Samsung's new Galaxy Watch Ultra smartwatch is official and available for pre-order. It is the first of its kind, as Samsung never used the “Ultra” moniker for a smartwatch before. The biggest question is whether the Galaxy Watch Ultra deserves the label. What does it do to earn its name?
As it turns out, there's plenty to love about this new Ultra smartwatch, from better performance to improved health features and top-tier build quality. At least based on initial impressions, it does feel more Ultra than Pro, but we'll talk more about that in our upcoming review. For now, let's take a closer look at what we think are some of the best Galaxy Watch Ultra features.
Build for an active lifestyle, made to last
Say what you will about the Galaxy Watch Ultra's exterior design, but this smartwatch was built to be more durable than most other wearables. Samsung made it to last and pushed the limits of what was possible for a Galaxy Watch.
The Ultra is MIL-STD-810H-certified and has IP68 and 10ATM ratings, making it the most water-resistant smartwatch in Samsung's lineup — even more so than the Watch 7, which has a 5ATM rating.
Samsung's Ultra smartwatch was also designed to work in harsh outdoor conditions between -20 and 55 degrees Celsius and at altitudes between 500 meters below sea level to elevations of 9,000 meters.
Adding to the Ultra's durability is Grade 4 Titanium. The smartwatch uses this material for the back cover area of the frame, while other components of the frame are made from a mix of plastic and Grade 2 Titanium.
A brilliant display
Similar to the 44m Galaxy Watch 7, the Galaxy Watch Ultra boasts a 1.5-inch Super AMOLED display with Always On capabilities and a resolution of 480 x 480.
That's more or less par for the course, but the Galaxy Watch Ultra has an ace up its sleeve. Its display can go extremely bright and reach 3,000 nits. This quality makes the Galaxy Watch Ultra a fantastic smartwatch for the outdoors.
Improved health tracking and new capabilities
Samsung equipped the Galaxy Watch Ultra with a redesigned BioActive sensor, which has more varied and efficient sensors capable of tracking sleep, blood pressure, blood oxygen levels, stress levels, and heart rate measurements with higher precision.
Story continues after our Galaxy Watch Ultra hands-on video…
In addition, the new BioActive sensor offers AGEs Index (Advanced Glycation End Products). The smartwatch also boasts De Novo FDA-Authorized Sleep Apnea detection.
Using the Galaxy Watch Ultra, you can track more than 100 workouts and compete against your track records through the new Race Mode.
Dual-frequency GPS tracking
Samsung has improved the location tracking capabilities of its latest smartwatches by employing dual-frequency GPS for the first time.
Because the Galaxy Watch Ultra gains location data on two different frequencies, it can determine the user's movement and position with much higher precision, which can help with navigation and features such as Race Mode.
If you ever felt like your smartwatch's GPS tracking capabilities let you down, the Galaxy Watch Ultra seems to address that.
Suggested Replies powered by Galaxy AI
Typing on a smartwatch is far from an ideal experience, which is why Samsung decided to leverage the smart capabilities of Galaxy AI and Chat Assist to create a new way for users to reply to messages from their wrists.
This new Galaxy AI-powered tool is called Suggested Replies. It's exclusive to the latest smartwatches and the Galaxy Z Flip 6, and it works by analyzing previous messages in a conversation and presenting a few possible replies users can send.
A new Exynos W1000 chip, more memory, improved battery life
And lastly, at the core of the Galaxy Watch Ultra experience is improved hardware, consisting of more storage (32GB, up from 16GB) and a new Exynos 3nm chip.
The 3nm Exynos W1000 is a 5-core chipset with a 3x faster CPU and 30% higher power efficiency than the previous Exynos W930 SoC.
According to Samsung, the higher energy efficiency combined with a generous 590mAh battery gives the Galaxy Watch Ultra enough battery life to last up to 100 hours in Power Saving Mode and 48 hours in Exercise Power Saving on a single charge.
If you're tempted to buy the Galaxy Watch Ultra, you can now pre-order one from Samsung's online shop by hitting the button below. The pre-order window closes on July 24.
