The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 proves that something old can become new again. Samsung has brought back their classic rotating bezel as well as larger screens and new heart health features to keep up with modern needs.

Wellness improvements include increased personalized sleep tracking with enhanced Sleep Score Factors, an automated Sleep Coach and Sleep Symbol Assignment feature as well as the capability of monitoring for atrial fibrillation with an EKG sensor.

Outstanding Features

As with most modern Android smartwatches, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 provides a comprehensive collection of health and fitness features. One notable upgrade lies within its more advanced heart rate monitoring, which now auto-detects certain exercise types such as running, rowing and swimming to provide training feedback in real time. In addition, this means it better estimates your resting heart rate while simultaneously monitoring abnormal rhythm fluctuations that could indicate atrial fibrillation.

Personalized Heart Rate Zone feature

Samsung has also integrated their Personalized Heart Rate Zone feature, which helps users identify and set target heart rates during workouts to reach specific goals more efficiently. Similar features have long been available on other fitness trackers and smartwatches such as Garmin’s Fenix 7 Pro. Additional improvements were recently made with respect to sleep tracking by providing more intuitive data presented visually for easy understanding.

The Design

Design-wise, the Galaxy Watch 6 is very similar to its predecessor. It boasts a relatively large display with bright AMOLED pixels and solid build quality. However, it’s bezel remains rather thick. Buttons still serve similar purposes and all functions remain functionally similar.

One difference from previous models is that the bottom button now opens Samsung Wallet instead of Bixby. Bixby can still be configured to open Google Assistant though. Samsung has also created a quick-access shortcut menu for their apps, which makes it easier to reach frequently used features quickly.

The connectivity

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series now provides LTE stand-alone connectivity when used with compatible Galaxy S or Note series smartphones running One UI version 5.1 or later. However, in order to use this feature of your Galaxy Watch you’ll need to enable cellular connectivity on your phone and purchase a separate plan with your providers. While this might add another step or two in terms of setup time and costs, the payoff could be huge: taking your watch on runs without your phone is well worth the price! It should also be noted that its IP68 rating means it can survive submersion of water up to 50 meters for up to 30 minutes!

New Features

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 offers enhanced software features to give it an edge over competing smartwatches. Wellness tracking capabilities have been improved through enhanced activity and sleep monitoring. Irregular Heart Rate notification now stands out as one of the best tools to detect atrial fibrillation (AFib).

Samsung has enhanced the experience in its wearable’s Health app, an integral component of its overall health platform. The design has been simplified in order to better showcase activity and health data while adding some new fitness tools like track run workout type support and customized workout creation capabilities. Cycling detection has also returned after having disappeared on both Galaxy Watch 4 and 5.

Other upgrades to note include:

– advanced running analysis which tracks your posture for asymmetry
– contact/flight time to help prevent injuries
– personalized heart rate zones based on aerobic capabilities
– sleep coaching to analyze sleeping patterns to help you have more restful nights,
complete with assigning you an animal sleeping badge so you know how well you’re
sleeping between the sheets as well as giving advice and tips.

Hardware upgrades to the Galaxy Watch 6 should make it faster and more responsive, too. The exynos processor has been upgraded to 18% faster while RAM has doubled from 1.5GB to 2GB. These updates should enable it to handle more apps simultaneously and switch quickly between two running apps.

Another enhancement is an additional camera controller, enabling you to access and remotely manage the camera on your smartphone from afar. This feature comes in particularly handy if you prefer not taking your phone everywhere with you or don’t wish to bring it along for charging at home or public locations. Finally, fast wireless charging is effortless at home or out and about.

Pros

Samsung once reigned supreme among Android smartwatches and was often recommended by those seeking alternatives to Apple. But competition from Google Pixel Watch and Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5 has increased considerably and now Samsung must innovate more vigorously in order to remain relevant.

In some ways, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 accomplishes this with various modifications designed to improve user experience. For instance, now users can set their lower button up so as to trigger Samsung Pay if their phone supports it, rather than previously only having access to Samsung Pass (for event tickets and boarding passes as well as membership cards). Furthermore, Sleep Stages gives more insight into when light sleep occurs, REM sleep takes over, deep sleep sets in and provides snore detection along with skin temperature readings.

Display brightness is also significantly enhanced – now reaching 2,000 nits, double that of the Galaxy Watch 5! This should make reading in bright sunlight easier while offering additional watchface options to choose from.

I enjoyed testing the watch and was quite amazed at its accuracy when it comes to heart rate and GPS tracking. It’s much more accurate than previous Samsung models and much closer in accuracy to devices such as Fitbit Versa which is one of our recommended Android smartwatch models.

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 remains one of the premier Android smartwatches. Packed with features and with the power to make calls and send texts without your phone nearby, its Super AMOLED display offers stunning clarity – not forgetting it now features Flex mode so you can remotely locate and control it with Flex mode!

Cons

But there are a few drawbacks of the Galaxy Watch 6. First off, it still uses Samsung’s Health Monitor app for EKG readings and passive irregular heart rhythm notifications; while this can be seen as positive as it means the device doesn’t rely on unreliable sensors alone for this functionality, it adds another step compared with competing devices.

Passive blood pressure monitoring requires a Samsung phone and hasn’t received medical certification yet. Additionally, third-party apps for fitness programs cannot be downloaded onto this smartwatch – something which may prove disappointing if you want specific workout programs on it.

Inability to use some advanced Android Wear apps

Another thing holding this watch back from truly exceptional status is the inability to use some advanced Android Wear apps like WhatsApp and Spotify without first connecting your phone via Bluetooth. While that might not be an issue for most people, those ones passionate about these types of apps might want to maximize their Samsung Galaxy Watch experience by accessing WhatsApp or Spotify directly without needing a phone connection first.

Another drawback of the Galaxy Watch 6 is that it lacks an independent heart rate monitor that can be used without needing your phone nearby. While this is unfortunate, this might be addressed with Samsung’s next upgrade.

Battery Life

Even though the Galaxy Watch 6 features a larger battery than its predecessor, you still must charge it daily – however it only takes 30 minutes to charge up to 80 percent for an entire day or longer with AOD enabled.

One minor niggle with our review unit was intermittent performance issues. For instance, it would randomly restart or freeze at times, forcing us to perform a full reset before fixing. While this may just be limited to our review unit alone, such issues don’t bode well for Wear OS devices’ long-term stability. Perhaps our particular review unit had issues unique to itself but this should still be kept in mind if purchasing the Galaxy Watch 6. Luckily, Google Pixel Watch will soon receive an upgrade which should help alleviate some of these problems.

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