Specifically, Samsung is selling red, orange, dark blue, olive green, and white watch bands, in addition to the four standard colors mentioned above. If you have several, the bands can be mixed and matched to your liking.
Display and Watch Faces
The touch screen found on the Galaxy Watch 4 uses AMOLED technology. The 40mm smartwatch is fitted with a 1.19-inch display and the 44mm model uses a slightly bigger 1.36-inch panel.Both offer deep blacks, nice colors, and a decent level of brightness. However, we viewed the Galaxy Watch 4 in a well-lit room, so we’ll wait for the review before making any firm conclusions on that front.
What about the watch faces? Well, Samsung has included quite a few of its own, but third-party developers are able to create more options for the Galaxy Watch 4, so you’ll have access through Google’s app ecosystem to a long list that’ll continue to expand over time. The downside is that Tizen watch faces won’t be transferable.
Software, Health, and Performance
Beyond its design, the most exciting thing about the Galaxy Watch 4 is its software. Instead of using Samsung’s own Tizen software, the smartwatch runs the Wear OS 3 platform straight out of the box.
It felt smooth and responsive in person, but also familiar thanks to the One UI Watch interface that Samsung has added on top. The biggest change versus Tizen-powered Galaxy Watches is the catalog of apps, which now includes Google’s offerings.
All of that is backed by the new Exynos W920 chipset built on the 5-nanometer manufacturing process. Samsung has also thrown in 1.5GB of RAM and 16GB of storage to ensure you have no performance issues.
On the topic of health features, it’s clear that the brand isn’t cutting any corners. Like most modern smartwatches, the Galaxy Watch 4 can automatically detect several activities and can track even more. Added health benefits like menstrual cycle tracking and stress monitoring are part of the package too.
If that wasn’t enough, the Galaxy Watch 4 includes what Samsung is calling a BioActive Sensor, essentially three health features in one package. Specifically, the BioActive sensor consists of an optical heart rate monitor paired with an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor and a Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis sensor, the latter of which measures body fat.
Battery life
The 40mm Galaxy Watch 4 includes a 247mAh battery and the 44mm edition uses a 361mAh cell. We weren’t able to test out battery life during our brief hands-on with the smartwatches, so you’ll have to wait for our full review for those results, but Samsung says that both models can last up to 40 hours on a single charge, with a quick 30-minute charge giving the watch enough to last 10 hours.
