Samsung Galaxy Watch 42 mm: Review, price and specification – smart health connected watch

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While the Apple Watch has just joined French shelves, Samsung is offering us its new smart health connected watch. For the occasion, the Korean company has decided to purify its range. Exit, the name Gear, makes way for the Galaxy Watch. A change of name for a formula still as close. The brand's flagship, the tocante is the most direct competitor of the Apple Watch Series 4.

However, it will take a few months to access the 4G version, scheduled for a little later in the year.

Positioned at € 309 in its 42 mm version and € 329 in its 46 mm version, it sells for slightly less than its competitor at Apple (€ 429).

If the name of the range has changed, the Galaxy Watch benefits from an aesthetic very close to that of its big sisters. No revolution therefore since it ultimately wins only in sobriety. The slightly better finished circular ring reinforces its premium appearance. But like its big sisters, we can always blame it for a fairly marked design, which moves it away from that of the Apple Watch, which is much more modern.

If the 46 mm version goes up to 63 g, the 42 mm case weighs only 49 g. It is this second version that we had in our hands, the time of the Review. Its dimensions (45.7 x 41.9 x 12.7 mm) are certainly imposing, but do not make the object particularly bulky, whether under a shirt or a sweater. The 1.2 inch Oled screen (in 360 x 360 px for a resolution of 424 ppi) occupies only 48% of the case. A balance certainly low, but justified by the presence of the traditional circular ring. It is always particularly pleasant to the touch. Rough and with very marked notches, it makes navigation very pleasant. The two side buttons are also well made and well placed. On the back, the watch is equipped with two green LEDs used to determine the user's heart rate. They do not require protuberance and allow the device to be particularly discreet.

Finally, the silicone bracelet is flexible, rather pleasant on the wrist and does not irritate in any way, even when wet. The case is water resistant to 50m, like previous Samsung watches.

If there is one point on which the Galaxy Watch is particularly pleasant, it is of course its interface. Thanks to the circular ring, the Tizen operating system rivals fluidity. By rotating it, it is thus possible to change the information displayed. To the left are the various notifications received, whether messages, emails or the various walking or sports goals. The sleep bulletin is also accessible as a shortcut. By turning the circular ring clockwise, it is then possible to access the various watch services (weather, music control, news, sports and other applications). It is also possible to personalize the order of the screens in order to access the most requested more quickly.

On its side edge, the Galaxy Watch houses two buttons. One to "return", the other to return to the welcome dial. A third validation button would not have been too much, however. Indeed, all navigation is possible thanks to the two buttons and it is only when selecting an option that it is necessary to go through the touch screen. Gymnastics that can confuse the first few times.

All of the applications benefit from fairly intuitive use. Navigating through the available ones is not complicated. If adding music is done first via the Samsung app, the Galaxy Watch's music interface is pretty intuitive. Connecting your headphones is very easy.

The screen of the Galaxy Watch offers impeccable clarity. It is perfectly readable and multiplies the "Complications" displayed without the slightest problem. The messages received are displayed in a fine and pleasant way. It is also possible to respond directly via the watch. Beyond the many automatic responses offered, it is possible to write text using a numeric keyboard. A welcome solution, but quite complex given the size of the screen. It is necessary to be particularly precise to write correctly and the slightest error can quickly become frustrating.

The screen also offers a beautiful maximum brightness of 329 cd / m² which ensures good readability, even in direct sunlight. However, night users may be disappointed: the minimum brightness of the Galaxy Watch slab does not drop below 8.9 cd / m² and can attack the retina when looking at the time in the middle of the night.

If the Galaxy Watch offers a lot of information directly via its screen, it is necessary to couple the smart health connected watch to a smartphone to take advantage of a more airy interface. Samsung offers two apps that sync to the Galaxy Watch. The first, Galaxy Wear (Android and iOS), common to the brand's various smart health connected objects, provides an overview of the status of the smart health connected watch. Remaining battery, storage space, available RAM, very basic information is displayed. But it is also possible to go a little further in personalization. The entire interface is adjustable directly from the Galaxy Wear app. In the same way, it allows you to directly transfer music and photos from the phone to the watch.

Samsung Health (Android and iOS), the second application, is aimed more at athletes. It provides an overview of the physical performances recorded (manually and automatically) by the watch. Number of steps, total physical activity for the day, last saved exercises, but also sleep data and other statistics. Navigation is fluid and logical.

To measure the performance of the Galaxy Watch, we compared its results with those of the Polar H10 chest strap, which we consider to be very reliable in terms of measurements. We measured the running by linking the laps on a 1.9 km circuit. Regarding cycling, we had a typical circuit, 3.12 km.

While the smartwatch market is slowly leaning towards sports, the Galaxy Watch could not afford to miss the boat. True standard bearer of smartwatches, it thus presents very good performances.

The Galaxy Watch heart rate monitoring offers results close to those of the Polar H10 chest strap. When jogging, the margin of error very rarely exceeds 2%. The watch thus offers an average and maximum heart rate not exceeding 5 deviation beats. Unfortunately, the results are not as convincing during a split session (45 s / 45 s). During such an exercise, the Galaxy Watch proved rather slow to react and presented an inconsistent heart rate curve, quite far from that measured with the Polar H10. And for good reason, it was an increasing curve that was then presented to us on the Samsung Health app, where Polar and the pulse reading indicated a jagged heart rate.

For its part, the GPS built into the watch works well. If it is necessary to wait a few seconds at the start of each session for it to activate, it delivers data very close to reality. However, it has the unfortunate tendency to underestimate distances by 1 to 3% on distances greater than 5 km.

The Galaxy Watch also delivers quality performance once on a bike. Distances and speed changes are correctly recorded, while the heart rate is generally well captured.

The Auto-Pause mode, very useful for city dwellers, proves to be very responsive. It does not take more than 5 seconds for the change of status to be activated. A feature always very useful at a pedestrian red light or during a hydration break. It is also possible to activate a physical activity auto-detection option. So, if you forgot to start your session on your watch while riding your bike, the watch automatically detects the type of exercise and starts recording. Unfortunately, neither the GPS nor the optical heart rate sensor retrieve data in the event of self-detection. Pity. In addition, the watch sometimes falsely interprets large movements as physical activities. So it is not uncommon to see the smartwatch get busy cleaning up or during an overly heated discussion.

The trend being well-being, the Galaxy Watch uses the heart rate monitoring to analyze the sleep of the user. A successful function. The application is generally not trapped by a night reading session or in front of a film. It therefore offers consistent hours of falling asleep and waking up. On the other hand, if you're the type to watch your smartphone when you wake up, you may be able to trap the surveillance of the Galaxy Watch.

With its 270 mAh accumulator, the Galaxy Watch lasts three days during unsupported use (notifications + a sports session + sleep monitoring). If you add a sports session, music playback and Always On mode to constantly display the time – even without wrist movement – you only fall one day. You should therefore be careful if you move away from your charger too long.

The Galaxy Watch is charged with a supplied induction block. It takes 3 hours to go back to 100%.

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