The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 (starting at $299.99) is all about compromise. It sports the same sleek design as its predecessor, but features a bigger and brighter screen. Samsung trims the bezel, increasing usable screen real estate while bumping peak brightness to 2,000 nits to improve outdoor visibility. The trade-off is battery life: In testing, the Galaxy Watch 6 lasted less than a full day on a charge with the always-on display enabled, down from 30 hours on the Galaxy Watch 5. In general, the Watch 6 continues to offer excellent performance and a fantastic range of lifestyle, fitness, health, and safety features. Though its downgraded battery life prevents it from earning our Editors' Choice award, the Galaxy Watch 6 still stands out as the best Android-compatible smartwatch right now.
Galaxy Watch 6 Vs. Watch 6 Classic: Battle of the Bezels
As it has done each year since 2021, Samsung released two new smartwatches this generation: the Galaxy Watch 6 (starting at $299.99, or $20 more than its predecessor) and the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic (starting at $399.99).
The standard Galaxy Watch 6 features a touch bezel for quick scrolling, an aluminum case, and a water-friendly sport band. The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic offers a few design upgrades including a physical rotating bezel (instead of a touch bezel), a shinier and more durable stainless steel case, and a classier-looking hybrid eco-leather band.
Beyond those design differences, the Watch 6 and the Watch 6 Classic have the same battery specs, durability ratings, connectivity features, internal memory, storage, processor, sensors, operating system, and user interface.
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With the touch bezel, you can swipe along the edge of the watch screen to quickly scroll through menus. The touch bezel works well on the Watch 6, and I use it all the time to quickly access tiles from the watch face, as well as scroll through metrics, long blocks of text, and the app menu. If you prefer, you can disable the touch bezel by going to Settings > General > Touch Bezel.
Both of last year's iterations, the Galaxy Watch 5 and the more rugged Watch 5 Pro, feature a touch bezel. Aimed at outdoor adventurers, the $449.99 Watch 5 Pro will remain on the market as a more rugged option with longer battery life.
Samsung tells PCMag that the Pro and the Classic versions of the Galaxy Watch will get new models every other year. In other words, since we have a new Classic this year, we can expect a new Pro in 2024.
The Watch 6 comes in 40mm (small) or 44mm (large) sizes in three case color options: graphite, gold (only available in small), or silver (large). The Watch 6 Classic comes in 43mm (small) or 47mm (large) sizes in either black or silver.
Large-size models of the Galaxy Watch 6 and the Watch 6 Classic cost $30 more, bringing their starting prices to $329.99 and $429.99, respectively. All models feature Bluetooth (version 5.3) and Wi-Fi (2.4 and 5GHz) for connectivity, as well as built-in GPS (plus Glonass, Beidou, and Galileo). LTE connectivity costs $50 extra.
For this review, Samsung sent the small Watch 6 in gold with LTE connectivity. The gold is subtle, with a champagne tone that in my opinion is versatile enough to match any other metal you might want to wear alongside it.
Similar to how the Apple Watch works only with iPhones, the Galaxy Watch 6 series is exclusive to Android phones. The Galaxy Watch 6 and the Watch 6 Classic are compatible with devices running Android 10 or higher with more than 1.5GB of RAM. Although you can pair the Galaxy Watch 6 with non-Samsung Android phones, some features work only with Samsung Galaxy handsets, including irregular heart rhythm notifications, phone separation alerts, and the Camera Controller app. The Wear OS-powered Google Pixel Watch ($349.99), in comparison, doesn't have any limitations when paired with a non-Pixel Android phone.
Samsung's latest smartwatches run Wear OS 4 with the company's One UI 5 Watch software. Announced this spring, One UI 5 Watch most notably delivers more robust emergency services access, new sleep insights, and personalized heart rate zone data, among other features. You don't need a brand new smartwatch to get the upgrade, as One UI 5 Watch is available on the Galaxy Watch 4 series and later.
