Samsung will soon radically change its smartwatch lineup with the addition of a squircle-shaped Galaxy Watch Ultra. It is Samsung's first-ever Ultra smartwatch, and one of the rumors that keep floating around is that it will cost a whole lot more money than any other Galaxy smartwatch ever released.
Excluding special edition models, Samsung's priciest smartwatch to date is the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, whose Wi-Fi and LTE versions went on sale in 2022 for $450 and $500, respectively.
The upcoming Galaxy Watch Ultra, which Samsung will announce on July 10 in Paris, is rumored to hit the market for a whopping $700. And for the moment, all I can say about that is I hope the Ultra is smooth as butter if this dares to cost nearly as much as a flagship phone.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra better be lag-free
Here's a bit of a backstory. I've used the Galaxy Watch 5 for about a year with almost no interruptions. It was the first smartwatch I owned, and I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring a new device category and forming new opinions about Samsung watches and wearables in general.
After all this time, I am convinced that one of the biggest Galaxy Watch issues is the software experience, which often feels unoptimized. Aside from the fact that most of the UI doesn't look and feel like it was made for a circular display, the UI can take minutes to feel responsive after a cold reboot — which you might have to do sometimes due to running out of battery life.
Things also appear to have gotten worse in time — whether because of fast performance degradation or new firmware updates. But regardless, using the so-called virtual bezel to cycle through widgets often feels laggy and disconnected. I find no satisfaction in interacting with the Galaxy Watch 5's UI. It's something I have to do sometimes for practical purposes, but it's never satisfying and often feels more like a chore than anything.
Now, it's easy to ignore these issues and not complain about a 2022 smartwatch I bought in early 2023 at a massive discount for about $200. However, looking forward to the launch of the Galaxy Watch Ultra, I can only hope it offers a vastly improved experience for its rumored $700 price.
The new Exynos W1000 chip, soon to debut with the Galaxy Watch Ultra, is said to be more than three times faster than the previous chip, which might help. Nevertheless, higher CPU frequencies alone might not do much against performance hiccups and a slow UI without proper optimization. And I very much hope that Samsung went under the hood and optimized One UI Watch for the Galaxy Watch Ultra and the Exynos W1000 in a way that deals entirely with all the performance issues that have kept the previous smartwatch models back.
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At the end of the day, I can't yet draw the line and determine whether or not the Galaxy Watch Ultra is worth $700. It would be unfair to call it overpriced before even having the chance to use it. Maybe it's worth the rumored price, and I'll have to see it for myself to believe it.
Even then, I can't say that in order for the Galaxy Watch Ultra to be worth $700, the only thing it must get right is the UI performance. There are other areas of importance. Nevertheless, I am saying that if the Galaxy Watch Ultra isn't buttery-smooth, it most likely is not all that money, no matter what other cool features it might boast.
Here's something to put things in a different perspective. I can't stop thinking that $700 is just $99 shy of the Galaxy S24's launch price. And if you've used the Galaxy S24, I don't have to tell you that it delivers a smooth and optimized UI that's a pleasure to use — even in Exynos markets.
I'm not trying to argue that the Galaxy S24 offers way more value than any smartwatch simply because it is a smartphone. I don't want to compare apples to oranges directly. However, for $700, the Galaxy Watch Ultra would undeniably enter the premium territory. And I sure hope it can deliver a premium-grade UI experience similar to how the Galaxy S24 does for its premium market segment.
Samsung will announce the Galaxy Watch Ultra and other devices at Unpacked on July 10. You can already reserve a device with no strings attached, and if you later decide to pre-order, you can earn $50 in Samsung Credit. Hit the button below for more details.
