The Samsung Galaxy Watch features a metallic case and silicone straps, which is similar to what you would get with other offerings at this price.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch is waterproof up to 5ATMs and is said to be MIL-STD certified
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active offers a gorgeous display and better smartwatch-esq functionality
Samsung's fitness trackers have a special place in my heart. The Gear Fit 2 (review)was the first fitness tracker I reviewed, and for a long time, it was a benchmark for all the other fitness trackers I reviewed. However, it has been a long time since the company launched a new tracker and in that time, other's have caught up. Most notably, Fitbit has launched a range of trackers like the Versa and Ionic, that have overtaken Samsung's offering in terms of features and value for money.
The company seems to have taken note of this and have launched not one, but three new trackers in India. These include the Galaxy Fit e, Galaxy Fit, and Galaxy Watch Active. The latter of which is the most premium of the lot at Rs 19,990. Let's take a look at how good it is.
Build and design
The Samsung Galaxy Watch features a metallic case and silicone straps, which is similar to what you would get with other offerings at this price. It looks a lot like most other unisex watches, and doesn’t scream “look at me!” While this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, I quite liked it.
Unlike Samsung’s previous smartwatches, like the Gear S3 Frontier (review), the Watch Active does not feature rotating bezel. As such, the watch is a lot smaller than something like the aforementioned Frontier. It also doesn’t look as rugged.
It should also be noted that the Samsung Galaxy Watch is waterproof up to 5ATMs and is said to be MIL-STD certified. While unforeseen forces conspired against me whenever I planned to go swimming, I was caught in a sudden downpour and the watch passed through it with no problems at all. I also dunked the watch in a bucket of water with similar results. As for the Corning Gorilla Glass covering the display, I managed to get a couple of scratches on it. I accidentally hit the watch on a watch on a wall a couple of times and one of them might have resulted in the scratches. Not a good sign.
While the Galaxy Watch Active does have a bit of heft to it, it is possible to sleep while wearing it. However, it isn’t the most comfortable experience and it will take a little getting used to.
Fitness and tracking
The Galaxy Watch Active is capable of tracking a whole host of activities. Further, it tracks different metrics for each of the activities. For example, running and walking will generate a GPS map that tracks your movements, while jumping jacks will track sets as well as reps. All this alongside the usual stuff such as heart rate, calories, and pace.
When it came to tracking walks, the Watch Active was pretty accurate and managed to get similar numbers across multiple walks along the same route. The GPS was accurate down to a couple of meters. For example, it can track which road you are on but might get a little confused as to the side of the road that you are walking down. Same thing with running.
Tracking workouts is a little different. For example, the wearable was able to track jumping jacks quite well, down to the number of reps, which are further broken down into sets. However, it was unable to track the number of pushups I did and only showed me basic information such as calories burned as well as heart rate data. What I noted was that the wearable is able to track reps of any exercise that requires a significant movement of the wrist. This includes jumping jacks, lunges and so forth. It has trouble with tracking those that don’t such as pushups, yoga, etc.
Auto tracking on the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active takes about 5 minutes to start. This essentially means that the first five minutes of your workout won't be recorded, so you’re better off manually starting the tracking on the watch. If you’re someone who follows an exercise regimen that involves short workouts, you may find the Watch Active to be lacking in tracking data. In fact, the only exercise I do for a long enough time was walking. However, I noted that the Watch Active did not turn on the GPS when it was auto-tracking. As a result, it did not generate a route map.
The Galaxy Watch Active is also capable of tracking stress levels. You can see your current stress levels as well as levels on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis. While we currently do not have any objective way to measure how accurate the tracking was, I noticed that the stress levels tended to spike around the time I was commuting, and get lower around the weekends. This makes a lot of sense when you think about it.
As for tracking sleep, the watch not only shows you how long you slept, but also how efficient your sleep was. Other metrics include awake time, light sleep, deep sleep and REM. It's pretty much on par with what you might expect from a device in this price range.
