our Samsung smart health connected watch Review

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Galaxy Watch seems too expensive? Too imposing? In this case, the Galaxy Watch Active could seduce you. More affordable than its predecessor and endowed with a more urban design, the last smart health connected watch of Samsung tries to seduce a large public. We have tested it, here is our opinion.

Each year, Samsung meets a great success with its smart health connected watches. The Gear S2 and Gear S3 have recently given way to the Galaxy Watch. Very similar in their approach, these smartwatches are now joined by the Active model, more mixed and cheaper. But is this watch still so effective? Answer in this Review.

Technical specifications

The Galaxy Watch Active takes a majority of specifications from his eldest. The smart health connected watch is equipped with a GPS, a heart rate sensor and is waterproof up to 50 meters deep (IP68 certification). Its internal memory of 4 GB stores music, images and applications.

On the connectivity side, the watch can use Bluetooth 4.2 or Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz. Samsung ignores the Bluetooth 5.0, which is a pity, the Galaxy Active has a tendency to quickly lose the signal as soon as you move beyond five or six meters from the smartphone.

In order to turn everything around, the high-tech knockout features an Exynos 9110 SoC and 512 MB of RAM. It's more than enough for Tizen OS 4.0, the latest version of the operating system for wearables from Samsung.

We therefore remain very close to the Galaxy Watch in terms of specifications. The Active model has something to seduce with its high-end features, especially as its price drops well compared to previous watches of the Korean brand.

Price

If the Galaxy Watch was marketed at 329 €, the Galaxy Watch Active is more affordable. Samsung it markets it to 249 €. It is not uncommon to see it on sale at 199 €.

Rarely has the Asian brand offered us such prices. We are certainly on the high end, but a wider audience can afford the purchase of this smartwatch. The competition is however fierce with in particular the excellent TicWatch Pro under WearOS.

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Getting started video

(Embed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REZHRd9IOuY (/ embed)

Design

To reduce the price of the Watch Active, Samsung has reworked its design in depth. Farewell to imposing watches, the newcomer is radically different.

Weighing only 25 grams, it is only 10.5 mm thick. Once on the wrist, she knows how quickly to be forgotten. And its mixed urban look makes it suitable for both men and women.

This change in design, however, produces some effects. The rotating crown disappears purely and simply while it is an essential ingredient to the comfort of Tizen OS …

If we could expect a widening of the screen following the elimination of the crown, it is not so. On the contrary, the Galaxy Watch Active is content with a slab of 1.1 "against 1.3" on the Watch. The borders are very thick, covering not less than 40% of the front face. So we have the impression that the screen is too narrow, stuck in the middle of this big black circle.

This is a shame since the AMOLED panel produces beautiful colors and has a good brightness so remains legible in bright sunlight. Its definition of 360 x 360 px is similar to that of the previous Galaxy Watch, which is very good.

The change in design operated by Samsung is likely to repel some although it tries to address the smart health connected watch to a wider audience.

Galaxy Wearable app

Compatibility: Android 4.3+ and iOS 9.0+

The application was not found in the shop. ?

Before you can fully use your brand new Galaxy Watch Active, it will have to be configured from the smartphone. For that, it is necessary to use the Galaxy Wearable application compatible Android and iOS.

Pairing and various updates will take about 10 minutes. Several tutorials will then explain the operation of Tizen OS 4.0.

When everything is ready, the Samsung application will give you access to many settings: notifications, applications, dials, etc … If everything is manageable from the watch, it must be admitted that it is much faster from the smartphone.

Galaxy Wearable also gives you access to a shop filled with free and paid dials. There is a wide choice that does not have to blush in the face of competition.

You can also download applications. It is unfortunately less provided on this side, although we find some interesting productions like Spotify or Strava. Forget Google Maps and other services of the American giant. Do not expect to benefit from Google Assistant services either.

Overall, the application of Samsung is well done and easy to access. We will just regret the application store a little poor. The watch remains very complete and provides for all uses, especially sports.

