Design and Build

The Samsung Galaxy Watch, that was made available in the year 2018, is offered in 42mm and 46mm sizes with a stainless steel chassis, with a 49g (42mm) or 63g (46mm) weight at 11.6mm (46mm) or 13mm (42mm) depth. Color options are Midnight Black, Rose Gold (42mm), and Silver (46mm). It fits 130–200mm (42mm) or 140–220mm (46mm) wrists and has a rotating bezel, two side buttons, and 20mm (42mm) or 22mm (46mm) bands. The Gorilla Glass DX+ front provides IP68 water as well as dust resistance (up to 1.5m for 30min) and the device has the MIL-STD-810G certification. A large number of users admit it the smartwatch as distinguishing with the classic design and talking drawbacks of its bulkiness compared to the Galaxy Watch Active.

• Stainless steel chassis, 11.6mm/13mm depth
• Rotating bezel, two side buttons
• Gorilla Glass DX+ front
• IP68 water/dust resistance, MIL-STD-810G
• Interchangeable 20mm/22mm bands

Galaxy Watch Display

The Galaxy Watch is equipped with a Super AMOLED display of 360 x 360 pixels (42mm, 1.2 inches; 46mm, 1.3 inches), both at ~278 PPI. Moreover, it features up to 1000 nits brightness with always-on functionality. The screen is bright but it’s a pity the Galaxy Watch 3 had higher resolution. End users believe it's quite visible when they are doing short activities and health tracking but they say the bezels are old-fashioned and unusually large.

• Super AMOLED, always-on
• 42mm: 1.2 inches, 46mm: 1.3 inches, 360 x 360, ~278 PPI
• Up to 1000 nits
• Gorilla Glass DX+ protection
• Larger bezels than Galaxy Watch 3

Performance and Software

The Exynos 9110 (dual-core, 1.15GHz, 10nm) with 768MB RAM (Bluetooth) or 1.5GB RAM (LTE) and 4GB storage brings the Galaxy Watch to life and runs Tizen OS 4.0. The smartwatch is in support of Samsung Health and Bixby as well as the most essential applications but can’t have ECG and Wear OS app support. Although the performance is not up to the level of Galaxy Watch 3 when it comes to fitness tracking, it is still decent for basic tasks. The community finds it can be trusted for services like sports tracking, etc. but those who wish to use it as phone-replacement may find something lacking.

• Exynos 9110, dual-core, 10nm
• 768MB RAM (Bluetooth), 1.5GB RAM (LTE), 4GB storage
• Tizen OS 4.0
• Samsung Health, Bixby
• No ECG or Wear OS

The Exynos 9110 is sufficient for fitness tracking and notifications, but Tizen OS limits app variety compared to later Wear OS models like the Galaxy Watch 4.

Sensors and Health

The list of the sensors of the Galaxy Watch includes a heart rate sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer, and ambient light sensor. With these sensory features, a number of health routines can be taken care of such as the sleep routine, the ECG check, the stress check and heart rate monitoring but the availability of just the first three among them remains. The health features of Galaxy Watch remain that of fewer has compared to Galaxy Watch 3. The customers point out the convenience of the present health features but remain unhappy as they lack more features than those found in the new models.

• Heart rate, stress monitoring
• Sleep tracking
• Accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer
• Ambient light sensor
• No ECG, blood oxygen, or body composition

Battery and Charging

The Galaxy Watch offers ~48 hours of battery life with a 270mAh (42mm) or 472mAh (46mm) battery. It supports wireless charging (0–100% in ~2.5 hours) via a magnetic charger. Real-world use yields 36–48 hours (42mm) or 48–72 hours (46mm). Battery life is better than the Galaxy Watch Active but similar to the Galaxy Watch 3. Users report charging every 1–2 days.

• 270mAh (42mm), 472mAh (46mm)
• ~48h (normal), ~36h (always-on)
• Charging: 0–100% in ~2.5h
• Magnetic charger
• No fast charging

Connectivity

The Galaxy Watch can function on Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n, 2.4GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS (GLONASS), NFC, and LTE (cellular models, $349.99+). Thanks to the microphone and speaker; you can make and receive calls; and ask Bixby to carry out tasks for you. The connectivity of the Galaxy Watch is not quite as sophisticated as the Galaxy Watch 3’s because it only has Bluetooth 5.0. The GPS and NFC seem to be very dependable, but the users have tried the dual-band Wi-Fi and LTE on all models with success.

• Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n, 2.4GHz), Bluetooth 4.2
• GPS, NFC, LTE (cellular models)
• Samsung Pay
• Microphone, speaker playback
• No dual-band Wi-Fi

Pricing and Availability

The Galaxy Watch, which was introduced in 2018 in two versions: one 42mm, Bluetooth, stainless steel for $329.99 and one 46mm for $349.99, was being sold at Samsung, various carriers, and retailers from August 24th, 2018. LTE models cost an extra $50. Ever since it went out of production in 2019, the Galaxy Watch has been refurbished and selling at a price tag of $100–$200. Its users appreciate the quality of the entry-level smartwatch albeit they think it is not as advanced as the Galaxy Watch 3.