Bigger, Brighter Screens
When it comes to wearables, looks are arguably just as important as performance since these devices are meant to be worn on your body. In terms of aesthetics, the Galaxy Watch 6 has the same simple, minimalist design as last year's Watch 5 and 2021's Watch 4.
Holding the Galaxy Watch 6 and its predecessor side by side, it's difficult to tell the difference between the two, but the latest model has a thinner display border and a slightly larger screen.
As with last year's model, the Galaxy Watch 6 features an exceptionally bright and beautiful Super AMOLED touch display with an always-on option. The small size features a 1.3-inch display with a resolution of 432 by 432 pixels, while the large size has a 1.5-inch panel with a 480-by-480-pixel resolution. The Galaxy Watch 5 has the same 40mm and 44mm case sizes but with 1.2-inch (396 by 396) and 1.4-inch (450 by 450) panels.
Thanks to the increase in screen real estate, icons appear larger on the display, and text and graphics stretch closer to the slim bezel. Moreover, I noticed the Galaxy Watch 6 now offers six different text font size options, up from four last generation. To change the font size, navigate to Settings > Display > Font Size.
The black display border is less noticeable this generation, but that only really makes a difference when you're using a watch face with a non-black background. If you use a watch face with a black background, the display border just looks like an extension of the screen, as is the case with earlier models. Google used this trick to conceal the thick display border on the Pixel Watch.
Screen brightness on the Galaxy Watch 6 series maxes out at 2,000 nits, doubling that of the last generation and matching the Apple Watch Ultra. The screen brightness bump improves outdoor visibility in bright sunlight to a noticeable degree, a welcome change here in sunny Florida.
Overall dimensions and weight for both the small and large Galaxy Watch 6 models are nearly identical to the last generation. On its spec sheets, Samsung claims both sizes of the Galaxy Watch 6 are 9.0mm thick (down from 9.8mm last generation), but its measurements exclude the health sensor that slightly protrudes from the back. According to my calipers, the small Watch 6 measures 13mm (about half an inch) thick, the same as its predecessor.
The small Galaxy Watch 6 weighs 1 ounce, and the large size is just one-tenth of an ounce heavier. The watch feels light and comfortable on my wrist, and the sport band is soft and secure.
Besides the upgraded display, the other main design difference for the Galaxy Watch 6 is the switch to a new one-click band release mechanism from its predecessor's standard quick-release pins. I had doubts about the new one-click band release buttons almost immediately after unboxing my review unit. While turning the watch over in my hands to examine it for the first time, one of the straps popped off and I worried that I had accidentally triggered the band release button. Fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. Instead, I think the strap on my test unit was just improperly installed before shipping. Since I reattached it, the band has remained securely connected to the watch case.
After testing it a couple of times, I don't necessarily find the new one-click band release button much easier to use than the former quick-release pins. Specifically, I can't simply press the button down with my finger; I must press it with the corner of my nail to remove and attach the strap.
The Galaxy Watch 6 and the Watch 6 Classic run on the Samsung Exynos W930 dual-core 1.4GHz processor, an upgrade from the Exynos W920 chip in the Galaxy Watch 5. They pack 2GB of RAM (up from 1.5GB) and 16GB of storage (no change from the last generation). The watch is fast and responsive—apps open quickly and I never encounter any lag when swiping on the touch screen or scrolling with the touch bezel.
I experienced no overheating issues with the Galaxy Watch 6, even when tracking a walk in the hot Florida sun with GPS enabled while also streaming Spotify through the watch to a pair of Bluetooth headphones. I had no problem recording and playing voice recordings through the Galaxy Watch 6's built-in microphone and speaker. A 10-minute meditation streamed from the Calm app through the Galaxy Watch 6's tiny speaker sounded sufficiently loud in an otherwise quiet room.
The Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic feature the same 5ATM and IP68 durability ratings as the last generation, meaning they are waterproof to a depth of 164 feet for 10 minutes and can withstand dust, dirt, and sand. They also meet the MIL-STD-810H standard, meaning they should have no problem handling extreme temperatures and other environmental stressors such as vibration and shock. The Galaxy Watch 6 series is a lot more durable than the Google Pixel Watch, which offers a 5ATM rating but no promised protection against dust or extreme temperatures.
The Galaxy Watch 6 series continues to offer the same robust sensor suite as the last generation, inducing optical and electrical heart sensors, a Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis sensor (for body fat and other body composition measurements), a temperature sensor, an accelerometer, a barometer, and a gyroscope.
Battery Life Takes a Disappointing Step Back
Last year was exciting for the smartwatch market, largely because the two biggest players, Apple and Samsung, delivered battery life increases. Unfortunately, Samsung's latest-generation models take a step back on this front, likely due to the larger, brighter display.
The Galaxy Watch 6 actually has a bigger battery than its predecessor—300mAh (40mm) or 425mAh (44mm), up from 284mAh and 410mAh, respectively. At the same time, it has a much shorter manufacturer-stated maximum run time—40 hours on a charge (or 30 hours with the always-on display enabled), down from 50 hours for the Galaxy Watch 5. That's a 20% drop that puts stated run time back in line with 2021's Galaxy Watch 4, a disappointing downgrade to say the least. Stated battery life specs for this year's Classic are the same as the standard Galaxy Watch 6.
Keep in mind that Samsung's stated run times typically exceed real-world battery life performance (unless you plan to wear the watch but never interact with it). In testing, the Galaxy Watch 6 offered just 22 hours of battery life on a charge with normal use and the always-on display enabled. For confirmation, I repeated this battery rundown test two separate times and got the same result. Disabling the always-on display only bumped the Galaxy Watch 6's battery life to around 28 hours.
In comparison, this generation's real-world battery life falls short of the Galaxy Watch 4, which lasted 24 hours on a charge with the always-on display in testing. Moreover, the Galaxy Watch 5 and the Apple Watch Series 8 both stayed powered for around 30 hours with the always-on display enabled. The Pixel Watch doesn't blow us away in terms of battery life either, but it at least lasted more than a full day (25 hours) with the always-on display enabled in testing.
If you currently own a Galaxy Watch 5 and you're thinking about upgrading to the new generation, carefully consider whether the bigger display is worth the battery life hit. Yes, the display on the Galaxy Watch 6 is better, and yes, it does improve outdoor visibility, but for me, the trade-off in battery life is too severe. It would have made more sense for Samsung to upgrade the display last year and focus on battery improvements this year, but alas.
The Galaxy Watch 6 takes about 70 minutes to fully juice up on the included charger. Samsung says that eight minutes of charging delivers enough battery life for eight hours of sleep tracking.
If battery life is a primary concern, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is still the best option in Samsung's smartwatch lineup. The Watch 5 Pro, which features a 590mAh cell, lasted up to 79 hours on a charge with light use, nearly matching Samsung's official claim of 80 hours. If you have a Watch 5 Pro, I see no reason to upgrade to the Watch 6 series unless you really want the Classic's rotating bezel.
For longer battery life, I recommend the Wear OS-powered Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 5, a strong Galaxy Watch competitor that powered through 75 hours on a charge—more than three full days. The TicWatch Pro 5 features a beautiful 1.43-inch, 466-by-466-pixel AMOLED always-on display, plus a secondary ultra-low-power (ULP) display that helps extend the life of its 628mAh battery.
The Galaxy Watch 6 offers a power-saving mode for when you're running low on juice, but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. When my watch got down to less than 10% battery life, with around 90 minutes of estimated remaining power, it said power-saving mode would only give me an extra 15 minutes. Power-saving mode disables the always-on display, wake-up gesture, and Wi-Fi, reduces CPU speed, decreases the screen brightness, speeds up the screen time-out, and limits background processes.
In a pinch, you can also enable watch-only mode, which disables everything but the watch face when you press the home key. At less than 10% battery life, watch-only mode will keep the wearable powered for about 14 hours.
