Image: Samsung
A few years ago, ZDNet writer Jason Perlow wrote about how his Apple Watch literally saved his life. The watch had discovered he was suffering from atrial fibrillation (AFib). This caught my attention. I suffer from serious panic attacks, which mimic heart attacks. So, I tested an Apple Watch, only to find that you need one to use an iPhone. Bad news. I am not an iPhone user. But now the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is out and works with every smartphone, including my Android-powered Google Pixel 3.
While there are many smartwatches, most are about fitness first. And, honestly, that’s not my first priority. I wanted a watch with great sensors for health monitoring and health apps. That’s exactly what Samsung’s latest smartwatch gives me.
Thanks to its photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor with 8 pulse-read optical photodiodes, the Galaxy Watch can monitor your heart rate and much more. It works as a single-lead electrocardiogram (ECG or ECG); as an oximeter to measure your oxygen level; and as a sphygmomanometer to track your blood pressure.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that although the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its ECG functionality for use in Class II, which is as a non-critical medical device, it has not yet released the application in the US. It is already available in South Korea. The ECG app is expected to be available in the States later this year.
The functionality of the oximeter is now being rolled out to US customers. I have it on my watch. It, and the heart rate monitor, both work well.
It comes out of the box with an excellent sleep monitoring app. It gives a comprehensive view of your time in bed. It provides a complete breakdown of your night’s sleep: Light, REM, Deep, and when you wake up, it also gives you a handy sleep score, giving you some context on how well – or not – you are sleeping
The watch also comes with a travel monitor. It detects if you have taken a nasty fall. If you have that and you do not start moving again, it will also automatically send an SOS message to a friend or family member.
While the watch is not as fully functional as I would like it to be, it’s on the go. Let’s move on to its other features.
There are two basic types of Galaxy Watch 3s: a larger one, with a 1.4-inch (45mm) display, and a smaller model with a 1.2 “(41mm) diameter display. The important difference is what’s inside. larger model has a 340mAh battery, while the smaller one only has a 247mAh.In practical terms, you can expect to get two days of working life from the more powerful battery and about half a day from the smaller brother.
Many reviews have harp about the disappointing battery life, but I do not get it why they are disappointed. The direct competitor to the new Galaxy Watch, the Apple Watch Series 5, has only an 18-hour battery life. Most smartwatches are hard pressed to match the Galaxy’s 48 hours of useful life. True, if all you want from a smartwatch is fitness tracking and a long battery life, then check out a Fitbit watch, like the Fitbit Versa 2, which can work up to four days. I wanted a different kind of smartwatch and that’s what I got from the Galaxy Watch 3.
Of course, you can get better battery life by turning off the built-in GPS and using other battery-saving measures. I was happy with the battery life I just got by running it at its default settings.
To charge the Galaxy Watch 3 you need the wireless charging charger. Although this is a Qi compatible, I’m told by other Galaxy owners that not all Qi chargers will work with their watch.
The display of the watch is first rate. The 1.4-inch 360 x 360 AMOLED screen is bright enough to read in daylight. It is also colorful and easy to use. With its Corning Gorilla Glass face and ISO standard 22810: 2010 water resistance, it is also sturdy enough to be recognized as a MIL-STD-810G compatible device. In short, it can take a toll and continue to draw.
In addition to using its touch screen to navigate, it also comes with a handy, movable rim. I find it with its firm feel a real pleasure to use.
All this is powered by a 1.15GHz Exynos 9110 Dual-core ARM processor. This runs the Tizen Based Wearable OS 5.5. Tizen is a Linux-based mobile operating system. While it does not have as many apps as the Apple Watch family, it does have a fair number of useful and entertaining apps. It comes with a built-in Spotify music app, for example.
However, the only contactless payment system that it supports outside the box is Samsung Pay with NFC. However, it does not support the older, but still prevalent, Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) standard. It will not use Apple or Google Pay either. For those, you need to use your phone.
For networks, the Watch supports 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi, NFC, and Bluetooth 5.0. It primarily uses Bluetooth to connect to your smartphone. You can also get a Galaxy Watch 3 with 4G LTE for about $ 50 more.
One interesting, and surprisingly useful feature is the watch also comes with a microphone. That means, as I wonder, you can use it to make or answer phone calls. Shades of Dick Tracy’s wrist-watch radio!
If you are like me, and always leave your phone just as it is running, this is a very nice feature. With the LTE model, you could even use it as a replacement for a smartphone.
Overall, I like this watch a lot. It looks good with its round face and it runs fast and smoothly. Sure, I wish it had all its health features today, but they are coming. If the opportunity to censor AFib and do ECGs is present, I will be completely satisfied.
However, today I am happy as a punch with my 45mm Galaxy Watch 3 with its list price of $ 430. The little brother will cost you $ 400. Unless you’re a big Apple fan, I think you’ll like it too.
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