Samsung Health Application

Compatibility: Android 6.0+ and iOS 9.0+

The application was not found in the shop. ?

If Galaxy Wearable is essential to configure the smart health connected watch, you will also have to install Samsung Health to get the most out of its sports tracking capabilities. This is not mandatory, but you would miss out on nice features by depriving you of its installation.

Samsung Health is centered as the name suggests on health. Simple to access, it is relatively basic. Its purpose is not to pro track your health, but rather to motivate you to move regularly.

If there are no complex measures like the VO2Max, you will be able to get a glimpse of your daily steps, exercises and quality of sleep. Samsung Health can also record the number of glasses of water bus in the day, meals taken or coffee ingested. It's very basic, we stay away from applications like MyFitnessPal to name just one.

The installation of Samsung Health on the smartphone nevertheless allows to benefit from many additional widgets on the watch. All activities will be transmitted to the application in order to benefit from very clear graphics.

This is ideal for beginners or just people who want to move a little everyday.

Tizen OS 4.0

Now let's go to the watch itself. Its interface is still as colorful as on previous Samsung models. Navigation is always based on slips.

The main dial can be changed at will, with the possibility to download others directly from the Watch Active. On the left, we find the notifications. On the right, you access all the widgets: health monitoring, weather, alarm, etc …

There are lots of them, but most are related to Samsung Health. Of course, nothing prevents you from downloading new applications that will have their dedicated displays.

To simplify interactions with the smartwatch, there are two physical buttons on the right side of the box. The top one returns to the previous screen. As for the bottom one, it displays all the applications installed on the watch.

A relatively heavy navigation …

If everything is done to simplify the navigation, we quickly feel the absence of the rotating crown. The interface based on swipes quickly turns out to be very cumbersome when you install a lot of applications and widgets …

We slide the slips in all directions while a simple rotation of the crown allowed access in a moment to the same functions.

Ditto when we access the list of applications. Where the crown provided a quick selection, it feels like you're floundering to find a specific application.

If the Galaxy Watch Active remains quite usable in everyday life, it must be admitted that Tizen OS without rotary crown loses some of its superb. Wear OS does much better without such equipment, especially since the last updates.

Sport and health monitoring

As we have seen, the Galaxy Watch Active focuses particularly on health monitoring. Thanks to it, you can record various sports activities, either manually or automatically.

The smart health connected watch from Samsung is able to record 11 different sports including walking, running, swimming or cycling. The built-in GPS provides relatively accurate information on speed or altitude. If the current activity's plot is not displayed on the dial, it is however reported in the application once the exercise is completed.

So we have a rather classic operation. I also appreciated the possibility of pairing Bluetooth headphones with the watch and being able to listen to my music directly from the internal memory. No need to carry the smartphone, the Galaxy Watch Active is as autonomous as the Amazfit Stratos to name a few.

Also note that there is a self-pause mode that turns out to be quite effective. In addition, the watch is able to activate an automatic tracking when it detects an activity.

Quality of the statements

Having GPS tracking of many activities is good. But it's even better when the results are accurate. In this area, the Galaxy Watch Active is doing well. During my tests, I did not have farfetched reports as we sometimes see on the MiBand 4.

I would just blame the GPS for a hangover time sometimes a bit long. The follow-up of the assembled stages is on its side a little too random, especially indoors. A small flaw inherent in a lot of smart health connected watches. Only the Fitbit Versa is doing well in this area.

As for sleep monitoring, it seems quite accurate. This type of measure remains difficult to gauge. The smartwatch detects the hours of falling asleep and waking up. We just regret the lack of a smart alarm that can vibrate during the light sleep phase to wake us up gently.

Overall, the Galaxy Watch Active is doing well for the monitoring of the sport. It remains however intended for an amateur public. The pros will clearly turn to more advanced solutions like the Garmin Forerunner 735XT.

smart health connected functions

If the Galaxy Watch Active is a good companion to help you move a little, what about the more classic smart health connected functions? Here too, she is doing well, without being revolutionary.

