The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 vary is right here, and there are two fashions to select from as soon as once more.
On the Basic mannequin, the bodily rotating bezel returns after a one-year absence (we bought the Watch 5 Professional as an alternative). In the meantime the common Watch 6 continues with a contact model.
However there are many different variations to pay attention to. Let’s see how they examine side-by-side that will help you resolve which to go for.
For a extra in-depth take a look at each, see our full opinions of the Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Basic.
Design & construct
Telling the Galaxy Watch 6 aside from its its predecessor, the Watch 5, is a problem. However that’s a praise – Samsung’s minimalist design is a success, eliminating the necessity for a redesign.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Regardless of a premium stainless-steel and glass construct, the Watch 6 stays mild, with the 40mm mannequin at 28.7g and the 44mm at 33.3g. It’s smooth, too, at 9mm thick and cozy to put on even throughout sleep. A lot of straps can be found, however the one you get within the field will match the color of the watch physique – select from Graphite, Gold or Silver.
Sturdiness is nice, although it’s not a rugged watch. The metal casing is hard, with military-grade MIL-STD-810G compliance and IP68 water resistance. The minimalist aesthetic extends to the 2 bodily buttons on the facet, each of that are remappable.
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After a one-generation absence, the bodily rotating bezel returns within the Galaxy Watch 6 Basic. That’s a wise transfer, contemplating how efficient it was on the Watch 4 Basic and the way unusual it stays.
Samsung’s One UI Watch software program (based mostly on Google’s WearOS) makes full use of the bezel, permitting you to navigate and work together with content material with ease.
We reviewed the 47mm Watch 6 Basic model, although there’s additionally a 43mm different obtainable with a smaller display screen and battery.
The bigger mannequin is substantial, so solely actually fits bigger wrists. However the included strap on each the Watch 6 and 6 Basic is a mix of fake leather-based and rubber, making it appropriate for train and straightforward to wash.
Nonetheless, the best way the strap is secured can depart a spot between the underside of the watch and your wrist for some folks.
Show & audio
On each the Watch 6 and Watch 6 Basic, Samsung has managed to extend show sizes with out altering the dimensions of the case.
The 40mm Watch 6 presents a 1.3in touchscreen, whereas the 44mm boasts a 1.5in one, each with increased resolutions than earlier than (432×432 and 480×480 respectively). Though these tweaks gained’t revolutionise your expertise, they make the Watch 6’s show simply that little bit higher.
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Choosing OLED means vivid colors and deep blacks, with the latter significantly obvious on the software program’s black background.
Visibility stays sturdy in daylight, with a formidable peak brightness of 2000 nits. The touch-sensitive show edge mimics the Watch 6 Basic’s bezel, although swiping is extra intuitive.
The 47mm Watch 6 Basic’s 1.5in AMOLED show excels, too. It additionally has a peak brightness of two,000 nits, so is completely readable in direct daylight.
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You’ll be able to navigate the Watch 6 Basic utilizing the bodily bezel or touchscreen, each of that are responsive.
Audio high quality is respectable on each, with a built-in speaker and microphone enabling clear notifications, calls and voice assistant use.
Software program & options
Each the Galaxy Watch 6 and the Watch 6 Basic run on Google’s WearOS 4 out of the field, full with Samsung’s One UI Watch 5 excessive. They’ll proceed being supported by updates till 2027.
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Intuitive navigation is essential on these small screens, and Samsung and Google have collaborate successfully to attain it. Swipe gestures will let you simply transfer between notifications, dwell tiles, fast settings, and apps.
Accessible third-party apps through WearOS are restricted, however embody the likes of WhatsApp, Spotify and all Google apps. The pre-installed Google Maps enable for navigation out of your wrist, but it surely requires pairing to your telephone to work correctly
The watches work with all Android telephones working Android 10 or later. However the blood stress, ECG and irregular coronary heart charge options depend on the Samsung Well being Monitor app, which is barely obtainable on Samsung telephones.
Health & monitoring
Health monitoring is a key energy of each Galaxy Watch 6 machine. With over 90 exercise choices and the choice to customize your personal, there’s lots to select from.
