Google Pixel Watch 3 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra

Google does not promote a premium equal to the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, however when you purchase the 45mm Google Pixel Watch 3 LTE, the value jumps to $499 — simply $150 lower than the Ultra. That hole is sufficiently small that a lot of you’ll think about upselling yourselves to the Ultra, or slicing again to the Pixel Watch whereas conserving mobile help.

Both of those watches are, basically, health watches. The Galaxy Watch Ultra’s upgrades are supposed to assist it survive in rugged situations and provide you with higher HR and Location Services information whilst you practice. The Pixel Watch 3 is not constructed for roughing it, however its Premium exercises and new cardio load rating tailor it in the direction of indoor and out of doors athletes.

This Pixel Watch 3 vs. Galaxy Watch Ultra information will break down each key improve Samsung’s fancy flagship watch gives, whereas additionally exploring the place Google’s cheaper watch comes forward. Both rank amongst our favourite Android watches, however the Galaxy Watch Ultra appeals with its sturdiness and longevity, whereas the Pixel Watch 3 offers higher consolation and distinctive software program perks.

Google Pixel Watch 3 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra: Design

The Galaxy Watch Ultra is an enormous, thick smartwatch with a putting titanium bezel surrounding the show, solely out there in a single 47mm case measurement. The Pixel Watch 3 has 41mm and 44mm choices, each of which have edge-to-edge shows that spherical off on the edges, making it extra casually modern and far much less rugged.

Although Samsung’s spec sheet falsely claims the Ultra measures barely thinner than the Watch 3, it truly measures about 16mm thick when you embrace the sensor array, whereas Google’s watch is about 3–4mm thinner.

Although the Galaxy Watch Ultra case by itself is sort of half as giant because the 41mm Pixel Watch 3, every watch’s true weight will differ based mostly on which band materials and measurement you select. The 41mm Pixel Watch 3 — the identical measurement because the Watch 2 — ought to weigh 55g with the smaller Active band or 63g with the bigger band; the 45mm Watch 3 would weigh 61g or 69g, in concept. The Galaxy Watch Ultra with the Marine Band, which has the same elastomer materials, weighs 93g.

Both watches use a proprietary band system. Samsung has you slide and click on bands straight into the slot, or press a small button on both backside facet to launch them; Google makes use of a snap-and-tuck technique that takes a bit extra getting used to, and releasing the bands with the facet button is extra finicky. Of the 2, Samsung’s is a bit simpler to handle when you like to vary out straps ceaselessly.

Your previous Pixel Watch 1 or 2 bands are suitable with the 41mm Pixel Watch 3, however not the 45mm Pixel Watch 3. The 47mm Galaxy Watch Ultra additionally requires its personal standalone bands, because it is not suitable with Watch 7 bands.

Google initially used stainless-steel for the Pixel Watch however swapped to a less-premium aluminum for the Pixel Watch 2 and Watch 3. While it is IP68 dust- and waterproof like most smartwatches, the Watch 3 has no official ranking to deal with shocks and drops. Its Gorilla Glass 5 safety is not as robust because the sapphire glass you get on many watches, and the design itself leaves the facet glass susceptible when you bonk your wrist in opposition to one thing. You could need a devoted display screen protector.

With the Galaxy Watch Ultra, you could have an elevated titanium bezel that stops scratches in opposition to flat surfaces and a sapphire-glass layer as a backup. Samsung had the Ultra cross MIL-STD-810H assessments for “excessive/ low temperatures, altitude, humidity, immersion, salt, fog, mud, vibration, and drops.” Its 10ATM ranking is double the Pixel Watch 3’s 5ATM ranking, making it higher suited to high-speed water sports activities.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra will enchantment to followers of enormous, rugged watches just like the Garmin Fenix or Amazfit T-Rex sequence, however could intimidate folks with smaller wrists. We want it got here in a smaller show measurement, because the Pixel Watch 3 does.

The Google Pixel Watch 3 has a crown and a secondary button. The crown is unchanged from previous fashions, and whereas many individuals choose crowns for tactile, actual controls, others dislike counting on them.

Your various with the Galaxy Watch Ultra is its digital contact “bezel” across the show edge; when you slide your finger alongside it, you will scroll via tiles or menus rapidly, with none swipes or finger-twisting required. It’s helpful in regular settings however could be a bit inexact, particularly on the go or with sweaty fingertips throughout a exercise. Many folks choose the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic for its bodily rotating bezel, however the Ultra’s digital bezel prevents it from getting any heavier.

