Computer Shopper - UK (2019-10)

ISSUE 380|COMPUTER SHOPPER|OCTOBER 2019 45

SPECIFICATIONS

ALTHOUGHTHENEWGalaxy Watch
Active looks like it’s come straight off the
back of the reasonably impressive Samsung
Galaxy Watch(Shopper371), it actually has
much more in common with the 2017 Gear
Sport (Shopper361).
Besides the round face,ithas the same
360x360 OLED screen, GPS and built-in
heart-ratetracking as the Gear Sport, but
there have been changes, too. Gone is the
rotating bezel; instead, the Galaxy Watch
Active is controlled by apair of buttons on
the side.The 1.1in displayissmaller,although
this ends up making it look slightly sharper,
and at just 23g, weight is more than halved.
This all comes with amuch lower price than
the Gear Sport offered at launch, too.

STAY COOL
This could make it seem as though Samsung
is making abargain knock-offofits own
wearable,but the Galaxy WatchActive both
looks and feels like afine timepiece.The
switch to buttons makes sense,asasmaller
diameter would make it harder to use both
bezel and touch controls accurately,and
easily interchangeable straps help you dress
forthe occasion. The only disappointment is
thickness: with the Galaxy WatchActive
measuring 10.5mm, there are much lower-
profile smartwatches.
That’s not to overstatethe issue,
however.Itstill feels comfortable on the
wrist, even enough to wear for
sleep-tracking purposes.
As asmartwatch, the Galaxy
WatchActive functions very
nicely indeed. There are
plenty of watch faces to
choose from, and
notifications come
through with a
friendly buzz,
displaying crisply
on the screen.
Finding what
you need on the
watch is easy,and
there are plenty of
customisations you
can add: aremote
control formusic, or
even awidget where you
tap it every time you drink
water or acoffee forthose

SAMSUNG Galaxy

WatchActive

★★★★★

£179•From http://www.amazon.co.uk

VERDICT

Afabuloussmartwatch,butonethatfallsflat
asaseriousrunningwearable

FITNESSSMARTWATCH

watching their intake.

Unlike wearables that

suggest you take astroll

after you’ve been inactive for

awhile,the Galaxy Watch

Active picks out quick exercises

you can do in the office,

completewith instructions.

Youcan also add Samsung

Payand make contactless

payments right from your wrist,

and Spotify is built-in with support

foroffline playlists within its 4GB of

onboard storage.Add to that the built-in

GPS and you’ve got awatch that has all you

need foralong run.

Battery lifeisacceptable enough, typically

lasting two days before needing to return to

its charger.When the Galaxy WatchActive is

low on power,ithandily engages agreyscale

displaywith limited functionality to eke out

the last bits of juice,ensuring you don’t miss

out on any steps being added to your total.

FITNESS SECOND

As an everydaysmartwatch, then, Samsung’s

latest watch gets everything right. As a

running watch, however,results are more

mixed. Tracking isn’t the issue: other than

some questionable heart-ratedata, everything

the Galaxy WatchActive recorded about

long-distance runs was accurate, and that’s

with it being incredibly thorough with how

many different metrics it keeps tabs on.

Unfortunately,there are two

main problems. The first is that

while the recorded data is all

well and good when you’re

done,the experience

while running is much

harder to follow.

Samsung puts three

data fields on each

screen, and you can

swipe between three

screens in total.

What it doesn’t

let you do is

customise these in

any way, so most of

the time you’ll find

yourself looking at the

default metrics of

average pace,time and

heart rate. Unlike on Garmin

and Polar watches, there’s no wayto

rearrange these so you can quickly check,

say, current pace or distance travelled.

The second issue is the need to use

Samsung Health to view said data once your

workout is over.This comes preinstalled on

Samsung devices but is another thing to

download if you use any other manufacturer’s

phone,alongside the Galaxy Watchsoftware.

Bluntly speaking, it’s not agood product.

Not only does it lack aweb version to consult,

but the app isn’t hugely intuitive,and finding

past exercises isn’t the easiest thing in the

world. Third-party app support is also pretty

weak, with only Strava making the cut.

OFFTRACK

These flaws make it hard to recommend the

Galaxy WatchActive.For serious runners and

cyclists, it doesn’t feel like the right choice:

you’re better served by the superior battery

lifeand data field customisation options of

Garmin and Polar devices.

On the other hand, the Galaxy Watch

Active is agreat-looking and feature-packed

wearable that’s fine forcasually keeping an

eyeonyour fitness, especially if you’re already

tied intothe Samsung ecosystem. In that

case,you might be better off spending more

on aGalaxy Watch, which is just as much of a

fitness tracker –with the exception of blood-

pressure monitoring –and also has longer

battery life, arotating bezel and optional 4G.

AlanMartin

PEDOMETERYes•HEART-RATEMONITORYes•

DISPLAYSIZE1.1in•RESOLUTION360x360•OS

SUPPORTAndroid,iOS•BATTERYLIFETwodays•

WARRANTYTwoyearsRTB•DETAILSwww.samsung.com/

uk•PARTCODESM-R500NZKABTU