Unboxing and Getting to Know the Galaxy Watch 6
In the box with the Galaxy Watch 6, you get a quick start guide and a puck-style USB-C charger. You need to provide a power adapter.
I had no problem setting up the Galaxy Watch 6 via the Galaxy Wearable app (available for Android only) on a Galaxy S21 FE smartphone. Happily, the watch arrives partially charged. When I first attached the watch to the included charger, its screen showed 68% battery life. From there it took about 38 minutes to reach 100%.
As soon as I powered on the Watch 6 and brought it close to the S21 FE, an alert popped up on the phone saying it found the wearable. If this doesn't happen, launch the Galaxy Wearable app, tap the hamburger menu button (three horizontally stacked lines), and select Add New Device.
Next, it asked me to confirm a pairing code, then walked me through the rest of the setup process, which only took a couple of minutes. I tapped through several screens and pop-ups agreeing to Samsung's End User License Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Galaxy Watch 6 Manager permissions, as well as Google's Terms of Service. It then prompted me to sign into my Google account, set my update preference (automatic or manual), select third-party apps to install on the watch from a list of recommendations, set my wearing preference (left or right wrist, and button position), and I was good to go.
If you have an LTE-enabled model, it will give you the option to add a mobile plan during setup, or you can skip this step and do it at any time via the Galaxy Wearable app's Watch Settings menu. With a mobile plan, you can call, text, and go online from the watch when your phone isn't nearby.
After setting up the watch, it gives you the option to take a tour to learn the basics of how to navigate it. Just like any feature-rich smartwatch, you have to spend some time exploring the Galaxy Watch 6 to figure out where everything is and what it does. But if you're familiar with the Watch 5 or 4 series, the new model is organized the same way.
From the watch face, you swipe left to access an editable list of app tiles (including body composition, calendar, daily activity, heart rate, sleep, stress, weather, workouts, and more), swipe right for notifications, swipe down for the quick panel menu (for settings like the power-off menu, bedtime mode, the always-on display, Bluetooth headphone pairing, and more), and swipe up for the app menu. To reorder your apps, just touch and hold an icon, then drag it where you want.
To go back to the watch face from any screen, tap the home key (the top button). To go back one screen, swipe right or press the back key (the bottom button). To go to your most recently used app, double-press the home key (the top button).
A double-press of the home key sends you back to your last-used app by default, but you can customize this function to instead launch an app of your choice, the workout tracker, or accessibility shortcuts. A press-and-hold of the home key launches Bixby by default, but you can customize this function to instead open Google Assistant or the power-off menu. You can also customize the back button to show recent apps instead of taking you to the previous screen if you prefer. To customize the buttons, navigate to Settings > Advanced Features > Customize Buttons.
The watch also supports several gestures, letting you answer calls, dismiss alerts/calls, and launch a selected app or feature with a flick of your wrist. To enable gesture controls, navigate to Settings > Advanced Features, scroll down to Gestures, then tap each one for a tutorial to toggle it on. In testing, these gestures worked fine, but I rarely used them.
Galaxy Watch 6 Lifestyle Features and Apps
Lifestyle features and apps are really what make a smartwatch, and the Wear OS 4-powered Galaxy Watch 6 delivers on this front.
In addition to its many useful preinstalled apps, including Alarm, Bixby, Calculator, Calendar, Compass, Find My Phone, Google Maps, Messages, Phone, Samsung Health, Stopwatch, Timer, and World Clock, the Galaxy Watch 6 gives you access to a wide selection of downloadable third-party apps via the Google Play Store.
During setup, it presents a list of recommended third-party watch apps, including everything on your phone with a Wear OS version, and lets you select what you want to be installed on your wearable. I selected everything listed, including Amazon Music, Calm, Deezer, Easy Voice Recorder, KakaoTalk, Samsung Internet Browser, SmartThings, Spotify, Stocard, Todoist, and WhatsApp.
