Galaxy Watch 4G review: The do-everything smartwatch
Samsung recently launched the Galaxy Watch 4G edition in India.It comes in two sizes -- 46mm and 42mm-- for Rs 30,990 and Rs 28,490, respectively.
It keeps the classic circular design language of the predecessor Galaxy Gear S3 (2016) but with a bigger battery and faster processor.
I got a chance to try out the 46mm Galaxy Watch 4G variant and here are my thoughts about Samsung's new smart wearable.
Design and build quality:
The Samsung Galaxy 4G comes in a sturdy metal casing with silver finish and matching black bezel on top. Samsung has done a fine job with a physical rotating bezel, as it offers satisfyingly good tactile feel. Also, the watch faces such as frontier, tomcat, and sport classic offer analog display design and come with mechanical ticking sound effects.
The Galaxy Watch sports a 1.3-inch super AMOLED display with 360x360p resolution. It is bright and thanks to the big display, I had no trouble reading the messages and information like biometric details-- heartbeat, steps count and other stuff. The screen's sensitivity to the touch response is really good.
As far as the durability is concerned, the Galaxy Watch comes with 5 ATM and IP68 rating. This means you can take it for a swim without any worries. You can also record swimming laps.
User-interface and performance:
Samsung Galaxy Watch's Tizen 4.0 OS interface is very easy to understand even for a rookie user. With just finger swipes and rotating bezel gestures, you can seamlessly navigate through the smart wearable's settings or find a feature to initiate activity recording.
There are two physical keys on the right side, one top button to navigate back to the previous option and the bottom for powering on/off the smart wearable.
The Tizen OS offers app shortcuts, where you can add six apps in one place. However, I was a bit puzzled why Samsung hasn't preloaded the timer app in the Galaxy Watch, which is primarily used for fitness tracking. Thankfully, I found the proprietary app on the Galaxy Store.
The Galaxy Watch 4G is powered by 1.15GHz Samsung Exynos 9110 dual-core processor with 1.5GB RAM and it worked flawlessly without any signs of lag-ness.
The Galaxy Watch can automatically identify six workouts and measure the calorie count for--dynamic workouts, rowing, cycling, running, walking, and elliptical machine out. In total it can track 39 physical activities.
I also liked the idle alert feature. The Galaxy Watch can intuitively know the user hasn't moved for close to an hour and it notifies a message accompanied by subtle vibration to get me up and go for walk or flex the shoulder and arms.
Besides the reliable heart rate monitor, the Galaxy Watch also can measure if am stressed. Just have to tap on the Stress app and it shows meter reading in colours ranging from aqua blue (relaxed), green (normal) to red (stressed). If it shows the needle in red, you will be asked to open the breathe app, which will guide the user to perform slow breathing exercises.
This is a handy feature, which takes you off the daily work routine and for a minute, relieve you of the stress.
Another notable aspect of the Galaxy Watch 4G is the battery life; it can last a little over two days easily under normal usage. If used more conservatively with less dependent on e-SIM (LTE) for standalone voice calling on the Watch, it can last for three days.
There are three battery options-- default, power-saving and watch only-- and depending on what you choose, the Galaxy Watch can last anywhere between two days and 40 plus days.
The Galaxy Watch can help users track their sleep patterns, which is sorely missed in the top rival brands. It shows how many hours you had deep sleep with REM (Rapid Eye Movements), light sleep, total hours of sleep, efficiency and awake time.
If you want to cut down or increase food intake and develop a healthy diet. You can log details such as what meal you had during the breakfast, lunch, dinner and there are subcategories-- morning snack, afternoon snack, and evening snack. Samsung has a big database of Indian food and it will automatically calculate calories (based on the number of servings). This will greatly help you reach fitness goals and target weight soon.
e-SIM feature
In India, only Airtel and Reliance Jio offer eSIM support for Galaxy Watch. It can be noted that Airtel eSIM works only if the user has a postpaid connection. While Jio users can activate JioEverywhereConnect eSIM service on both pre-paid and post-paid subscriptions.
The eSIM can be easily activated while setting up the Galaxy Watch and once that is done, the owner can make calls on the smart wearable without the need for the companion phone nearby.
It comes handy if you like to leave the bulky phone behind at the house, for an hour and a half of walk or jogging session. With e-SIM activated, you can keep yourself notified about new emails, messages and even answer or make a phone call right from the wrist.
Final thoughts:
The Galaxy Watch 4G ticks most of the checkboxes, in particular for Indian consumers. It is way more superior to Google's Wear OS-based smartwatches but comes short against Apple Watch in terms of lack of 'ECG (Electrocardiogram) reading' and Irregular Rhythm Notification features.
However, Galaxy Watch shines in three aspects. It costs less, offers long battery life and most importantly supports both Android and iOS platforms, while Apple smart wearable pairs only with the iPhone.
If you own an Android phone and planning to buy a smart wearable with top-notch features, you can bet on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4G.
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