Live Science Verdict
Once we ’d sorted out some teething problem with the battery life ( add the most recent software update ) , we were really pleased with the public presentation of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 . We think it offers good note value for money for those looking to monitor their health and fitness stats while having smartphone capabilities on their wrist .
precise health data tracking
Seamless compatibility with Samsung headphone
Like a phone screen, you can choose any design you want for your watch’s background. Keep it simple, or add as many complications (bits of data) that you want
suffer endless third - party apps
Good value for money
Some bombardment anxiousness
Auto - trailing exercise function is not 100 % effective
Not compatible with iPhones
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Like a phone screen, you can choose any design you want for your watch’s background. Keep it simple, or add as many complications (bits of data) that you want
Samsung claims the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 was organise " to be the fellow to your journey towards a healthier you . " Though this is a smartwatch subject of making calls , reading and replying to messages , set calendar reminders , contain your smart devices , and give for your shopping ( amongst many things ! ) , it ’s the fitness trailing elements that we are particularly interested in for this review . It occupy home the deed of conveyance of one of thebest fittingness tracker , holding its own against specializer brands likeGarminandFitbit .
Compatibility : AndroidSoftware : WearOSBattery life:40 hour ( depending on use)Memory:1.5 GB Ram with 16 GB ROMDisplay and sizing : Circular Super AMOLED 1.2 inch / 30.4 mmGPS : YesWater resistance : IP68Heart Rate : YesSleep Tracker : YesStep Count : YesOnboard music : Yes
This is n’t the newest model of Samsung Galaxy Watches , though the conflict between it and the new Galaxy Watch5 are small . The newer model has tougher " Sapphire Crystal Glass " and allegedly longer barrage fire life ( more on batteries later ! ) . Still , given that the cost of living is continuously ascend right now , we ’ve decide to focalise on the more affordable Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 manakin .
The setup of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is very simple and you are given an introductory guide of the watch’s functionality
We ’ve spent over a month using this smartwatch , using most of the wellness and fitness tracking capableness , liken it with other gimmick , and generally deciding if it does what we , and others look for some motivation to increase their level of fittingness , want it to do . Here ’s what we thought :
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4: Price and release date
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 was free in August 2021 . In the US , the cost range is generally between $ 150 and $ 200 . In the UK , it pose around the £ 150 mark , about half the Leontyne Price of the more recent Galaxy Watch5 .
The assignment / numbering convention is a small confusing . The Al Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is the heir to theGalaxy Watch Active 2 . There is then the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic . The latter is a " less sporty " looking model with a rotating bezel and made from sword ( considerably heavier ) . by from that , they both use " Wear osmium " software which was developed by both Samsung and Google .
To confuse things even more , there are two sizes of Galaxy Watch 4 , one is 40 mm and one is 44 mm . We tested the 40 mm version .
Samsung’s BioAcitve sensor uses a single computer chip that combines three health sensors: Optical Heart Rate, Electrical Heart Signal, and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4: Design and display
The orbitual scout typeface is 40 mm in diameter and the included strap is 20 mm thick , in size S / M. It ’s super basic , with a buckle , but long-lived and sweat tolerant / wipeable and it ’s comfortable . It can be swapped for any 20 millimetre watch strap if you ’d prefer . There are two buttons on the correct side of the vigil brass which act as the " home " clit and " back " button , but they can be customise to do whatever routine you prefer using the " Wearables " app .
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is uncommitted in three coloration — black , pink gold and silver ( though we found the most readily available vividness were opprobrious and pink gold ) .
The Super AMOLED 450 x 450 pel , 530 PPI display is promiscuous to read and features motorcar smartness ( if you choose ) . It ’s amazingly pleasant and promiscuous to typecast on when you need to as well . It needs the casual wipe to remove fingermark smear , but what touch screen does n’t ?
This is an example of how the sleep and stress measurement data are displayed on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. There is also a sleep coach and a “breathe” feature to guide you through taking a cycle of deep breaths to relieve stress.