Instead, the Galaxy Watch Ultra offers you three buttons, yet another than the usual Watch 7. We want the center Quick Button was a crown, nevertheless it does not less than provide you with a simple shortcut to pause or restart exercises, or to set off the emergency siren.

Google Pixel Watch 3 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra: Display

One of the most important Pixel Watch 3 vs. 2 upgrades is to its show. Google shrunk the thick show border, doubled the nits of brightness from 1,000 to 2,000, and gave the Watch 3 a 60Hz refresh fee that may dip as little as 1Hz to save lots of battery life in particular situations. Depending on the case measurement, you get a 1.2-inch or 1.4-inch show with about 320 pixels per inch.

Despite these upgrades, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra show nonetheless wins for measurement (1.5 inches) and brightness (3,000 nits). It additionally reportedly has a 60Hz refresh fee, although Samsung does not promote whether or not it may dip as little as Google’s LTPO tech, and the same 320ppi. The largest draw back, after all, is how huge it’s: You will not discover a secondary 1.3-inch choice, such as you get with the Galaxy Watch 7.

Google Pixel Watch 3 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra: Hardware and battery life

Google makes use of the Qualcomm-made, 4nm Snapdragon Wear 5100, which has 4 Arm Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.7GHz, plus its personal Cortex M33 coprocessor. It’s a typical CPU for a lot of Android watches in addition to the Pixel Watch 3, together with the TicWatch Pro 5 and OnePlus Watch 2.

Samsung gave the Watch Ultra its personal 3nm Exynos W1000 chip, which has 4 Arm Cortex-A55s (1.5GHz) and one Cortex-A78 (1.6GHz). It’s troublesome to say if Samsung’s chip is best or worse. The Exynos W1000 cannot hit the identical speeds, however 3nm chips are typically extra power-efficient, the Cortex-A55 is the next-gen core after the A53, and it has one additional core to higher unfold duties round.

Generally talking, you will not discover an excessive amount of of a efficiency distinction between the 2, particularly since each have 2GB of RAM. They additionally share the identical 32GB of storage for apps and playlists.

Both watches help the identical Bluetooth and Wi-Fi requirements, together with NFC contactless funds — although the Galaxy Watch Ultra helps each Samsung and Google Wallet.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra comes with built-in LTE, whereas the Pixel Watch 3 makes you pay $100 additional for it in both measurement. Google bundles in two years of free mobile information via Google Fi, although you solely get a paltry 500MB of information earlier than the obtain velocity is capped. For issues like phone-free calling and limitless music streaming, you will want so as to add the Watch 3 to your telephone provider plan.

One distinctive perk of the Pixel Watch 3 is its ultra-wideband (UWB) help, which permits the Watch Unlock function and allows you to use the watch as a digital automobile key (relying on which automobile you personal).

With the Galaxy Watch Ultra, you get the advantage of dual-band Location Services monitoring, which triangulates your place utilizing each L1 and L5 satellite tv for pc frequencies. Having reviewed the Ultra’s accuracy myself, it does extraordinarily effectively, on par with a dual-band Garmin watch. We’ve but to check the Pixel Watch 3’s accuracy, however any Location Services-only watch will wrestle if the sign is blocked by buildings, foliage, or different obstacles.

The primary Galaxy Watch Ultra upside over the Pixel Watch 3 is its battery life. It’s rated to final 60 hours with the always-on show (AOD) energetic, whereas the Pixel Watch 3 solely has a 24-hour estimate in the identical situations. That’s 2.5x the battery life.

We’ll have to check the Pixel Watch 3’s longevity for ourselves, however you are assured of getting to cost it as soon as a day, or extra ceaselessly when you use capabilities like always-listening Google Assistant or each day Location Services monitoring. We’ve heard options that the 45mm Watch 3 would possibly final barely longer due to its additional capability, however we won’t make certain of this.

With the Galaxy Watch Ultra, we have examined its longevity for ourselves; it had battery drain points at launch that made it unreliably short-lived, however a post-launch replace fastened this concern, and now it persistently matches or beats Samsung’s 60-hour estimate. You’ll have far more peace of thoughts understanding that it probably will not die on you whereas out and about.

