Review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series: Polished, yet lacking innovation
Samsung has held a dominant position in the realm of premier Android smartwatches for quite some time. Year after year, it was the obvious choice for individuals seeking an Android alternative to the Apple Watch. This still holds true with the introduction of the Galaxy Watch 6 series, yet I am uncertain about the firmness of Samsung’s position as we approach the upcoming product season and beyond.
This uncertainty isn’t due to the devices being subpar. Both the Galaxy Watch 6 (starting at $299.99) and the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic (starting at $399.99) are excellent Android smartwatches. However, the landscape has transformed significantly over the past couple of years. Fitbit is increasingly becoming a part of Google, and not only does the Pixel Watch exist, but a second iteration is anticipated this fall. Mobvoi has recently released a commendable Wear OS watch featuring Qualcomm’s Snapdragon W5 Plus chip, and it’s probable that Fossil will follow suit. Nevertheless, the past ten days or so with the Galaxy Watch 6 series have felt as though I’ve been stuck in a time warp.
In nearly all aspects, these are timepieces you’ve encountered previously. Depending on your viewpoint, this could be advantageous or disadvantageous. On one hand, you’re aware of what you’re receiving. On the other, there hasn’t been much alteration.
What’s Fresh… and What Hasn’t Changed
From a visual perspective, the most striking alteration is the slimmer bezels. Yet, when you merely gaze at the regular Galaxy Watch 6, it’s difficult to discern the distinction. Only when I activated my Watch 5 and placed them side by side did I genuinely grasp the change. With the bezels being 30 percent narrower and the display being more extensive, a captivating optical illusion is created, making the Watch 6 appear significantly larger than the Watch 5, even though both models have the same 40mm and 44mm casings.
On the Classic model, the rotating bezel itself has been slimmed down by 15 percent, contributing to a more streamlined impression despite its larger dimensions. This effect is particularly evident on the 47mm version, which helps counterbalance the fact that this represents Samsung’s largest smartwatch to date. While I had reservations initially, I was pleasantly surprised by how it felt much more compact when worn. (Samsung has succeeded in achieving this previously: last year’s Watch 5 Pro also offered comfort despite its substantial size.) It didn’t snag on my clothing, the weight didn’t prove distracting during runs, and I encountered no difficulties wearing it overnight. Nevertheless, it’s noticeably heavier than the standard Galaxy Watch 6, owing to its stainless steel construction in contrast to aluminum.
On a related note, I’m delighted to observe that Samsung has managed to incorporate a larger display and battery into these timepieces without transforming them into unwieldy, oversized objects. Frequently, I find myself having to choose between readability on a larger screen or comfort, but that trade-off wasn’t necessary in this case.
Battery Life Considerations
Turning our attention to battery life, I found myself somewhat dissatisfied with Samsung’s performance in this aspect last year. The Galaxy Watch 4 series exhibited lackluster battery performance, and while the lead-up to the Watch 5 series included promises of larger batteries and up to 40 hours of battery life, the Watch 5 Pro claimed an impressive 80 hours. However, my evaluations fell short of these figures – I barely reached 40 hours on the Watch 5 and managed around 50-60 hours on the Pro.
In the present year, the smaller Watch 6 and Classic models have seen an increase to a 300mAh battery, while the larger models now house a 425mAh battery. Although this is a slight improvement over last year, Samsung’s battery life projections remain modest. All four watches are estimated to offer around 30 hours with the always-on display active, 40 hours without it, and a mere eight-minute fast charge provides eight hours of battery life. While Wear OS 4 is a relatively recent development, it’s known to introduce cloud backups and purportedly extend battery performance.
The outcome is a marginal advancement in overall battery life. I was pleasantly surprised when, on the first day with a full charge, the 40mm variant retained 78 percent battery by 5 PM. A similar outcome was observed with the Classic. In contrast, under the same conditions last year, the Watch 5 couldn’t endure the entire day. This initial experience fostered hope that Samsung might have finally resolved its battery-related challenges.
One crucial aspect to acknowledge about Samsung smartwatches is that the battery life you experience will hinge on the settings you configure. Opting to disable the always-on display, activating bedtime mode, curbing notifications to essential ones, and using LTE, GPS, or continuous health tracking only as needed yielded approximately 32 hours on both watches in my testing. However, this approach is akin to utilizing the watch primarily for timekeeping. With the always-on display enabled, I achieved around 25 hours of usage.
Remaining within Samsung’s Ecosystem
Much like Apple, Samsung’s products exhibit optimal performance when utilized within its own ecosystem. This isn’t a novel concept. Historically, I’ve always paired Galaxy Watches with Samsung smartphones, as this aligns with the intended usage outlined by Samsung. However, considering the evolving landscape of Android wearables, I opted to pair the Galaxy Watch 6 series with the Pixel 7 Pro for the majority of my testing. (I also borrowed a colleague’s Samsung Galaxy S9 for a more direct comparison.)
For the most part, the experience remains consistent, yet there’s no denying that this remains Samsung’s controlled environment. Let’s take the setup process as an example. On the S9, all the necessary Samsung apps were pre-installed, and it promptly detected the nearby Galaxy Watch 6 for pairing. However, on my Pixel 7 Pro, I had to download, at the very least, the Samsung Galaxy Wearable app, Samsung Health, and Samsung Pay/Wallet, along with their associated plugins. This discrepancy in setup saves a considerable amount of time, particularly since if you’re already using a Samsung phone, you likely won’t need to create a Samsung account anew. I conducted the setup process multiple times, and while it wasn’t drastically longer on the Pixel, it was consistently quicker on the Samsung phone.
Furthermore, certain apps are exclusive to Samsung phones, such as the Samsung Health Monitor app and the Camera Controller app. The Health Monitor app is essential for conducting EKG readings and is also required for the novel passive irregular heart rhythm notifications. For those well-versed in technology, there might be ways to sideload these apps onto a non-Samsung phone, but that introduces an extra layer of complexity that isn’t necessary with a Pixel Watch.