It also offered a number of fitness, health, and sports apps, all of which I added, including C25K, Cardiogram, Golf GPS Rangefinder, Komoot, MyFitnessPal, Seven Minute Workout, and Strava. If you prefer, you can skip this step during setup and manually install apps via the Google Play Store at any time.
The Google Play Store is well organized and easy to navigate on the Galaxy Watch 6. You can browse across featured categories (new, trending, essential, watch faces, productivity, podcasts, health and wellness, etc.) or search for specific apps. The list of available WearOS apps also includes iHeart: Music, MyRadar Weather Radar, Peloton, Pocket FM, and Pocket Casts, as well as many Google standbys like Assistant, Gboard, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Fit, Google Home, Google Wallet, and YouTube Music. Samsung says that Audible will also soon arrive on the platform.
I really like the Watch 6's stock watch face, dubbed Fluid Number, a digital-format clock. You can customize the color of the background (black or white), the clock numbers (from many different solid and multicolored options), and optionally add one complication. I added a white background and pink numbers in honor of the Barbie movie, and the Timer complication for easy access during sculpt yoga (which often involves minute-long planks).
If you're not a fan of Fluid Number, rest assured there's no shortage of stock watch faces in both digital and analog format, and a seemingly endless number of additional options available for download via third-party apps in the Play Store (though some cost money). I also really like the stock Photo Sticker watch face, which features a cat by default, but is customizable with an image of your choice via your phone's Gallery or Camera. You can select and customize your favorites in the Galaxy Wearable app, then press and hold on the watch face to switch between them.
Galaxy Watch 6 Sleep and Health Tracking
Samsung is heavily promoting the Galaxy Watch Series 6 as a sleep tracker, so I tested its capabilities and accuracy as such. Though I generally prefer the less-obtrusive Oura ring or non-wearable solutions like the Google Nest Hub smart display for monitoring my slumber, Samsung's wearable was comfortable enough for overnight wear with its stock sport band.
If you plan to use the Galaxy Watch 6 as a sleep tracker, you might be interested in the new lightweight fabric band that Samsung launched alongside its latest smartwatches. I haven't tried it, but Samsung is advertising the fabric band as a "soft, comfy" option for sleeping.
To evaluate the accuracy of its sleep metrics, I wore the Galaxy Watch 6 to bed on one wrist and the Apple Watch Series 8 on the other, and the two wearables offered nearly identical measurements for my time in bed and actual sleep duration. Their sleep stage data didn't vary by much either, with both smartwatches reporting I spent about half of my slumber that night in the light sleep stage. Moreover, both said I spent about 30% of my sleeping time in the REM stage.
The Galaxy Watch 6 also tracks the consistency of your bedtime and wake-up time. For instance, I aim to get to bed by 11 p.m. and wake up by 6 a.m. daily, but the Galaxy Watch 6 shows that I typically fail to meet that target. "Even if you feel tired or didn't get enough sleep the night before, it's best to get up at your regular time," the Samsung Health app advises. "In the long run, that consistency can pay off with better sleep."
In the Health settings menu, you can optionally enable overnight measurements for blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), skin temperature, and snoring (a metric the Apple Watch does not currently track).
Its overnight SpO2 readings were slightly low compared with the Apple Watch Series 8. For the same night, the Galaxy Watch 6 said I had a minimum SpO2 of 88%, while the Series 8 measured no lower than 94%. The Pixel Watch also supports overnight SpO2 tracking but does not monitor snoring or skin temperature.
Samsung last year outfitted the Galaxy Watch 5 with a temperature sensor, but frustratingly didn't activate it for about eight months. Fortunately, this sensor works well out of the box on the Galaxy Watch 6, enabling actual skin temperature readings while you sleep, similar to a thermometer. After wearing the watch to bed one night, it said my sleeping skin temperature ranged from 91.4 to 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit. In comparison, the Apple Watch Series 8 and most other wearables with a similar feature measure deviations from your baseline, and report if you run hotter or colder than usual, but do not show your actual skin temperature.
