We referred to as 2023’s Galaxy Watch 6 a “modest upgrade” from the Galaxy Watch 5, which itself additionally bought described as “very similar” to its predecessor, the Watch 4. So it’s maybe not stunning that Samsung’s newest smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch 7, represents yet one more minor enchancment over the past technology. That’s simply the character of a yearly replace cycle for a tool that’s already doing most issues proper.
Samsung launched the Galaxy Watch 7 in late July of 2024 and I began testing the watch in October. A sequence of occasions (Black Friday, the vacations, CES) pushed this overview onto the again burner, which implies I spent numerous time with the watch in a much less formal capability, sporting it on and off for round three months earlier than formally evaluating it for this overview.
Design and {hardware}
Samsung caught with a flat, spherical face and tremendous skinny aluminum bezels that give the Galaxy Watch 7 a extra traditional timepiece vibe than the sq. “I’m a pc” Apple Watch or the futuristic orb that’s the Google Pixel Watch 3. The Watch 7 retains the curved case design launched with the Watch 5, which is meant to permit higher contact between the sensors and your wrist. Sadly, the sensor node stands proud from the underside fairly a bit. It took a few week of sporting the watch earlier than it felt comfy, and the primary evening I tried to sleep with it, I used to be so bothered by it that I wrenched it off in the midst of the evening.
That convex sensor node now homes 13 coronary heart fee sensor LEDs, in comparison with simply 4 on the Watch 6. We didn’t discover something missing with the guts fee detection on the earlier mannequin and, when evaluating the identical exercise on my private Apple Watch Collection 9 with the Galaxy Watch 7, I noticed almost the identical beats-per-minute (bpm) readings. Performing a coronary heart fee verify manually on every watch gave the identical end result as nicely.
Similar to final yr, the watch is obtainable in a 40mm or 44mm case, which have a 1.3-inch and 1.5-inch display screen, respectively. I examined the smaller mannequin and was impressed with how readable I discovered it. Personally, I take advantage of a 45mm Apple Watch as a result of the 41mm model is just too arduous to learn, however regardless of being seemingly smaller, the Galaxy’s display screen was almost as straightforward. Holding the 2 facet by facet, I noticed why: throughout the center (the place the majority of textual content is displayed) the 40mm Samsung watch is definitely wider than the 45mm Apple wearable. That’s as a result of rectangular screens are measured on the diagonal, however the diameter of a circle is similar size from any angle. The Galaxy Watch has a thicker bezel, however operating your finger alongside it’s a method of interacting with the display screen, so it’s useful to have additional house for that.
Two new colours, inexperienced and cream, add to the silver hue from final yr. My silver overview mannequin is stylish and the up to date sport band has a scalloped texture (very harking back to the Apple Watch Extremely’s Ocean band, however a lot much less cumbersome). 4 pops of shade thread simply previous the attachment factors add a bit of character. You may also customise the heck out of the watch faces, from background colours to clock fonts and problems. I used to be a fan of the brand new Extremely Data Board face and, total, I felt like I had extra interesting choices within the faces gallery than with the Apple Watch — even earlier than heading to the Play Retailer to search for extra choices.
The upgraded processor within the Galaxy Watch 7, Samsung’s personal Exynos W1000, has one primary CPU core and 4 smaller effectivity cores to run and swap between apps sooner. We didn’t discover the Watch 6 to be notably sluggish, and I discovered the Watch 7 to be impressively quick when skimming via notifications, controlling Spotify, beginning a exercise and haphazardly opening and shutting apps as I bought to know the interface. RAM is similar at 2GB, however storage has doubled to 32GB (with 21GB accessible out of the field). I didn’t have lengthy sufficient with the watch to place the capability to the check, however the RAM appeared to maintain the watch zipping alongside.
There are two new elements on the Watch 7: a dual-band GPS receiver and a sensor that measures your superior glycation end-products (AGEs) index. The AGEs index is assessed as you sleep and gauges your metabolic well being by detecting collected sugar/lipid compounds in your pores and skin. Greater ranges are related to sooner ageing and antagonistic well being circumstances. As a substitute of a quantity, the result’s a dot on a spectrum. Mine was simply to the excessive facet of the center, and recommendations for enhancing my ranges included consuming greens, limiting processed meals, getting extra sleep and being extra energetic. Sure, little watch, I do know.
