Summary
Data sheetDesignScreenUse and applicationActivity trackingAutonomyCommunicationPrice and availabilityConclusionCommentsSee the product sheetAvailable at €419With its Galaxy Watch 3, Samsung returns to the rotating bezel, but also offers many activity tracking or application management features. Here is our full test.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 // Source: Frandroid
A year ago, Samsung launched its Galaxy Watch Active 2, a connected watch with a very simple design and which, for some, lacked the rotating crown of the traditional Galaxy Watch. The critics were loud and this fall, and Samsung finally launched a new version of its connected watch, the Galaxy Watch 3. But what does it have to offer? This is what we will see in this complete test.
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Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 Specs
| Model | Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 |
|---|---|
| Screen size | 1.4 inches |
| Technology | Super AMOLED |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass DX |
| Screen definition | < td>360 x 360 pixels|
| Screen format | Circular |
| Internal memory | 8 GB |
| RAM | 1 GB |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 4(n) |
| Dimension | 45mm |
| 43 grams | |
| Battery | 340 mAh |
| Heart rate sensor | Yes |
| Sleep analysis | Yes |
| Accelerometer | Yes |
| Ambient light sensor | Yes |
| Degree of protection | IP68 |
| Price | €419 |
| < /td> | Product sheet |
This watch was provided to us by Samsung.
An imposing watch
At first glance, the difference between the Galaxy Watch 3 and the two previous Samsung watches is obvious. It must be said that the Galaxy Watch Active and Active 2 played the card of sobriety. No rotating bezel and a rounded design for the two previous models. This is not the case with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 which is imposing to say the least with a weight of 53.8 grams, against 30 or 42 grams, depending on the material, for the Galaxy Watch Active 2.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is an imposing watch // Source: Frandroid
The same goes for the dimensions, which go from 44 x 44 x 10.9 mm to 46.2 x 45.0 x 11.1 mm. Admittedly, the increase does not seem huge with numbers, but it is clearly visible on the wrist. On mine, which I would describe as average, the Samsung watch stands out particularly. It must be said that the thickness has something to do with it and the Galaxy Watch 3 will be clearly visible on your arm.
One of the reasons for this imposing size lies in the return of the famous rotating bezel which had disappeared from the Active versions of the watch. If Samsung had tried to emulate the mechanism on the Watch Active 2, it was only an ersatz and we realize it all the more with the Galaxy Watch 3. Here, the rotating bezel, slightly notched on the outside, comes into its own when navigating from one screen to another. We could do it with our finger, but the click and the responsiveness of the interface are satisfactory enough to make us prefer this manipulation.
The bezel of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 // Source: Frandroid
Inside the bezel, which rises above the rest of the dial, you can make out the minute inscriptions. A style effect that does not add much. On the right side, Samsung has integrated two buttons reminiscent of the format of watch crowns. A first button at the top which allows you to go back and a second, circled in red at the bottom, which allows you to return to the home screen. The click is quite satisfactory on both keys, without being too loud.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 // Source: Frandroid
Finally, for the bracelet, Samsung has taken a classic approach with a system of lugs on either side of the watch. A practical choice to allow you to change the strap if the leather strap is not to your liking or if it gets damaged. The Galaxy Watch 3 uses a traditional system of bars and is therefore compatible with all 21 mm bracelets on the market.
A very bright screen
On the screen side, as on the large format version of the Galaxy Watch Active 2, we are faced with a 1.4-inch panel. The screen also uses Super Amoled technology, ideal for offering rich contrast and infinite blacks. This is all the more interesting since the Samsung watch, like many of its competitors, mainly uses black in the background of its menus and thus reinforces autonomy thanks to the black pixels which remain off.
In terms of definition, we are entitled here to 360 pixels by 360, which is once again the same definition as on the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2. This is enough to offer a density of 363 pixels per inch, sufficient in the vast majority of cases to take advantage of the screen without being able to distinguish between two pixels, a fortiori for extra use.
The screen of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 // Source: Frandroid
On the brightness side, Samsung offers automatic adaptation by default, but also allows manual adjustment on ten levels. At the maximum level, we have a watch that offers a display bright enough to be consulted without any problem, even in strong outdoor light. At the lowest brightness, the watch does a good job of not completely blasting your eyes in the middle of the night. However, we prefer to activate the night mode which will deactivate the notifications and the automatic lighting of the screen when you turn your wrist.
Night mode on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 // Source: Frandroid
Still on the side of the screen, note that Samsung offers 19 different dials for its Galaxy Watch 3, all customizable. On some dials, you can change the hands, the colors, the health data displayed or the display of the battery level. In addition to these 19 watch faces, you can download many others from Samsung's Galaxy Wearables app on your smartphone.
A watch with multiple functions
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 features a dual core processor clocked at 1.15 GHz, backed by 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of storage. Above all, it is Samsung's Tizen system that powers the connected watch. Concretely, Tizen is a system initially used on smartphones before being ported to the Korean manufacturer's connected televisions and its watches. Here, Tizen version 5.5.0.1 is used, with Samsung's One UI Watch 2.0 interface.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is an imposing watch // Source: Frandroid
Overall, navigating through the various menus is quite intuitive. As we saw earlier, the rotating bezel allows you to switch from one screen to another with a pleasant click. It is also possible to scroll through the screens using a finger swipe. Logically, the main screen is that of the customizable dial, but we will find the notifications on the left and various applications on the right.
