Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 and Ultra 2 review: Two watches, two personalities

The Galaxy Watch 9 keeps things sleek and comfortable for everyday use, while the Ultra 2 adds a brighter display, longer battery life and more serious health and outdoor features

Samsung has taken two different approaches to its latest smartwatches. The Galaxy Watch 9 is the more understated option, with a slimmer profile and lighter construction that makes it easy to wear through the day. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, meanwhile, is much larger and more rugged, but packs a bigger battery, brighter display and additional features for workouts and outdoor activities.

 

I have been using both watches alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 8, with the Ultra 2 as my primary wearable and the Watch 9 as the lighter alternative. I have also previously used the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, which made some of the differences between the two new models particularly noticeable.

 

 

After spending weeks with both, the differences are less about what either watch can do and more about how each one fits into daily life.

Two designs for two kinds of days

The Galaxy Watch 9 has the more conventional smartwatch design of the two. It retains Samsung's circular display and cushion-shaped bezel, but its lighter construction and slimmer profile make it considerably easier to wear.

 

I found myself preferring the Watch 9 on days when I was working at a desk or wearing something more formal. It does not take up as much space on the wrist and is light enough that I rarely thought about it during normal tasks. It also looks cleaner than the Ultra 2, which has a much more obvious rugged character.

The Ultra 2, by comparison, is a large watch. Its 47mm titanium case and heavier construction is noticeable, although it is still noticeably lighter than the Watch 8 Classic and is comfortable enough for all-day use. The band on the Ultra is also more flexible and better ventilated, which I found particularly useful during workouts.

 

The Watch 9's strap is comfortable enough, but it does not ventilate as well as the Ultra 2's band. After a workout, I could feel more sweat around my wrist. It was never uncomfortable, but the difference between the two became obvious after using them side by side.

 

The Ultra 2 also has the orange Quick Button, which I missed when switching to the Watch 9. I had configured it to get straight into workout tracking, and being able to do that without navigating through menus is convenient. The Watch 9 does not have an equivalent dedicated button. Still, after a while, I stopped thinking about it. It is useful, but it is not something I would consider essential.

 

The bigger omission for me was the rotating bezel. Having previously used the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, I found myself reaching for a physical control that simply was not there in the Watch 9. Both watches rely on touch and physical buttons, with the Ultra 2 adding its Quick Button.

 

The difference in durability is more straightforward. The Watch 9 is rated IP68, 5ATM and MIL-STD-810H, while the Ultra 2 goes further with 10ATM, IP69K and MIL-STD-810H ratings, along with EN13319 certification for diving.

 

For most everyday situations, the Watch 9's design is easier to live with. The Ultra 2 makes more sense when you want the added protection and features that come with its larger case.

The Ultra 2 has the better display

The Ultra 2 gets a 1.52-inch Super AMOLED display with a claimed peak brightness of 5,000 nits. The Watch 9 has a Super AMOLED panel in two sizes, depending on the variant, with peak brightness of 3,000 nits.

 

Both screens are good, but the Ultra 2's display is noticeably better outdoors.

 

In direct sunlight, I could glance at the Ultra 2 and immediately read notifications, workout information and navigation instructions. The larger panel also gives the Ultra 2 more room for detailed watch faces and information. You can have weather, heart rate, activity progress and battery information visible without making everything look too crowded.

 

The Watch 9's display is still bright enough for normal outdoor use, and I never had a problem reading it during everyday use. The smaller screen on the Watch 9, however, makes the Ultra 2 feel more suited to situations where you need to quickly glance at more information.

 

Colours are vibrant on both, while text is sharp and easy to read. The Ultra 2 also gets sapphire crystal protection, which adds some reassurance when the watch is being used outdoors.

Both are fast, and the software is familiar

Both watches use Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear Elite platform. In day-to-day use the watches feel quick. Apps open without much waiting, animations are smooth and moving between notifications, tiles and watch faces feels responsive.

 

The Ultra 2 has 64GB of storage compared with 32GB on the Watch 9, but unless you plan to keep a lot of apps or offline content on the watch, the difference is unlikely to matter much.

 

Both run One UI 9 Watch on Wear OS 7, giving access to Google Play apps such as Google Maps, Google Wallet, Gmail and Spotify.

Using both with the Galaxy Z Fold 8 also makes the experience feel cohesive. Notifications, calls and Samsung Health data sit within the same ecosystem, and the watches do not feel like separate devices that happen to be connected to the phone.

