From the title, you may find the statement is pretty bold for a new Google WearOS newcomer. The Samsung Galaxy Watch isn’t a rookie in wearables and offers pretty great hardware under its TizenOS just lacking access to the Google Apps library. With the new collaboration in software and hardware with Google, the new Samsung Galaxy Watch4 series may be the solution in strengthening Google WearOS in the Android ecosystem.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch4 series comes in two designs and four sizes, starting price at RM 899 for the Galaxy Watch4 and RM 1,299 for the Galaxy Watch4 Classic. There’s even an option for LTE for those who need always stay connected.

This is the review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch4 44mm and I did a FastView video where you can watch at below;

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 – Specification

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 – Design & Functions

The Samsung Galaxy Watch4 look much simpler and minimalist compared to the Watch4 Classic. With a flat display and only two flush key buttons.

The top button, with a red accent, is the home key that takes you back to the watch face with a single press. A long press on the home key will launch Samsung’s Bixby Assistant and you can map to other apps with the double press action. While the bottom button is the back key or can be set to recent apps; a long-pressing launch Samsung Pay.

Although it differs from the Watch4 Classic’s physical rotation bezel, the Watch4 gets a virtual touch bezel that works close enough with haptic feedback when rotate. This is a good alternative and looks much cleaner.

Like any other smartwatch or fitness band, the Watch4 is also IP68 water and dust resistant with a 5ATM rating. Making phone calls on this phone is possible thanks to the built-in speaker and microphones.

The body case is made of Armor Aluminium with a dimension of 44.4 x 43.3 x 9.8mm and weighs at just 30.3g. It’s a pretty comfortable fit to wear throughout the day. The silicon strap that comes with it is interchangeable with any standard 22mm strap to meet your OOTD.

It comes with three colour options; Black, Green and Silver. There’s also a gold colour but that only comes in the 40mm size.

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 – Display

The screen on the Galaxy Watch4 looks bright and pretty easy to read even under sunlight. This is thanks to the new Corning Gorilla Glass DX+ that not only offers great protection but also deliver anti-reflective optics for clearer viewing.

If you need Always-On-Display on your smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch does offer that but in exchange for some battery juice.

When there are messages, whether in SMS or messaging apps like WhatsApp, Viber or Telegram, you can reply instantly from the smartwatch without pulling out your phone. There are some quick replies templates where you can customize or manual input by typing or swiping on Gboard. There’s also an option to scribble text and speech-to-text whichever is convenient for you.

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 – BioActive Sensors & Fitness

The big fitness change on the new Galaxy Watch is the new 3-in-1 BioActive Sensors that enabled the smartwatch to monitor heart rate, ECG (Electrocardiogram), and a more advanced BIA (Body Impedance Analysis).

The new body composition measurement tools allow you to see key fitness metrics such as skeletal muscle, basal metabolic rate, body water and body fat percentage. There are a total of 2,400 data points collected by a simple scanning from your wrist and two fingers touching the home and back keys.

It’s hard to tell how accurate these metrics are, but based on a few comparisons with the smart scale that I have and other fitness bands, the results are pretty close or the same. I’m surprised to see all these sensors and reading on a smartwatch.

Coming to fitness, it comes with 95 different activities tracking covering all basics and niche activities including hang-gliding and even kitesurfing. All are tracked by the Samsung Health app, but you can also apply these features to third-party WearOS tools like Nike Running Club, Strava, Google Fit, etc. I do also found the GPS worked very well and provide pretty accurate positioning when compared to other devices.

If you are wearing it to sleep, it has sleep monitoring and snore detection. Feature continuous SpO2 monitoring and advanced Sleep Scores where you can get insight data to improve your quality of sleep.

Do take note, the Galaxy Watch4 is not a medical device and is not intended for use in any medical treatment or prevention of disease.

P/S: **Currently the ECG and Blood Pressure monitoring are not available in Malaysia.

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 – Performance & Google WearOS

The Galaxy Watch4 is fast and smooth than any other Android-compatible smartwatches. Throughout my test with the smartwatch, I never encounter any slowdown or app clashed.

The software is where the Galaxy Watch4 shines, Samsung ditched its own Tizen OS for Watch and embracing the new Google WearOS 3.0 with OneUI Watch 3.0 skin. If you own a previous Galaxy Watch, the UI does look and feel distinctly Samsung.

With WearOS under the skin, the smartwatch can get access to Google’s larger library of apps. Eg: Google Maps, Spotify, Microsoft app and more. There are plenty of watch faces available to be used for this smartwatch and it’s highly customizable to your preferences.

Unlike with other WearOS smartwatches, the Galaxy Watch4 doesn’t work with an iPhone and it also uses Samsung Galaxy Wearable to pair and manage settings instead of the Google WearOS app. Some health data only work on Samsung Galaxy devices; Eg ECG, Blood Pressure, BIA which is exclusive only on the Samsung Health Monitor app.

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 – Battery Life

The 44mm Galaxy Watch5 review unit which I have is backed by a 361 mAh battery. Lasted me close to 2 days from a single charge with regular use; AOD enabled, Heart Rate monitoring every 10 minutes when I’m still, Wi-Fi & Bluetooth on and accept few phone calls from the watch.

Every night before I sleep, I am still left with about 40 – 50% battery. The magnetic charging pad output at 5W and take about 90 minutes to fully charge.

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 – Verdict

The Samsung Galaxy Watch4 is probably the best smartwatch you can buy to pair with your Android device, specifically if you have a Galaxy device. It has the latest WearOS 3.0 that no other smartwatch out there are receiving to date, even the most recently announced Fossil 6th-gen only get WearOS 2 and expected OS upgrade as early next year.

The shift to WearOS 3.0 has opened a lot of possibilities for Samsung with greater third-party apps support plus Samsung’s best Tizen features. Additional, the Galaxy Watch4 series prices are pretty attractive, even cheaper than its previous model.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch4 and Watch4 Classic are available now at all Samsung stores and E-commerce.

Where to buy

• Lazada Malaysia
• Shopee Malaysia