Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 vs Galaxy Watch Ultra: Now this is more like it
Bravo, Samsung, this is more like it.
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The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is a really good follow-up to Samsung's first ultra-premium smartwatch. | Image by PhoneArena
Samsung just announced the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, the first real successor to the company's ultra-high premium smartwatch. While the design language has been kept the same, the new Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 scores a ton of memorable upgrades on the inside that truly set it apart.
First things first, the new wearable is significantly thinner at just over a centimeter thick. At the same time, it also comes along with a much larger battery, a massive 800 mAh cell that makes it the smartwatch with the largest battery right now.
This is a massive increase over the Galaxy Watch Ultra's 590 mAh battery. Thirdly, Samsung has put an efficient and mighty smartwatch chip inside, the Snapdragon Wear Elite.
How does the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 stack up against its predecessor?
Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 vs Galaxy Watch Ultra differences
- 10.7 mm thin vs 12.1 mm thick
- 1.52-inch vs 1.5-inch display
- 5,000-nit vs 3,000-nit display
- 800 mAh vs 590 mAh battery
- Snapdragon Wear Elite vs Exynos W1000 SiP
- Both LTE-enabled
- Titanium Gray, Titanium Silver vs Titanium Sliver, Titanium Gray, Titanium White, Titanium Blue
- $700 vs $650
Table of Contents:
Design & Sizes
Big changes for the Galaxy
While the total weight is similar (and even a gram or so more), the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is just more comfortable to wear daily due to its slimmer design.
It's still has a 47 mm case, but the bezels have been slimmed. This has allowed Samsung to fit an ever-so-slightly larger 1.52-inch screen (versus a 1.5-inch one). The big improvement about the screen is the peak brightness, as the circular OLED panel can reach a massive 5,000-nit peak brightness. This means legibility will be perfect in pretty much any ambient lighting scenario, even under the bright noon sun.
Just like the Galaxy Watch Ultra, the new version is shock-resistant, as well as water and dust resistant at up to 50 meters, meaning that it can be used for recreational diving. Thanks to this, it has dedicated dive computer functionality.
The rest of the exterior is the same. There are three buttons on the right-hand side of the case, with the middle one customizable and the other two tied to specific functions.
Bands
Style and form
Samsung has developed a thinner watch band that has been slimmed from 2.9 mm thick all the way to 1.9 mm without sacrificing its qualities. This results in a further 25% weight reduction of the band, which makes the wearable even more comfortable to wear.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 arrives with three bands. There's Marine, made of breathable silicone that is perfect for intense all-day sports and activities, as well as diving. Next, we have Peakform, a more casual and elegant band that mimics leather. Finally, we have Trail, a fabric band suitable for sleeping and comfort.
How does this compare against the first Galaxy Watch Ultra?
That one also arrived with the same band selection. We had Marine, aimed at divers, available in Orange, Dark Gray, Green, and White; then Trail for hikers, available in Dark Gray; and finally, Peakform, a multi-functional band available in White Sand, Dark Gray, and Orange.
That one also arrived with the same band selection. We had Marine, aimed at divers, available in Orange, Dark Gray, Green, and White; then Trail for hikers, available in Dark Gray; and finally, Peakform, a multi-functional band available in White Sand, Dark Gray, and Orange.
The band attachment mechanism hasn't been changed, so bands from the older wearable would fit the new one.
Software & Features
The best smartwaches
Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear Elite chipset, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 features improved performance, responsiveness and much faster app launch times. With the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, Samsung improves pretty much all the health-tracking features of the device.
Samsung introduces a new Vitals app, which sounds––and functions––much like Apple's own Vitals app. It acts as an early-warning panel for any health-related issues or problems, but most users will use it as a dashboard for their fitness insights. While the app has the same name and does the same thing as Apple's app, it does that by monitoring different metrics.
While Apple's Vitals app tracks your heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temp, blood oxygen and sleep duration, Samsung's Vitals measures your heart rate and heart rate variability, respiratory rate, skin temp, and blood oxygen.
It drops the sleep times for HRV, which could be a bit more accurate for most people. The Virals app requires a established baseline of at least seven days before it gives you a proper reading. The data will be available in a new widget that you can put as a tile or on your watch screen, but it won't pester you with daily notifications, which is a user-friendly approach.
Right now, it's unclear if the Vitals app will arrive on the older Galaxy Watch Ultra.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 also gets a new Heart Health Score that gives you approximate information about your heart's health status. The wearable will also monitor your daily cardio load, which could be helpful to runners. The same applies to Fitness Index, another metric that uses your VO2Max, heart rate, step count, and activity time to tell you whether to push or rest.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 supports diving and acts as a diving computer, showing depth, dive time and water temperature. Speaking of water, the smartwatch will show you a hydration notification when it detects you might be sweating too much. The latter is an estimation, as the watch doesn't have a sweat sensor.
As is the unfortunate tradition, you can't use the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 with an iPhone. What's more, while you can pair it with any Android phone, some specific features like ECG and blood pressure monitoring will only work when the watch is paired with a Galaxy phone.
As is the unfortunate tradition, you can't use the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 with an iPhone. What's more, while you can pair it with any Android phone, some specific features like ECG and blood pressure monitoring will only work when the watch is paired with a Galaxy phone.
Battery and Charging
Big upgrades for the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2
While Samsung isn't keen on treating us to big improvements to the battery capacities of its phones, the same can't be said about its smartwatches. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 has scored a massive 800 mAh battery on board, some 35% larger than the 590 mAh one that came with the first Galaxy Watch Ultra.
This is spectacular as Samsung has also slimmed down the case, which is a win-win situation no matter how you look at it.
This much larger battery, paired with the faster and more efficient chip, likely means that the device will last significantly longer on a single charge. In my experience, the first Galaxy Watch Ultra lasted two days and a half with more frugal use, so I'd expect at least three days and some change out of the new Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.
Models and Prices
The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 will be available for $699, a $50 increase over the first Galaxy Watch Ultra, which sold for $649.
The device is once again available in a single, 47 mm size and with LTE on board. Don't expect to find the Galaxy Watch Ultra in a Bluetooth-only variation.
Specs
Here's how the two watches compare:
| Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 | Galaxy Watch Ultra |
|---|---|
| Models 47 mm Wi-Fi + LTE | Models 47 mm Wi-Fi + LTE |
| Processor Snapdragon Wear Elite | Processor Exynos W1000 |
| Software Wear OS 7 | Software Wear OS 7 |
| Battery 800 mAh | Battery 590 mAh |
| Sensors HR, Vitals, blood oxygen, altimeter, ECG | Sensors HR, blood oxygen, altimeter, ECG |
Summary
The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is definitely a winning move that finally feels like a proper follow-up to the very first Galaxy Watch Ultra. The 2025 refresh of the latter was strictly a visual refresh that didn't add any real value to the high-end Samsung wearable loadout, but the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is that crucial extra step in all-around improvement.
For newcomers to the lineup, getting the new watch is a no-brainer move: it's slimmer, longer-lasting, and just as premium, so it's packing enough upgrades to warrant the $50 price increase.
In this particular case, the juice feels worth the squeeze.
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