Just half a year after the first generation was released, Samsung launched a more sophisticated Galaxy watch active 2, which is available in two sizes at the same time.
The new watch active 2 is more textured and doesn’t look like a toy watch like the first one. It costs less than apple watches and is compatible with both Android phones and iPhones. Although Samsung’s iconic rotating frame design has been removed, some features have been added, such as sleep monitoring. So, is it really better than apple and Huawei watches?
fuselage
Although the new watch’s name is “active,” it doesn’t really look sporty, with only two buttons on the side of a clean aluminum body. It’s a watch for all occasions. You can wear it to exercise or go to work. It looks like it doesn’t offend you.
The two sizes are 40mm and 44mm. However, there is only one size strap in the watch box. So if you have a 44mm version of the strap, you may not be able to fit a smaller wrist. Fortunately, this is a standard 20 mm strap that you can easily replace. What we got was a watch with a rubber sports strap, which is soft and comfortable in everyday use. If you want more different watchbands to match different styles of clothing, you can also choose leather or metal strap.
Non rotating bezel
If you’ve ever used a Samsung smart watch, you’ll first find that the new watch active 2 doesn’t have the iconic rotating bezel of Samsung wearable devices. Although the bezel works well, eliminating it can make the watch smaller. After all, the design style of active 2 is lightweight and comfortable.
In the case of no rotating bezel, Samsung has designed a “digital border” function. You can slide your finger over the edge of the watch to scroll through the menu, similar to a physical watch circle. After getting used to this kind of operation is very convenient, although it is still not as reliable and intuitive as the real physical watch circle.
The watch comes with 15 pre installed dials, and more can be obtained through the galaxy wearable app, both from Samsung’s free dial and from a paid dial style. In fact, the pre installed 15 dials can meet the demand well.
Exercise monitoring
Since I came into contact with Samsung active 2 watch, what impresses me most is the automatic exercise detection function. It’s often impossible to record exercise on the apple watch, and the Samsung watch knows if I’m exercising.
Once you lift your wrist, the Samsung watch will display exercise information, including time spent, heart rate, calories consumed and other relevant information.
You can choose exercise items manually, and basically any exercise you do in the gym can be selected. You can also choose activities such as hiking, swimming, walking and yoga.
Heart rate monitoring can work stably and give correct readings. But GPS is not as accurate as the GPS module on a smartphone, so if you want to use it to locate, it’s not accurate.
Sleep monitoring
One of the features of Samsung Galaxy watch active 2 is that if you wear it at night, it will automatically monitor your sleep. I don’t like sleeping at night with things on my hands, but I tried wearing this watch, and there was no discomfort. Sleep monitoring is accurate, and you can learn more about different stages of sleep, including the duration of deep sleep and the number of times you wake up. And sleep monitoring consumes only about 5% of electricity in a single night.
Battery
If you turn on the always on screen mode, the battery will consume about 3% to 4% of its power per hour under normal use. Of course, if you exercise, especially if you need to use GPS, you will consume the battery more quickly.
Galaxy watch active 2 has a “good night mode” that you can turn on manually before you go to bed. While you’re sleeping, it can block notifications and other interference and only show the time. In this mode, the watch uses only 4% to 5% of its power overnight, which is very helpful for battery life. In addition, sleep monitoring can also be used in this mode.
Under the condition that the screen is always on, the 44mm watch we actually tested took a day and a half. Specifically, if you go out with a fully charged watch at 8:00 a.m., the battery charge is generally less than 50% when you go home around 8:00 p.m. This is slightly better than the 40% of the apple watch series 5.
Price
The price of the 44mm large size active 2 is 2500 yuan, and the smaller 40mm version is 2300 yuan, 1500 yuan cheaper than the apple watch series 5.
Despite the differences in appearance, the two brands of smart watches are clearly the closest on the market, with similar features, similar battery performance and comparable experience.
Although the price of the apple watch is much higher, it has some important advantages: first, it is much faster than a Samsung watch, and active 2 sometimes gets stuck. In terms of interface, apple is also more sophisticated, and the near perfect taptic engine makes the sense of touch better. In addition, the apple watch has a more convenient system and a quick replaceable strap. However, the apple watch works only on the iPhone, and automatic exercise detection is almost useless.
As for other smart watch brands, there is a cheaper Fitbit versa 2, which can provide better battery standby time, but it is much slower and less sophisticated than Samsung Galaxy watch active 2.
If you are keen on sports, Garmin series watches should be the most suitable, with battery life beyond active 2, and the screen is easy to read outdoors, but the operation is not convenient
summary
Overall, I like Samsung Galaxy watch active 2 very much. It’s very important to feel comfortable, the bright screen is also very practical, if with a leather strap, it looks very tasteful.
However, it is not as delicate as some classic watches, such as the apple watch S5. If you don’t want to be fettered by Apple’s ecosystem and want a watch that’s comfortable and reliable, Samsung is good.
advantage
1.It’s comfortable to wear on the wrist. 2.Nearly 2 days of battery life.
3.Sleep monitoring. 4.The simple design is suitable for all kinds of occasions.
5.Easy to change strap. 6.The effect of exercise monitoring is very good
shortcoming
1.Unable to switch dial quickly . 2.Poor sense of touch
3.Not as delicate as the apple watch. 4.The easy to use rotating bezel was removed.