PC Pro - UK 2021-12)

T

hisis no iterationofwhatcame
before.WiththeGalaxyWatch 4
series, Samsungisshaking
thingsupwitha newprocessor,a new
operatingsystemandmorechoice
thanever:theplainWatch4 comesin
40mm(£249) and44mm(£269)sizes,
whiletheWatch4 Classicislarger at
42mm(£349)or46mm(£369),and
features a rotatingbezel.Allcome
withoptional 4G foranextra£40.
TheheadlinehereisGoogle’sWear
OSsoftwareinplaceofSamsung’s
ownTizen OS,butthisisn’tWearOS
asyoumightknow it.Infact, this
“powered by Samsung” versionfeels
quitedifferenttoWearOSonother
Google-basedsmartwatches.
Rotatingthebezelclockwiseopens
a seriesof“tiles”, whichcando
everythingfromstartingworkoutsto
checkingyouractivitylevels,pulseor
sleepscore.A swipedown on the
touchscreenopensa quick settings
menuthatlooksjust liketheoneon
theGalaxyWatch3 (seeissue 313 ,
p 54 ).Themaindifferenceisthat apps
cannowbefoundviaa swipeupfrom
thebottom of thedisplayinsteadof
beinghostedona tileoftheirown.
InadditiontoSamsung’scoreapps
forweather,reminders andalarms,
twostandoutnewentriesareGoogle
MapsandthePlayStore.Thelatter
opensupa wholerangeofpossibilities
comparedtowhat’spossiblewithany
recentSamsungsmartwatch,with
appssuchasShazam,Couchto5K,
NikeRunClub,CalmandTelegram
allavailable,inadditiontoGoogle
essentials suchasGoogleFit,Google
PayandGoogleKeep.
Elsewhere,theGalaxyWatch 4
introducesa rangeofnewhealth-
relatedfeaturesincludingsnoring
detectionandcontinuousblood
oxygentrackingthroughoutthe
night.And,thanksto itsnew
“BioActive”sensor,thewatchcanalso
measureyourbodycomposition,
offering insights intobodyfat
percentage,BMI,skeletal muscle
mass,bodywatermassandbasal
metabolic rate. Thisisdone by simply

placing

your

middle

finger andring

finger on thewatch’sbuttons.

Howusefularethesehealth-

related tools?Asidefromweight,

whichyou’llneedtoaddmanually,

theGalaxyWatch4 offers most of the

insightsyou’dgetfromsmart scales

suchastheGarminIndexS2– andit

loggedimpressivelysimilar

measurements,too.I wouldalways

takesuchreadingswitha pinchof

salt,butifyouwanttokeepan

eyeon trendsinyourbodyfat

andwatercomposition, it’s certainly

a handy addition.

Weweresenta Bluetooth-only

46mmWatch4 Classicfor review,

butwhichevervariantyou

choose,theGalaxy Watch 4

willcomewiththesame

ExynosW920chip inside.

Samsungclaimsthis

deliversa20%boostin

CPUprocessingspeeds

alongwithgraphics

renderingthat’sa

whopping tentimesfaster

thantheolderExynos9110.

Appsloadquicklyandthe

interfaceworksexactlyasyou’d

expect it to,onlyfasterthanbefore.

Spotifyisstill installedbydefaultand

supportsofflineplayback, too, which

isgreat newsbecausethathasbeenan

importantsellingpointforSamsung’s

wearablesinrecent years.

TheGalaxyWatch4’sgraphical

capabilitiesarenotablyimproved

compared withitspredecessor.Thisis

mostevidentinsomeofthedevice’s

animated watchfaces,whichlook

superb.A quick tapononeletsyou

switchbetweenfun,colourful,

graphicalanimationsofa cat,rabbit,

sheepandmonkey. Anotherhaslots

oflittlehundredsand thousandsthat

floataroundonthedisplay.There’s

nohugepracticalbenefit,butit’sthe

closestI’veseenanysmartwatch

cometorivallinganAppleWatchfor

visualflourishes.

Thechipisbackedby16GBof

storageand1.5GBofRAM(again, the

sameacrossallmodels),andthe

46mmWatch4 Classicemploys a

1.4in, 450 x 450 AMOLEDpanelas

opposedtothe 3 60 x 3 60 display

foundintheWatch3.Otherwise,little

haschanged physically.

Sadly,themovetoWearOSisn’ta

totalsuccess.Youmustinstalla whole

hostofSamsungapps on yourAndroid

phoneto usetheGalaxyWatch4,

includingGalaxyWearable,Samsung

HealthandSamsungPay. What’s

more,evenafteryou’veinstalled

theseyoustillwon’tbeabletomake

themostof allthewatch’sbest

features. TheECGapp,forinstance,

requiresyoutoowna Samsung

Galaxysmartphone. Andatlaunch,

theblood-pressure-tracking option

isn’t supportedintheUK. TheGalaxy

Watch4 is alsoSamsung’sonly

smartwatchinrecentyearsthat

doesn’tworkwithiPhonesatall.

Anotherfrustratingaspectof

Samsung’sversionofWearOSisthat

GoogleAssistanthasbeenreplacedby

Bixby.What’smore,Samsunglimits

youroptionsto remapthebuttons,so

you’re stuckwithactivatingSamsung

Payviaa long-pressoftheback

button,forinstance.

Finally,there’sbatterylife.

Samsungsaysthe Watch 4 willlast 40

hourson average,andIfoundit

keptgoingforbetween 24 and 48

hourswithmoderateuse.

That’sstillbetter than

manyWearOSwearables,

butif youresenthaving

tochargeyourwatch

everynighttobesureit

willmakeitthrough

thenextday,thenthis

isn’tthedeviceforyou.

Allofthisleaves the

GalaxyWatch4 Classicin

anoddposition. If you’rea

loyalSamsung customer

whosticksby Galaxy

phones,thisisthebest

smartwatchyoucanbuy.

Non-SamsungAndroidphone

owners,meanwhile, will have to put

upwith installingSamsungbloatware

andmissingoutonthe ECGfunction.

WhenyoucanbuyHuawei’sWatch

GT2,whichdeliversmulti-daybattery

lifeanda bright,colourfuldisplayfor

only£100, there’snoreasonto choose

theGalaxyWatch4.EDWARDMUNN

ABOVEThe46mm

Watch 4 Classichasa

1.4in, 450 x 450

AMOLEDpanel

SamsungGalaxy

Watch 4 Classic

Samsung’sbestsmartwatch

todate,butit’sonlyworth

buyingifyoualreadyown

aGalaxyphone

PRICE46mm,£308(£369incVAT)
fromjohnlewis.com

SCORE

SPECIFICATIONS

1.4in 450 x4 50 AMOLEDdisplaySamsung

ExynosW920processor1.5GBRAM16GB

storageGPSNFCWi-Fi4 Bluetooth 5

optional4GSamsungBioActivesensor

gyroscopeaccelerometerbarometer

5ATMwaterresistanceWearOSpowered

bySamsung45.5x11x45.5mm(WDH)52g

1yrRTBwarranty

“Ifyou’realoyalSamsung

customerwhosticksby

Galaxyphones,thisis

thebestsmartwatch

youcanbuy”

ABOVEArotating

bezelopensupa

seriesoftilesthatcan

checkactivitylevels