 

There is a catch if you use a non-Samsung Android phone. Some health features, including ECG and blood-pressure monitoring, require a compatible Galaxy smartphone and Samsung's Health Monitor app.

 

Gemini is available on both watches, including the raise-to-talk gesture. The idea is useful, but the gesture is not consistently reliable. Sometimes lifting the wrist activates Gemini immediately, while at other times the same movement does nothing.

Health tracking is where both get serious

The health and fitness experience is broadly similar across the two watches. Both can track walking, running, cycling, swimming and strength training, and both support automatic workout detection.

 

In my use, automatic detection was generally reliable, although there were occasions when the watch started tracking a workout when I had not intended to start one. What I appreciated more was that it did not miss actual workouts.

 

Both watches use Samsung's BioActive Sensor to track heart rate, blood oxygen, skin temperature and body composition. There is also sleep tracking, sleep-apnoea detection and Energy Score, while ECG and blood-pressure monitoring are available with Samsung phones.

 

The watches find several ways of putting this information into context. Fitness Index looks at body composition, cardio, endurance, flexibility and strength, while Cardio Load considers workout intensity. Heart Health Score brings together information from areas such as activity, sleep, body composition and blood pressure.

 

Sleep tracking also covers a long list of measurements, including sleep duration, REM and deep sleep, time awake, sleep latency, blood oxygen, heart rate, respiratory rate and skin temperature. The Sleep Coach then uses this information to offer suggestions.

 

I found some of the simpler presentation particularly useful. Seeing a sleep score with labels such as "Good" or "Excellent" gives you an immediate sense of how the night went without requiring you to dig through graphs and individual measurements.

Samsung Health app previewing data using scores and labels

Samsung's health platform does, however, collect a lot of information. Once you start looking beyond the basic scores, there is a considerable amount of data to work through. Some of the measurements are interesting to check occasionally, but they are not necessarily things I found myself using every day.

 

The Ultra 2 has the advantage when it comes to outdoor workouts. Its Trail Run mode provides information such as elevation, incline and elevation gain, while GPX routes can be imported for navigation. It also supports diving features that can record depth, water temperature and dive duration.

 

That makes the Ultra 2 the more capable option if your workouts extend beyond the gym, regular runs or everyday activity.

Battery is the biggest difference

This is where my experience with the two watches diverged the most.

 

The Ultra 2 has an 800mAh battery, and in my use it managed around 48 hours with the Always On Display active, along with regular sleep and workout tracking. That made two-day use realistic and meant I could wear it overnight without having to think about charging every evening.

 

The Watch 9 was a different story.

 

Its battery lasted me through the day, but that was about it. Once I knew I wanted to track my sleep, I often had to charge it either before going to bed or in the morning before work. That became annoying because the watch also does not charge particularly quickly.

 

The Watch Ultra 2 also offers faster charging and can reach around 40 per cent in 30 minutes, but a full charge still takes roughly one hour and 35 minutes. The Watch 9 takes around one hour and 45 minutes while there is also not an option to get a quick top-up.

Which one should you buy?

After using both, I think the Galaxy Watch 9 is the easier watch to wear, while the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is the easier watch to live with if you care about battery life and outdoor features.

 

The Watch 9's biggest advantage is its size. It looks cleaner, weighs less and does not get in the way when you are working or wearing more formal clothes. It has most of the health, fitness and smartwatch features you would expect, and the Snapdragon Wear Elite platform keeps it responsive.

 

Its biggest weakness is the battery. Getting through only a day means you have to think about charging more often, particularly if sleep tracking is important to you. The slower charging makes that more frustrating.

 

The Ultra 2 is a much larger watch, and there is no getting around that. But the larger case also brings a significantly bigger battery, a much brighter display, better ventilated straps and features such as the Quick Button, Trail Run and diving support. Its two-day battery life also makes sleep tracking considerably easier to live with.

 

At Rs 64,999, however, the Ultra 2 is a serious purchase. The Watch 9 costs considerably less at Rs 37,999 and covers most of the everyday smartwatch and health-tracking requirements.

 

For me, the choice between the two comes down to what you value more. The Watch 9 is the one I would rather have on my wrist while working. The Ultra 2 is the one I would rather have when I am tracking workouts, spending more time outdoors or simply do not want to think about charging the watch every night.

 

 

 

 

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