Samsung Galaxy Watch (46mm/42mm)

[kkh786]

Over the Black Friday weekend I got myself a companion for my Galaxy Note 9.. a Galaxy Watch 42mm in matching Midnight Black colour!

A quick search in Alternative Section did not show up any dedicated Galaxy Watch threads for discussion etc.

Thus, I am starting this thread for all things Galaxy Watch (both 46mm/42mm are applicable)

I'll start with my initial impressions..

Having previously owned the Gear S3 and the Gear Sport.. I preferred the size of the Gear Sport hence, the 42mm Galaxy Watch was the better choice for me (despite a smaller battery compared to the 46mm).

There are no groundbreaking hardware changes to previous.. the Galaxy Watch is a case of evolution of earlier models.. which in my opinion is a good thing.

The latest software Tizen 4.0 is much improved compared to earlier iterations.. and the experience is still as smooth and intuitive as ever.. still loving the rotating bezel!

All the sensors seem to be much more accurate compared to previous models and I love the various stock workout routines as it almost covers my gym routines.

Initial battery endurance has been over two days given I have everything on including always on display.. I am more than happy with that!

Those were my initial impressions.. what do you guys think?

 

[tinnyms3]

I picked up the 46mm version mainly for battery life, and getting average of over 6 days per charge so I'm happy with that. I only use it for notifications, no aod, no sleep, no power saving.

 

[1BadManVan]

Interested to see how people like it over time. I have the gear sport and love it but would love the larger galaxy watch

 

[SquireSCA]

I had one, the 46mm, it was solid and had awesome battery life... It's the best Android watch out currently, but I didn't feel it was up to Apple Watch level...

 

[reasonrulaz]

I have Galaxy Watch 46mm for two and half months.. Galaxy Watch vs AW Series 4; my thoughts;

Pros & Cons for Galaxy Watch :

Pros;

1 - Design : Galaxy Watch looks like real watch, AW looks like iPod nano 8th generation !

2 - UI : Galaxy Watch rotating bezel is best smartwatch UI tool IMO. If you don't want to touch for some reason (dirty or dusty fingers) use rotating bezel, otherwise touchscreen.. Also Tizen OS still fastest smart watch OS.. Response time, app start-load time everthing on this watch is fast

3 - Battery Life : 5 days for a single charge easily (no always on, every other option is on), if you tweak something (disable auto heart rate, stress, sleep monitor..) you get a week or more..

4 - Apps & Watch faces : Tizen OS known for poor app support. But I can find everything for my needs.. Watch faces is another plus for Galaxy Watch.. Thousands of watch faces ready for your choices

5 - Durability : It's very robust watch.. Glass embedded with rotating bezel.. It's very hard to scratch or damage glass.. Also watch body is strong and resist to scratch.. I'm surprised a lot of times when accidentally hit wall or other objects.. I thought it's damaged but not... Nothing happened.. Sometimes you need to clean debris which rest of damage of other side (paint & coating on wall )

Cons;

1 - Display; Low PPI level. Yes, you can't distinguish any pixel without magnifying glass but, especially if you look second hand with analog watch faces I want higher pixel density on Galaxy Watch. But if I have to choice between battery life vs high PPI level, my vote goes to battery life..

2 - Vibration motor : Please Samsung; copy or innovate better like Apple haptic engine feel for your watches.. Vibration motor on Galaxy Watch is very good. Not make noise, vibration level is enough for most situations.. But if you used to AW haptic engine, vibration motor is not satisfying.

3 - Bixby voice commands : I don't use it. I'm tried but it's not ready for watch..

Pros & Cons for Apple Watch Series 4 :

Pros;

1 - Design : If you like square style watches you like apple watches.. Some people don't like round watches..

2 - Siri & iPhone integration : Better than Galaxy Watch for most situation. I miss iPhone & AW4 for just a one thing; Shopping list entries with AW4 via Siri... Really..

3 - Haptic Engine

4 - Gorgeous display; it's like every elements on display floating on glass..

Cons;

1 - Design

2 - Lack of watch faces

3 - UI : I thing WatchOS is not refined yet. I'm confusing at complications, recent app selection screen, UI lags..

4 - Speed : WatchOS still behind TizenOS

5 - Battery life : One day, maybe two... If you want to sleep monitoring on AW which is default on Galaxy Watch you have to charge it every day..


* Sorry for my English..

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

I'm still rocking the Gear S3 Frontier 46mm. Tizen 3.0.0.2. Battery life, just barely makes 3 days, with AOD enabled.

My only complaint is the Floor counter is not accurate. I would run up 12 floors and it would only count 4. It's only been accurate one time for me.

The step counter and heart sensor is accurate the majority of the time.

Still love the auto sleep detection.

Spotify works damn good as a standalone app.

