The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are two smartwatches with the same ambition – to be on your articulatio radiocarpea when you ’re going on long hikes or planning to undertake a triathlon .
Both Samsung and Apple say their Ultra watches are built for serious jock and amount packed with sports watch feature like the later Global Positioning System engineering , and consecrated mutant mode to correspond up with thebest smartwatchyou can get on your wrist right now .
If you like the estimation of go Ultra , but do n’t know the difference of opinion between the two , we ’ve lived with both to give you the lowdown .
Design
These are smartwatches that will reign on your wrist . Both volunteer square - ish look with theGalaxy Watch Ultra ’s case a jot all-encompassing than Apple ’s . Samsung prefer for a round display as oppose to the square one on theApple Watch Ultra 2 .
If you want the slender watch , then it ’s the Samsung you want . The weights of the Ultras sit around 60 g , so the heftiness is like and they both use titanium in the shell to keep things light but that look remain high grade . The Apple Watch has the bigger 49 mm case compare to the 47 mm one on the Galaxy Watch with both offering azure lechatelierite to protect screen from scratches .
In terms of enduringness , both have been military tested toMIL - STD 810Hstandard so they can cope with function at high altitudes , low temperature and shock and vibration . You ’re getting smartwatches that are H2O tolerant up to 100 metres , though Apple offers a design that ’s suited for recreational aqualung diving , which is something the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra lacks .
The screen are two of the best you ’ll get hold on a smartwatch . They ’re big , shining , sharp and offer accurate colours with unspoiled visibleness in vivid out-of-door light . They also both give you the option to keep the screen on at all times or utilize antiphonal acclivity to wake gestures to keep them run longer between charges .
In terms of buttons , Samsung ’s are all down one side of the case with three in totality including a poll that act as the Galaxy Watch Ultra ’s quick button to offer speedy access to characteristic like workout tracking , the built - in flannel mullein or lock in the vigil when using it in water system .
Apple employ three buttons as well , though spreads those around the pillowcase with a crown that unlike Samsung ’s does twist to let you scroll through scout screens . It also keep its Action push separated from other clit and like Samsung ’s Quick release , can be attribute to mould with Apple ’s onboard outdoor and sports trailing feature film .
In addition to that it can be assign to put to work with a host of third - party apps , which is n’t the same for Samsung ’s Quick button .
There are definitely some similarities in term of the removable picket straps you have available for both smartwatches .
Apple has official strap design for outdoor bodily process like hikes and one dedicate for swimming and diving . It ’s a interchangeable story for Samsung , which clearly has been inspired by Apple to volunteer like - style straps .
Health and Fitness
Apple and Samsung ’s Ultra aim to offer you the best that the fellowship have to tender in wellness and fitness tracking . If you desire something to track your heart , they can do it . Want something to help you sail your means home ? They can do that too .
In terms of standout health tracking features , both offer ECG sensors to supervise heart rate more accurately than the optical detector they both also include . Samsung additionally offer blood pressure trailing ( once calibrated with a blood pressure monitor ) and bloodline oxygen trailing , which you wo n’t get hold on an Apple Watch . It can also track body physical composition like a smart scale and while there are third party accessories that will permit you to do that on an Apple Watch Ultra 2 , it ’s not something Apple offer natively . at long last , if you desire more health tracking , then it ’s Samsung that will give you that .
It ’s primarily about the sports tracking and outdoor feature of speech here , which are likely to be the main understanding you ’re going to pick these up . On that front , they match in some areas in term of features , though the carrying into action of those feature has n’t been quite the same .
You ’re getting raw double - band Global Positioning System modes on both sentinel , which is the in style GPS technology aimed at better accuracy when give chase near tall building or intemperately wooded area .
When we tested the feature film at a 10k race in the centre of London , where GPS performance is strangle by the issue of grandiloquent buildings , the Watch Ultra 2 was much tight to cross that 10k distance than the Samsung by quite a distance .
We also found that GPS support to be more honest for the Apple Watch Ultra 2 for other activities like undefendable water swimming , which while not impeccable , did make out considerably than Samsung in the piss .
If you ’re looking to these watches for mapping and navigation lineament , the Apple Watch Ultra 2 ultimately offers more on that front . It extend innocent topographical maps mainly with hike in creative thinker , though there are plenty of apps that can offer that experience for other sports like run .
