Samsung has made many smartwatches. Through all this experience, the company has refined its Tizen software to the point that Google’s Wear operating system has been completely overwritten. The Galaxy Watch 3 is Samsung’s latest effort to keep up with Apple, the reigning smartwatch king, and introduce familiar features such as fall detection and an integrated electrocardiogram (ECG) test.
Samsung is also doing a few things better, such as sleep tracking and exercise in general. The rotating bezel is still an excellent way to navigate a smartwatch. At $ 400, the Watch 3 costs the same as the Apple Watch Series 5, which shows who Samsung sees as a competitor. Samsung relies on the smartwatch crown (at least for Android users). Despite some quirks, it appears that the Galaxy Watch 3 has potential.
The Samsung color “Mystic Bronze” for this year’s handsets looks better on the Note 20 Ultra than on the Watch 3. The case itself has a copper tone, while the leather strap on my review device is more purple than bronze. If you prefer something a little more conservative, there is always a generic black option.
With the Galaxy Watch 3, Samsung continues to prove it can be a better smartwatch companion for Android phones than Google. While the Watch 3 is thicker than its comparable Active series, it offers improved sleep and health monitoring features, as well as a smaller, lighter rotating bezel. The battery life could be longer and the software smoother, but even without upcoming features like EKG, the Galaxy Watch 3 is an excellent smartwatch for Android users.
Other than the color choices, the Galaxy Watch 3 is significantly thinner and lighter than the Galaxy Watch and doesn’t feel quite as overwhelming. The stainless steel case is shinier and more elegant than that of the Galaxy Watch Active 2, although the bottom is significantly thicker. There is also a bump between the two buttons on the right that prevents them from being accidentally pressed when the back of my hand presses into the watch.
