Samsung galaxy watch active (40mm, gps, bluetooth ) smart

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active is the follow-up lớn its Gear Thể Thao, a stripped-down smartwatch focused on fitness tracking và glanceable notifications. At just $200, it’s much cheaper than the flagship $350 Galaxy Watch và the Apple Watch Series 4. Saving money often means sacrificing features, but the Active doesn’t thua trận out on much; it’s fast, swim-proof, has built-in GPS, includes a slew of fitness modes, và lasts a long time on a charge. However, it does give up a beloved piece of hardware that’s become a signature of Samsung’s other smartwatches: the rotating bezel. But the Galaxy Watch Active still strikes a very appealing balance for its price. I’d already call it one of the better options for Android users who underst& its limitations, which I’ll get into below.

The Active’s thiết kế is fairly generic. It comes in nicer colors than the blachồng variant I reviewed, but all of them cốt truyện the same understated style that almost looks lượt thích something Pebble would have made. It’s not flashy, but it works. The 20mm bands are easy lớn replace, as well.

The Galaxy Watch Active’s most shining attribute is comfort. Its aluminum case is far lighter than the stainless steel Galaxy Watch or the Apple Watch Series 4, và it’s thin enough khổng lồ not get caught up on shirt cuffs or outerwear. The watch rests flat on my wrist, & I quickly forget that I’m wearing it, whereas I never really “forget” that my stainless steel Series 4 is on. It’s such a pleasant fit that I’ve sầu been able to lớn sleep wearing the Active without any discomfort. The watch automatically switches into lớn sleep-tracking mode when it detects that you’ve gone to bed. It breaks down the unique of your sleep based on how long you spent in each phase. None of this is unique among fitness wearables that offer sleep tracking (lượt thích a Fitbit), but it’s something the pricier Apple Watch still can’t vì chưng natively.

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Our đánh giá of Samsung Galaxy Watch Active

Verge Score 7.5 out of 10

The trade-off for that comfort is a smaller screen, especially compared to lớn the monstrous 46mm Galaxy Watch. The Active sầu has a 40milimet case with a significant bezel running around its 1.1-inch OLED display. I wouldn’t Điện thoại tư vấn it cramped, per se — nội dung on-screen is perfectly legible, và you can tap where you need without many mistakes — but whereas the lakiểm tra Apple Watch can sometimes feel like a computer on your wrist, the Galaxy Watch Active doesn’t leave that same impression. Some people might actually prefer that, and Samsung clearly cared more about fit than screen real estate this time around. Speaking of fit, the company includes two sizes of its silicone sport strap in the box; I immediately had to swap for the larger one.

But Samsung took something very important away from the Galaxy Watch Active: it lacks the rotating bezel that has proven lớn be an intuitive, natural, and fun control mechanism on the company’s other smartwatches. The Tizen Wearable OS 4.0 software is designed khổng lồ put the display’s circular shape khổng lồ good use, but navigating the Galaxy Watch Active sầu can feel more finicky without the rotating bezel and its satisfying clicks.

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For one, the watch’s software doesn’t really take into lớn trương mục this significant change in how you interact with it. The user experience is largely identical khổng lồ that of the Galaxy Watch, & it’s clearly meant to work best with a rotating bezel that can quickly scroll through menus.

Relying only on taps and swipes (plus the physical bachồng & home buttons) isn’t the end of the world, but it undeniably feels like more work. If the phầm mềm you tap on in the apps drawer isn’t already highlighted, for example, you’ve got to lớn tap a second time khổng lồ open it. The Active is at least a pleasure khổng lồ swipe across with its smooth glass top và curved edges. Your finger won’t be knocking inkhổng lồ a raised bezel as with the Galaxy Watch. (Of course, that also means you run a higher risk of a shattered screen if you drop it.)

Tizen OS 4.0 runs very fluidly on the Active, which is powered by the same processor as the Galaxy Watch. From the main watchface, you can swipe down from the top for quick toggles / settings, swipe right khổng lồ view your notifications, or swipe left to move sầu between any widgets (alarms, calendar, music controls, sleep tracking, etc.) you want fast access to. Hold down on the main screen khổng lồ switch to another watchface or download more; there are thousands of watchfaces available, which, frankly, seems hopeless to navigate through. But at least you’ve sầu got options.

Galaxy Watch Active sầu specs

Casing: 40mmStrap: 20mmDimensions: 39.5milimet x 39.5milimet x 10.5mmWeight (without strap): 25gDisplay: 1.1-inch OLED (360 x 360)Processor: Dual-core Exynos 9110 1.15 GHzStorage: 4GBRAM: 750MBBattery: 230mAhOS: Tizen OS 4.0Bluetooth: 4.2NFC: YesGPS: YesWater resistance: 5ATM và IP68Ruggedness: MIL-STD-810GWireless charging: Yes (limited compatibility)Works with Android, iOS

The built-in watchfaces were fine for my tastes. You can change the color of some, & others offer customizable complications to display the information most important lớn you. Samsung’s watchfaces don’t feel quite as data-rich as some of those on the Apple Watch Series 4, but, again, that probably has lớn bởi vì with the modest display. Pit this against a Fitbit Versa, và the comparison swings in Samsung’s favor.

