A Dive-Ready Watch That Doesn’t Dive Fully For Free
The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 diving experience is built around a 10ATM-rated smartwatch with 100m capability and a dedicated Mares Diving app, but many advanced underwater features are locked behind a tiered subscription, forcing buyers to weigh ongoing smartwatch subscription cost against the value of paid diving app features and free timer-based tracking.
Samsung’s latest Unpacked event introduced the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 alongside the Watch 9, positioning the Ultra as a dive-focused flagship with IP69K protection and heavy-duty water resistance. On paper, the hardware is persuasive: 10 atmospheres of pressure, Diving Standard Certification, and health coaching designed to support underwater training. But instead of letting the watch’s new capability speak for itself, Samsung chose a subscription-first model for Mares’ Diving app, arriving later this year. The key takeaway is blunt: you pay top-tier hardware prices, then face ongoing fees if you want the watch to behave like a true dive computer rather than a glorified stopwatch.
10ATM Hardware Meets Three-Tier Software Lock-In
From a hardware standpoint, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is finally built for real diving, with 10ATM water resistance that supports descents up to 100m and an IP69K rating to withstand high-pressure water jets and harsh conditions. That aligns the watch with serious underwater use, not just pool laps. Yet this capability is only partially exploited unless you step beyond the free tier of Mares’ Diving app. Samsung’s choice is clear: use the rugged design and rating to justify a paid software stack, not just to enable out-of-the-box dive tracking.
The Mares app splits the experience into timer, snorkel, and scuba modes, each unlocking more data and control. The free timer mode covers depth, dive time, and an ascent rate alarm — basic safety and logging, but far from a full dive computer. This is the minimum Samsung seems willing to offer without charging. Anyone excited by the Ultra’s promise of “advanced diving features” should understand that most of those sit behind recurring payments, despite the watch already being priced as a premium adventure device.
What You Get Free Versus What You Rent Each Month
The free Diving app tier is deliberately spartan: you see depth, track dive time, and get an ascent rate alarm. That is enough to add simple structure to a recreational dip or a casual ocean swim, especially for people who mainly want confirmation that their Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 diving sessions stayed within safe limits. It mirrors the story of the reviewer who likes late-night ocean swimming and values having a watch on, now made possible by the Ultra 2’s durability and water rating. But it will frustrate anyone expecting richer data without paying extra, particularly given how much the watch itself costs.
The paid snorkel mode, at USD 2.99 (approx. RM14) per month, finally feels like a modern activity tracker: snorkel session timers, individual dive info, GPS distance and route, maps, compass, stopwatch, temperature, and heart rate all become available. The full scuba mode jumps to USD 7.99 (approx. RM37) per month or USD 59.99 (approx. RM275) per year, unlocking air and nitrox configurations, multigas support, decompression algorithms, safety stop guidance, and multiple diving alarms on top of core metrics. In a quotable comparison, Mares’ existing iOS app charges USD 8.99 (approx. RM41) monthly or USD 69.99 (approx. RM321) annually, with a USD 119.99 (approx. RM551) family plan, so Samsung’s pricing is slightly lower but follows the same rental logic.
The Real Cost of Turning Ultra 2 Into a Dive Computer
The subscription setup turns the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 into a hybrid: part smartwatch, part paywalled dive computer. For casual swimmers and people who mainly want everyday fitness tracking, the free timer mode will likely feel adequate and they can ignore the Diving app tiers entirely. But serious snorkelers and divers face a layered decision: pay upfront for the watch, then keep paying if they want detailed logs, GPS tracks, decompression guidance, and nitrox management. Real-time heart rate, temperature, and route mapping during dives live in the recurring fees, not the base purchase.
This model also changes how we think about smartwatch subscription cost. Instead of paying for offline maps or cloud backups, underwater safety tools like decompression information and safety stop prompts are tied to a monthly bill. That is uncomfortable: the more you rely on the watch as a dive computer, the more locked in you become. The Ultra 2’s rugged shell and MIL-STD durability feel like a one-time investment, but the diving brain behind it is rented. That tension is at the heart of whether the Ultra 2 is good value for divers or simply another gateway into long-term subscription spending.
Conclusion: A Powerful Dive Companion With a Paywall Shadow
The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 proves that mainstream smartwatches can reach 10ATM water resistance and support 100m diving with serious certifications and rugged design. On hardware alone, it looks like a convincing replacement for a basic dive computer. Yet Samsung’s partnership with Mares wraps those capabilities in a tiered subscription, cutting the full experience into timer, snorkel, and scuba modes with escalating fees. Premium diving metrics and nuanced real-time data tracking are not a perk of owning the watch; they are an ongoing purchase.
The result is a watch that is technically ready for deep water but philosophically stuck in shallow commercial thinking. If you want a sturdy smartwatch that can survive ocean swimming, the Ultra 2’s free tier and health features will serve you well. If you intend to rely on it as your primary dive instrument, you are signing up for a subscription as much as for a device. That trade-off is the core story of the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 diving ecosystem: impressive engineering, smart safety tools, and a persistent question of how much underwater insight should live behind a paywall.