The Galaxy Watch Ultra does n’t offer function , but does volunteer navigation feature like tracking you back to your start and upload routes via the GPX file data formatting . The navigation experience works well and you have support for apps like Komoot to proffer additional reinforcement if need . These map and pilotage feature article are a little more integrated with Apple ’s Action button than they are with Samsung ’s Quick button , which have the experience a bit more polished overall . Both do offer emergency - way siren modes that can let out a trashy noise to conjure the dismay if you get into problem on a solo dangerous undertaking .
Apple also has the upper hired hand if you ’re looking for something to use for recreational aqualung dive . There are both native apps and third political party apps to elevate that diving experience as well , with that support not find on the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra .
Smartwatch Features
For entrant , the Apple Watch Ultra 2 only do work with iPhones and the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 will only make for with Android phones .
With the Galaxy Watch Ultra , you ’re also going to get access to certain feature article when paired with a Samsung smartphone . So that includes its double pinch gestures andECGand roue pressure tracking , which requires Samsung ’s Health Monitor app to utilize .
As smartwatches , they are two of the in effect on that front in terms of the level of features and the execution of apprisal support , the intuitiveness of the watch software package and giving you the honorable of what smartwatches have to offer .
Samsung relies on Google ’s clothing OS 5.0 , which is n’t the most radical update to the operating system , but does mean you have access to Android apps like Google Maps , Google Assistant and crucially , the Google Play Store . Apple ’s Ultra runs on the latest version of watchOS and similarly declare oneself access to a bustling Apple App Store , great euphony playback and offline support and likewise is a software that ’s easy to get to handle with .
From a carrying into action side of things , both run nice and smooth , though if you need more storage to play with , Apple offer 64 GB compare to the 32 GB reposition on the Galaxy Watch Ultra . Both require having a few apps running on your mate smartphone to get the good out of them . There ’s not a slew in it between Apple ’s main Watch app and Samsung ’s Galaxy Wearable app , though Apple ’s Fitness app feels a signature slicker than Samsung ’s Health one . That being said , Apple ’s Health app does still feel a piddling on the busybodied side .
Battery Life
When it occur to battery life , Samsung and Apple are tout similar numbers and offering manner to drive thing further when you ’re using them for multi - day consequence that might put more demand on battery public presentation .
Malus pumila say up to 36 minute in normal economic consumption and up to 72 hours in a humiliated mogul style . In demarcation , Samsung say its Ultra should last up to 80 hours with the always - on screen mode turned off and 60 hr with it turned on . It also claims it can last for up to 100 hr in a oecumenical power saving way and up to 48 hours in exercise - focused power saving mode .
We ’ve found in general use the Galaxy Watch can adulterate to two days , whereas the Apple Watch Ultra 2 more comfortably gets through two days . It ’s also offering more battery in various baron rescue modes when you ’re using workout tracking features .
Price
These two Ultras are more expensive than their non - radical counterparts , so you ’re go to be paying the kind of money typically associated with outdoor play ticker from Garmin , Polar and Suunto .
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is the punk of the two , coming in at $ 649.99£599 , while the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is price at $ 799/£799 . Both watches only do in one size of it selection with both offering Bluetooth and LTE connectivity as standard .
Verdict
redact aside that these are smartwatches that are restricted to the devices they ’ll work with and looking at them being smartwatches made for the open air and anyone wait for sports watch - alike performance , there ’s only one winner decent now and that ’s theApple Watch Ultra 2 .
There ’s not too much in it on the design front , with Apple perhaps making better use of its physical release . tire atomic number 8 5 consort well on Samsung ’s Ultra and gives Android exploiter a rich array of smartwatch feature like Apple does but with more health monitoring than Apple ’s Ultra .
Where thing start to separate is performance and the feature Apple and Samsung blackguard about on the sports and outdoors front . Apple ’s sustenance just works better right now . If you like the estimation of an Android - well-disposed smartwatch that offers some good outdoor and play tracking , theGalaxy Watch Ultracan declare oneself that . If you require the best everlasting smartwatch with outdoor and sport trailing , it ’s Apple ’s Ultra you want .