By default, the following order is displayed: the summary of your activity (calories spent, minutes of training and movement in the last hour), shortcuts to certain applications, access to certain training sessions, the weather, your calendar events, music player and a second activity reminder (step count, heart rate, sleep hours and stress level). The last screen allows you to add other widgets such as alarms, the calendar, a reminder to drink water, or the level of sleep.
Additional intricacies are supported, including quick and swipe-down parameters. Enough to quickly activate night mode, do not disturb mode, turn off your watch, look for your phone or activate always-on mode. This last mode will drastically reduce the level of brightness of the watch, but also its autonomy as we will see later.
For the management of notifications, the Galaxy Watch 3 does indeed allow you to interact. It is for example possible to consult an email, but also to answer it with voice dictation, a mini-keyboard or answers suggested by the watch. It is also possible to answer a voice call… directly from the Samsung watch. It is equipped with a microphone and a loudspeaker. Admittedly, the quality will be nowhere near as good as that of a smartphone, but it is always an option if you ever do not want to take your phone out of your pocket and you are in a quiet environment.
But apart from notifications or widgets on the home screen, it is really by pressing the bottom button, circled in red, that you can access all the features of the Galaxy Watch 3 You will have access to 22 pre-installed apps on the watch by default. If we can doubt the usefulness of some, such as the gallery or Microsoft Outlook, others are much more relevant.
This is the case with Samsung Pay, which can also be triggered directly with a long press on the top button… provided you use a compatible bank. The voice recorder is also very practical, as is the stopwatch or the Galaxy Store, which will allow you to download more applications, such as Spotify, a calculator or the Here WeGo mapping application.
On the smartphone side, there are two applications that will allow you to interact with the settings and data of the watch: Samsung Health and Galaxy Wearables. The first is used to retrieve health data, as we will see later, while the second is mainly used to configure the watch. You will be able to update it, manage the notifications of this or that application, reorganize the applications of the watch, modify the brightness of the screen, or modify the functions launched by long presses or double presses on the bottom button .
There are a lot of settings that are offered in Galaxy Wearables, and if the different options can be scary at first glance, they are all the same interesting, at least for the initial configuration of the watch, in order to to enjoy an experience closer to their needs.
Precise and efficient activity tracking
In terms of activity tracking, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 offers a rather complete set of accessories with numerous sensors to detect the heart rate or the steps taken in the day. It thus embeds an accelerometer, a barometer, a gyroscope and heart rate sensor. The same goes for geolocation, since the watch is compatible with GPS, Glonass, Beidou and Galileo.
The heart rate sensor of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 // Source: Frandroid
In addition to tracking your daily step count — with automatic workout detection — you can also set up a profile based on gender, date of birth, height, and weight . Thereafter, from the training widget on the right of the home screen, we will be able to start monitoring certain activities such as running, cycling, swimming, walking, hiking, elliptical trainer or lunges. Once the registration is complete, all data can be easily found on the Samsung Health app on smartphone.
As we saw earlier, it is therefore not Galaxy Wearables that will make it possible to find all the physiological data, but the application dedicated to the health of the Korean manufacturer. The application will allow you to find the number of steps taken during the day, the duration of activity, the exercise report, the heart rate or the name of the hours of sleep. This is also where you can find the summary of your various exercises, with geolocation tracking. Convenient to have an accurate distance traveled and not just an estimate based on the number of steps and the length of the stride.
A solid autonomy of at least two days
The Samsung watch is equipped with a 340 mAh battery. Enough to allow it to last more than 56 hours in "typical" use according to the manufacturer, and up to 151 hours in low use.
For my part, with very moderate use, I was able to use the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 for four days, or almost 100 hours, before it ran out of battery. It must be said that during this period, I mainly used it to access my notifications and check my number of steps during the day. The GPS wasn't on, no workouts, and the screen was programmed to automatically turn off when I wasn't looking at the watch.
On my second session, I used the Galaxy Watch 3 more intensively, with a 30-minute training session with GPS and the screen in always-on mode, except at night, and the autonomy is is found to be significantly reduced. Samsung's watch ran out of battery in less than 72 hours.
The always-on mode on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 // Source: Frandroid
For charging, Samsung does not provide a USB power adapter, only a charging cable with a small magnetic charging base. Enough to charge the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 from 0 to 100% in 2h20. Note also that the watch is compatible with induction charging.
Network and communication of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 can be used as a standalone watch, since it embeds a 3G and 4G compatible e-SIM card. However, you will have to make sure that your operator takes this feature into account to take advantage of it.
In most cases, the Galaxy Watch 3 will therefore have to be paired in Bluetooth with your smartphone and on this side, it is the 5.0 standard that is used by the connected watch. Enough to ensure good connection stability and a substantial range. As we saw earlier, the Galaxy Watch 3 also has a speaker and a microphone, and can therefore be used to make phone calls or to listen to music, with a quality that we will kindly qualify as poor.
Finally, the watch is also compatible with 802.11.b/g/n 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, which is used for data synchronization when you do not have your smartphone within range.
Price and availability of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is available in two colors: mystic black or mystic silver, with a black leather strap in both cases. The Samsung watch is already marketed at a price of 429 euros in the Wi-Fi/41 mm version, 479 euros in the 4G/41 mm version, 479 euros in the Wi-Fi/45 mm version and 529 euros in the 4G version. /45mm.
Where to buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 at the best price?At this price, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is clearly positioned as a high-end watch. It comes to face the Apple Watch Series 6, but also the Huawei GT2 Pro and the Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3.
9 /10