To say a Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is an Apple Watch Ultra clone, is fallacious

There are two sides to this coin. If just a similar shade of orange colour could dictate duplication, an entire smartphone generation (for one) would be guilty of plagiarism. If a word (Ultra, in this case) in the naming scheme melded digital souls, there would be no differentiation left in the world of tech. Therefore, to say that the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is too inspired by its biggest rival, the Apple Watch Ultra, would be fallacious to say the least. In the time spent analysing Samsung’s most coherent outdoors, more rugged smartwatch effort, it very clearly has its unique personality. It mostly adds up too, with experience and expectations, which is more than can often be said for first-generation hardware.
An outdoors, rugged smartwatch, isn’t a new concept. Garmin has been doing that for years, very successfully too. Algorithms refined, over time. The Apple Watch Ultra, now in its second generation (and should we expect a third generation in the coming days?), successfully added a lifestyle element to that concept. I can definitively say, the Galaxy Watch Ultra feels good, as a whole. There is just that subtle hint of Galaxy watch familiarity, but not so much that you’d call this a larger screen iteration of its siblings.
You could perhaps make an argument for a rotating bezel, akin to some of its siblings over time, but touch for now just about works. And in case it’s not been noticed, Samsung’s choice of a circular display (the jury is out on what works in the smartwatch space) is a complete contrast to Apple’s square-ish approach. At the same time, a square-ish chassis around that circular screen makes for a complex visual appeal, but in Samsung’s defence, they insist this is where a lot of the shock absorption is supposed to happen. Could the Galaxy Watch Ultra have gone for a square or a circular design completely? But is that really something to ponder over so intently?
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The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is an easy wear, despite its larger size – that transition may have felt easier, since I regularly wear an Apple Watch Ultra too. For perspective, layered with a certain level of perplexity, the Galaxy Watch Ultra’s 47mm footprint somehow feels larger than the Apple Watch Ultra’s 49mm size.
Samsung’s smart deployment of the sensors means it is as adept at health tracking, as it is at logging your outdoor activity routine. The BioActive Sensor, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved sleep apnea detection and metrics such as body fat and skeletal muscle composition.
Most important perhaps, is the potential reach for this rugged smartwatch. Unlike the Apple Watch that only works with iPhones, Samsung’s kept things more accessible for the wider Android phone user base – except blood pressure tracking and sleep apnea which only work when the Galaxy Watch Ultra is paired with Samsung Galaxy phones. A small price to pay, for greater convenience.
Of course there would be similarities, considering an outdoors, rugged watch is very much a niche within a niche. A shortcut key, really bright display, certain degree of water resistance, built-in GPS versatility and of course an orange colour theme to the hardware. It is a broader idea that will be tweaked with time. For now, orange shall set these watches apart.
That isn’t to say the Galaxy Watch Ultra will be a success, which will be dependent on how well (or not) it works for users over time and scenarios. It’s still early days for Samsung’s Wear OS iteration and the activity plus health tracking algorithms. They’ll need refinement. For instance, the heart rate readings on the Galaxy Watch Ultra were constantly 5-7 beats per minute or bpm higher than an Apple Watch Ultra or an Ultrahuman Ring Air smart ring.
That’s an example of how the foundations of the Galaxy Watch Ultra need to improve. At the same time, an Apple Watch Ultra doesn’t have sensors to give me a fair approximation of the body composition, that is skeletal muscle and body fat. Unless you pair it with third party hardware and apps.
Samsung’s Galaxy AI pitch isn’t limited to its latest smartphones, but in the case of a Galaxy Watch Ultra, its relevance and accuracy is somewhat struggling to come to terms with variance and subjectivity. The Energy Score reading, for instance, is an AI generation based on your activity through the day, sleep metrics and heart rate variations. It cannot be accurate if you don’t wear the Galaxy Watch Ultra to bed too, and believe me, it isn’t easy to wear a watch as thick as this while sleeping (if you aren’t used to, this is a bridge too far). If you do, the readings can seem arbitrary.
The sleep apnea detection will only work after you’ve gone through the checklist of wearing the Galaxy Watch Ultra to sleep for two consecutive days, for the functionality to calibrate for blood oxygen readings. Whether you get those readings correct, with sleep position and the watch size being a factor, is something to consider.
As far as smartwatches for the Android ecosystem go, there are very few that are as feature loaded as the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra. With a ₹59,999 price tag, it also costs a fair bit less than the most capable Garmin watches too. What helps is the width of third-party apps that have been well refined over the years for the wider Galaxy Watch portfolio. With time, the foundational underliers will improve too. Credit to Samsung for trying to build on the Galaxy Watch portfolio, and to say this is an Apple Watch Ultra imitation, would be unreasonable. This may be the first step towards a long journey.