If you have period predictions enabled on your Galaxy Watch 6, you can optionally leverage the skin temperature sensor for more accurate readings, a feature that the Apple Watch Series 8 also offers.
For it to track your snoring, you need to wear the Galaxy Watch 6 to bed and keep your phone on a nearby nightstand. When the watch detects you're asleep, your phone's microphone will then listen for snoring and can optionally record it. In the morning, the watch will report how many minutes of snoring it heard, and the Samsung Health app offers a graph of your data. For the same night, both the Galaxy Watch 6 and my Google Nest Hub smart display reported zero minutes of snoring.
Each morning after you wear it to bed, the Galaxy Watch 6 gives you a sleep score out of 100 to help you quickly gauge the duration and quality of your rest. While the built-in Apple Watch sleep tracker doesn't calculate a sleep score, third-party watchOS apps like SleepWatch support this feature. Most fitness trackers also offer a nightly sleep score, but there's no standard for calculating this metric so the results typically vary from one device to the next.
Samsung bases your sleep score on five factors: your total sleep time, sleep cycles, awake time, physical recovery, and mental recovery. The Galaxy Watch 6 series also offers a breakdown of your sleep score factors, highlighting any concerning findings in red. For instance, on a night for which I earned a "fair" sleep score of 69/100 (which I perceived as accurate), the Samsung Health app said I fell short on mental recovery because I didn't get enough REM sleep.
"You can't directly control sleep stages, but getting enough sleep and refraining from alcohol for 3 hours before bedtime can help increase your REM sleep time," the app offered.
After recording your sleep for at least seven nights, the watch will assign you a sleep animal (deer, lion, mole, shark, etc,) corresponding to your slumber habits, and provide a three-to-four-week sleep coaching program.
Galaxy Watch 6 Fitness and Health Tracking
The Galaxy Watch 6 automatically tracks basic activity stats including your steps, active minutes, and calories burned. For exercise tracking, the Watch 6 offers more than 100 options and covers all the basics like cycling, rowing, running (including a new option for track running), step machine, swimming, walking, and yoga. It also offers exercise profiles for free weight moves such as bench presses, deadlifts, lateral raises, and squats; sports like baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, football, and golf; wilderness activities like backpacking, hiking, mountain biking, and rock climbing; winter sports like ice skating, skiing, snowboarding, and snowshoeing; and water sports like aqua aerobics, kayaking, and water skiing.
If your preferred exercise isn't supported by default, you can easily add it to the list of activity profiles with a new custom workout option. When creating a custom workout, you can give it a name (I made one for Sculpt Yoga), and the watch will measure your duration, calories burned, and heart rate. When creating custom workouts for outdoor activities, you can toggle on an option for it to record your distance, speed, and route with GPS.
To test the accuracy of its fitness metrics, I tracked several workouts wearing the Galaxy Watch 6 on one wrist and the Apple Watch Series 8 on the other. For further verification, I compared the Galaxy Watch 6's heart rate measurements with that of a chest strap.
For a casual 30-minute walk around the neighborhood with my dog, the wearables offered similar heart rate measurements. The Galaxy Watch 6 reported an average and max heart rate of 95bpm and 115bpm, respectively, while the Apple Watch measured those metrics at 91bpm and 117bm. I also find that the Galaxy Watch 6's resting heart rate measurements are generally accurate compared with the Apple Watch Series 8 and a chest strap.
However, the Galaxy Watch 6 tends to lag slightly when detecting rapid heart rate change during workouts, which isn't uncommon for wrist-based trackers. Following a sprint on the Carol 2.0 indoor bike, during which my heart rate shot up from resting to 160+ bpm, the Galaxy Watch 6 took 50 seconds longer than a chest strap to report the elevated pulse reading, while the Apple Watch Series 8 only lagged by 15 seconds. On a second sprint, the Apple Watch surprisingly detected my elevated heart rate faster than the chest strap, while the Galaxy Watch 6 lagged by about 30 seconds.