As for the GPS, it took a bit of effort to get it working the best way I wished. I used to be getting reliably correct cadence and distance measurements (as checked in opposition to my Apple Watch and simply taking a look at a map) however the mapping part was lacking after I seemed on the exercise on my cellphone. After some analysis (thanks, Reddit) I realized that exact mapping is off by default. To show it on, you must first activate Location Info in Samsung Well being Settings in your cellphone. Then, within the Put on app, faucet Watch Settings, Samsung Well being settings, activate Actions to detect, then faucet Exact Location beneath the exercise sort you need to observe. After that repair, I noticed correct routes within the exercise particulars part. y.
Sleep monitoring
I’m comfortable to report I (in all probability) do not need sleep apnea. After organising the sleep apnea detection function, you solely need to put on your watch to mattress for 2 nights for it to log indicators of the situation. Sleep apnea detection is a brand new function that debuted with the Watch 7, however Samsung has mentioned it should roll out to earlier suitable fashions in the future.
After the watch tracks seven nights of sleep, it’ll award you one in every of eight “sleep animals,” which include an outline of the kind of sleeper you might be. This has been a function since the Watch 4 and one thing the Pixel Watch does as nicely. I loved discovering out that I’m a lion (that’s the most effective sleeper and I’ll take a win wherever I can discover it). Those that fee “decrease” on the sleep animal meals chain, can discover sleep teaching suggestions throughout the Well being app on methods to enhance their sleep. Not surprisingly, this includes reminding you to maintain a constant bedtime whereas limiting distractions, alcohol and caffeine earlier than sleep.
For the sake of science, I slept for 3 nights in a row sporting each the Galaxy Watch 7 and my Apple Watch Collection 9 so I may examine what they tracked. The 2 appeared to log the identical patterns of awakeness and sleep, however Samsung was far more beneficiant, telling me I bought a median of about 45 extra minutes of sleep and about 3 times as a lot deep sleep. I do know a lot of our emotions about well being are a matter of perspective, so I’ve to say I choose the Galaxy Watch’s assessments. Although, I want Samsung would name the sunshine sleep stage “core” sleep like Apple does — that makes it really feel extra helpful.
After testing the Watch 7, nevertheless, I don’t suppose I’d put on it (or any watch, actually) to mattress voluntarily once more. The dimmest the display screen will get is 5 nits, which is way brighter than the one nit the Apple Watch and Pixel Watch can hit. Once you go into sleep mode, the watch face stays off till you faucet it, however the LED sensors beneath are additionally a lot brighter than the competitors and had been sufficient to wake me. One evening, I turned on sleep mode early as a result of the display screen was too brilliant as I used to be placing my child to mattress at round 8PM. I stored sleep mode on as I watched TV then went to mattress just a few hours later. At 4 within the morning, I bought a congratulatory vibration that woke me as much as inform me I’d met my sleep objective. In fact, I couldn’t get again to sleep after that and I used to be, to place it mildly, displeased. That didn’t occur once more, regardless of leaving sleep mode on for longer than eight hours on just a few events, so both it was a fluke or the January 2025 software program replace fastened the flaw.
Well being and exercise monitoring
One of many new well being options for the Galaxy Watch 7 is a every day Vitality Rating, which is calculated within the Samsung Well being app, however available on the watch. The rating considers sleep metrics and yesterday’s exercise ranges to inform you find out how to method the day forward. On mornings after I bought the next quantity, the watch prompt I push myself by rising the depth of my exercises or making an attempt one thing new. On days with a decrease rating, I used to be capable of see why. This function is nothing new within the business, in fact. Garmin has its Coaching Readiness rating and Fitbit has been giving folks Day by day Readiness scores for years (and it’s finally free).
The measurement, together with different insights and commentary throughout the Well being app, is the place Samsung has put a lot of the AI-powered tips for the Galaxy Watch 7. I noticed varied suggestions comparable to a suggestion to decrease my exercise targets (so I may truly attain them) after just a few days of being a little bit of a slug.
All the exercise and well being options from the earlier fashions are right here — our review of the Galaxy Watch 6 goes into these in depth. However briefly, like several health tracker, the Galaxy Watch data your total exercise ranges utilizing totally different metrics. On this case, it’s three issues: steps, energetic time (what number of minutes by which you progress with an elevated coronary heart fee) and exercise energy (these you burn along with the vitality used from simply present). You’ll be able to regulate your targets and resolve whether or not you need the watch to nudge you to fulfill them. There are round 90 exercises the watch can observe and it may well auto-detect just a few of these together with strolling, operating, bike driving, high-intensity interval coaching and swimming.
