The Galaxy Watch 7 is refined in many nice ways.
Intro
This year, Samsung has made the distinction between all of its Galaxy Watch models much clearer. If you want a big smartwatch with two day battery life, you should get the new and pricier Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra.
For everyone else, Samsung made the Galaxy Watch 7.
We have the smaller, 40mm watch for review and it’s the perfect size for people with smaller wrists, and you also have a bigger, 44mm model, which is still significantly lighter and smaller than the Ultra. While Samsung has improved a few things in the experience, the main characteristics of the Watch 7 haven’t changed from before – it will only last one day, and it only works with an Android phone.
On the outside, the Galaxy Watch 7 also looks very much like the Galaxy Watch 6 before it — a circular timepiece with a touch-sensitive bezel to interact with the UI. Under the hood, we get a nice spec bump in both performance and internal storage. Plus, with an upgraded BioActive sensor and new AI algorithms, the Galaxy Watch 7 can help you build out effective and motivating workout routines. Let’s explore all of that.
New Exynos W1000 processor
32GB storage, up from 16GB
Galaxy AI-powered fitness and wellness suggestions
New and more accurate BioActive sensor
New metrics, such as an AGEs index
Table of Contents:
Design and Sizes
Bands
Software
Battery and Charging
Models and Prices
Specs
Summary
Design & SizesSame-ish design, no rotating bezel (sad face)
Two physical buttons, so you interact mostly by swipes and taps (Image by PhoneArena)
The Galaxy Watch 7 has morphed a bit, it’s ever so slightly bigger and thicker than before, but the difference is so tiny you probably won’t notice. The two variants measure as such:
40 mm – 40.4 x 40.4 x 9.7 mm, 28.8g
44 mm – 44.4 x 44.4 x 9.7 mm, 33.8g
The bezel around the circular watchface is, again, touch-sensitive — you can navigate the UI either by swiping on the screen or along the edge of it. But this is not a physically rotating bezel, which is a shame.
You get a magnetic charging cable in the box (Image by PhoneArena)
Screen sizes are 1.3 inches for the 40mm model and 1.5 inches for the 44mm one. AMOLED panels, of course, and with Always On functionality.
There are no changes in peak brightness, which means still 2,000 nits for the Galaxy Watch 7. That’s not bad at all and we wouldn’t say we had any trouble viewing the Galaxy Watch 7 outside. Still, we have to mention that some watches can reach 3,000 nits.
We also get the usual IP68 rating and 5ATM rating, which means the Watch 7 should survive just fine at up to 50 meters underwater. However, keep in mind that 5ATM is still not good enough for extreme pressure or fast water flow, so aggressive diving or putting it under strong water jets is not advised. In my time testing the watch, I did a few open water swim workouts and had absolutely no issues with water.
Bands
The new Ripple band by Samsung is extra durable (Image by PhoneArena)
The Galaxy Watch 7 inherits the band-latch mechanism from the previous model. You have a button that you press to release the strap and then reattach it again. It’s simple enough, but if you’ve trimmed your nails a bit more you might have trouble pressing that button. Good news is that you can still use standard 20mm straps with spring bars.
The Watch 7 comes with a selection of new, colorful Ripple bands. We like the attention to detail and loved the provided sporty strap. The green color was nice and not boring with the stitching on the side, plus it seems extra durable.
Software & FeaturesGalaxy AI on your wrist?
Galaxy Watches have been rocking Wear OS for a while now. Samsung and Google came together, mixed up Tizen with Android, and came out with a smartwatch platform that took the best of both worlds. But you know, Samsung must be Samsung, so the Wear OS on Galaxy Watches has an extra skin on top, called One UI Watch.
So, the software here is One UI 6 Watch on top of Wear OS 5.