As for charging velocity, the Galaxy Watch Ultra has about the identical velocity because the Pixel Watch 3, nevertheless it nonetheless takes 1.5x to 2x as lengthy as a result of it has a lot additional capability. You’ll have your Pixel Watch 3 topped off in an hour or so, whereas the Galaxy Watch Ultra often wants two hours.

Google Pixel Watch 3 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra: Health sensors

Both watches monitor your coronary heart fee and stress constantly, together with passive irregular coronary heart rhythm (AFib) and excessive/low HR warnings. At night time, they’re going to detect your blood oxygen ranges, respiration fee, pores and skin temperature, sleep period and phases, and nightly vitality restoration. You can even actively verify for coronary heart well being points with the ECG perform.

Google and Samsung each promise that the Pixel Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch Ultra are their most correct watches but for coronary heart fee. The Pixel Watch 3 has the identical HR sensor as earlier than, however with a brand new algorithm to higher convert readings into right information whereas working. We’ll have to check this declare for ourselves, after all. The Galaxy Watch Ultra provides an additional 9 LEDs in comparison with previous Galaxy Watches (13 whole), and it did higher in our coronary heart fee accuracy take a look at in comparison with the Galaxy Watch 6.

In phrases of distinctive capabilities, the Pixel Watch 3 has {an electrical} sensor to measure pores and skin conductance (cEDA) for physique response monitoring; in different phrases, it determines your physique’s stress throughout the day and your restoration at night time. Most watches use coronary heart fee variability (HRV) to find out this, however this Fitbit tech claims to be extra actual.

Also, Google has a brand new Loss of Pulse Detection function to detect cardiac arrest and robotically name 911 if wanted. We actually cannot take a look at this, however like having this as a security measure.

Samsung has its distinctive Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA), which imitates a wise scale by sending electrical alerts via your physique to estimate your physique fats and muscle percentages. It is helpful, in concept, however we have discovered the readings to be unreliable in comparison with good scale information in our assessments.

Plus, Samsung’s redesigned well being sensor suite has new LED colours meant to trace new information like your superior glycation finish merchandise (AGEs) index, aka merchandise in your bloodstream that sign well being issues. Unfortunately, this AGEs Index function seems to provide each consumer the identical high-AGE rating, making it ineffective as a biomarker. We hope that is one thing Samsung will enhance over time.

Google Pixel Watch 3 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra: Software

The Galaxy Watch Ultra will obtain 4 years of Wear OS model updates and 4 years of safety updates. We did not see a particular software program promise with the Pixel Watch 3, however Google has beforehand promised three years of software program help for Pixel Watches.

Either watch nets you entry to new Wear OS 5 options, although Samsung has its personal One UI 6 Watch pores and skin on prime of Wear OS 5. Google gave the Pixel Watch 3 distinctive app instruments like Google TV controls, Nest Doorbell dwell feeds in your watch, and a Pixel Recorder app; some options might be Pixel unique, however others could come to the Galaxy Watch Ultra later.

The Pixel Watch 3 depends on Fitbit in your well being and health information, whereas the Galaxy Watch Ultra makes use of Samsung Health. Samsung added a brand new each day Energy Score that is fairly much like Fitbit’s Daily Readiness Score, utilizing the identical collected information. 

Fitbit prices a Premium payment for sure wellness reviews and AI insights, however offers you information like your Cardio Load and Target Load without cost, judging how laborious you’ve got labored out throughout a number of exercises and whether or not you’ve got educated sufficient to enhance your health stage over time. Samsung’s health information does not have any long-term evaluation in the meanwhile, although you possibly can export it to different apps like Strava to get this.

Google Pixel Watch 3 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra: Which must you purchase?

As we mentioned from the outset, these are two health watches that take completely different approaches in the direction of the identical objective. Some athletes will choose the Ultra for the peace of mind it’s going to by no means die throughout a exercise; others will need a watch that is skinnier and lighter whereas weight coaching or working.

We gave the Galaxy Watch Ultra a glowing overview, and are impressed with the Pixel Watch 3 to date, so each ought to provide you with a excessive stage of high quality. The Pixel Watch 3 is far more accessible because of its value, nevertheless. It’s more durable to suggest the Galaxy Watch Ultra except you could have an actual want for military-grade sturdiness, higher Location Services monitoring, or longer battery life than the Pixel Watch 3 can provide.