Table of Contents
For those of you that have read my blog post before, you will know that I am an Apple Watch Ultra fan girl. But as I have recently been using the s24 Ultra, I thought I would try the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. I have used a Galaxy Watch before and wanted to see what had changed and what improvements have been made.
I have truly enjoyed using the Samsung S24 Ultra, so I was hoping that pairing it with the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic would lead to an even better experience. Below are the key areas that I will be covering in this post.
- Design
- Performance
- Features
- Fitness tracking
- Battery Life
Let’s jump into each of these in a bit more detail.
Design 👀:
This year, Samsung has decided to bring back the rotating bezel on the Watch 6 Classic. This was a welcome return according to many Samsung Watch Classic fans and adds additional functionality and makes it easier for navigating the watch’s UI.
Colours & Bands:
The watch comes in two colours, silver and black. I went for the black, but I wish that I had gone for silver, as I think it gives a more premium look and fits in with both a casual and smarter look. It also comes with a nice eco leather-looking band which is comfortable enough to sleep in if you want to use it for sleep tracking. Depending on which colour you decide to go for with your Galaxy Watch 6 Classic will determine the colour of your watch band (the same as your watch 😀)
Size:
As well as coming in two colours, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic comes in two sizes (43 mm & 47 mm). I like a larger watch, so I went for the 47 mm size, and it doesn’t look too big at all. I like a bigger watch as it means a bigger screen, so it is easier to see and use all the features that you get from a smartwatch.
Screen:
The screen is larger thanks to the 15% reduction of the bezel, so it gives you an enjoyable immersive experience with plenty of space to be able to swipe the screen if not using the rotating bezel. The Galaxy Watch 6 Classics display is made from Sapphire Crystal glass, which protects the screen from the daily wear and tear that we put our watches through. The rotating bezel itself is made from stainless steel, giving it a nice, sleek look.
Performance 📉:
This is where I think Samsung lags Apple in the Smartwatch department. The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic comes with the Exynos chip and I find that it’s not as quick and the UI can lag, especially when waking the watch up. This is something that I don’t get on my Apple Watch Ultra.
So for me, this is where I would really like to see improvement in the future iterations of the Galaxy Watch, maybe putting in a Snapdragon chip in there to make it that bit more snappy (excuse the pun).
The UI itself is pleasant enough, and you can add tiles providing quick access to things like the weather or your email. You can either swipe through or use the rotating bezel to navigate through to the tile you want to get to. I do like this, as it’s like having widgets on your phone.
Smartwatch Features⌚️:
There are plenty of features packed into the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic that make it a superb smartwatch.
Messages💬
As with most smartwatches, you can receive and respond to text messages on your watch. As I mainly use WhatsApp, I have enjoyed the fact that you can download it onto the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, which allows you to see all your message history and use it like you would on your phone.
Calls📲
Again, a standard feature on smartwatches. You can take calls on your watch, the speakers are OK but could be louder. I find that it’s a nice to have feature, but I am not one for using my watch to take calls.
Find My Phone🔍
I love this feature, and it’s effectively the same as one you Apple Watch. If you are forever forgetting where you have put your fun down, then this is the feature for you. You can go into your watch setting menu and select find my phone, your watch will then play a sound that will lead you to your phone.
Camera Control📷
You can also control the camera from the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic for both capturing both photos and video. This is particularly useful for when you need to be hands-free for capturing a group photo, for example. Using the watch as a viewfinder is great for content creators capturing reels and videos.
Health & Fitness Features🏋️♀️
As with most smartwatches these days, there are plenty of health and fitness features packed in the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. I am not going to list each one, but instead will cover the main ones that I find myself using and that I think most of you will as well.
Sleep Tracking💤
Although it captures the same things as the Apple Watch when it comes to Sleep stages and Oxygen levels, you do get a bit more in the Watch 6 Classic and Galaxy Watches in general. You are also provided with a sleep score indicating if it was fair, good etc with no need for a 3rd Party app. If you record your sleep for 7 days, you will also get to know your sleep animal, which tells you what type of sleeper you are.
Workout Tracking🏃♀️
You can track a whole host of exercises in the workout app. The watch has GPS but not dual bands as you get with other watches like the Apple Watch or Garmin, for example. All the information you require is displayed on the screen show as time, distance, steps and which training zone you are in. You can use the bezel to look through the information on the screen, which is nice when you have sweating fingers from running. All of this information is then visible in the Samsung Health app.
Body Composition💪
This is a feature that is native to Samsung Watches and allows you to be able to measure and track your body composition. This includes the following:
- Skeletal Muscle
- Fat Mass
- Body Water
- BMI
I am not sure how accurate these actually are, so I would take them with a pinch of salt, but it offers a data point that you can use for tracking progress.
ECG & Blood Oxygen❤️
These seem to be a standard for most smartwatches, and this is no different. You can measure your pulse and perform an ECG to check your heart health. This is really useful if you need to share the information with your doctor. I can’t say that I take an ECG that often, but I do like to check my pulse from time to time.
Blood Oxygen is another measure you can take again not something that I use much, but it does pull this information into your sleep data.
Stress Tracking🥵
Another one that I take with a pinch of salt, but you can check your stress levels throughout the day. If it sees that you are stressed, it will give you some breathing prompts. I don’t find it to seem to true to how I am feeling, as I can feel relaxed, but it’s telling me I am stressed. So, again, not one I use a lot, but something that others might find helpful.
Battery Life🪫
Samsung states that you can get up to 40hrs on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. I do charge the watch daily, which I do overnight if I am not using it for sleep tracking. For the times when I do want to use my watch for tracking my sleep, the superfast charging comes in clutch as it can charge up to 45% in 30 min.
It would be great to get longer battery life here and also with the Apple Watch Ultra. You will still have to charge frequently, so if you are going away, you will need to take your charger with you. This is where Garmin excels.
Final Thoughts 🤔
This is a solid smartwatch, and it will do everything that most of us want from a watch. I, personally, am more interested in the health and fitness features, of which this has plenty. I would say though that you will not get all the health features like the ECG unless you have a Samsung phone likes the s24 Ultra.
It will, however, still play nicely with other Android phones if you are not worried about those specific features. I do think that the gap is closing between the Galaxy Watch and the Apple watch. However the UI is still not quite a nice and performance wise it still lags. Hopefully, in future watches we will see an improved processor to really make it an Apple Watch rival.