Total, I discovered the exercise monitoring to be correct and I appreciated how a lot faster the Galaxy Watch was at detecting I used to be out on a stroll in comparison with my Apple Watch. Additionally, in contrast to the Apple Watch, which can ask me whether or not I wished to trace my train, the Galaxy Watch simply goes forward and robotically tracks it. The Galaxy Watch is on par with the Pixel Watch 3 when it comes to how rapidly it assumes I’m on a stroll however, just like the Apple Watch, the Pixel desires me to substantiate I would like the exercise tracked. So if I’m on a stroll with the canine and have gloves on, I’ve to do some finagling to faucet the beginning button earlier than seeing my stats. Galaxy’s display screen however (actually) simply goes forward and shows length, steps and coronary heart fee particulars. Samsung’s wearable can be faster to present me credit score for getting up and strolling round after it prompts me to get shifting.
All exercise and well being monitoring runs via the Samsung Well being app, which is colourful and intuitive — I truly discovered it extra pleasing to browse than Apple’s Well being app. I noticed a medicine widget that not solely jogged my memory to take a tablet on the identical time every day, it additionally informed me about potential drug and allergy interactions. When it’s time to take the med, the watch buzzes and lets me mark it as taken with out pulling out my cellphone. Samsung launched the function on the finish of 2023 and, because it seems, Apple got here out with its model a full yr earlier, however I credit score the extra navigable interface of Samsung Well being for permitting me to really discover and use it — I’d simply by no means seen it in Apple’s app.
As a substitute of a separate app, like Health from Apple (by which you’ll additionally discover the corporate’s subscription-based workouts), there’s merely a tab (additionally referred to as Health) inside Samsung Well being. There are dozens of movies to attempt free of charge in your cellphone, from suppliers like Zumba, Pocket Fitness center, FitOn and extra. And once you play the movies from right here, coronary heart fee metrics out of your watch will present up in your cellphone’s display screen, similar to Health+ exercises with the Apple Watch and Fitbit Premium lessons with the Pixel Watch. Finally, you’d must pay to entry all of the movies a given supplier affords, nevertheless it’s good to have a bit of free content material you may dip into as wanted.
One factor I’ve to level out is that even when the watch is on silent, by default it should nonetheless audibly coach you once you hit or method sure metrics after you begin a exercise. The primary time I tracked a yoga exercise, the watch began blurting out energy burned and targets achieved whereas your complete class was silently mendacity in shavasana. I used to be much more red-faced than normal. Save your self the embarrassment and disable audio guides within the settings once you begin a exercise.
Efficiency and use
The Watch 7 was the first to run Google’s new Put on OS 5 — earlier than the Pixel Watch 3, even. Samsung layers its personal One UI over Google’s software program so the expertise is a bit of totally different from the Pixel Watch. For instance, you may both swipe from the left or proper fringe of the display screen to drag up notifications or tiles (respectively) or you may drag your finger across the display screen’s bezel, a motion meant to enrich the bodily spinning bezel of the Galaxy Watch Basic variant. On a screen-only interface, I discovered my finger was usually in the best way of what I used to be making an attempt to have a look at, so I ended up simply swiping, as on a Pixel or Apple Watch.
Again in 2023, Samsung launched gesture controls to the Galaxy Watch via an replace to One UI 5, however the function, which began as an accessibility help, did not get a lot consideration till Apple highlighted and expanded such capabilities with the release of the Series 9. The double faucet function on the Galaxy Watch 7 works equally to the way it does on the Apple Watch, performing easy capabilities like pausing timers, answering calls and so forth. Each watches carried out the identical when it comes to detecting after I was making the gesture however I truly used the gesture extra usually with the Galaxy Watch as a result of a bit of pinch animation displayed over icons that the gesture may management.
The Galaxy Watch 7 additionally helps a “knock knock” function, by which you dip your fist downward twice such as you’re rapping on a desk and it’ll open an app you designate within the Buttons and Gestures menu from the Put on app’s watch settings. I set it to open the timer app and, later, the Google Assistant, which I discovered fairly handy.
Talking of the Google Assistant, for the reason that Galaxy Watch 4, customers have been capable of swap the default assistant to Google’s as a substitute of Bixby. I like to recommend doing that. Asking Bixby a query (like, maybe, “What’s the capital of Finland?”) directed me to have a look at my cellphone. After I posed the identical question to Google Assistant, the phrase Helsinki appeared throughout the watch display screen. None of those are model new options — earlier fashions allowed you to swap the assistant and gestures began with the Galaxy Watch 4. However the higher processor and new sensors on the Galaxy Watch 7 have little question helped enhance the accuracy and responsiveness.
