There was once a time where the battle in the arena of smart devices was a straight up fight between Samsung and Apple. Apple had the iPhone, Samsung had the Galaxy S. Apple had the iPad, Samsung had the Galaxy Tab. Samsung beat Apple to the punch with the Galaxy Watch, but there was no doubt that most the Apple Watch helped open up the world to the potential of smartwatches.
Today, the market of smart devices is far more open. OnePlus, HTC and Sony have incredibly popular smartwatches and tablets. And when it comes to smartwatches it is an even more wide open marketplace. There are hundreds of quality smartwatches available from traditional watchmakers and electronics brands alike. Today’s number one smartwatch brand is almost certainly Apple…but can the new Samsung Galaxy Watch take the opportunity to change things?
What’s in the New Samsung Galaxy Watch?
For a long time the Samsung Galaxy Watch series didn’t have any real competition from other smartwatch makers. But things have changed in recent years and the quality of the technology in smartwatches has increased dramatically. Being able to simply connect to a nearby smartphone and receive notifications is not quite going to cut it for today’s spoiled smartwatch owners! Samsung are going to need to bring something special to the table to compete in today’s marketplace.
The latest iteration of the Samsung Galaxy Watch is certainly one of the most beautiful smartwatch series around. One of the biggest elements that Apple brought to the table was stylish designs and premium build, something which had been sorely lacking in pre-Apple Watch smartwatches. The Samsung Galaxy Watch range features a unique circular face. Apple have been rumoured to be working on a circular watch face of their own, but Samsung seem to have got there first! The built in watch faces are beautiful and, at a glance, look like genuine watch faces rather than an AMOLED display. The devices come in silver, space grey and gold – matching pretty much head to head with the options regularly put forward from Apple.
One area in which Samsung are trying to catch up to Apple is in the health management capabilities. Apple quickly realised that fitness and health tracking is one of the areas where wearables have a unique use for their owners. Samsung have incorporated stress management features and a wide range of workout tracking options. Apple are still ahead of Samsung thanks to their built in heart rate monitoring features but Samsung are certainly catching up.
Should You Buy the New Samsung Galaxy Watch?
The options out there for smartwatch owners are greater than ever and it really takes something to make any one stand out above the others. The likes of Fitbit have become experts in the fitness tracking market while traditional watch manufacturers have demonstrated their ability to make their watches beautiful. Apple have not sat back and rested on their name value alone, they have invested in top quality technology and reaped the rewards. This seems to be what Samsung have done with their latest Galaxy Watch.
The latest iteration of the Samsung Galaxy Watch sees improvements in all areas of the device. The build quality, design and fitness tracking features have all been improved dramatically. Other areas of the device, such as LTE compatibility, Spotify compatibility and Samsung Pay are also on par with the similar features on the Apple Watch. It’s also good to see dramatic increases in the battery life which blows the Apple Watch out of the water lasting for around 18 hours.
Unfortunately the clear downside is the lack of quality Android smartwatch apps, which leaves the device in Apple’s shadow for app aficionados. This could be a real deal breaker for anyone considering switching from the Apple Watch, especially when the pricing structure of both devices is almost identical. Samsung lovers will be hoping that app developers start working on new apps for Android watches over the next few months.
If you love your Android devices and want a stylish, functional wearable then the new Samsung Galaxy Watch is certainly worth considering. It is certainly a big step up from many of the current Android smartwatches on the market. But in terms of competing toe-to-toe with the Apple Watch, it has some way to go if it is going to steal market share from the leaders!