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Core metrics corresponding to exercise period, coronary heart charge zones, energy burned, and distance (together with location information with GPS turned on) can be found for all exercises. However working additionally consists of the likes of tempo, cadence, VO2 max, and extra. Swimming (making use of the 5ATM water resistance) can inform you the stroke you swam and supply a SWOLF rating, with the watch routinely expelling water when you’re completed.
Tennis periods file properly, whereas strolling is considered one of seven auto-tracked exercises which set off seamlessly. Steady coronary heart charge monitoring aids these stats, regardless of some erratic outcomes.
Stress, physique composition, blood oxygen, and sleep monitoring can be obtainable. The latter combines sleep cycles, wakefulness and an estimate of how properly you’ve recovered to supply an general ‘sleep rating’.
It’s not clear if the info is fully correct, but it surely’s typically according to how the evening’s sleep felt within the morning. Monitoring sleep over time helps you determine tendencies, with teaching and a private ‘Sleep animal’ obtainable after seven nights through the Samsung Well being app.
Each the Watch 6 and 6 Basic have an an identical set of options right here.
Specs & efficiency
The Galaxy Watch 6 is available in each 40mm and 44mm sizes, every with Bluetooth or 4G LTE choices. The latter operates independently by way of an eSIM.
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All Watch 6 fashions make use of Samsung’s Exynos W930 chipset, a slight improve from earlier variations, paired with 2GB of RAM for stable efficiency. Whereas not ground-breaking, interactions really feel easy, and minor app opening hesitations are straightforward to dwell with.
Inside storage is now 16GB, and given the small dimension of most apps, you’ll have to obtain a whole lot of music or different information regionally to fill it.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
The Watch 6 Basic, regardless of additionally having the Exynos W930 chip and 2GB of RAM, can lag at occasions.
Sometimes, waking the display screen by turning the bezel takes a second, leading to delayed menu scrolling. The processor’s barely increased clock pace is the only improve from the previous-gen chip.
Usually, responsiveness is nice, although touchscreen lag could emerge whereas utilizing wi-fi earbuds to manage music throughout runs, difficult the {hardware}’s limits. However efficiency on the whole on a regular basis use is normally easy.
Battery life & charging
Battery life stays the Galaxy Watch 6’s most disappointing side. Regardless of a bigger battery (300mAh for 40mm, 425mAh for 44mm), the larger shows negate any enhancements.
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The Watch 6 struggles to final a full day, even with the always-on show disabled – it’s worse with it on. A day involving actions like walks, exercises, notifications, and coronary heart charge measurements swiftly drains the battery, which is disappointing.
Charging anxiousness may linger all through the day, whereas a 30-40% drop throughout sleep means you’ll have to cost it first. The included magnetic charger makes use of USB-C, and the Watch 6 helps as much as 10W Qi wi-fi charging, reaching 59% in half-hour and absolutely charging in about 70 minutes.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
The Watch 6 Basic encompasses a 300mAh battery on the 43mm mannequin or 425mAh cell on the 47mm model. Samsung claims as much as 30 hours with the always-on show (AOD) on and 40 hours with it off.
However the former feels unachievable, and ends in a giant drop-off in battery life. Throughout testing, it went from 100% to 36% throughout a 13-hour window with solely strolling being tracked. After an evening of sleep monitoring, it was down to simply 9%. Whereas the previous feels achievable, turning on the always-on show.
Nonetheless, with the always-on show turned off, a full two days of battery life is feasible.
Value & availability
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The Watch 6 begins at $20/£20 above the Watch 5, but stays competitively priced:
- 40mm, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi solely – $299.99/£289
- 40mm, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and 4G LTE – $349.99/£339
- 44mm, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi solely – $329.99/£319
- 44mm, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and 4G LTE – $379.99/£369
Within the US, the Galaxy Watch 6 is offered for direct buy from Samsung and Amazon, or by way of contracts with AT&T and Verizon.