Once set, the watch can receive notifications from the smartphone. Thanks to the integrated T9 keypad, it is possible to reply to SMS and e-mails directly from the smartwatch. Of course, it's not the simplest, but it works with a little patience.

At worst, there is the ability to send pre-programmed responses or use the voice through the built-in microphone. There is no speaker, so you will not be able to answer phone calls directly with the Galaxy Watch Active.

For the rest, we also find a rather complete weather application, a music player (activatable during physical activities), the alarm, a calendar, etc … The Galaxy Store can be reached directly on the watch. Just like on Wear OS, you can download dials and apps without going through the smartphone.

Except for the rather heavy interface without a rotating crown, the Galaxy Watch Active is therefore very complete in its smart health connected watch functions. In the end, everything is asked of him.

Bixby Assistant

Wear OS at Google Assistant, Tizen OS at Bixby. Which is far from the same thing …

Prompted by Samsung for years, the voice assistant is struggling to find a place in the sun against his counterparts. Unfortunately, the Galaxy Watch Active will not save him. It must be said that it is not even available in French on the watch. Unless you speak English or Korean, Bixby will be of no use to you.

The good news is that it is possible to change the function of the button assigned to the assistant of Samsung. Take the opportunity to add a more useful shortcut such as access to the calendar or application Samsung Health.

Autonomy

So far the Galaxy Active is doing pretty well. But will it happen to pass the main pitfall of smart health connected watches, namely autonomy? Yes and no.

Just like the latest Wear OS watches, Samsung's smartwatch uses a variety of energy modes. The battery of 230 mAh can thus hold between 2 days and 30 days of use. Of course, everything depends on so-called uses.

By activating battery optimization that already reduces some functions like automatic GPS or activation by lifting the wrist, the watch struggles to hold two full days. It's quite disappointing knowing that the old models of the brand – certainly bigger, so with a bigger battery – held about 3 or 4 days between each load.

To achieve about 4 days of autonomy, activate the energy saving mode. It passes the display in grayscale and retains only the essential, namely the step counter and the display of notifications. We lose access to all dials and the ability to download applications.

If you aim for 30 days of autonomy, it is possible. But then you have to settle for a classic watch. Like the Essential mode of the TicWatch Pro, the smart health connected part is disabled. There is only time available. This mode is useful if you know you will not be able to recharge for a while and want to keep the battery for later.

Wireless charging

For charging, Samsung opts for an induction system. The charging time is therefore quite long. A battery charge takes a little over two hours.

This system however has the advantage of simplifying the use of the charger. You can put the watch in any direction, the magnetic attachment does the rest.

The other advantage is that there are no physical connectors that can oxidize over time and contact with the skin. This is a good point for sustainability.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active: conclusion of the Review

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7.5 Total Score

The Galaxy Watch Active marks a turning point for Samsung. The mixed design and finer than the other smart health connected watches of the brand will seduce both men and women. The magnificent AMOLED display also plays in its favor.Unfortunately, the price to pay is the disappearance of the rotating crown. This essential element to the comfort of Tizen OS is sorely lacking and increases navigation within the interface.Nevertheless, Tizen OS does its job perfectly by following the physical activities and relaying notifications from the smartphone. Without bringing anything revolutionary on this side, the Galaxy Watch Active does its job well.But again, it is quickly slowed by the autonomy much worse than the other productions of Samsung. So yes, the Watch Active is cheaper than its Korean counterparts, but unfortunately it is a few inconvenient defects. I recommend it however if you are looking for a health coach easy access, elegant and discreet to less than 250 €.

PROS

• Elegant and discreet mixed design

• Super AMOLED screen

• More affordable than other Galaxy watches

• Simple access health monitoring for beginners

• Tizen OS very complete …

CONS

• … but heavy to use without rotary crown

• Bixby totally useless at the moment

• Disappointing autonomy

• Screen too small surrounded by large borders

• Limited sport functions for pros

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