For a 30-minute outdoor run, the Galaxy Watch 6 and the Apple Watch Series 8 offered similar measurements for my distance, average pace, cadence, and calorie burn, but their heart rate readings varied. The Galaxy Watch 6 said I had an average and max heart rate of 158bpm and 178bpm, respectively, while the Apple Watch reported higher measurements for those metrics: 175bpm and 184bpm.
As for my heart rate zones, the Apple Watch said I spent the vast majority of the run (27:11) in Zone 5 (Maximum), while the Galaxy Watch 6 said I spent 42.5% of the run (12:50) in Zone 5, 38.1% (11:30) in Zone 4 (Anaerobic), and 17.7% (5:20) in Zone 3 (Aerobic).
I tracked a second outdoor run, a one-mile jog, and Samsung's wearable was about 20bpm low compared with the Apple Watch. For that run, the Galaxy Watch 6 reported an average and max heart rate of 152bpm and 168bpm while the Series 8 measured 173bpm and 188bpm.
Both smartwatches track advanced running form metrics including ground contact time and vertical oscillation, but the Galaxy Watch makes this data easier to understand than the Apple Watch. Samsung's smartwatch offers color-coded graphs of your running form data, and rates your performance for each metric (as either "great," "good," or "improve"), so you can quickly see what you need to work on. The Galaxy Watch does not, however, offer wrist-based running power measurements, a feature available on the Apple Watch that can help you gauge your intensity in real time.
The Watch 6 can automatically detect and track certain types of workouts (including walking, running, cycling, elliptical, rowing, swimming, and dynamic high-movement activities), just in case you forget to activate the workout tracker. The automatic workout tracking feature has always been reliable on earlier versions of the Galaxy Watch, and the same is true for this generation.
Once you have been walking for about 10 minutes, the watch will alert you that it is tracking the workout and pull up your real-time stats on the screen. When you stop working out, it automatically ends the session. For walks, it tracks stats such as your calories burned, distance, duration, estimated sweat loss, heart rate zones, and steps, as well as your average and max cadence, heart rate, pace, and speed.
While I was teaching yoga one night, the Galaxy Watch 6 detected the activity and automatically tracked my calories, duration, heart rate (average and max), and heart rate zones for the session, classifying it as an "other workout." At the end of the class, it automatically stopped tracking and showed my metrics on the screen.
On the safety front, the Galaxy Watch 6 supports 911 dialing (press the home button five times) and hard fall detection, but it doesn't offer a car crash detection feature like the latest Apple Watches. The watch can also optionally notify you if it detects an unusually high or low heart rate, or an irregular heart rhythm that might indicate atrial fibrillation. If you get an irregular rhythm notification, Samsung advises taking an ECG from the Samsung Health Monitor watch app right away, and using the result to decide whether to contact a doctor.
An Incremental Update, But Still the Best Watch for Android
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 isn't a wild departure from the previous generation. The positive changes here apply to the display, which is now twice as bright with a slimmer black border, allowing for more active screen area without a bump in case size. On the downside, it backtracks on battery life, dropping to 22 hours on a charge with the always-on display enabled, or eight hours less than its predecessor. Otherwise, it continues to impress with its zippy performance, excellent touch bezel, ample app selection, and useful sleep and health insights. The Galaxy Watch 6 costs $20 more than the Watch 5, but it offers more health-tracking features and better durability than the Google Pixel Watch, which costs $50 more. It's also a tremendous value compared with the iOS-exclusive Apple Watch Series 8, which offers similar features and performance but costs $100 more. If you already own a Galaxy Watch 5, we recommend skipping this generation due to the shorter battery life. But if you're in the market for a new Android-compatible smartwatch, it's hard to beat the Galaxy Watch 6.
Samsung's Galaxy Watch 6 offsets its unimpressive battery life with striking display upgrades to remain the best Android-compatible smartwatch.
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