REVIEW: Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2

I’ve had the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2 on my wrist for a few weeks now, through work commutes, the odd workout and more nights of sleep tracking than I’d like to admit to.

It’s Samsung’s flagship rugged smartwatch, built to go up against the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and other high-end smartwatch competitors, and on paper it ticks every box: titanium build, sapphire glass, a genuinely bright display and battery life that comfortably outlasts most mainstream smartwatches.

After living with it day to day, here’s where it actually delivers and where it falls a bit short.

Design & Build Quality

The Ultra2 keeps the same “squircle” case shape Samsung introduced with the original Watch Ultra, and it’s still the right call. At 47mm across and 10.9mm thick, it’s a proper adventure watch rather than a shrunk-down fashion piece, but at just over 60g it’s noticeably lighter on the wrist than I expected given how solid it feels.

The Grade 4 titanium case and sapphire crystal front give it a reassuring heft without being uncomfortable, and it’s rated to MIL-STD-810H military standards along with 10ATM water resistance and an IP68 rating, so I haven’t been precious about wearing it in the rain or the pool.

The three physical buttons, including the orange Quick button carried over from the original Ultra, are easy to find and operate. The trade-off is that Samsung still hasn’t given the Ultra a rotating bezel, unlike the Watch 8 Classic, so you’re relying on the touchscreen and the digital bezel around the display for navigation. It works fine, but I do miss the tactility of a physical bezel when I’m scrolling through notifications.

Software

The Ultra2 runs One UI 8 Watch on top of Wear OS 6, and it’s a noticeably smoother experience than the software on last year’s model. Menus load quickly, animations don’t stutter, and the new Multi-Info Tiles do a genuinely useful job of surfacing heart rate, weather and calendar info at a glance without digging through apps.

Samsung has also folded in Google Gemini as the voice assistant, replacing Bixby for most practical purposes, and it handles simple requests like starting a workout or setting a timer reliably. Ask it anything more complex and it can get a bit vague, but for day-to-day use on the wrist that’s rarely an issue.

Samsung Health remains the backbone of the experience, and it’s matured into a properly capable platform now, pulling in sleep, heart rate and activity data into a daily Energy Score that’s a genuinely useful shorthand for how hard to push yourself. If you’re already in the Samsung or wider Android ecosystem, the integration is seamless. iPhone users need not apply, this is still an Android-only watch.

Usability & Features

Where the Ultra2 earns its keep is in the everyday details. Dual-frequency GPS locked on quickly and stayed accurate on commutes to the office through areas with tall buildings and tree cover, somewhere cheaper watches tend to wander.

The newer health features, including Vascular Load and the Antioxidant Index, are interesting additions rather than essential ones, and I found myself checking them out of curiosity more than relying on them for training decisions. Running Coach is more practically useful, offering structured guidance rather than just raw numbers.

The 64GB of onboard storage, double the previous generation, means you can load offline maps and a decent amount of music without having to be selective about what you sync. Sleep tracking is thorough, though I still find a titanium watch a little bulky to wear comfortably every single night.

Battery

This is the Ultra2’s strongest card. Samsung rates the 590mAh battery at up to 48 hours with typical use, including the always-on display, and up to 100 hours in power saving mode. In practice, with the always-on display switched on, I was getting a solid two days per charge, occasionally stretching into a third if I went easier on tracking.

That’s a genuine advantage over most mainstream smartwatches, including Samsung’s own Watch 8 range, and it means you’re not tied to a charger every single night. When you do need to top up, 25W fast charging gets you back to a usable level quickly.

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2 is a well-built, genuinely useful smartwatch rather than just a bigger, tougher version of the standard Galaxy Watch. The titanium build feels properly premium, the software is faster and more coherent than before, and the battery life is the standout feature that actually changes how you use the watch day to day.

It’s not without quirks, the lack of a rotating bezel still feels like an odd omission at this price, and some of the newer AI health metrics are more novelty than necessity. But if you’re an Android user after a rugged, long-lasting smartwatch that can handle serious training as easily as everyday notifications, this is one of the most complete options out there right now.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2 Pricing & Availability

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2 is available directly from Samsung’s online Irish store, with the single 47mm 4G/LTE + Bluetooth/Wi-Fi model starting at €749.