 

[kkh786]

So I decided to return the 42mm and get the larger 46mm watch as it was on a really good offer (£199 from John Lewis) and the longer battery life was a big attraction!

First reaction was wow the size difference huge. If I had not had a Gear S3 previously I would have already returned the 46mm thinking it's too big.

Nonetheless, I'm going to try it for a week and see if I can adjust to the size like I did with the Gear S3.

Wish me luck!

 

[dinggus]

How do you like it? Last watch the wife had was a Samsung Gear S2 and I know Android Wear has come a long way (I have the Huawei Watch 2) but never fooled around with Tizen and afraid she might not like it.

 

[kkh786]

How do you like it? Last watch the wife had was a Samsung Gear S2 and I know Android Wear has come a long way (I have the Huawei Watch 2) but never fooled around with Tizen and afraid she might not like it.

Apart from the app quantity Wear OS has nothing on Tizen.

Tizen first party apps have been sufficient for all my needs so I'm not actually even interested in other OSs.

Tizen has improved a lot since Gear S2. Much more useful. No harm in trying it out, you never know you may actually enjoy it like me!

 

[pdqgp]

Just picked up a 46mm LTE version and so far like it a lot. Had the original rectangular Gear S and it was good but for a Gen 1 it had a few quirks for sure. From a phone standpoint, I did really like having the LTE connectivity. Really nice on the go when perhaps I didn't take my Note with me. Found using the text messages was a key use for me.

I then moved to a Fit Bit Versa. iWatch like in appearance and super light weight made it perfect. Does an awesome job with the fit bit software and tracking both steps and stairs spot-on. I also used the sleep feature a lot and enjoyed the reminders and text message notifications even if they weren't interactive. I moved away this week simply because there's a pretty well known issue with it irritating wrists. Not sure if it's the constant heartbeat monitor or the materials, etc. Takes about 3-5 days of use to develop but still not something I'm happy about happening.

The new Galaxy Watch is everything noted above and more. So far really liking it. Definitely a much more robust interface than my original.

 

[Wide opeN]

I'd really love to hear more from other current users. My roommate just got one, and the screen looks really crisp.

 

[Healer Flame]

Over the Black Friday weekend I got myself a companion for my Galaxy Note 9.. a Galaxy Watch 42mm in matching Midnight Black colour!

A quick search in Alternative Section did not show up any dedicated Galaxy Watch threads for discussion etc.

Thus, I am starting this thread for all things Galaxy Watch (both 46mm/42mm are applicable)

I'll start with my initial impressions..

Having previously owned the Gear S3 and the Gear Sport.. I preferred the size of the Gear Sport hence, the 42mm Galaxy Watch was the better choice for me (despite a smaller battery compared to the 46mm).

There are no groundbreaking hardware changes to previous.. the Galaxy Watch is a case of evolution of earlier models.. which in my opinion is a good thing.

The latest software Tizen 4.0 is much improved compared to earlier iterations.. and the experience is still as smooth and intuitive as ever.. still loving the rotating bezel!

All the sensors seem to be much more accurate compared to previous models and I love the various stock workout routines as it almost covers my gym routines.

Initial battery endurance has been over two days given I have everything on including always on display.. I am more than happy with that!

Those were my initial impressions.. what do you guys think?

Probably getting one this week I really like the gorgeous different faces. Will be my first smart watch. They cost in Australia around AU$550.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Is the LTE more wide spread? Apple's LTE is only supported by 2 carriers in the UK and my carrier isn't one of them. I've had my series 3 since 2017 and still cant use the LTE function on it.

Basically what I want to know is will I get notifications like messages, email and from news apps. Does Samsung pay work well on it? Cam you reply to text messages, set alarms and reminders, and make shopping lists/notes, make calls and does it have a flash light. Can you use it to control music playback on your phone and can it work with a chromecast?

That's pretty much what I use my Apple watch for. I don't ever open any of the apps because they take too long to open.

 

[The Game 161]

Is the LTE more wide spread? Apple's LTE is only supported by 2 carriers in the UK and my carrier isn't one of them. I've had my series 3 since 2017 and still cant use the LTE function on it.

Basically what I want to know is will I get notifications like messages, email and from news apps. Does Samsung pay work well on it? Cam you reply to text messages, set alarms and reminders, and make shopping lists/notes, make calls and does it have a flash light. Can you use it to control music playback on your phone and can it work with a chromecast?

That's pretty much what I use my Apple watch for. I don't ever open any of the apps because they take too long to open.

Think you can do the same as you would with your phone. I know EE have the gear available via LTE

The apps I use on my Apple Watch is apps like sports alerts so checking sport scores I don’t think you can do that on the gear but given your usage I think you could likely get away with using it the same

I’m going to review things in September and see if to stay with iPhone or try a new challenge

If I go Samsung I will go with note 10

Samsung are bringing out a new watch on 20th which is the active watch...be interesting how that works