The $649.99 Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra doesn’t hide where it got its inspiration from, but it is the first to have FDA-cleared sleep apnea detection.
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00:00So, we just got some hands-on time with the Galaxy Watch Ultra.
00:04I guess the Galaxy Watch 7 was there too, but honestly, this was the Ultra show.
00:08The Galaxy Watch Ultra is very similar to the Apple Watch Ultra.
00:13They're both marketed as being super durable and targeted towards extreme athletes.
00:18You can take the Galaxy Watch Ultra deep-sea diving.
00:21There are a bunch of bands for running, climbing, and swimming.
00:25This new watch has an 85 decibel siren.
00:28There's a dark mode where the watch face turns red so it's easier to read at night.
00:32There's even an orange-colored quick button that allows you to launch the workout app,
00:37turn on a flashlight, and a couple of other actions.
00:40It adds dual-frequency GPS, and it has more battery life, up to about 100 hours.
00:45Hmm, where have we seen all of this before?
00:52You know what's different, though?
00:53The Galaxy Watch Ultra is a little bit cheaper.
00:56It's only $649.99.
00:58This baby costs about $800.
01:01So I wore the Galaxy Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 at the same time, and I will
01:07say they are both ultra chunky.
01:10But Samsung's feels a bit chunkier.
01:13That's because it's got this squircle shape, so the case itself is squarish, but the face
01:17is circular like every other Galaxy Watch.
01:20I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the shape yet, but as far as wearability goes,
01:25my first impressions were that they are very similar.
01:28That said, there are a few new things for both the Ultra and the Galaxy Watch 7.
01:33Both have a new 3nm processor and a new bioactive sensor.
01:38There's more LEDs, and actually more colors of LEDs too, like yellow, blue, violet, and
01:43ultraviolet to be exact.
01:46Samsung's launching a new ages metric along with it.
01:50It's a bit experimental, and Samsung didn't have a whole lot to share about it.
01:54The gist is that it gives you a sense of how well you're aging.
01:59But the big health tracking features this time around are a new energy score and FDA-cleared
02:04sleep apnea detection.
02:06The energy score is similar to the readiness scores we've seen from other health trackers,
02:10but sleep apnea detection is definitely a first.
02:14Both watches will also launch with Wear OS 5 and One UI 6 Watch.
02:18Now I only got to see some demo units, but I did notice two things.
02:22First, there's no physical rotating bezel.
02:25There is a digital touch bezel though.
02:28I asked Samsung why, and the short of it is that the physical rotating bezel is exclusive
02:33to the classic.
02:35So if you want that, that is the watch to get.
02:38The other thing is that the quick button looks like a digital crown, but it's not one.
02:44Mainly because it just does not scroll.
02:46It's just a button.
02:48That definitely threw me off a bit while I was playing around with the watches, but
02:52mostly because I'm so used to buttons like that scrolling.
02:55We'll have to see how well the Ultra, Samsung's Ultra mind you, does in testing.
03:01And no, it's not the most original smartwatch we've seen, but to be fair, there really
03:05wasn't an equivalent to the Apple Watch Ultra in the Android smartwatch space.
03:09Now there is.
03:11I just wish they named it something a bit different.
03:14You know, it would have made my life a whole lot easier.
03:17Because now I have to say, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is a lot like the Apple Watch
03:20Ultra.
03:21Ultra, Ultra, Ultra.
03:22Ultra.
03:23Ultra.