Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Buyers Guide

October 9, 2021 Off By Naveen Victor

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch4 is its best smartwatch yet. It’s the amalgamation of the lessons learned from the various watches that preceded it with the most notable among them being the TizenOS powered Watch3 and Watch Active2. Unlike previous years, with the Watch4, Samsung chose to introduce two aesthetically dissimilar watches that have identical underlying hardware.

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Credit; Samsung

Design
The Watch4 Classic borrows design cues from the Watch3. This is made evident by the chunky dimensions and slick rotating bezel. It’s a smidgen larger than the Watch3 (1mm) but in reality, the disparity is negligible. Samsung’s Watch4 on the other hand, is a completely different watch. It has a more slender silhouette that tapers off toward the bands.

This design was probably inspired by that of the Galaxy Watch Active2, which makes it a fitting tool for fitness people. The slimmer profile compared to the Classic, makes it a little more comfortable to wear and less likely to get caught on anything during a strenuous workout session.

Both watches feature IP68 rating, which means they are fit to withstand dust, dirt, sand and are resistant to submersion up to a maximum depth of 15m underwater for up to 30 minutes. To learn more about this rating, read Samsung’s explanation here. This means that you shouldn’t worry about getting either watch wet from sweat or when cleaning them.

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Sizes
The Watch4 comes in 40mm and 44mm diameters while the Classic comes in 42mm and 46mm sizes respectively. The smaller diameter sizes of each watch feature a 1.2-inch super AMOLED screen while the larger options feature 1.4-inch super AMOLED ones. The same is true of battery sizes with the larger ones getting 361mAh and 247mAh for the smaller ones.

Their screens’ glass is of the Corning Gorilla Glass DX+ variety. That means that they offer better anti-reflective optics and scratch resistance compared to regular glass. Corning also says that the DX+ offers 75% improvement in front surface reflection and 50% better contrast ratio compared to traditional glass.

Despite there being 4 different watch sizes to choose from, that still may not be enough to suit a wide range of wrist sizes. If you feel that your ideal size is between said sizes, then fret not because there’s a way to add ‘bulk’ to the overall look. Instead of getting the larger watch, you could opt for the smaller diameter one, then purchase a silicone protector.

The full-face silicone protector adds at least 1mm to the overall diameter. Take for instance my wrist size. An ideal watch for me would be one with a diameter of 45mm. However, neither the Watch4 nor Classic come in said size. As such, I chose to buy the 44mm Watch4 and added a silicone protector on top.

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Said protectors are relatively inexpensive and come in several different colours. You could use them to mix and match colours with various selections of sport and luxury bands. This way, you get to change the overall look of your watch with a few slap-on accessories.

Bezels
Both Watch4 and Watch4 Classic feature bezel support. The difference between them is that the classic gets a physical rotating bezel while the standard Watch4 gets a touch sensitive one. In order to activate this function on the Watch4, you’ll need to move your finger over its black border (bezel) that surrounds its touchscreen.

The Classic’s physical bezel allows for its display to have an edge-to-edge look. The Watch4’s bezel makes the display feel rather diminutive, despite it having an identical size to the Classic. This is something you’d need to consider when choosing between them.

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Sensors
The Watch4 family are fitted with more sensors than their predecessor, which includes the 3-in-1 sensor. It’s a single unit that can be used to measure blood pressure, detect an irregular heart beat, measure blood oxygen level and calculate body composition.

Body composition is measured by using key parameters such as skeletal muscle, basal metabolic rate, body water and body fat percentage. Using two fingers, your Watch4 or Watch4 Classic can measure your body composition and in 15 seconds, collect about 2,4000 data points.

Operating System
The watches run WearOS Powered by Samsung. It’s basically Google’s own smartwatch operating system that has been tweaked to perform better with the help of Samsung. The reason WearOS watches are close to suffering the same fate as the Dodo bird is because of its lacklustre performance and UI support.

However, that is not the case with the new WearOS. The UI and sensors work together flawlessly. It’s very rare that you’ll encounter lagging or app crashes. This can happen during a restart or when installing a new app, but such instances are few and far between.

All WearOS watches have access to the dedicated Play Store that is home to a plethora of dedicated apps and supporting one’s for those that are installed on your Android smartphone. This includes Samsung’s SmartThings app that you can use to control your favourite smart appliances which include smart TVs.

Buttons
The Watch4 and Watch4 Classic have buttons on the 2 and 4 o’clock positions. They can be programmed to serve a variety of tasks via the settings menu. This includes double clicking and long pressing the 2 o’clock button. There’s only the short press option for the 4 o’clock button.

Colours
The Watch4 comes in Black, Silver, Green and Pink Gold. While the Watch4 Classic comes in black and silver options.

Battery Life
Expect about a day and half worth of battery life on a single charge. This was achieved with the always-on display turned on for the entire duration of the test. The watch is smart enough to know when its not being worn and as such, turns off the display to conserve power.

Theoretically, the watch can last about 9 days on a single charge by turning off all functions including the always-on display and leaving the Watch face and time as the only active functions. The Watch cane charged via the magnetic charging adapter that is supplied with the watch. It takes about 1.2 hours to charge the watch from about 20% to 100%.

Price
In Malaysia the Watch4 retails for RM899(40mm) and RM999 (44mm) while the Watch4 Classic can be purchased for RM1299 (42mm) and RM1399 (46mm). In the US The Watch4 price starts at $249.99 for Bluetooth versions and $299.99 for LTE models. The Watch4 Classic starts at $349.99 for Bluetooth versions and $399.99 for LTE models.