Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Review: Planning to buy an everyday smartwatch that can help you track health and fitness metrics, day-to-day activities, sleep, and more? Then Samsung has the right watch for you. Just a couple of months back, Samsung introduced its flagship smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch 8, in India with a new design, Galaxy AI features, advanced health tracking features, and more. While it created much hype during launch, I was quite curious to test if it is worth spending Rs. 32,999. Well, I have been testing the Galaxy Watch 8 for a couple of weeks to know if it’s worth the hype. Therefore, here’s my detailed review of Samsung’s new generation everyday smartwatch.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Review: Design
This year, Samsung finally changed the look and feel of the Galaxy Watches, which not only look refreshed but practical in terms of durability. While it retains the same circular display, it now has a new squaricle cushion casing that resembles the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra. Therefore, it has the premium feel you need to show off.
But what put me off was the massive 44mm size, which is surely not built for a skinny-wristed person like me. But, be very mindful of the sizes if you’re ordering online. Despite having a bigger size, the Galaxy Watch 8 felt light in the hand with just 34 grams of weight. I frequently used the watch for my evening walks and gym visits, and it did not feel like you were wearing something so big in my hand. But, having a small wrist, the watch was slipping down when it was in contact with sweat, so that was a little annoying. Apart from that, the silicone wrist band felt comfortable and of good quality.
In terms of durability, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 offers Sapphire Crystal Protection, IP68 rating, 5ATM, and MIL-STD-810H certification, which gives assurance. But I would still recommend using the watch with a little care.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Review: Display
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 features a massive 1.47-inch Super AMOLED display that offers upgraded 3000nits peak brightness. Well, with a bigger display, it’s quite easy to navigate around its functions, main menu, control centre, and others. The colours also appear crisp and intuitive, making the usage visually pleasing. With upgraded brightness, the Galaxy Watch 8 delivers promising brightness to navigate, even during harsh sunlight conditions.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Review: Performance and battery life
Coming to Galaxy Watch 8 performance, it runs on the Samsung Exynos W1000 processor paired with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory. These combinations claimed to offer faster and smoother performance, and they surely lived up to the promises. With day-to-day usage, health and fitness tracking, app connectivity, and other features, the performance felt quite impressive. With the watch, you get plenty of sensors that include the Samsung BioActive Sensor, accelerometer, compass, light sensor, and more. It also comes with Gemini integration and workout modes, making the interaction easy.
For lasting performance, the Galaxy Watch 8 is backed by a 435mAh battery that felt quite disappointing for a watch priced above Rs. 30,000. If you are a heavy smartwatch user with 24-hour tracking of heart rate, steps, workouts and other features like Always-on-display activated, then the watch will not even last you an entire day. In addition, the charging speed of the watch is also not quite promising, and it may leave you wanting more.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Review: Companion apps, software, and features
Coming to the software and watch UI, the Galaxy Watch 8 runs on Wear OS 6 and One UI, which runs smoothly and offers easy navigation. With Gemini integrated into the watch, interaction has become seamless, and I mostly relied on voice commands to start workout modes, provide a notifications summary, start the timer, and more. But these were my primary use cases with Gemini on Galaxy Watch 8.
In terms of features, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is packed with health and fitness tracking features that provide accurate insights, helpful suggestions, and, most importantly, keep users motivated. It has a new Running Coach who helps you prepare for marathons with training plans. Another intuitive feature that may have caught your attention is the Antioxidant Index, which detects antioxidant and carotenoid levels and suggests taking a healthy diet. It also detects your protein levels, water intake, and calories taken on average, which is quite cool.
Now, if we look at the companion apps, then the Galaxy Watch 8 supports Samsung Wear and Samsung Health. While both apps have a clean UI and provide the details at finger tips, however, it can be a bit confusing to switch between apps for particular tasks. And the Galaxy Watch 8 does pair up with other Android phones, however, a few features on the watch are only accessible if you pair it with a Samsung smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Review: Verdict
Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is truly an ideal smartwatch with an attractive design, enhanced durability, accurate health and fitness tracking, and a clean UI. The display is bright, and about the right size for interacting with apps, notifications, and other functionalities. As much as I was impressed with its use cases and accurate tracking measures, I did miss the rotating bezels that now come on the Watch 8 Classic. If you are in the Samsung ecosystem, the Galaxy Watch 8 will be a perfect purchase for you. One thing that I would really love to see in the watch is a smaller size option, other than that, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is a right smartwatch for anyone looking to day to day heath tracking while not big.
