Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 review: battery life and brightest display

Tech outlet Engadget has published a review of Samsung's Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 smartwatch, rating it 9 out of 10. The watch costs $700 and is Samsung's most premium wearable, built for active use and health tracking.

Hardware

The display measures 1.52 inches and reaches up to 5,000 nits of brightness, up from 3,500 nits on the previous model. The reviewer calls it the brightest smartwatch display the publication has seen. The case is titanium, with IP69K dust and water protection and a 10 ATM water resistance rating, equal to depths of up to 100 meters. However, a dedicated diving app promised at launch has still not arrived months later.

The watch is 10.7 mm thick, weighs 61.5 grams and comes in a single 47 mm size. It has no rotating bezel, and Samsung still uses its proprietary band attachment system, which limits the choice of straps.

Battery

Battery capacity has grown from 590 to 800 mAh, and the watch uses the new Snapdragon Wear Elite chipset. With mid-to-light use and the always-on display enabled, the reviewer got three days before the charge fell below 20 percent. Skipping tracked workouts or turning off that display mode stretched usage to four or five days.

Software and health

The interface is complicated, and some features are hard to find. Health functions are split between two apps, Health and Health Monitor. Several data points, including sleep metrics, must be viewed on a smartphone. New additions include loud noise detection and Heart Health Score, which combines sleep, stress and activity data into a single number. Sleep tracking has also been improved: it now needs data from three nights within the past two weeks, rather than seven.

Sleep apnea detection, ECG and blood pressure monitoring are unavailable unless the watch is used with a Samsung Galaxy phone.