The typeface is about as customizable as you may get . Just like a smartphone , there ’s a whole catalog of pre - made designs to choose from , or you may plan your own , using any image as a watch boldness and a combination of " complications . " A complication is any extra feature on the watch face that point more than just the current time , for deterrent example , current heart rate , step count , sleep score , emphasis levels , and so on . you may keep it unsubdivided or make it as instructive as you care .
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 is IP68 value so it ’s safe to float and shower down with it on — it can hold up immersion in five feet of weewee for up to 30 minute . You ask to activate the " body of water lock " to forestall inadvertent touches or actions — the weewee lock deactivates the touchscreen , wake up - up motion and " always on " modal value . When you flex the water system lock off , the watch " ejects " any water that ’s in the lookout man by playing a loud audio and hover to coerce out any immobilise piddle — apt — but still advisable to wash and dry it after using in chlorinated or salt water as per manufacturer guidance .
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4: Setup and usability
The initial setup is pretty childlike and typical of what you ’d expect when set up any new electronic gadget . Everything is clear-cut , and a guidebook / outpouring - through modal value help you acquaint yourself with its role .
Our Samsung S20 FE instantly recognise the lookout man as a " nearby wearable " without us having to " ask " the telephone to do anything . We logged into our Google chronicle , which in a flash show us Apps we have on our telephone that are compatible with the vigil , so we downloaded these — including MyFitnessPal , MyZone , Google Maps , Calm , Spotify .
You need to download two apps onto your phone — " Galaxy Wearable " and " Samsung Health . " The former is to tailor-make the ticker and set setting such as watch look , apps , sounds and stamp battery information . The latter is the app you practice on your phone to view and monitor your fitness datum , which we will talk over in more particular . An optional app is " Health Connect . " This gives you a wide-eyed way to share the data between all fitness apps on your speech sound if you use more than one .
When you take a 30-second ECG, a report is sent to your phone that you can download as a PDF, this is what it looks like
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4: Features
There ’s a heap of health and physical fitness tracking functionality — here are our mentation on each :
soundbox constitution — Use the watch to measure how much skeletal muscularity you have , fat mass , dead body fat share , BMI , water supply and BMR . You have to input your height and free weight manually before you record your first measurements . We compared the body authorship solution that we got from the picket with aRenpho Smart Scaleas well as a professionalInBodytest at our local gymnasium . The results were undeniably very similar , with some slight differences as the run were taken at different times ( and various other factor ) , but on the whole , the stats rival , so can be relied on for accurate trailing of change in your body theme .
Heart rate(lowest , high-pitched and mean resting ) — you may take to have the heart monitor constantly on , adjust to memorialise every ten minutes , or manually whenever you want to . In exercise mode , heart pace monitoring is lay to continuous by default . We have it limit to every ten minutes to preserve battery power . Sometimes you feel a piffling buzz when your heart charge per unit is being monitor .
The ability to choose what data you have on the watch face is ideal, and you can quickly change them at any time
Step reckoning — congeal your daily target and try out to hit it to earn a practical badge . Using this during our review we found it to be very accurate . Notifications alert you to " move more , " which guilts you into getting up and raising your centre charge per unit a little after a period of inactivity .
Stress levels — manually order the scout to measure your accent tier . you could make notes in the app to help you spot stress initiation .
Sleep tracking — this records how long you are asleep and breaks it down into stages of sleep : awake , REM , light and cryptic rest as well as O monitoring . There is also snore detection , but we have n’t actually tested this yet .
You can see the data when we were wearing both the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and a MyZone MZ3 heart monitor. There are some small differences, but for the most part, very similar.
H2O economic consumption — you may use this to manually log your water intake quickly . We do n’t use this often ( we prefer using ourAQUAFIT bottle ) , but we ’re trusted some user would see the benefit .
bloodline press — you could measure your bloodline pressure once you calibrate the watch with a turnup - ground roue pressure reminder . We ’ve not had access to one of these through our critique period , so we have n’t been capable to test this function .
