Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra. Big Review

It's time to talk about a brand new watch for the ultimate guys. How many devices do you know that have caused someone to lose their job? Here's at least one — the new Galaxy Watch Ultra smartwatch from Samsung. The head of the company accused the team of simply copying the competitor, the Apple Watch Ultra. Yes, there is a similarity, it's stupid to deny it, but still, the watches are completely different. I'm telling you this as a user of both models — I've been wearing two watches for two weeks, people are looking at me askance, but should that stop me? That's right, so here's a review! Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Specifications: Dimensions: 47.4×47.4×12.1 mm, 61.5 g Material: aerospace grade titanium, sapphire glass Protection: 10 ATM Screen: Super AMOLED touchscreen, 1.47″, 480×480 (347 ppi), 3000 nits Processor: Exynos W1000, 3 nm, 5 cores Memory: 2 GB RAM, 32 GB ROM Battery: 590 mAh, wireless charging Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, dual-frequency GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n, NFC, eSIM Sensors: accelerometer, gyroscope, optical sensor biosignal, compass, ambient light sensor, speaker, microphone Colors: black titanium, white titanium, gray titanium Price: 260,000 About the kit and charger A minimalist kit is already a given of our time. In this case, the box is not very small, but in addition to the watch and instructions, it only contains a charging cable with a USB-C port. The charger is magnetic, in the form of a puck, the power is 15 W - from zero to 100% charges in about an hour. This is considered fast charging, but I would like to see a higher speed in the future. Plus, the "puck" itself has very weak magnets, the watch can easily fly off it - the competitor does not have this problem. Despite the dimensions, the battery here is the same volume as in the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro - 590 mAh. According to Samsung, the watch will last up to 100 hours in energy saving mode. An economical mode for training has also been developed - in this case, the watch will last up to 48 hours. With everyday use, one charge lasted me 3-4 days, this is without starting training. Not much, but the Apple Watch Ultra gives the same indicators. About the design Yes, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is surprisingly similar to the Apple Watch Ultra. Not a copy, but rather original, but at the same time the similarity with the original is clearly visible. It turned out, let's say, a rethinking of Apple's ideas in the Samsung style. The case, for example, is not rectangular, but round. At the same time, there is no rotating bezel like the old generation Samsung watches, but there is a relief rim with touch control support. You can also control the watch with physical keys on the right side, where there are three keys, one of which is highlighted in bright orange. You can assign an action of your choice to the button: flashlight, siren, sports modes. The launch animation by pressing the button is also very reminiscent of something. The watch has a 47 mm screen, they weigh 61.5 g excluding the strap. The titanium case is dust and water resistant, IP68 and MIL-STD-810H compliant, and can withstand up to 10 ATM, meaning you can dive to a depth of 100 meters. But you need to dive quickly — it is stated that the watch will last up to 10 minutes at this depth. Unlike the Huawei Watch Ultimate or Apple Watch Ultra, they do not comply with the EN13319 standard for divers, which should also be taken into account if you are into underwater diving. At the same time, at a depth of up to 1.5 meters in fresh water, the watch can last up to 30 minutes. Most often, the data is significantly underestimated — there are many stories of how a smartphone and watch were found in water after days, months, and they still worked. However, we do not recommend checking this. We also do not recommend repairing it — the water resistance will decrease with a 90% probability. The Watch Ultra is noticeably larger than the same Watch 7, if possible, it is better to try on the watch in advance. On a thin wrist, they will look bulky, although judging by the girls with the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Apple Watch Ultra on their hand, the size does not matter. The design is catchy, first of all, the watch stands out for its large size and fits into the image of an active city dweller, a sports fan or just a fan of technological innovations. Again, Apple Watch Ultra is worn not only by athletes, I myself at one time switched to them from regular ones - but not because of the design, but autonomy. The watch is available in three colors: gray, white and black, and the image is complemented by interchangeable straps of three types: Marine, Trail and Peakform. The straps are tightly fixed, but they are quite easy to remove, you need to press the buttons at the bottom of the case. The fact that the straps are easy to change can be praised, but the fact that the