Within the UK, you have got numerous retailers to pick out from, together with Samsung and Amazon for direct buy, and contract choices with O2, EE, and Vodafone.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Basic begins at $399.99/£369, with 4 fashions obtainable:
- 43mm, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi solely – $399.99/£369
- 43mm, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and 4G LTE – $449.99/£429
- 47mm, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi solely – $429.99/£399
- 47mm, Bluetooth/Wi-Fi and 4G LTE – $479.99/£459
Within the US, the Galaxy Watch 6 Basic is offered at Samsung, Amazon, Finest Purchase, and thru carriers like T-Cell, Verizon, and AT&T.
Within the UK, you should buy it from Samsung, Amazon, Argos, Currys, John Lewis, and cellular networks O2, EE, and Vodafone.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Basic each provide important enhancements over their predecessors.
The Galaxy Watch 6 presents a bigger, higher-quality show, improved efficiency, and superior health and sleep monitoring options. However battery life stays a key weak spot.
Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Whereas the Watch 6 Basic isn’t markedly totally different, the bodily rotating bezel and higher battery life make it the perfect Android smartwatch on the writing. It has all the identical vary of well being and health options because the common Watch 6.
Nonetheless, it’s price noting that blood stress monitoring, ECGs and irregular coronary heart charge notifications are solely obtainable should you pair considered one of these watches with a Samsung telephone.
However whereas the Watch 6 Class has the sting over the common mannequin, it’s additionally considerably dearer. In the end, which one you go for will rely in your design preferences.
However they’re under no circumstances the one two choices: see our information to the perfect smartwatches for loads of alternate options.
Specs
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6:
- 1.3in 432×432 (40mm) or 1.5in 480×480 (44mm) round AMOLED always-on show
- Gorilla Glass DX+
- Exynos W930 5nm processor
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB storage
- One UI Watch 5 over Put on OS 4
- Bluetooth 5.3
- NFC
- GPS
- Wi-Fi
- 4G LTE (optionally available)
- Microphone
- Speaker
- Optical coronary heart charge sensor (PPG)
- Electrical coronary heart sensor (ECG)
- Bioelectrical impedance evaluation sensor (BIA)
- Blood oxygen monitoring
- AFib irregular heartbeat detection
- Sleep monitoring
- Snore detection
- Physique composition evaluation
- Guided exercises
- Bixby Voice
- Gesture controls
- Chrome steel casing
- 5ATM swim-proof
- IP68-certified mud/water resistance
- MIL-STD-810G examined
- Wi-fi charging
- 300mAh (40mm) or 425mAh battery (44mm)
- 10W Qi wi-fi charging
- 38.8 x 40.4 x 9mm (40mm) or 42.8 x 44.4 x 9mm (44mm)
- 28.7g (40mm) or 33.3g (44mm)
- Colors: Graphite, Gold (40mm solely), Silver (44mm solely)
- Appropriate with Android 10 or increased (units require greater than 1.5GB RAM)
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Basic:
- 1.3in 432×432 (43mm) or 1.5in 480×480 (47mm) round AMOLED always-on show
- Gorilla Glass DX+
- Exynos W930 5nm processor
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB storage
- One UI Watch 5 over Put on OS 4
- Bluetooth 5.3
- NFC
- GPS
- Wi-Fi
- 4G LTE (optionally available)
- Microphone
- Speaker
- Optical coronary heart charge sensor (PPG)
- Electrical coronary heart sensor (ECG)
- Bioelectrical impedance evaluation sensor (BIA)
- Blood oxygen monitoring
- AFib irregular heartbeat detection
- Sleep monitoring
- Snore detection
- Physique composition evaluation
- Guided exercises
- Bixby Voice
- Gesture controls
- Chrome steel casing
- 5ATM swim-proof
- IP68-certified mud/water resistance
- MIL-STD-810G examined
- Wi-fi charging
- 300mAh (43mm) or 425mAh battery (47mm)
- 10W Qi wi-fi charging
- 42.5 x 42.5 x 10.9mm (43mm) or 46.5 x 46.5 x 10.9mm (47mm)
- 52g (40mm) or 59g (44mm)
- Colors: Black, Silver
- Appropriate with Android 10 or increased (units require greater than 1.5GB RAM)