It’s easy to see everything, even during an outdoor run, thanks to adaptive brightness settings. The 1.3-inch Super AMOLED screen (1.2-inch on the 42mm watch) is bright and color-rich, as we’ve come to expect from Samsung’s stellar display technology. We tried on both sizes, and recommend the 46mm version for its larger battery and bigger touchscreen – it looks just fine on medium-sized wrists if you don’t mind a slightly bigger watch.Īll three sizes: 46mm Silver (left), 42mm Rose Gold (center) and 42mm Midnight Black (right) The Galaxy Watch comes in two sizes: the larger 46mm size in a two-toned silver-and-black color scheme, and the smaller 42mm size in either straight-up Midnight Black or Rose Gold. Screen takes a half a second to refresh the time and stats when woken up each time.Circular screen and rotating bezel make it stylish, functional and durable.Larger 46mm size looks fine on our medium-sized wrists.Looks like a real wrist watch compared to the Apple Watch.The newer Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 starts at $399 / £399 / AU$649 for the smaller 41mm model for its lowest option and only goes up from there, so if you're on a budget, perhaps this older smartwatch will suit you better. It costs £20 per month over the course of 24 months with unlimited data as well as 1GB extra internet for the your smartphone data allowance. In the UK, you can now buy the LTE version of the watch but it's exclusive to EE. In Australia it's only available with Telstra. In the US it began life as an exclusive to T-Mobile, but now you can get it on Verizon, AT&T and Sprint too. The LTE version of the Galaxy Watch cost a bit more at launch: $379 / AU$599 (about £290) for the 42mm model and $399/ AU$649 for the 46mm version. We've seen prices fluctuate a little too with it hitting $50 less than the above in the US and around the £250 mark in the UK. When it first came out the Gear S3 cost $349 / £349 (around AU$475), and only came in one size. Those in Australia had to wait a bit longer, but it's available there too.Īt launch, the Galaxy Watch started at $329 / £279 / AU$499 for the 42mm version, and $349 / £299 / AU$549 for the larger 46mm size. The Galaxy Watch launched in the US in August 2018, the same day the Galaxy Note 9 came out, and in the UK in September. LTE version exists, but exclusive EE in UK with more options in the US.46mm Silver watch cost $349 / £299, less than Gear S3 at launch.42mm Rose Gold or Midnight Black watch started at $329 / £279.Samsung Galaxy Watch release date and price It’s an iterative update, one that adds fitness software, new sensors, and extra waterproofing to everything we liked in the Gear Sport and the Gear S3 before that. The Samsung Galaxy Watch is very much the Samsung Gear S4 that never was. The Bixby voice assistant is here, but it’s no better than S Voice at understanding us, and Samsung Pay doesn’t use Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) despite the fact the Gear S3 did. Samsung’s core apps are polished, sure, but the Galaxy Apps store lacks critical third-party apps, notably Google Maps, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp. The Galaxy Watch does inherit problems from previous Gear watches, however – and what's bad is almost all software-related. To see the Samsung Galaxy Watch in action, watch our hands-on video below:
#GALAXY WATCH WIFI VS BLUETOOTH BLUETOOTH#
Samsung Galaxy Watch 42mm Bluetooth at Amazon for $241.92 (opens in new tab).This is one of two reasons why the Galaxy Watch runs Samsung’s Tizen software, not Wear OS. You also won’t find rotating bezels supported by Google’s Wear OS, while Apple’s watchOS uses a less intuitive rotating digital crown button on the side. We've seen discounts on the Galaxy Watch in years past, and expect even more savings now that its successor has been released. It is, however, more expensive than its now-discounted predecessor.Īnd we're expecting even more price drops for the Galaxy Watch during the upcoming deals season leading up to Black Friday on November 27 and Cyber Monday thereafter. Thankfully, the newer Samsung Galaxy Active Watch 2 has a rotating digital bezel, with haptic buzzing to simulate a 'tactile' feel when spinning through menus. The older Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is cheaper than the Galaxy Watch, but it doesn't feature that rotating bezel. Your fingers won’t cover up the watch’s small, hard-to-accurately-target touchscreen (an issue with any smartwatch), and the rotating bezel: an idea exclusive to newer Samsung watches. This is the most satisfying way to navigate a smartwatch.