You've probably longed for an Apple Watch if you have an Android phone. It's a smartwatch that offers a wide range of apps, health and fitness tracking features, as well as a quick and intuitive interface. All hope is not lost. Although it took seven years to develop, Google's Wear OS smartwatch platform is now a viable competitor.
Samsung, Google and Fitbit developed the latest Wear OS 3. It was first launched by Samsung's Galaxy Watch4 Classic and Galaxy Watch4 Classic. You heard it right. Samsung, which has been developing its Tizen smartwatch operating systems for many years and producing a wide range of high-quality watches, decided to take a different approach with Google.
It is a pooling of Android phone owners into one smartwatch OS to encourage app developers to create apps for it. Both Wear OS and Tizen have had a shortage of apps in their respective stores. We all know what happens if you don't have enough (sorry Windows Phone).
Although it will take some time for new apps to be available on Wear OS, the Watch4 range gives me hope. If you loved the previous Galaxy Watches from Samsung, you will be pleased to know that the software feels largely the same with some new improvements (and regressions).
Good looks
Photograph: Samsung
The Watch4 ($250) is available in sizes 40- and 44-mm, respectively. The Watch4 Classic ($350) comes in sizes 42 and 46 mm. They look very similar internally, and both have bright OLED displays. However, the designs are quite different. The Watch4 is simple, while the Classic is more classic and sporty. The 20mm silicone straps are common to all sizes, but you can easily swap them out for your preferred design.
The Classic is made from stainless steel so it's stronger than the aluminum Watch4. The classic mechanical rotating bezel is still present, which allows you to move the edge around the display to navigate through the interface. The Watch4 uses a digital bezel, which does the same thing as the Galaxy Watch Active, but doesn't feel tactile clicking while you scroll through menus.
They are both attractive and round watches that fit comfortably on the wrist. But, is a mechanical bezel or stainless steel worth $100 more than a watch with a round face? It doesn't seem so. It is important to consider the size and whether you need LTE. Watches with smaller wrists will be more popular, but you'll end up with a smaller battery.
The 40mm Watch4 Classic and the 46mm Watch4 Classic were tested. The first was barely functional for a day without the Always-On Display (AoD) sucking power up. If I wanted to monitor my sleep, it had to be charged before going to bed. However, the larger Classic kept the lights on for over a day and a quarter, even after I had done sleep tracking. The AoD result was slightly lower, but it wasn't by much. If your wrist allows, go for larger sizes.
A Familiar Interface
Photograph: Samsung
If you had told me that this Galaxy Watch was running WearOS, I would have said "liar", liar and pants on fire." It looks almost identical to its Tizen predecessors. This is one of the changes in Wear OS 3.Manufacturers will have the ability to customize the software to suit their unique tastes. The left side shows all your notifications. The right side houses Tiles (a k widgets). A swipe down allows you to access the watch's settings.