Notifications may use some work, nevertheless. Usually, I’d really feel a vibration, however after I lifted my wrist to verify what it was, I’d simply see the common watch face. I may swipe to see what had triggered the ping, however I would like to only see it instantly.
Battery and recharging
I used to be shocked to see how many individuals complained concerning the Galaxy Watch 7’s battery life after I learn customers’ impressions at different overview websites and on Reddit. At first, I discovered I used to be getting via an entire day and evening, plus partway into the following day earlier than needing a recharge. That was on par with my Apple Watch Collection 9 (each have round a 300mAh battery). However I didn’t have the always-on show (AOD) enabled on the Galaxy Watch.
As soon as I turned that on, the battery’s capability steadily dove in direction of empty. One Sunday, I left the home round midday with the watch at 40 %. I walked for 20 minutes, frolicked at a espresso store and performed with just a few options on the watch and the paired Galaxy cellphone. By the point I headed residence at 3PM, the watch’s battery had dropped to 4 %, prompting it to recommend I activate watch-only mode. After that, I solely used the watch with the AOD off.
That mentioned, utilizing the watch with out AOD isn’t terribly inconvenient. After I elevate my wrist, the show wakes rapidly. I bear in mind being annoyed at how ridiculously arduous it was to verify the time on my Apple Watch Collection 4, feeling dumb as I lifted my arm three or 4 occasions earlier than the face lit up (I do know I may faucet to wake it, nevertheless it was the precept of the factor).
When you plan to make use of the watch as a sleep tracker and in addition need to use the AOD, you could must put aside time on the finish of the day to recharge your watch earlier than heading off to dreamland (or toss-and-turn land, relying in your sleep animal). The excellent news is that the watch recharges comparatively rapidly. I clocked it going from 4 % to 75 % in beneath 40 minutes. Each the Apple Watch Collection 10 and the Pixel Watch 3 have been shown to recharge faster in different checks, however I didn’t discover the Galaxy Watch to take unreasonably lengthy.
Value
One constructive carry-over from final yr is worth. Just like the Watch 6 at launch, the Watch 7 begins at $300 for the 40mm mannequin. That’s $49 cheaper than the bottom worth for the Pixel Watch 3 and $99 cheaper than the Apple Watch Collection 10. The Garmin Forerunner 165, our top pick for a operating smartwatch, is $250. There’s no spinning-bezel Basic variant of the Galaxy Watch 7 (there wasn’t a Galaxy Watch 5 Basic, both). As a substitute, when asserting the seventh gen watch, Samsung additionally launched the $650 Watch Ultra and $400 Galaxy Ring — each of which make the flagship watch really feel like a discount. In fact, should you’re after a real price range smartwatch by Samsung, there’s the Galaxy Watch FE with a barely smaller show, much less highly effective processor and fewer sensors.
Wrap-up
Whereas the Galaxy Watch 7 might look almost an identical to its predecessor, a few inner enhancements and software program additions (and sure, some AI stuff) make it an interesting companion for a Samsung cellphone. It even does just a few issues higher than the Apple Watch Collection 10 (our present decide for the best overall smartwatch). As with most new releases, you in all probability don’t must improve if you have already got the prior mannequin. However should you’re a fan of Samsung’s handsets and are on the lookout for a beautiful accent with stable sleep insights, useful health instruments and surprisingly approachable well being information, this could possibly be it.
For a very long time, the Galaxy Watch was our decide for the most effective Android watch you may purchase. However with the discharge of the Pixel Watch 3, Samsung’s wearable was knocked off its podium. The Galaxy Watch 7 does many issues proper and its traditional seems to be and customizable watch faces can be a favourite for some, me included. Samsung additionally appears to be steadily enhancing the Well being app — I used to be particularly excited concerning the beta Meditation and Temper-tracking options, and hope they make their manner from the cellphone to the watch.
The trouble the corporate has put into the Well being app is simply making the Galaxy Watch extra helpful and Samsung has developed an efficient set of wearable sensors that may present extra superior well being metrics like AGEs index, EKGs and physique composition. The guts fee and distance accuracy was on par with my Apple Watch Collection 9 however the Galaxy Watch was truly faster to detect I used to be out on a stroll — it additionally robotically logged the exercise for me.
But when an always-on show is vital to you and you need to use the look ahead to sleep monitoring, you could need to look elsewhere. Nonetheless, this can be a succesful watch that makes a enjoyable companion for an Android cellphone, notably Samsung handsets, and I used to be unhappy to take it off when the overview was over.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/wearables/samsung-galaxy-watch-7-review-incrementally-better-than-its-predecessoragain-133038627.html?src=rss
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