My Samsung Galaxy Watch arrived today. First impressions are extremely positive. The black stainless steel body has some weight which makes the watch feel solid and durable. The multi-function rotating bezel is slightly higher than the Gorilla Glass touchscreen, which I am certain will help protect the crystal from being damaged by glancing abrasions and bumps that wristwatches are prone to encounter in daily wear. The AMOLED screen is sensational, bright, clear, with solid blacks and fully saturated colors. Not only are the watch faces highly detailed, the text at all sizes is razor sharp.
Samsung's Exynos 9110 Dual core 1.15GHz processor and Tizen OS 4.0 operating system deliver buttery smooth functions. Pairing the Samsung Galaxy Watch to my Samsung Galaxy S9 phone was quick and easy. Samsung has really done its homework with respect to the way the watch and phone communicate. To make sure I was up to speed on how to operate the watch and take full advantage of its long list of features I downloaded the User Manual a few days ago. Much to my surprise the manual is 102 pages, written clearly, and outlining every feature, how to access them, and how to adjust the various parameters. After refreshing myself with the manual last night I had no problems setting up the watch, adjusting the settings to my personal preferences, and setting up Samsung Pay so I can make use of it at all NFC payment terminals.
I removed the rubbery soft silicon band that comes with the watch. I am not a fan of those types of bands. Perhaps if I worked out, got sweaty, or went swimming regularly while wearing the watch that band would be more realistic. My preference went with a black stainless steel band with latching clasp. The quick release strap pins make swapping bands an easy task. It took me longer to remove the bracelet sections of the stainless band to size it for my wrist than to swap the band. The black stainless band gives the Samsung Galaxy Watch a more refined look, and the black color tone of the band matches perfectly with the black stainless steel watch case.
The watch comes with nine different watch faces preloaded. I downloaded an additional eleven watch faces that appeal to me. Many of the watch faces are customizable, allowing color changes for the face, the hands, and the functions of other watch face small dials. A person could go off the deep end with watch faces if left unrestrained. There are over 60,000 watch faces available. The Galaxy Watch also comes preloaded with a nice assortment of apps, both for function and fitness. Additional apps can be downloaded. I added a currency converter, an altimeter and barometer, and a Celsius to Fahrenheit app. I am unlikely to make use of the fitness tracking functions, but I do like the step counter, stairs climbed, heart rate sensor, and estimated calories burned per day.
I like the Always On display. It allows the watch face to dim and change colors when your wrist moves about or is suspended, yet when you move your arm to the normal position for viewing the watch the dial illuminates fully, and the time it remains full brightness before dimming is controlled in the Setting Menu. There are so many useful features available in the Samsung Galaxy Watch it will take some time to learn the best way to get the most out of them, but suffice it to say I am impressed with this watch. It is a real watch that offers so much more right on your wrist.
Earlier this evening I was in the kitchen when Pete (Vintage Pete) sent me a text message. My phone was on the desk in my office, so I would not have seen the message for some period of time. Instead, my watch vibrated softly to notify me I had a text message. One swipe on the screen and I was reading the text. I responded by tapping the microphone icon and spoke my response. The Samsung Galaxy Watch converted my speech to text and I tapped the send icon, all right from the watch. How cool is that. The same is true should I receive a call. My watch will ring or vibrate, or ring and vibrate to let me know there is an incoming call. One tap on the answer icon and I can take the call right from my watch even with my cellphone in another room or in my pocket. I haven't tested the distance of the Bluetooth transmission capabilities but I do know it works from the kitchen to my office.
I selected the 42mm size watch, versus the 46mm size. I would have preferred the larger battery installed in the 46mm watch, but the size made it too large for my wrist size. I can always extend battery life by turning off the Always On display, GPS, and heart monitoring, but quite honestly why would I want to do that. I don't mind dropping the watch on the tiny charger at night, even if it doesn't necessarily need it. The 42mm size is perfect and the screen size only gives up 0.1 inch to the 46mm model so I still have plenty of room for my fingers to navigate the touchscreen. All in all I am quite pleased with the Samsung Galaxy Watch. I suspect it may cause my other watches to linger in the darkness of a drawer keeping each other company, perhaps seeing the light of day for a particular occasion. As it stands right now I am enthusiastic about wearing the Galaxy watch. It is comfortable and I have no issue with long sleeved cuffs fitting over it. So far this watch is everything I had hoped it would be and considerably more. I think I made a good choice for my first smart watch.
The photos below shows a watch face at full brightness and then dimmed in the Always On setting. The other photo shows the watch thickness along with the black stainless steel band I added.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4804/...ba4cec0126.jpg . . . https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4867/...a04047bfe4.jpg . . . https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4918/...0eae02c39f.jpg
