Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra vs. Apple Watch Ultra 2: Which should you buy?

We can't help but feel as though it was just a matter of time before Samsung released a competitor to the Apple Watch Ultra. However, instead of doing so last year to coincide with Apple's second iteration, the Galaxy Watch Ultra made its debut in July 2024.

These are two massive smartwatches aiming to help shape the future of wearables. Well, at least for those who need an extremely rugged and durable smartwatch packed to the gills with health and fitness tracking features.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra vs. Apple Watch Ultra 2: Design

At first glance, it feels fairly obvious where Samsung drew inspiration for the design of the Galaxy Watch Ultra. However, when you look a bit closer, the "squircle" case is familiar to everyone who has ever used a Samsung smartphone. Unlike the Apple Watch Ultra 2 with its rectangular screen, the Galaxy Watch Ultra sticks with a circular display.

The Watch Ultra 2 does gain a quick advantage versus the Galaxy Watch Ultra, as it sports a 1.9-inch OLED screen. By comparison, Samsung uses a 1.5-inch Super AMOLED display for its latest wearable.

Having a smaller screen, also means that Samsung is able to offer a heavy-duty smartwatch that's lighter than you'd expect. The Galaxy Watch Ultra weighs 60.5g, almost a full gram under the 61.4g from Apple's wearable. It might not seem like much, but could play a part in the final decision.

In terms of protection, it's pretty much the same across the board. Both the Galaxy Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Ultra 2 utilize a Titanium casing, with Sapphire Crystal protecting the display.

Both smartwatches also sport a 10ATM water resistance rating to meet the MIL-STD-810H spec. However, despite this and the IP68 rating, the Galaxy Watch Ultra lacks the official EN13319 standard for it to be used as a wearable dive computer. It is available with the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and was one of the points Apple drove home when introducing the original Watch Ultra.

To some, Samsung disappointingly ditched its rotating bezel, something that would've instantly given the Galaxy Watch Ultra a leg up on the competition. So when it comes to navigation, we have the touch screen along with a trio of buttons on the right side, which includes a rotating crown with an orange accent.

Apple also includes two buttons and a rotating crown. The difference here is the "Action Button" that sits by its lonesome on one side, while the rotating crown is joined by the "Side Button" on the other.

As seems to be tradition, both Samsung and Apple introduced all-new watch bands when these respective wearables were announced. Samsung made the surprising decision to utilize a brand new dynamic lug system, which looks pretty great, no matter what band you use.

There is a catch, however, as this new mechanism means that you can't use bands from the Galaxy Watch 7 or older Samsung smartwatches. This is something Apple managed to avoid, as the Watch Ultra 2 uses the same band mechanism as the other Apple Watch models. The only difference here is that you won't be able to use the smaller 40mm bands, and instead have to stick to either 45mm or 49mm bands.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra vs. Apple Watch Ultra 2: Hardware and specs

As mentioned previously, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is the larger of the two with a 1.9-inch OLED display, compared to the 1.5-inch Super AMOLED of the Galaxy Watch Ultra. Although the difference is enough to warrant a second look, those worried about being able to see the screen while outside can put those concerns to rest. Both of these wearables are capable of reaching up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness, which is just downright impressive.

Powering these smartwatches are two of the most powerful processors for wearables. Samsung's Exynos W1000 is paired with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, whereas Apple's S9 SiP does the heavy lifting. And while the Watch Ultra 2 has just 1GB of RAM, it sports double the amount of storage, making it great for downloading music, apps, maps, and anything else to your wrist.

Battery life is one potential point of intrigue, as both of these smartwatches can truly last for multiple days on a single charge. With normal usage, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is rated to last for up to 60 hours, but that gets bumped up to 100 hours if using the built-in power-saving mode.

That's still incredibly impressive, as the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is rated for up to 36 hours of battery life with regular usage. With Apple's low-power mode enabled, this number gets doubled, totaling 72 hours of battery life on a single charge. However, both options fall quite a bit short of what Samsung claims is possible with the Galaxy Watch Ultra.

Lastly, you don't need to worry about differences in connectivity. Both the Galaxy Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Ultra 2 offer LTE, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi, NFC, and dual-band GPS(L1+L5).

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra vs. Apple Watch Ultra 2: Health and fitness

The Apple Watch has long been heralded as one of the best smartwatches for its health and fitness tracking prowess. Our resident fitness guru, Michael Hicks, even says that "the Watch Ultra 2 makes it tough to go back" to using other smartwatches. That's all despite Apple's ongoing patent dispute, which has led to the blood oxygen feature being removed until some type of resolution is met.

All the while, Samsung isn't dealing with any such issues, and actually introduced a few new features with the Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch Ultra. The biggest change comes in the form of a new BioActive sensor, offering more accurate readings.

In addition to the new sensor, Samsung also introduced something we have yet to see on a smartwatch — sleep apnea detection. So long as your Galaxy Watch Ultra is paired with a Samsung phone, "users over the age of 22 can detect signs of "moderate to severe" OSA (obstructive sleep apnea)".

This was expected after Samsung gained FDA approval for the feature in February 2024. Apple has been rumored to be working on implementing similar functionality, but that has yet to come to fruition.

As for the actual sensors packed into these wearables, there's practically everything you could ask for, and more.

If you want to get a better idea of how the Galaxy Watch Ultra performs when it comes to health tracking, be sure to check out Michael's review.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra vs. Apple Watch Ultra 2: Which is right for you?

When it comes to making a final decision comparing the Galaxy Watch Ultra vs. Apple Watch Ultra 2, there is one obvious consideration to be made. Simply put, you can't use Samsung's watch with the iPhone, and the Apple Watch won't work with Android. Needless to say, unless you're willing to change smartphones, you're better off sticking within the confines of whatever platform you reside.

Putting that disclaimer aside, these are two of the best smartwatches that money can buy. But, you'll need to break out the checkbook as the Galaxy Watch Ultra comes in at $650. If that's already too expensive, then you won't even want to consider the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and its $799 price tag.

The designs are similar enough that this probably doesn't play too much of a role in making a final decision. Instead, it will come down to whether you find a benefit in Samsung's updated BioActive sensor and the FDA-approved sleep apnea detection.

There's also an elephant in the room, as we could just be a couple of months away from a third iteration of the Apple Watch Ultra. Besides that, we don't really think there's a "right" or "wrong" choice. Samsung and Apple have done an incredible job with these smartwatches, and little quirks aside, they are both excellent health-focused accessories.