Samsung does a good job of optimizing its wearable apps for a round display, but I still think some of the icons và user interface elements are ugly compared lớn the Apple Watch or Google’s revamped Wear OS. The company says there have sầu been some visual tweaks inspired by its One UI thiết kế guidelines, but they’re barely noticeable. Plus, since Tizen is its own separate operating system, sometimes you’re required to lớn install a “companion” tiện ích on your Android phone if you tải về watch apps such as Uber. That feels lượt thích unnecessary clutter. Many apps send basic notifications without any useful response actions, but you can customize which ones you want to lớn reach your wrist.

Third-buổi tiệc ngọt tiện ích selection, in general, on the Active sầu is dismal compared to lớn Apple Watch and Wear OS, though Samsung has a few popular fitness apps like Strava on board. And the included Spotify phầm mềm lets you download music for offline listening, which the Apple Watch version can’t yet vì. That’s good news for runners, và it might be enough lớn sell some people on the Active. But there’s no such thing as Google Maps or Google Messages for Tizen.

Just as with Samsung’s phones, Bixby is a weak point on the Active sầu. It sometimes fumbles the accuracy of dictated messages, and it will frequently steer you baông xã lớn your phone for many questions if you go deeper than asking for the weather or telling it to lớn fire off a text. At least Bixby is easier to lớn just ignore when there’s not a dedicated button for it. I don’t foresee people using apps beyond those for music & fitness tracking on the Galaxy Watch Active sầu very often. When you get notifications from messaging or tin nhắn apps, you can choose from a các mục of canned responses or add your own custom reply. Failing that, you can scribble out a message letter by letter a la the Apple Watch if you really have sầu no other option.

Samsung Pay is included for wireless payments, but only at terminals that support NFC; Samsung doesn’t include the MST giải pháp công nghệ found in flagship Galaxy phones that can mimic the magnetic stripe on credit / debit cards, allowing Samsung Pay khổng lồ be used in many more situations.

It’s worth underlining that owners of Samsung phones get the best experience from the Galaxy Watch Active. It has versions of the company’s stochồng tin nhắn & messaging apps on board, but no such luông xã for Gmail or Google’s Messages ứng dụng. That’s disappointing for those using another Android device (or who dislike Samsung’s software). In either case, you’ll need the Galaxy Wearable ứng dụng installed lớn get set up and adjust the watch’s settings.

Unfortunately, the watch’s main new health-related feature — blood pressure detection — wasn’t yet ready khổng lồ demo at press time. When it does launch, it’ll be in beta. Allow me khổng lồ reiterate that you shouldn’t trust a consumer gadget to serve as your doctor or a miracle device that can sense all ailments. The Active’s sleep tracking seems fairly on point, automatic workout detection was surprisingly quiông xã to lớn recognize activity, & my daily steps lined up closely with an Apple Watch on my other wrist. So it hits the fundamentals và also has a water resistance rating of 5ATM, meaning even a deep swyên ổn won’t damage it.

Samsung’s Health app offers a ton of functionality; aside from collecting your workout totals & showcasing your progress, it can log your nutrition (food, water, and caffeine intake) if you’re willing lớn consistently input that data. Rounding out fitness, Samsung includes breathing / relaxation apps & a brand-new widget for tracking your weight. And if you’re still for too long, the Active will nudge you to vì a phối of torso twists rather than stvà up.

I’ve been happy with the Galaxy Watch Active’s endurance so far despite the small 230mAh battery inside. Samsung claims it can go for 45 hours on a single charge, but that’s only a realistic number if you’re using GPS rarely (if at all) and keep the always-on display option disabled. Turning that on is a major hit khổng lồ battery life. With mặc định settings, I’ve sầu been able khổng lồ get through two work days before needing lớn charge. The Active can be juiced up when placed on the back of a Galaxy S10 through Samsung’s new PowerShare feature. Plopping it onto my Samsung wireless charging st& didn’t charge it, though, so you’ll need the Duo Doông xã if you want to go that route.

Very few iPhone owners are going to lớn give sầu much thought to lớn buying a Galaxy Watch Active. For them, the Apple Watch is the objectively better choice. It’s got more apps, the software is nicer and more coherent, và its integration with iOS allows for richer notifications and easy one-tap actions when those notifications warrant a response. You’ll feel a lot more constrained using the Active sầu with iOS than with Android.

Samsung’s real competition is Fitbit with its Versa & products like the Fossil Sport that run Wear OS & are at par with most of the Galaxy Watch Active’s features, albeit for a slightly higher price. At $200, the Galaxy Watch Active sầu is a strong value that I"d probably consider before both of those, assuming you can go without the rotating bezel và won"t envy other smartwatches & their bigger screens. Using the Galaxy Watch Active might be less fun than Samsung"s other watches, but it"s still a good time overall.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge

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