Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic Review: Small Updates, Big Screens

The Galaxy Watch 6 proves that what’s outdated can grow to be new once more. Samsung introduced again the fan-favorite bezel on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, whereas the common Galaxy Watch 6 is an incremental replace to final yr’s mannequin. These Android smartwatches should not thrilling, however they’ll do nearly all the pieces you want.

I’ve been carrying each variations for every week to trace all the pieces from exercises to sleep. Inside, they’re virtually the identical watch with the identical inside specs, sensors and sizing choices. I examined the small model of each: the 40mm Watch 6 and the 43mm Classic. (My wrist measures 152mm.) You can see how they match within the video on this web page.

8.4

Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic

Like

• 
  Screen is twice as brilliant as final yr
• 
  One-click watch band design is backwards-compatible
• 
  Switch telephones with out resetting the watch
• 
  Rotating bezel is again on the Classic

Don’t like

• 
  Need to cost the watch each day
• 
  Irregular coronary heart rhythm/ECG just for Galaxy telephones
• 
  Classic is $100 greater than the Galaxy Watch 6
• 
  Sleep monitoring accuracy is uneven

The primary variations between the Galaxy Watch 6 variations?

• Material: The Galaxy Watch 6 has an aluminum body whereas the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is stainless-steel
• Rotating bezel: Only on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. The Galaxy Watch 6 has a haptic contact bezel across the display
• Price: Starts at $300 for the 40mm Galaxy Watch 6 or $330 for the 44mm. The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is $400 for the 43mm and $430 for the 47mm.

Watch this: Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: Full Review

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All the sensors on each are the identical as those discovered on the Galaxy Watch 5: coronary heart charge, physique composition and pores and skin temperature. Both the Watch 6 and 6 Classic have LTE choices to remain linked whenever you’re away out of your telephone. They value $50 greater than the bottom worth and chances are you’ll have to pay an extra payment to your wi-fi supplier to get service in your watch.

So, what’s totally different from final yr? It’s so simple as software program, screens and a barely longer-lasting battery.

Better, brighter shows provide help to see extra

It looks as if a small improve on paper, however the bigger 1.3-inch and 1.5-inch shows make a major distinction to the general expertise. When I examine the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic immediately with the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic (the final Samsung watch to have the bezel) the distinction in usable show is night time and day.

The screens are additionally twice as brilliant because the Galaxy Watch 5 and Pro, reaching a most 2,000 nits. I discovered them a lot simpler to see in daylight. The always-on show is brighter too.

Galaxy Watch 6 Classic bezel makes the watch enjoyable once more

I really like that Samsung listened to suggestions and introduced again the rotating bezel. Not solely does it make navigation extra enjoyable, it is a sensible method to management the watch in the event you put on gloves, or have sweaty or moist fingers.

The bezel can be slimmer than the model we final noticed on the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. But it would not do something new and it ought to by no means have left. The common Galaxy Watch 6 has a contact bezel across the fringe of the display. Move your finger round to get the identical impact because the bodily bezel.

I’m wondering what Samsung will do in regards to the subsequent Pro watch. I speculated the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro might have had a slimmer rotating bezel across the raised fringe of the watch. Now Samsung makes a slimmer model, I hope we’ll see it on the Galaxy Watch 6 Pro.

One design perk I wasn’t anticipating is the brand new one-click watch band design. No extra twiddling with spring pin toggles! The new bands are additionally backwards and forwards-compatible and I recognize that they sit nearer to the watch body. The hybrid leather-based band on the Classic is especially snug for all-day put on.

Galaxy Watch 6 battery life: Only barely higher than the Watch 5

Samsung is extra conservative with its battery life estimates this yr, claiming the Galaxy Watch 6 can last as long as 30 hours with the always-on show, or 40 hours with it turned off. That’s for each sizes of each watches, regardless that the bigger case sizes have a higher-capacity battery at 425 mAh in comparison with 300 mAh on the smaller model.

I wasn’t fairly capable of attain these numbers. With the always-on, getting a handful of telephone notifications, one 30-minute exercise utilizing GPS and sleep monitoring, I hit 27 hours on the 43mm Galaxy Watch 6 Classic earlier than it went flat.

With barely heavier use, like streaming music over Bluetooth headphones and an extended outside exercise utilizing GPS, that runtime is nearer to 24 hours. I believe LTE use will drain the battery even sooner and can replace this assessment as soon as I’ve been capable of check. It takes over an hour to cost the watch from flat to full utilizing the offered USB-C charger, or you should use reverse wi-fi charging on a Galaxy telephone for a top-up. 

If you need the longest-lasting battery, that is nonetheless the $450 Galaxy Watch 5 Pro that lasts two-and-a-half to 3 days with related use.

