Its been almost a year since we had reviewed the Galaxy Watch5, and arguably it is still one of the best contending Android Wear out there, even by today’s standard as Samsung has been keeping the updates fresh and bumped up most of the available features.
Today we will dive in to the review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch6, a wearable that is not just a follow up, but a few changes and updates which we think it is important that they have done to the latest lineup offering of Samsung’s Wearables
Do take note that the Galaxy Watch6 series came in 40mm and 44mm variants, however what we cover in this review will cover both in terms of functionalities.
Unboxing and Contents
The Samsung Galaxy Watch6 comes with the following:
1 X Watch itself
1 X USB C to magnetic charging cable
1 X User manual and Quick Start Guide, Warranty Statement
Design & Display
The Galaxy Watch6 weighs about 29 grams, with the slim and strong frame surrounding the Watch6 while the aluminum body makes it light and comfortable for any size wrist for the size of the included strap. In box, the strap is detachable and easy to maintain thanks to the soft but sturdy rubber material, the color matches the watch, you can wipe the entire watch and band with a soft cloth and then wear it on your wrist. The device we are reviewing here comes in Silver, which represents a color suitable for the social atmosphere and its indeed a safe color for any occasion.
As for the display, the Galaxy Watch6 we’re reviewing here has a 1.5-inch, 44mm AMOLED display, a size that’s comfortable to wear on medium to large wrists, with good display contrast and colors under direct sunlight, the Samsung Galaxy Watch6 (44mm) is also IP68 water resistant to depths of up to 50 meters and the glass screen is protected by a sapphire crystal. There are only two buttons on the watch facing the right side of the watch, one goes back to the home screen while the other is customizable but by default it is set to Samsung Pay. It comes in a wide choice of colors, Graphite, Silver for 44mm, Graphite and Gold for 40mm, with the same color and design language as some of the flagship Galaxy S and Z smartphones in the series. There is also an LTE version of the watch, but that will cost you a bit more. Overall compared to the last generation, you get a slightly larger display, while the size still remains pretty much identical with better density on pixels.
Features and Tracking
The Samsung Galaxy Watch6 has a few standout features as below :
- Easy Strap Replacement
With a single click, the straps and be detached and easy to aligned with the available bands as accessory. - Fall Detection Alert
The Watch6 series has a built in emergency contact list where it is customisable, and in an event of a fall, the user can alert emergency services or anyone based on the emergency contact list. - 3-in-1 BioActive Sensor with HR Zone
Enables the watch to monitor Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis sensor, Electrical Heart sensor (ECG – Varied by country), and Optical Heart Rate sensor (HR) with 5 zones rhythm measurements. - Sleep Tracker
As the implies, tracks sleeping stages, bedtime planning and snoring detection with alert. - Body composition app
Measures weight, skeletal muscles, fat mass, BMI - Samsung Pay App
Takes the advantage of the Galaxy Watch6 built in NFC chip to make payments by just touching the compatible VISA/Mastercard credit/debit card payment terminal. - Blood Oxygen (Sp02)
Measures Blood oxygen on your body, and it is configurable as manual track or continuous, can be used together when you are sleeping or resting. - Stress Monitor
Monitor your stress and breathing control, it can be configure as a constant monitoring to provide a much detail results throughout the day - Sports and Exercise Tracking
This Watch can calibrate and customize based on the user’s needs up to 90 modes, from Cycling, Walking, Swimming, Yoga, Running, Hiking and more. The tracking is also compatible with gym based exercise and its activities.
Software, Connectivity & Experience
The Samsung Galaxy Watch6 runs on Google Android Wear 4 with One UI Watch 5 from Samsung, setting up is easy and straightforward, all you need is to download Samsung Wearable App from Google Play Store, install it, turn on Bluetooth on both the phone and watch and follow the steps give to connect together.
Further customisation can also be done such as changing watch faces and adding in your own emoji. Do take note that the Watch6 series is only compatible with Android 6.0 and above phones for now and it is best to have Samsung Account so you can upload your data to the cloud and sync with your other Samsung devices. Besides that, any compatible Android Wear Apps can also be installed from Google Play Store, providing even greater flexibility to more usage, and you can even listen to music or audio from your Galaxy Watch6.
Once the connection is established via the Wearable App, you can also pair it with other Samsung Accessories such as the Galaxy Buds Series, which provides seamless integration with all Samsung’s own accessories. Also remember to register with a Samsung account if you don’t have one. All connectivity can be done via Bluetooth connection with BLE and after that you can configure to use WiFi. A single charge thru the supplied magnetic USB cable will get you around 3 days at most of usage which power saver will be prompt when reached below 20% before recharging it, basically the usage is much longer and the Watch6 now to the very least has a bigger battery capacity at 425/300MaH and good to recharge every 2 or 3 days once with most the features turn on with some notifications off and monitoring when experiencing with this Watch. Being a full fledged Android Wear, to me it is considered as a good performance with 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal memory, again as an Android Wear, lasting you around 3 days is good enough.
Technical Specifications
| Galaxy Watch6 (40mm) | Galaxy Watch6 (44mm) | |
| Dimensions & Weight | 38.8 x 40.4 x 9 mm, 28.7 Grams | 42.8 x 44.4 x 9 mm, 33.3 Grams |
| Display | Super AMOLED, 1.3 inch, 432 x 432 pixels | Super AMOLED, 1.5 inch, 480 x 480 pixels |
| Processor | Exynos W930 (5 nm), Dual-core 1.4 GHz |
| Memory | 2GB RAM + 16GB internal storage |
| Battery | 44mm: 425mAh, 40mm: 300mAh (typical) Qi based wireless charging |
| OS | Wear OS 4.0 |
| UI | One UI Watch 5 |
| Sensors | Samsung BioActive Sensor (Optical Heart Rate + Electrical Heart + Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis), Accelerometer, Blood Pressure Monitor, Barometer, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Light Sensor |
| Connectivity | LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n Dual Band, NFC, GPS/Glonass/Beidou/Galileo |
| Durability | 5ATM + IP68 / MIL-STD-810G |
| Compatibility | Android 6.0 or higher and with more than 1.5GB of RAM |
Verdict and thoughts
The Samsung Galaxy Watch6 continues the tradition of taking up a notch further beyond the fashion statement, or for fitness, but this time health is pretty much a focus along with better customization and a longer battery life to begin with. What also makes it stand out is the combination of Samsung’s own custom UI and Android Wear OS which transform the way how we use the Watch more interactive, ease of use and highly customizable, taking in best of both UI and OS together in unity that still stands firmly even back to the Galaxy Watch4 generation. This proves that Samsung has once done most of the goodness implemented based on public feedback and consumers alike, and this I believe will go on as a everyday wear you can count on with Samsung’s commitment on further fixes, updates and enhancements for at least another two years on support. It is set to priced at RM1099 for 40mm model and RM1199 for the 44mm model. The LTE model will start at RM1499. Its is now widely available via online stores and Samsung Authorised Outlets.
For more information and pre-purchase on the Galaxy Watch6 series, visit HERE to find out.