quick Button, and the Back Button. The device gets the most from the three-button arrangement with some neat use of long and double presses.
Holding the quick button for five seconds starts the personal siren, an 86-decibel siren blast that can be herd for up to 180 metres away. A long press of menu button brings up Bixby, Samsung’s AI personal assistant. A double press of the menu button brings up the previously opened app.
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These are the default choices, and you can change them to your liking. It’s worth noting that there are a limited selection on offer for some buttons. There are only five for the Quick Button, the Back Button can only be ‘Back’ or ‘Recent Apps’. The Home Button can have any app assigned to its double press. But, only Bixby or the Power Off menu are available for the long press.
Swipes and pinches on the display are similarly utilised to offer intuitive and versatile navigation. And, like the three buttons, Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra offers some customisation options.
Full-Sensory Experience
Samsung Galaxy Watch features all the health, fitness and environmental monitoring sensors you would expect from a premium smartwatch. However, many of these are of higher specification that others on the market.
Watch Ultra offers a barometer and altimeter like many premium smartwatches. However, Watch Ultra’s are designed to work at greater extremes that your average smartwatch to match the performance of the military standard casing. The GPS system uses two signals for more accurate and faster location data. The device’s thermometer function can take body and water temperatures.
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There are also a few extra cutting-edge sensors aboard. Samsung’s own BioActive, a suite of health monitoring sensors, takes blood oxygenation levels, blood pressure , heart rate, and body mass, and a raft of other metrics.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra also gets the most from its sensors with a comprehensive health and fitness software suite. Practically all types of exercise can be measured effectively, be it cycling, rock climbing or pulling weights at the gym. Samsung can measure your caloric intake and measure your energy burned to keep a close eye on your weight.
Custom Clock
There is a massive repository of clock faces and themes available through the Samsung ‘Wear’ wearables app. Hundreds, if not thousands, of options are available for free. Samsung also made it very easy to combine watch face styles and add modular features like info displays and ‘complications’ through the app.
A nice selection of face styles and an impressive list of adornments, functional or not, are available on the watch to do some styling in place. There are more options and styles available than on Google Pixel Watch, but the interface for adjusting or creating watch faces on the watch is not particularly intuitive.
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The Wear app also allows for a granular control over the quick menu, app placement, tile placement, and a host of other options to streamline your own experience. The Wear app is probably the best companion for a watch I have used to date. It’s easy to use, whilst being fully featured and offering a wealth of customisation options.
Solo Traveller
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra sports dual-band WiFi, as well as offering LTE (4G+) via eSIM. And to get the most of the untethered lifestyle, Watch Ultra has a strong selection of standalone apps to go with a huge selection of companion applets.
Galaxy Watch Ultra supports all of the major music streaming services. So, you can listen to music while your phone stays at home. Messaging and email services like WhatsApp and Gmail can be fully linked. And there are thousands of apps available through Google Play Store of Samsung’s own app portal. You can effectively use Galaxy Watch Ultra as a wrist-mounted smartphone.
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And for the solo adventurer, there are also some extra safety features built in. Fall detection can auto contact a chosen contact. The aforementioned Quick Button siren. And, an SOS call function that can be activated by five quick presses of the Home Button.
The array of customisation and interface options on Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is particularly welcome on a device whose target users will have vastly different priorities.
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Being able to map all three buttons is as well as rearrange practically every menu makes Watch Ultra incredibly practical. You might want to emphasis the fitness functionality, or be all about navigation. But, no matter what you use your Galaxy Watch Ultra for, you can modify practically every facet how you interact with it to keep whatever you’ll use most closest to hand.
Ultra Stamina
Galaxy Watch Ultra features a 590mAh battery that keeps its many apps and features running for well over 24 hours. On our moderate workload and with the Always On Display (AOD) enabled, we could make it to two days before we needed the magnetic charging puck. And we’ve been used the device as intended.
48 hours taking the odd call, keep up with sport scores, check and respond to messages without taking our phone from our pocket, monitoring a quick run. And Samsung Galaxy Watch kept up.
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For those who need more stamina, there are two extra power saving modes. One keeps all the fitness bells and whistles, as well as some user-chosen apps, but ditches the AOD and other functions. This Exercise Power Saving mode can almost guarantee 48 hours on one charge.
The other mode, simply called Power Saving, disables WiFi, AOD, raise to wake, and a few other features. Power Saving mode also throttles the CPU and switches off some background functions to wring up to 100 hours from the device.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Specifications
| Chipset: | Exynos W1000 – Penta-core CPU – Mali G-68 |
| RAM: | 2GB |
| Storage: | 32GB |
| Display: | Super AMOLED, 1.5 inches, 480 x 480 pixels |
| OS: | Android Wear OS 5, One UI Watch 6 |
| Sensors: | Accelerometer, gyro, heart rate, barometer, altimeter, compass, SpO2, body temperature, water temperature, BioActive |
| Connectivity: | – Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band – Bluetooth 5.3, A2DP, LE – NFC – GPS (L1+L5), GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| Dimensions: | 47.4 x 47.4 x 12.1 mm |
| Weight: | 60.5 g, excluding strap |
| Water Resistance: | 10ATM, up to 100 metres depth |
| Ruggedisation: | MIL-STD 810H certified, IP68 rating, sapphire glass face |
| Charging: | Magnetic 10W charging puck included (USB-C) |
| Battery: | Li-Ion 590mAh, Qi Wireless Charging at 10W |
| Chassis Colours: | Titanium Gray, (reviewed) Titanium Sliver, Titanium White |
Watch Ultra Pricing and Availability
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is available now at €699 from Samsung Ireland, and in stores.
