Back in 2024, Samsung put out its first ‘Ultra’ smartwatch. After taking 2025 off, the Ultra model is back again with its second iteration. While it may share the same design as its predecessor (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!), Samsung has shaved off some thickness from the titanium case and made the strap lighter. Furthermore, the new Snapdragon Wear Elite has breathed new life into the device. Looking at the spec sheet alone, we can comfortably say that the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 towers over its peers. However, being the best comes at a price. In this case, it is a hefty Rs 65,000. We used the smartwatch for a week to find out if it’s worth breaking the bank. Here is our review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2.
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In This Article
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2 Review: Design
Box Contents
- Smartwatch
- Watch band
- Magnetic charger
- User guide
Not much has changed in terms of design on Samsung’s second Ultra smartwatch. It uses the familiar ‘round display in square case’ design language. The physical bezel around the display is fixed in its position and contains hour notations. The left side of the case has a home button, a back button, and a customisable ‘Quick’ button in the middle. The opposite side houses the speaker slit. The sensor array is positioned at the bottom of the case.
Even with the titanium case being 12% slimmer and the band 25% lighter, the watch weighs 61.5 grams, which makes it 1 gram heavier than its predecessor (our review here). This is because it packs a larger 800mAh battery, so no complaints on our end! Available in a single 47mm size, it still feels bulky on smaller wrists. There are 2 bands on offer: Marine and Peakform. The band options from the previous iteration of the smartwatch are compatible with this one, in case you want to try the Trail band.
The ‘Ultra’ moniker comes with state-of-the-art durability specs. For starters, this smartwatch is compliant with MIL-STD-810H durability standards. It is rated IP68/IP69K for dust and water protection, being immersible up to 100 metres in water at 10ATM pressure for up to 10 minutes.
Samsung has also made the Watch Ultra2 diving-proof up to 40 metres (EN13319-certified) – a feature that was absent in the previous model. An exclusive Diving app, co-developed with Mares, will be made available to users later this year. It will let them access advanced diving features like ascent/descent speed tracking and safe dive limits.
Even with its massive size and heavier weight, the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 is one of the most comfortable smartwatches we’ve strapped around our wrists. The Marine band, which we used for this review, feels very light and offers a snug fit. The dual punch holes make it breathable and ensure that sweat doesn’t build up under the strap. You can wear this watch all day (and night, if you want to track your sleep cycle) without feeling any fatigue or skin irritation.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra2 has the brightest display out of all the smartwatches on the market. Its 1.52-inch Super AMOLED panel can hit a peak brightness of 5,000 nits. Needless to say, the watch maintains legibility in all lighting conditions – even under the harsh sun at noon. The touch response is smooth as butter. The watch settings allow you to bump up the sensitivity of the panel if you’re wearing gloves.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2 Review: Performance
This year, Samsung has done away with its in-house Exynos chipset on its Galaxy Watch lineup for the more powerful Snapdragon SW6100 Wear Elite SoC. This chip is built on a 3nm architecture. The boost in performance is immediately noticeable. Apps load instantly, touch gestures have practically zero response time, and the animations don’t ever throw a jitter your way. On top of that, Snapdragon’s platform is much smarter with battery usage, which we’ll get into later.
Pairing the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 to your phone requires downloading the Galaxy Wearable app. Additionally, you need to download the Samsung Health app in order to access the health and fitness features. Both of these companion apps are really well designed and optimised. Their interface is super vibrant and accessible.
The Wearable app lets you manage how your watch looks and behaves. You can change and customise the watch face, rearrange the quick panels and tiles sections, reorder the apps in the app drawer, and more. If you dive further in, you will find more customisation options for the buttons, gestures, display, and more. The Health app has neat classifications for physical activities, vital health metrics, sleep cycle, mindfulness, and nutrition. Its home page gives you a quick glance at all the important metrics and data.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 is one of the best fitness watches around. Samsung has introduced a couple of features that further bolster its position at the top of the pile. For starters, the new ‘Trail Run’ feature can calculate the elevation you’ve gained on a hike, along with climbing progress and terrain impact. The valuable data recorded by this feature can be used to pace yourself better on gruelling mountain hikes. Next up, the diving feature can calculate the depth and temperature of the water. The upcoming Diving app that we talked about earlier will bring more advanced features on board.
For more casual users, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2 might be a bit of an overkill. It can do everything that a regular, top-of-the-line smartwatch can. It has support for a wide range of activities, sports, and exercise routines. The automatic workout detection feature works quite well too. If you’re out on a run, you can leave your phone at home and let the built-in dual-band GPS (L1 + L5) on this device do its thing. Payments are not a hassle either, with NFC baked into the device.
Health tracking happens round the clock and with the utmost precision. You can check your blood oxygen and heart rate at any given time on the watch or on the app. ECG and blood pressure calculation are only available in certain regions and for Samsung smartphone users only. The Samsung Health app lets you calculate your body composition using your watch, but we wouldn’t recommend relying on the results as they vary massively from dedicated body composition analysers.
Samsung’s One UI Watch 9 handles the software duties on this watch and does a phenomenal job. The interface is vibrant, fun, and intuitive. Access to third-party apps changes the game as you can send and receive WhatsApp messages, make a payment using Google Wallet, track your golf game, and dive into your Strava stats without picking up your phone. The new ‘Raise to Talk’ feature automatically activates Gemini as you bring your watch upwards in the direction of your mouth. It gets rid of the ‘Okay Google’ roadblock and summons the digital assistant instantly.
The 800mAh battery pack is a massive upgrade from the 590mAh unit on the previous model. Samsung claims it can last up to 60 hours with Always On Display enabled at all times. We got just over 2 days of battery life on a full charge, which is pretty good for a smartwatch of this stature. It also means you don’t need to charge it before bed to make sure it lasts through the night and covers all phases of your sleep cycle.
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Verdict
Samsung’s second ‘Ultra’ smartwatch isn’t just an iterative update. It makes important and meaningful improvements in areas where its predecessor was spread thin. Now that it’s diving-ready, it fully earns its ‘Ultra’ title. The new Snapdragon Wear Elite platform does wonders for general performance and battery life. You also get a sleeker chassis despite the watch packing a bigger battery. The Super AMOLED display, now brighter than ever (even amongst its peers), leaves absolutely no room for complaints. Perhaps people with smaller wrists would have liked a more compact version of the smartwatch, but when you’re an Ultra, you have to go all out.
Pros
- Bright display
- Durable
- Powerful processor
- Diving ready
- Good battery life
Cons
- Expensive
