Samsung has finally answered the request users have made, that is to give the Apple Watch Ultra a contender, a deserving one at that. But the thing is, after you read this Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Impressions, you will realize that this isn’t the Ultra contender it should be. Let us explain.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Impressions

Looks Ultra Enough, takes a Page out of Bell and Ross’ Looks

It’s safe to say that if you don’t have the rugged look going on, people will think that it’s some normal smartwatch. That’s not the case here with the Galaxy Watch Ultra – because this watch looks as tactical as it can get. It gets a new cushion design and durability because it’s made out of Titanium Grade 4 with MIL-STD-810H certification, so the watch can take a beat. They have opted for a circular display on a square-ish body – which reminds me of the Bell & Ross BR-X1 series.

Since it’s meant for extreme conditions, the watch does not have any movable parts – so there’s no rotating dial and the crown on the side is purely a button and not a rotatable crown.

Gets new Hardware that does set the Ultra a little over the Edge

Ultra is the moniker to give to a product that seals the deal in offering the best type of experience in extreme conditions. That said, Samsung has equipped enough into this device to make the watch deserving of its name:

  • New BioActive Sensor 2 (which gives you improved readings and better user experience while doing intensive workouts like Multisport)
  • 10ATM (withstanding pressures up to 100 meters, so suitable for swimming, snorkelling, and high-speed water sports) with IP68 but there’s no certification for Diving, more specifically, the Galaxy Watch Ultra does not have EN13319 certification for Dive Compliance.
  • Ability to withstand extreme temperatures (-20 degrees Celsius to 55 degrees Celsius)
  • Dual-Frequency GPS (L1+L5)/Glonass/Beidou/Galileo
  • Longest battery life with 100 hours of power saving and 48 hours of exercise power saving.

Some Features not Guaranteed to Work in your Country

Here’s the biggest kicker though, Samsung mentioned that the Galaxy Watch Ultra features may vary according to countries as certain countries lack the infrastructure to make everything work. For instance, the SOS feature which can be enabled to call the helpline is still not configured for Malaysia. This means that there will be other features that just might not work in Malaysia. Something we saw coming miles away.

Honestly, it feels like a Pro than an Ultra in Many Ways

In case you didn’t know, the Galaxy Watch Ultra replaces the Pro series for good, which means you have fewer options to choose from. But after seeing what we were shown, the Galaxy Watch Ultra feels like a Pro instead of an Ultra. And this even brings up another conversation…

… It doesn’t feel like an Apple Watch Ultra Contender

And that’s a problem. What we have here from Samsung does very little to what the Apple Watch Ultra 2 could do – like diving capabilities, Satellite calls, and the ability to use the watch independently instead of depending on the smartphone connectivity is a problem we have yet to solve in the Android space. We aren’t too sure how Samsung is going to tackle this but I do hope to see some improvements. If there isn’t any, this might be a tough one to recommend.

As for the rest, we do get a new 3nm Processor, the Exynos W1000 with 2GB RAM and 32GB storage, and the battery here is about 590mAh and runs Wear OS 5 out of the box with One UI 6.

I don’t think we would have the chance to review this because even if we did, the 1-2 weeks duration won’t be enough for us to give a conclusive review. But let’s see how things turn out and we will keep you posted.

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