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A good smartwatch alternative for Samsung fans
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra
The Galaxy Watch Ultra is a rugged, titanium smartwatch with a new Quick Action button that you can assign to a shortcut of your choice.
- Heart Rate Monitor
- Yes
- Color Screen
- Yes
- Notification Support
- Yes
- Battery Life
- Up to 100 hours
- Onboard GPS
- Yes, GPS, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo
- SIM Support
- Embedded-SIM
- Lens Material
- Sapphire crystal
- Case Material
- Titanium
- Calendar
- Yes
- Weather
- Yes
- Smartphone Music Control
- Yes
- Case size
- 47mm
- Display
- 480 x 480 Super AMOLED
- Connectivity
- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LTE
- Health sensors
- Accelerometer, ambient light sensor, barometer, compass, gyro sensor, temperature sensor
- Dimensions
- 47.4 x 47.1 x 12.1 mm
- Weight
- 60.5 g
- Mobile payments
- Yes
Pros- New design is polarizing (in a good way)
- Exclusive health features are useful
- Bright screen
Cons- Incredibly bulky
- Battery life could be longer
After years of offering one smartwatch for everyone, Samsung, much like Apple, is trying to court a more athletic or outdoorsy type with the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra. That puts both companies, but particularly Samsung, who released its “Pro” smartwatch in 2024, in the same space as well-known brands like Polar and Garmin who’ve been making GPS-enabled fitness trackers for years.
Now that Garmin’s released the Garmin Fenix 8 with many of the same basic hardware features as Apple and Samsung’s watches, the comparison between a watch like the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and the Garmin Fenix 8 has gotten a lot more interesting. If you’re in the market for a smartwatch, or already have one and looking to take your training more seriously, which smartwatch should you get?
To get to the bottom of it, we’re comparing the Garmin Fenix 8 to the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra directly to figure out which smartwatch is best.
Price, availability, and specs
The Garmin Fenix 8 was announced by Garmin in August 2024, with a starting price of $799.99 for the Garmin Fenix E model, which doesn’t include a flashlight, speaker, or microphone, $999.99 for the Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED, and $1,099.99 for the Garmin Fenix 8 Solar. Garmin sells multiple different colors and finishes of its watch, including 43mm, 47mm, and 51mm sizes, but for the smartwatch we reviewed and the one that’s most similar to the Apple Watch Ultra 2, with either stainless steel or titanium bodies, glass or sapphire cover screens, and multiple different colors of watch bands. Garmin’s watches are widely available from Garmin and online retailers, like Amazon, Best Buy, and REI.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra was announced by Samsung in July 2024, with a starting price of $649.99. The watch was introduced alongside the Galaxy Watch 7 as a replacement of sorts for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, Samsung’s earlier pass at a more premium smartwatch. The Galaxy Watch Ultra is available in gray, white, and silver titanium finishes, and can be purchased directly from Samsung or the usual online retailers.
In terms of year-over-year improvements, the Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED shares many of the same basic specs with the Garmin Fenix 7 and Epix models that came before it. The new additions, beyond waterproofing some buttons and making the watch more durable, are the addition of a speaker and microphone, allowing the watch to take and place calls and use voice assistants. The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra has a new Exynos W1000 chip, along with a brighter screen that reaches 3,000 nits of brightness, and a 590mAh battery. For more specific comparisons, look at the spec table below:
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Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Heart Rate Monitor Yes Yes Color Screen Yes Yes Notification Support Yes Yes Battery Life Up to 16 days (7 days always-on) for 47mm model Up to 100 hours Onboard GPS Yes Yes, GPS, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo SIM Support No Embedded-SIM Lens Material Corning Gorilla Glass or sapphire crystal Sapphire crystal Case Material fiber-reinforced polymer with metal rear cover Titanium Calendar Yes Yes Weather Yes Yes Smartphone Music Control Yes Yes Case size 43mm, 47mm, or 51mm 47mm Display AMOLED 480 x 480 Super AMOLED Connectivity Bluetooth, ANT+, Wi-Fi Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LTE Health sensors Heart rate monitor, thermometer, pulse ox monitor, barometric altimeter, compass, gyroscope, accelerometer, ambient light sensor Accelerometer, ambient light sensor, barometer, compass, gyro sensor, temperature sensor Dimensions 47 x 47 x 13.8 mm (47mm model) 47.4 x 47.1 x 12.1 mm Weight Stainless steel: 80 g, Titanium: 73 g (47mm model) 60.5 g Mobile payments Yes Yes
You’ve seen the design of the Galaxy Watch Ultra and Fenix 8 before
Samsung’s watch is a clone, while Garmin’s is a riff on wearables that have come before
Samsung’s commitment to recreating the aesthetic of the Apple Watch Ultra is commendable. The Galaxy Watch Ultra might have a round display, but it’s square titanium body, and prominent new button with an orange accent has a lot of the same DNA as Apple’s watch.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra, like other premium smartwatches, is thick, obviously raised above your wrist, with a raised rim around the display itself. The watch itself is 47mm, with a touchscreen that’s a 1.5-inch 480 x 480 AMOLED, offering more room for watch faces and navigating apps with your finger. Along the sides, that new orange button is Samsung’s biggest hardware tweak. It’s called the “Quick Button” and it gives you easy access to an assigned workout, timer, or other shortcut from a short list of options. On the other side of the watch there are two buttons for pulling up menus and using Google Assistant, Bixby, or a mobile payment app. The watch itself looks like Samsung’s normal Galaxy Watch 6, just lowered into the boxy body of an Apple Watch Ultra.
The Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED has a round titanium or stainless steel body and a bright, round AMOLED touchscreen. It looks more like a traditional watch than the Galaxy Watch Ultra, but it looks just as big on a wrist, especially the larger sizes. The Fenix 8 AMOLED uses the same sensors as the Fenix 7, and features the same sensor bump against your wrist. Along the sides of the watch there are three buttons on one side and two on the other, each with multiple roles depending on how often you press them or what screen you’re looking at currently.
Gamin’s watch looks more like a traditional watch, and blends in with your clothing in a way that Samsung’s watch might not, but either way, you’re dealing with something thicker than the average smartwatch.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra’s software is easier to use than the Fenix 8’s
WearOS does less, but is way less complicated
The biggest similarity between the software on the Galaxy Watch Ultra and the Fenix 8 is a belief in providing glanceable information. Both Samsung and Garmin support some notion of “Glances,” slivers of apps or data gathered by the smartwatch, that you can view on demand for insights into what’s going on.
WearOS on the Galaxy Watch Ultra is technically Samsung’s One UI-skinned, and is different from the version running on a Pixel Watch 3.
WearOS on the Galaxy Watch Ultra still relies on discrete apps similarly to Apple’s smartwatches, but more things are accessible without having to dive into an app launcher. Plus, Samsung has some fun and colorful watch faces. That’s even more true of the Garmin Fenix 8, which puts a lot of the watches’ core functionality at your fingertips — if you’re able to remember what button to press and where you need to go into the watch’s interface to get what you need.
There are larger philosophical differences too. The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra can operate on its own with a cellular connection, let you send messages, make calls, and access some key sources of information on your phone, like your mail app, but set aside the health and fitness features, and it’s designed to be a companion. Either acting as a way to do phone things when you don’t have your phone on you, and a screen on your wrist when you do.
The Garmin Fenix 8 is much more focused on its special skills of navigation, workout tracking, and health data collection. There are third party apps, and thanks to the speaker and microphone, a greater ability to do things like answer a phone call or talk to a voice assistant either on the watch or on your phone, but it’s not really meant to be a little wrist mounted computer.
It’s hard for the Galaxy Watch Ultra to beat the Fenix 8’s fitness tracking
Samsung does still have some health features Garmin isn’t touching
The exclusive health and fitness features the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra can track are limited, but do make it stand out from the Garmin Fenix 8. The watch is capable of sleep tracking, as you might expect, but also has a sleep coaching feature designed to give you tips to get a better night’s sleep, and sleep apnea detection. Samsung claims the data from the watch can also be used to give you insights into your metabolic health, which seems dubious, but could be a plus for some people.
Beyond that, there are multiple types of workouts the Galaxy Watch Ultra can track, but what it offers in terms of actual training advice doesn’t get much more complicated than a readiness score and heart rate zones, so you can adjust your effort during a workout. That’s plenty for most people, but not exactly the same game Garmin is playing.
The Garmin Fenix 8 is specifically designed for athletes, or anyone training like one, and its features reflect that. Things like sport-specific strength training plans, a training readiness score, an endurance score, multiple different tools for tracking runs, and pacing yourself during a race. That’s on top of more general features like stress tracking, respiration tracking, and a tool that can estimate how you’re acclimated to changes in altitude and temperature. And then there’s all the more approachable workout tracking you’ll find on competitors’ watches. The Fenix 8 can do a lot that the Galaxy Watch Ultra simply can’t,
The Fenix 8 battery life easily laps the Galaxy Watch Ultra
Samsung’s watch lasts longer than some, but not Garmin’s wearable
The Garmin Fenix 8 lasted around 16 days with its always-on display disabled when we reviewed it, and around a week when the always-on display was enabled. That’s better battery life than what you’ll get from any watch currently sold by Apple, Google, or Samsung. Garmin has some advantages in that it’s not trying to offer all the smartwatch features of its competitors, and that you can use the Fenix 8 with its smartwatch functionality disabled to save on battery, but it’s still pretty hard to beat.
That’s better battery life than what you’ll get from any watch currently sold by Apple, Google, or Samsung.
In our tests of the Galaxy Watch Ultra, the wearable didn’t make it to the full 100 hours that Samsung promised, and closer to about two days of use. That’s longer than other Galaxy Watches, and even the Apple Watch Ultra 2, but it might not do enough to justify the Galaxy Watch Ultra, especially if you’re interested in the in-depth health and fitness features Garmin is equipped to offer.
Which smartwatch is right for you?
The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is pretty great as a premium version of a smartwatch, provided you like its design. It’s less successful as a replacement for the kind of fitness tracking that a Garmin can provide. If you think you could use Samsung’s exclusive health features, or you’re already heavily invested in the company’s ecosystem, there are reasons to consider. It is cheaper than the Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED after all.
Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED
The Garmin fēnix 8 AMOLED blends smartwatch and adventure watch features into one highly advanced wearable with a vibrant AMOLED display. It features a microphone and speaker to take calls and use voice commands right on your wrist, plus an expansive list of training and navigation tools.
But the beauty of the Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED is that it’s platform-agnostic. It should work just as well with an Android device as it does with an iPhone. If you think you could use its health and fitness features, prefer a round watch, and are willing to deal with a more complicated interface than what you’ll find on a Galaxy Watch or Apple Watch, you should absolutely get the Garmin Fenix 8 AMOLED.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra
The Galaxy Watch Ultra is a rugged, titanium smartwatch with a new Quick Action button that you can assign to a shortcut of your choice.
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