Galaxy Watch Ultra is not compatible with other Galaxy watch straps can be criticized. I am testing the black version of the watch with the Marine strap - a massive silicone bracelet, which is completely inconvenient to use the watch with. Let's leave aside the fact that I am allergic to any silicone, here it is the size of the strap that is an acquired taste, they complement the design of the watch itself, but it is inconvenient to walk in it for a long time, as well as to work. Something more sophisticated is needed. About the screen and the application There is nothing special to say. High-quality Super AMOLED matrix, 1.47-inch diagonal (37.3 mm), resolution 480 × 480 pixels (357 ppi), maximum brightness 3000 nits. The surface is protected by sapphire crystal, which in theory should not scratch at all. The oleophobic coating is of excellent quality, the finger glides over it just perfectly. There is enough brightness outdoors. The image is expectedly of excellent quality, the top Samsung watch lives up to its status. The dials use a perfect black background color and perfectly complement the overall design of the watch. In the app, you can choose lighter options, put a portrait, emoji or something else - the choice is not huge, but sufficient. And in general, do you really change the dial often? In the Wearble app, you can customize the menu, the top curtain, enable additional functions, add cards from Wallet, but for health indicators you will need a separate Health. About hardware and health The massive watch case hides an Exynos W1000 processor, made using a 3-nm process technology, 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of built-in memory. The watch is productive by the standards of such devices, the Wear OS 6 interface works quickly and smoothly, no hints of lag. The interface supports gesture control - this is the main difference from the Apple watch, they did not copy it here. To call up the menu, swipe from the bottom up, lower the curtain hard from top to bottom, scrolling left and right will show cards that are also configured in the application. Three buttons are on one side and their functionality can be customized - actions can be assigned to a long or short press. The watch has speakers, the sound is loud by the standards of watches. You can test it by turning on the siren mode, but it is better to tell others about it in advance, otherwise people may get scared. There is also eSIM support, so the Galaxy Watch Ultra can call and, in principle, exist independently of the smartphone. If desired, you can record up to two eSIMs in the watch and send SMS or make calls from them. By the way, all owners of the Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra with eSIM can connect the “single number” option from MTS for free for a year - this is not an advertisement, but a promotion from the company. In addition to LTE support, the watch has Bluetooth 5.3, NFC for fast payments and Wi-Fi. Dual-band GPS helps to record accurate routes, recording even small deviations along the way. The watch has an improved BioActive Sensor for heart rate monitoring, it received additional blue, yellow, violet and ultraviolet photodiodes for more accurate operation. If the watch falls, it can call the emergency services - I hope you will not need this mode. In addition, there is an accelerometer, barometer, pedometer, temperature sensor, blood oxygen sensor. Galaxy Watch Ultra monitors various workouts, takes into account the level of fat and calculates the body mass index, will do an ECG, determine the level of stress and pressure. The watch determines the index of advanced glycation end products (AGE), which is affected by lifestyle and food. The more fried, sweet and fast food, the worse for the body, simply put. But it is worth making a reservation that to fully use the watch, you will need a Samsung smartphone - the same ECG, for example, can only be tracked in a pair with a representative of the Galaxy family. Of course, the watch keeps track of activities and analyzes your health. You can track daily indicators, monitor yourself using the data collected by AI, including sleep quality. While Apple is waging a patent war, Samsung has managed to add a function for detecting sleep apnea. This is, of course, cool, but here's another amazing fact: to use the watch with all its capabilities, you need a whole set of programs. Without Samsung Health Monitoring, the very same apnea and ECG tracking mode does not work. At the same time, Samsung Wearable and Samsung Health are required. And everything would be fine, but how should an ordinary user know about this? I've been wearing the watch for a week hoping that all data is recorded and transmitted, but when I went into the apps, it turns out it's not — I had to download Health Monitoring and give additional permissions for regular Health. As a result, a week of data recording is lost. At the same time, the Samsung Health Monitoring app won't launch if you don't have a SIM card inserted. This is necessary to check the country's restrictions for medical indicators.