For the last seven years, Samsung has been producing smartwatches or fitness trackers. The company’s watch line was present during the birth and near-death of Android Wear/Wear OS, and it also debuted a few years before Apple’s watch OS and Apple Watch. Samsung began with the odd cuff-like Galaxy Gear, and now, more than ten iterations later, we have the Galaxy Watch 3 — for whatever reason, Samsung missed the Galaxy Watch 2.
The Galaxy Watch 3 builds on all facets of Samsung’s previous smartwatches and aims to outperform both the Galaxy Watch Active 2 from 2019 and the original Galaxy Watch from 2018, all of which are outstanding wearables. Thankfully, the Galaxy Watch 3 retains the outstanding revolving bezel, adds new features, and comes with a lovely ‘Mystic Bronze’ color scheme.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 Fitness Track:
Like the Apple Watch Series 6, the Galaxy Watch 3 can detect blood-oxygen levels (SpO2). To use the feature, you need to keep your wrists stable and flat. However, unlike the Apple Watch Series 6, the Galaxy Watch 3 does not measure SpO2 passively and only activates when you turn on the feature.
The Galaxy Watch can also measure your heart rate for 3 minutes – even if another app is dedicated only to detecting your BPM. This process takes more than 15 seconds, and my results are 97 to 99 percent. Below your results, there is a ‘Help’ button that provides information about blood oxygen levels. Other factors, such as exercise and health status, also contribute.
Also, like Apple, South Korean tech giants are taking this symptom to measure health and not an accurate diagnosis of health problems.
Like other wearables, the Watch 3 reminds you to sit longer and stretch, and not once. When you start walking again, the clock will also appreciate you. For the most part, I find these notifications annoying, but they are easy to ignore, and you can turn them off as well.
Since I was using the Galaxy Watch 3, I did not go to the gym. When I was in the gym using ellipticals, the ancestors and active variants of the Watch 3 confirmed that I was in the elliptical within a minute. With the Galaxy Watch 3, it feels a little different. However, the clock measures your activity. After the 10 minute mark, you will receive a notification indicating that you are riding the bike and how many calories you have burned.
Sleep Track:
One of the most commonly used features in the Galaxy Watch 3 is its sleep detection functionality. Sleep monitoring keeps track of how long I sleep like previous Samsung wearables. What’s new at the moment is that smartwatches let consumers know what kind of sleep they are getting at night, including ‘light,’, rem, and so on. Deep added. This is similar to how the latest Fitbit bit monitors sleep detection. It tells consumers the specific range of each type of sleep they need to get each night.
It’s hard to say how accurate the sleep on the Galaxy Watch 3 tracks is, but according to Samsung, the watch measures your heart rate and your movement depending on what stage of sleep you are on. I did not spend much time in deep peaceful sleep and did not spend much time in light sleep (I wish I had a good sleep).
Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 Design:
Samsung’s Tizen operating system (OS) has not changed much from its predecessors and I have no complaints about it. This is another reason why I’m so happy with the rotating bezel because I think Tizen was built with rotation navigation in mind. Everything is circular and switching between apps is very easy and smooth.
I found this to be a problem with the Galaxy Watch Active 2. For reference, the tech giant will use Tizen on its smartwatches, smart devices, and even some budget smartphones in Asia.
Although Tizen OS does not have many applications such as Google’s Wear or Apple’s Watch OS, it is still a wearable operating system. Additionally, the Galaxy Store is available on watch and used phones. Easy to navigate and offers various third-party apps for navigation including Spotify, Uber, and Two Here Vigo. Bixby works well, but if I could only use the Galaxy Watch 3 to control my smart home I would have to abandon the Samsung voice-activated system and add Google Assistant to its system.
When your screen is on, you can activate Bixby by saying “Hi Bixby” and use it to ask for time, set an alarm, and call various contacts. Last but not least, the battery life of the 41mm Galaxy Watch 3 is good. I used a 46mm Galaxy watch, so it’s hard to compare it to a smaller watch 3, but with that device, I get three nights of battery life with a continuous smartwatch, which usually dies on the fourth day.
With the 41mm Galaxy Watch 3 always-on display, I get a day and a half battery life as the batteries die during the afternoon of that day. With always on-off functionality, I was able to get two and a half days of battery life.