Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 review: a new OS and discreet improvements

Here is the Galaxy Watch 4, the new connected watch from Samsung presented in August 2021 and marketed in the wake. Direct successor to the Galaxy Watch Active 2, of which it takes again the features, this model puts a little more emphasis on health. The electrocardiogram is now accompanied by a calculation of the impedance or the rate of oxygenation of the blood. Another novelty, Samsung is abandoning TizenOS, its in-house operating system, for the benefit of Wear OS 3.0, developed in partnership with Google.

In its 40mm version, the Galaxy Watch 4 costs € 269 if Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are enough for you. For 4G, you will have to pay an additional 50 € (319 €). A 44mm version was launched for € 299 without 4G and € 349 with. At these prices, Samsung obviously competes with Apple Watch Series 7 and SE, but also at the Fitbit sense.

For this test, we used the 40mm version.

Aesthetically, Samsung renews the winning formula of its Galaxy Watch Active series. We find a light (25.9 grams) and thin (9.8 mm) case. It also turns out to be very well finished and comfortable to wear. On its edge, the two elegant buttons are equipped with electrodes, used for health measurements. Other electrodes are also present on the back of the case alongside the heart rate monitor.

The Galaxy Watch 4 has a 1.19-inch Oled screen displaying 396 x 396 px for a resolution of 330 dpi. Offering real ease of use, it is excellent in craftsmanship and stands out as one of the strengths of this model. Bright enough to be perfectly readable in direct sunlight, it is also capable of weakening a lot so as not to dazzle after dark.

Finally, the Galaxy Watch 4 is IP68 certified. It is therefore capable of withstanding a 30-minute immersion under 1.5 meters of depth without significant pressure variation. So swimming is no problem, but intense water activity, such as surfing, could damage the case. Finally, the strap of this Galaxy Watch 4 in fluoroelastomer is quite rudimentary, but does not irritate the skin, even during a sporting outing.

Among the new features of this Galaxy Watch 4, WearOS 3.0 is probably the most anticipated. It is accompanied by OneUI Watch, the overlay developed by Samsung. This offers an aesthetic close to what Samsung offered on TizenOS, its in-house operating system.

Compared to the latter, the main contribution of WearOS 3.0 concerns the offer of available applications. With the arrival of the Google Play Store, the number of applications is much more provided. Whether for sports or entertainment, the US store has more choices. Something to be happy about, especially since the investments made by the G of GAFAM suggest that the offer should continue to swell over time.

Outside the Play Store, we are therefore facing a Samsung watch in the continuity of what was offered in the past. We thus find the fundamentals of the Korean brand, starting with the digital rotating crown. To scroll through notifications and cards, just slide your finger along the edge of the screen. The maneuver is much more natural than simply sliding from right to left or left to right. Thus, it is possible to quickly access the number of steps, the launch of a physical activity or a particular application. The sequence of “cards”, as Samsung calls them, is fully customizable from the watch, or from the smartphone via the Galaxy Wearables application.

By swiping your finger from the top to the bottom of the screen, the shortcuts panel opens. Like a smartphone, it allows you to switch to airplane mode, silent mode, adjust the brightness of the panel or even access the settings. These are also numerous and allow real customization. By swiping from bottom to top, the app cloud opens. Resembling that of Apple’s WatchOS, it allows you to quickly view all the apps downloaded on the tocante.

In use, this WearOS combo supported by OneUI Watch is very convincing, among the best in the connected watch market. Notifications are displayed quickly, without hyphenation problems, featuring the logos of the source application. All the applications available, from Google Maps to Strava, including Spotify or City Mapper are very well optimized. The presence of a microphone allows voice synthesis, answer the phone or communicate with Samsung’s voice assistant, Bixby. Finally, it is always possible to respond to messages from loved ones, whether via automatic replies or the microphone, but it is still relatively gadget.

Before discussing more deeply the smartphone / Galaxy Watch 4 connections, it is necessary to remember that the Samsung watch does not offer the same experience with all mobile phones. First of all, it is only compatible with Android smartphones. IOS and HarmonyOS users will therefore be able to go their way. Also, the EKG function is only available if the user has a Samsung smartphone. This was not the case in our test, where we connected the watch with a OnePlus 8T.

The Galaxy Watch syncs with the Galaxy Wearables and Samsung Health apps, available on Android. While the first allows you to dive into the different parameters and applications, the second offers a complete panorama of the data collected.

In Galaxy Wearables, the user can customize the interface of their watch. From the home screen, to the cloud of applications, it is possible to change the colors, the order of the apps and the shortcuts. A wide choice of parameters gives the user the possibility of configuring notifications with precision, activating Always-on or even adding music to his tocante. Overall, Galaxy Wearables turns out to be quite comprehensive and practical.

For its part, Samsung Health lists all the health data collected by the watch. It includes the number of steps, minutes of activity, calories burned, average heart rate, time asleep and body composition. This last data estimates the amount of skeletal muscle, fat and BMI of the user. It is also possible to add the food ingested and the amount of water drunk during the day by hand. An application, which is obviously reminiscent of the Fitbit application offered by the eponymous American company and recently bought by Google.

The Galaxy Watch 4 has a whole host of sensors on board. It has an accelerometer, a barometer, a gyroscope, a heart rate monitor, a GPS, but also a sensor dedicated to the electrocardiogram as well as another for analyzing body impedance.

Let’s start with GPS. This turns out to be of excellent quality. It allows precise tracking of the position, much more precise than that of a smartphone capable of a few wanderings here and there. If the GPS sometimes takes more than a minute to activate, it is not necessary to wait to start your session. Tracking will activate automatically as soon as it finds the signal. A good point. Another reason for satisfaction, the extremely responsive automatic pause only takes a handful of seconds to detect the change of state.

For its part, the heart rate monitor provides much less convincing performance. It will only be relevant during a gentle sporting outing, such as a walk or a jogging trip. Under these conditions, the margin of error is small compared to a Polar H10 chest strap, which serves as a benchmark. It is around 1% of the average heart rate. On the other hand, the watch sometimes has difficulty following a too high rate and gives a maximum frequency sometimes 10 or 15 beats below the chest strap. These concerns crystallize during an interval exercise, based on regular and intense rhythm changes. Under these conditions, the heart rate curves lose their relevance and therefore their interest.

Like many of its competitors, the Galaxy Watch 4 offers sleep tracking. This one turns out to be rather consistent, with many statistics related to the sleep cycle and time to rest. Unfortunately, it is difficult to judge the accuracy of these analyzes. Likewise, the measurement of the EKG (available only on Samsung smartphones), blood oxygenation and body impedance are fluid to use, but complex to evaluate.