Overall, I found the fitness tracking capabilities of the Galaxy Watch Active to be right up there with Fitbit’s at this price range. However, Fitbit’s app just about manages to help it one-up Samsung here. Speaking of which…
Apps and features
Setting up the Samsung Gear Watch Active can be a slightly annoying experience if you do not have a Samsung smartphone as you’ll have to download the Galaxy Wear and Galaxy Health app. The former allows you to control the settings and features of the watch, while the latter is how you access all the tracking data.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is able to track a whole host of fitness activities and most of them can be accessed from the watch itself. These include everything from walking to Yoga. More can be added to the watch for quick access via the Health app. The app also gives users the option to add ‘Programs’. These are pre-set workouts that offer exercise regimens such as ‘living room workouts’, ‘lower body strength workouts’ and more. These are then further divided into categories such as Weight Loss, Balance Training, Endurance Training, etc. These are a neat addition and should help out anyone looking for workouts that they can do. It reminds me a lot of the Fitbit app’s Coach feature that offered more or less the same services. However, Samsung seems to have hidden this away within the Health app. The only way to access it was to scroll all the way to the bottom of the app, choose ‘Manage Items’ and then scroll to the bottom again and select ‘Add Program’. I feel that Samsung would have done better if they showcased the feature right more clearly.
Overall, I found the Health app to be slightly behind the Fitbit app when it comes to UI. The card-based system, combined with the layout used by Fitbit makes for slightly easier navigation. However, this is only by a small margin. The Fitbit app also lets me quickly access all of my previous workouts, no matter when I exercised. The Samsung Health app limits the recent workouts section to 30 days. Beyond that, you will have to manually search for each exercise.
Display and UI
The most notable feature of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active, in my opinion, is the AMOLED display. The display is bright and vibrant and I didn’t have any problems with sunlight legibility. It’s also completely round with no ‘flat tire’ anywhere in sight. It should be noted that there is no auto-brightness feature, so the brightness has to be adjusted manually.
As mentioned before, the Watch Active does not feature a rotating bezel. While you are able to navigate the device using swipes and taps, the UI has definitely been designed to be used via the rotating bezel. For example, notifications on the watch tend to pile up. And the only way to read through all of them is by swiping through them all. Even if you just want to clear it all, you’ll have to swipe all the way to the end. Definitely, something that would have been made easier via a rotating bezel. Regardless, the icons themselves are still reasonably large and I had no problem in selecting them, even without the bezel.
Speaking of notifications. The notifications you get on the Galaxy Watch Active are different based on the app. Facebook and Instagram notification will show an image if there is one. However, images shared on Whatsapp did not show. Hopefully, this will be rectified in the future, since I receive more images on WhatsApp.
The Watch Active features an always-on display, but it is turned off by default in order to save battery. It turns on with a flick of the wrist, and takes about a split second to turn on. In order to ensure that it does not turn on and blind you in the middle of the night, the Watch Active comes with a ‘Goodnight’ mode which stops the display from turning on. However, it has to be activated automatically. I really wish the feature would turn itself on when it detects the user sleeping and deactivate itself when the user is awake.
Battery
On its official website, Samsung claims that the Galaxy Watch Active can last for over 45 hours on a single charge and I feel that is more-or-less on the money. I could usually get around two days of use with the watch. This is with everything set to default, with auto heart rate tracking, auto exercise tracking and more. With a little more judicious use, I’m sure It’s possible to stretch it to the third day, but it will not last the end of that day. However, it’s still a little lower than the four days offered by the likes of the Fitbit Versa and the Fitbit Ionic. However, I found the magnetic charger offered by Samsung to be better than what most other manufacturers offer. I could simply place the watch on it, and it would charge
Verdict
For its price and feature set, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active goes straight up against the Fitbit Ionic (review). Both trackers offer a fitness-centric wearable with hints of being a good smartwatch. Add to this the built-in GPS tracker and a myriad of activities available to track. I have been hard-pressed to separate both these devices. While the Ionic offers a better battery life, the Watch Active comes back with a better display. Where the Fitbit offers the Fitbit Coach feature on the watch itself, Samsung makes up for it by offering its ‘Programs’ services for free.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active offers a gorgeous display and better smartwatch-esq functionality. And if you are already invested in the Samsung ecosystem, then it makes for a no brainer. However, if you are looking for better battery life, and a marginally better-designed app, then the Fitbit Ionic might be just what you’re looking for.
Follow Us
Shrey Pacheco
Writer, gamer, and hater of public transport. View Full Profile
