It’s been a tumultuous month for Samsung and its latest range of Galaxy wearables but the Korean brand finally shipped us the top-of-the-line Galaxy Watch Ultra. At RM3,399 a pop, it’s not an exaggeration to say that there is a premium attached to this smartwatch, and then some.
By that last part, I’m actually referring to the special preorder extras that Samsung is bundling with the Watch Ultra for the Malaysian market. I’ll get to the star in the show in a bit, so bear with me.
Inside this special Adventure Pack, you get the Watch Ultra obviously, but the added extras include a 15W charging adapter, a 10,000W powerbank that supports 25W fast-charging, an additional detachable watch strap in Black, and a Smart Tag 2 fob. In addition, there’s also a small canvas bag inside to carry all those extras along when, you know, you go on an adventure. So, with that, let’s get back to the hero of the story.
Out of the box, the one thing that immediately hits me is just how huge the entire Watch Ultra is, and that is before I attach its accompanying bright orange detachable straps to it. For that matter, it’s an interesting choice to have a circular watch face sit inside a square-shaped module – I’m going to need more time with the wearable before I can draw any solid findings but suffice it to say, it feels a little weird.
Upon wearing it, the Watch Ultra sits heavy on the wrist, literally. There’s an added heft that you will feel and not only that, the thick strap definitely gets in the way when typing or writing.
On that note, I do love the metal buckle and clasp. It elevates the wearable’s premium, and there’s just something satisfying about hearing it tap on any hard surface or clink on anything metallic. Be forewarned though: metal-on-metal contact can result in abrasions, especially if you’re resting your palm on a laptop base.
Wearable feeling notwithstanding, there are already a handful of caveats I have found with the Watch Ultra. Firstly, there’s no physical rotating bezel to aid in cycling through your apps, which I find mildly infuriating, and surprisingly, I’m not alone on this. You can still cycle through the apps in a similar fashion: simply place your finger on any point of the watch’s rim, and move your finger in a circular motion.
Then there are the physical buttons of the Watch Ultra. This is a controversial statement, if Samsung’s engineers were going to take a page out of Apple’s Watch Ultra2, I’m actually a bit surprised that it didn’t bother to make the crown rotatable. Frankly, it’s a missed opportunity here, especially since it would have simplified many actions. But no, instead you get a dedicated Home button, a crown that opens up the device’s fitness app by default, and a return button at the bottom. The good news though is that, as with previous generation Galaxy Watches, there is on-screen typing and swipe-to-type support, which benefits me immensely when I’m in a situation where whipping out my phone is not an option.
The one thing I can’t fault the Watch Ultra for, though, is the display clarity. Its resolution is measured at 480 x 480 pixels but thanks to its pixel density of 327 ppi, everything looks clean, sharp, and readable.
We will be putting up a lightning review of the Galaxy Watch Ultra, so check this space every so often.
