Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 Review: The Flagship That Outshines Apple

Verdict: The Ultra Watch Apple Should Have Built

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is a titanium flagship smartwatch with an AMOLED display, an 800mAh battery, advanced multi-sport tracking, and outdoor-ready durability that targets serious athletes and power users who want a true do‑everything wearable. This Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 review can start with a clear verdict: it is the most complete Android-friendly flagship smartwatch right now, and in many ways the high-end smartwatch the Apple Watch Ultra 3 should have been. You get a slimmer, 12% thinner titanium case, a 5,000-nit AMOLED smartwatch display, a larger battery, and a new Snapdragon Wear Elite processor that makes Apple’s modest Ultra 3 update look tame. The catch is price and overkill. At £649 and USD 699 (approx. RM3,270), this is over-specced for casual users who would be better served by the cheaper Galaxy Watch 9.

Design and Display: Slimmer Titanium, Blindingly Bright

Samsung’s second Ultra keeps the familiar squircle case but trims the titanium body down to 10.7mm, about 12% thinner than the original, and it feels noticeably more comfortable. It comes only in a chunky 47mm size and two subdued finishes, titanium grey and titanium silver, with more personality handed off to the Marine, PeakForm, and Trail straps. The hardware is serious: IP69K protection, 10ATM water resistance, and EN13319 certification for dives up to 40m, plus an 86dB siren for emergencies. The headline feature is the 1.53in AMOLED smartwatch display with 480 x 480 resolution and a staggering 5,000-nit peak brightness. In practice, it stays legible in direct sunlight, and it is clearly brighter than the 3,000-nit Apple Watch Ultra 3. The trade-off is that the panel can feel too bright at night when the raise-to-wake triggers while you are trying to sleep.

Navigation relies on a touch bezel and three physical buttons: a home key, a back button, and an orange-ringed Quick Button that launches workouts, tools, or apps and doubles as a long-press siren trigger. The lack of a rotating crown or mechanical bezel is one of the few hardware missteps. While the touch bezel works, it is less satisfying and less reliable with wet hands or in heavy rain compared with the tactile crown on Apple’s Ultra line. On the wrist, the 25% lighter band and thinner case make this big watch surprisingly wearable; even users who usually dislike sleeping with a watch will find it relatively easy to forget it is there.

Performance, Battery Life, and Everyday Use

Inside, the Snapdragon Wear Elite processor is the quiet upgrade that makes the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 feel like a true flagship. App switching is snappier, AI-oriented features benefit from a dedicated NPU, and support for satellite messaging hints at where Samsung wants this platform to go. Core health functions like sleep monitoring, heart-rate checking, and workout tracking performed well in testing, matching readings from a OnePlus Watch 3 worn on the other wrist. Samsung’s new Vitals feature monitors heart rate, heart rate variability, blood oxygen, skin temperature, and respiratory rate over seven nights to build a personalised baseline. The quote-worthy takeaway: “sleep monitoring, heart-rate checking and workout tracking … delivered results that stayed in step with the OnePlus Watch 3,” which is high praise given that watch’s accuracy.

Powering all this is an 800mAh battery, which is 35% larger than the previous Ultra and the biggest Samsung has put in a Galaxy Watch. Samsung rates it for around 60 hours with the always-on display, and real-world use with heart-rate and sleep tracking enabled yielded two to three days between charges. That is an improvement, but still shy of the multi-day endurance some outdoor watches deliver. Charging remains familiar: the magnetic puck fills the battery from empty in around two hours, but it feels a little unstable on a desk or nightstand. For everyday use, the Ultra 2 is a confident companion: notifications are easy to read in any light, apps launch quickly, and the hardware feels built to take abuse. However, casual users may find the constant battery, strap, and feature management unnecessary when the standard Galaxy Watch 9 covers the basics for less.

Athletic and Outdoor Features: Built for Serious Training

If you care about athletic smartwatch features, this is where the Ultra 2 earns its name. It “is bursting at the seams with a diverse selection of training and workout trackers that cover just about every activity you could think of.” Multi-GNSS support with dual-frequency GPS enables more accurate positioning, turn-by-turn navigation, and detailed elevation guidance for trail running and hiking. The dedicated Trail Running mode tracks elevation gain and climbing, detects terrain impact, and warns you when you are pushing into overexertion territory. A hydration guide predicts perspiration levels and sends alerts to drink water at the right time, while Nutrition Alerts remind you to fuel with snacks on longer efforts. For divers, the IP69 rating, 10ATM resistance, and EN13319 certification offer reassurance down to 130ft (40m).

Beyond sports, the watch’s health stack includes detailed sleep tracking, heart-rate trends, and continuous monitoring of oxygen saturation and skin temperature under the new Vitals umbrella. Combined, these metrics make the Ultra 2 a strong fit for endurance athletes, outdoor enthusiasts, and anyone who wants a more data-driven view of training load and recovery. However, the same richness that appeals to data nerds can overwhelm users who only want step counts, basic heart-rate readings, and notifications. Samsung itself notes that most people do not need everything the Ultra 2 offers and will be fine with a cheaper Galaxy Watch 9, which lacks the massive battery, ultra-bright display, and specialist profiles like diving and triathlons. This is not a casual gadget; it is a training and adventure tool that happens to double as a stylish smartwatch.

Flagship Smartwatch Comparison: Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 vs Apple Watch Ultra 3

In the smartwatch flagship comparison that many buyers care about, Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs Samsung is not as close as in past years. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 launches at £649 and USD 699 (approx. RM3,270), undercutting Apple’s Ultra 3, which costs £749, while offering more tangible upgrades over its predecessor. The 5,000-nit screen dwarfs the Apple Watch Ultra 3’s 3,000 nits, making the Samsung far easier to read under harsh sunlight during outdoor workouts. Samsung has also gone bigger on battery capacity, durability, and athletic smartwatch features, while Apple’s latest Ultra refresh is more conservative. For Android users, the Ultra 2 is an obvious top choice. For those living in Apple’s ecosystem, the gap is tight, but if you value screen brightness, longer battery, and richer training tools over tight iOS integration, Samsung’s flagship finally looks like the more ambitious product.

Buy if / Skip if

• Buy the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 if you are a serious runner, triathlete, or outdoor enthusiast who will use its advanced GPS, trail, and diving features regularly.
• Skip the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 if your needs are basic and you mostly want notifications, step counts, and casual workouts, since the cheaper Galaxy Watch 9 covers those well.
• Buy the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 if you value a 5,000-nit AMOLED smartwatch display that stays readable in full sun and outperforms the Apple Watch Ultra 3 outdoors.
• Skip the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 if you dislike large 47mm watches or prefer a rotating crown for navigation, as this model lacks any physical scroll control.
• Buy the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 if you want a titanium smartwatch with IP69K, 10ATM water resistance, and EN13319 dive certification for more rugged trips.
• Skip the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 if price is your main concern, because it remains a premium wearable and many of its best features overlap with cheaper Samsung models.