Menstrual cycle — once you ’ve manually set your most late period and told the app how long your normal cycle is , the app tells you your predicted fat windowpane , forebode ovulation and predicted next period . This is valuable data if you ’re trying to think . It can also help you understand changes in your mood and appearance of skin and , of course , help with not getting " caught out . "
Notifications when you hit your step count encourage you to keep moving.
ECG — This function is limited to users with Galaxy smartphones . It can detect atrial fibrillation ( AFib ) and help oneself users already diagnosed with AFib to supervise it . We ’re pleased to account that for each of our ECG tests during our recap period , there were not any signaling of AFib .
Exercise(calories mislay , mettle rate and zones , recovery metre ) — this was our favorite tracking function which we ’ll discourse in more contingent in the next section . There ’s a embarrassment of sports you may track ; it is n’t just limited to walk and cycling .
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4: Performance
Battery Life:
Regarding the battery — we write this review in two parts — one after a few day of use and one after a month of wear .
Here were our first thoughts :
As with most raw gadgets , we were keen to investigate everything immediately — check out our heart charge per unit , oxygen levels , stress levels , running an ECG test , dead body musical composition tryout and selecting a watch face .
Disappointingly after just two minute the battery had drained by 44 % . Admittedly this was after a peck of heavy exercise , but wow , this was a surprise .
We charge it up to 100 % again and did n’t " mess " with anything , effectively just using it as a regular watch in the day and then using it to test the nap depth psychology function ( without snore detection ) at night . Again , we saw speedy barrage fire drain . Feeling like we were doing something wrong , we headed to the Samsung website for tips on extending the battery life . It take the battery lasts 40 hours with regular use . We were lucky to be get four !
It suggest plough off unused tracker , turning off background apps , turning off internet connections and turning on force saving . Well , of form , these things would save battery spirit , but it also just plough the fitness tracker / smartwatch into a regular vigil and defeat the point of wearing one .
And here is what we thought after a calendar month :
We spoke to Samsung directly on Facebook Messenger about the appalling battery ; we did n’t mention that we were reviewing the product , so we got a " literal " end - exploiter experience . The advice was to ensure the watch received all the useable updates . We had assume , as we had " machine update " turned on , that it would be up - to - date , but when we used the Wearables app and opened " vigil options " , we could see an update was available .
We ’re pleased to report that the barrage fire aliveness was drastically improved after this update . It ’s still not fantastic , and there ’s still an underlying anxiety of " not using it too much . " Still , we ’re felicitous wearing it for a day of regular use , including physical exertion tracking , step counting , bosom monitor ( every 10 - mo option ) , phone notifications etc . If you design on using the lookout for sleep monitoring , you ’ll have to insure you effectively time your " charging " time . We charge ours while in the shower or while having breakfast .
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi:
The Bluetooth connection looks pretty stable , and should you thread too far forth from your earphone ( a good few walls / rooms off , we found ) , the watch alerts you that it is no longer connected with a little logotype of a phone with a strike through at the top of the screen . Wi - Fi process the same way of life as a phone ; as long as you use the same internet , your watch and phone will stick around connected . We tend only to use one or the other ( usually Bluetooth ) to preserve battery life . No need to worry if you depart your earpiece in the motorcar while in the gymnasium ; all the information sync up when the devices are reconnected .
For fitness tracking:
When it hail to work out tracking , having been used to wear aMyZone MZ3 heart monitorto phonograph record exercise of late , we were intrigued to see how the trailing functionality and the stats compared .
For our first duet of tests during this review , we break both the MyZone MZ3 ( which you wear thin on a band that sits just under your chest , near your heart ) and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 at the same time so we could compare .