WearOS 4 and One UI 5 Watch: A superb combo, however not full

These are the primary watches to run Wear OS 4. Some of the important thing updates promise higher battery life and cloud backups. Apps like Gmail and Google Calendar can even come to the watch, however on the time of writing they don’t seem to be out there but. Other Google apps just like the Assistant and YouTube Music are there and WhatsApp now has a local Wear OS app.

They additionally run Samsung’s One UI 5 Watch on high of Wear OS 4 that brings Galaxy Watch-exclusive options together with:

• Sleep insights and sleep teaching
• Personalized coronary heart charge zones
• Emergency SOS can ship your location when it detects a fall
• Fall detection energetic mechanically for customers over 55

Know that the Galaxy Watch 4 and 5 will get the One UI 5 replace later within the yr. Other interface tweaks embrace an even bigger keyboard, so typing is a bit of simpler than the Galaxy Watch 5. Voice to textual content dictation works in addition to it did earlier than. But my favourite characteristic to date is that you just needn’t reset your watch whenever you swap to a brand new telephone. 

If you might have a Flip 5 or Fold 5, you’ll be able to management the digital camera in Flex mode out of your wrist, however I discovered it was a bit laggy. Don’t really feel omitted when you’ve got an older Galaxy telephone: The digital camera controller nonetheless works. I examined it with the Galaxy S22 Ultra and received digital camera controls like zooming with the bezel, with out the lag.

Universal gestures is a lesser-known accessibility characteristic that ought to get extra consideration as a result of it really works rather well. Just just like the Assistive Touch on the Apple Watch, you’ll be able to management the Galaxy Watch 6 with gestures if you cannot contact the display or press buttons.

Health, health and sleep is just about the identical

The Galaxy Watch 6 has a number of new health instruments like a brand new monitor run exercise sort and the choice to create customized exercises. Samsung quietly added again automated biking detection after it disappeared from the Galaxy Watch 4 and 5. The Galaxy Watch 6 nonetheless auto-detects actions like walks, runs, rowing machine and elliptical after about 10 minutes.

New to Samsung watches are customized coronary heart charge zones. They may help you practice extra successfully by serving to you keep inside a variety primarily based in your cardio capabilities. To calculate customized coronary heart charge zones, do a minimal 10-minute outside run at 4 kilometers per hour or sooner. Then go into Settings > HR Zone Guide > Target HR zone. This characteristic additionally exists on the Apple Watch and Fitbit.

Sleep monitoring options carry the watch on top of things with what different watches available on the market provide, particularly the Pixel Watch and Fitbit. You can now see your sleep rating on the watch and the corresponding sleep animals are cute. But they have been out there on the Galaxy Watch 4 since early 2022. It will take extra time to see if the Galaxy Watch 6 sleep teaching ideas are useful in the long run and in the event that they’re any totally different from earlier watches. I’ll replace this assessment after a number of weeks with the ultimate verdict. 

Like different wearables, the Galaxy Watch 6 can examine your blood oxygen readings when you sleep, however it’s the one smartwatch I’ve worn for sleep monitoring that provides me very low blood oxygen readings in a single day, generally as little as 87%. Low blood oxygen readings can point out medical situations like sleep apnea. Activating sleep mode can be imagined to activate an invisible infrared sensor as a substitute of utilizing the inexperienced LED for coronary heart charge, although I observed after I awakened through the night time, the inexperienced gentle was seen. I’ve reached out to Samsung for clarification on this characteristic.

The Galaxy Watch 6 has an ECG and now helps irregular coronary heart rhythm notifications, just like the Apple Watch and Fitbit, however solely when you’ve got a Galaxy telephone. You can sideload the Samsung Health Monitor app on different Android telephones by putting in an APK, however technically it is not supported.

I examined the guts charge monitor towards a chest strap for accuracy and located that my resting coronary heart charge matched up. During a cardio exercise, the sensor was inside a number of bpm of the strap. Like final yr’s watch, the GPS locked on to a sign inside seconds of beginning an out of doors exercise and route accuracy is sweet.

Finally, the pores and skin temperature sensor tracks throughout in a single day sleep and can be used to foretell upcoming menstrual cycles.

Should you improve to the Galaxy Watch 6?

That relies upon. If you might have a Galaxy Watch 4 or 5 it would not make a lot sense except you get a incredible trade-in deal, otherwise you really need that larger display. You get all the primary software program updates with One UI 5 Watch later within the yr anyway.

If you might have an earlier Galaxy or Gear watch that runs Tizen, the improve is extra tempting as you are having access to Wear OS and the choice to maintain the beloved bezel.

But the Galaxy Watch 6 has much more competitors than final yr, due to the likes of the Pixel Watch and Mobvoi’s TicWatch 5 Pro. The Galaxy Watch 6 is without doubt one of the most refined Android smartwatches, however it may very well be much more thrilling, particularly with regards to battery life.