Mostly , the stats show similar ocular patterns ( in the graphs ) in terms of substance rate and time spent in which affectionateness rate zone . On the MZ3 , our heart rate was generally recorded as slightly lower on average than the stats on the wristwatch , but time spent in " geographical zone " match up . This may be because of the different ways they wreak ; the watch uses Photoplethysmography ( shining a low - loudness light through your peel to read fluctuation in blood stream beneath the skin ) , whereas the chest strap uses electrocardiography . Read more about that in ourhow accurate are fitness trackersguide .
The " machine record " single-valued function worked well for walking / running but did n’t do as well for things like circumference training or powerlifting in the gymnasium . There ’s nothing more frustrating than being 20 moment into a workout and realise it was all for nothing ( if there ’s no information , it did n’t hap , right ? ) .
It ’s light enough to start record the physical exercise quickly , specially if you set this function as one of the " complication " on your watch brass like we did . On a few social function , the watch begin car - recording our " utilization " when we were changing the duvet track and hanging the washing out . We just found this mirthful , and it served as a reminder that our cardio fitness needs study !
During your workout , you may see continuance , calories burnt , current nub rate , and what ticker geographical zone you ’re currently working in . At the end of the physical exertion — as shown in the above flick — you get a graph of your heart rate , a equipment failure of the time you drop in each heart zone , your warmheartedness recovery time , total calories burnt , and the ability to attach a picture or line for your future source .
When you pop walk / cycling etc . your ticker will ask you if you desire to record the itinerary . After you terminate , you ’ll see a single-valued function of where you went ( note this does n’t work when you car - record your walk ) . It uses Google Maps , just like your earpiece , and the GPS truth is the same as you ’d ask on a earpiece too .
We ’re look forward to getting to know the watch even more ; we ’ve latterly discovered the phonation markers when out walk / running or when you hit a certain amount of kilocalorie when working out . you’re able to go down the guide relative frequency so they are n’t too troubled . We ’re sure there ’s more we ’ve miss and yet to discover , but it seems the possibility for app consolidation and data point tracking are dateless .
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4: Verdict
Having used the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 now for over a calendar month , we ’re pleased to report that , after some initial niggles , we are well-chosen with it . It is a " one - stop " equipment that you’re able to use to record anything from nutritionist’s calorie fall back and kernel rate to blood pressure and stress levels , and have the comprehensive subroutine you ’d typically get hold on a smartwatch . Historically you ’d have need more than one equipment at once to tail the same data point . We ca n’t think of any features that we ’d need that this does n’t have , aside from maybe body temperature , which is available on some models such as theFitbit Sense .
We liked the features like " move " reminders , and although not fitness related specifically , we did like that you could use Google Assistant — set stopwatch / timers / alert / control other smart devices and music just by weigh and hold the home button then utter into your watch .
The shelling is n’t anything to shout about , but if you could get into the habit of charging it after ferment out in the day and before bedtime , if you ’re using it for sleep tracking , we ’d still recommend the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 as a comprehensive and honest fitness tracker that is splendid note value for money .
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4: If this isn’t for you
As the batteries in physical fitness tracker generally tend to last longer before they require a recharge than a smartwatch , and this is technically a smartwatch , you might desire to believe a designated fitness tracker if you ’re not interested in having your earpiece ’s functions on your articulatio radiocarpea . Consider theAmazfit GTR 3 — the assault and battery lasts a whopping 21 days ( or 35 mean solar day on battery saver modality ! ) It have many of the same fittingness trailing feature as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 but does n’t allow the same third - party desegregation .
The dangerous undertaking fan amongst you may wish to turn over theGarmin Fenix 6x Pro Solar . As the name suggests , it use solar to keep your watch charged — splendid if you are doing " off - grid " dangerous undertaking and require to minimize what you take . The variety of sports trailing ( from Kayaking to Parachuting ) , piss this one of thebest seaworthiness trackersaround , but it is very expensive .
For a much more affordable fittingness tracker that still offers stack of functionality , moot theFitbit Charge 5 . It is idealistic as a " first fitness tracker " as there is a caboodle pack into this lilliputian gimmick . Have a read of the linked review to find out more .
