By Irishexaminer.com,Noel Campion

Copyright irishexaminer

Samsung has adopted a slimmer, lighter design approach with the Galaxy Watch 8. At 43.7 by 46 millimetres, with a thin 8.6-millimetre profile and weighing just 34 grams, this watch feels almost weightless on the wrist. On paper, the aluminium armour case, sapphire crystal glass, IP68 and 5ATM water resistance, plus military standard 810H durability, should make it a tough device. In reality, the raised screen looks and feels vulnerable. The exposed edges make me worry that one knock against a hard surface could leave it scratched or worse. As a loan device, I was extra careful, so I’m not sure how well it will hold up to regular use over an extended period of time.

I have always been a massive fan of Samsung’s more traditional circular watch design. Previous models carried a touch of elegance, whereas the Watch 8 feels more generic. It is clear that Samsung wanted to follow the rugged styling of its Ultra model, but in doing so, the Galaxy Watch 8 has lost some of the premium aesthetic that made its predecessors more appealing, at least to me. That said, design is subjective. Some may well appreciate its minimalist lines and slightly industrial finish.

The new strap lug system is convenient and an improvement over previous models. You press a button, and the entire lug and strap detach in seconds. However, this also means that older Galaxy Watch straps are not compatible unless you buy an adapter. This limits your options out of the box, though third-party alternatives are starting to appear. My review unit came with a white silicone strap, which is comfortable with a ridged interior and secure fit, ideal for wearing day and night.

The 1.5-inch Super AMOLED display is one of the Watch 8’s strongest features. With a resolution of 480 by 480 pixels and a peak brightness of 3,000 nits, it is sharp, colourful and easy to read even in direct sunlight. The touchscreen is highly responsive, although the touch-sensitive bezel can be overly sensitive, sometimes scrolling faster than intended. The display delivers an excellent viewing experience.

Features and battery life

Inside, the Watch 8 is powered by the Exynos W1000 chip built on a 3-nanometre process, with five cores clocked at 1.4GHz. This is paired with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, offering smooth performance and ample room for apps and watch faces. It runs Wear OS 6 with Samsung’s One UI 8 layered on top, providing access to the Google Play Store and a wide ecosystem of apps, including Spotify, YouTube, Strava, and many more.

The Watch 8 supports dual-band GPS, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi and NFC for Samsung Pay and Google Pay. You can make and receive calls directly from the watch, with a built-in microphone, speaker and dialler. Call quality is surprisingly clear for a wrist-mounted device, making it handy for quick chats when your phone isn’t close at hand.

Battery life, on my 44mm LTE model, was less impressive. The 435mAh battery promises up to 40 hours with the always-on display disabled, but in reality, heavy users will see just about a day of runtime, while lighter users might stretch it to a day and a half. A silver lining is the fast charging, where 30 minutes on the magnetic charger brings the battery to 50%, which makes topping up in the morning while you get ready easy enough.

Activity and smart features

The Watch 8 includes continuous heart-rate monitoring, blood oxygen tracking, ECG, blood pressure readings, advanced sleep tracking, menstrual cycle predictions and even skin temperature sensing.

Newer metrics, such as the antioxidant index and age index, add depth to health tracking. In contrast, the enhanced running coach and vascular load tracking bring valuable insights for those training seriously.

Samsung Health remains the hub for viewing and analysing all this data, supported by the Galaxy Wearable app for customising watch settings and the Health Monitor app for ECG and blood pressure records.

Workout tracking is reliable, automatically detecting the most common activities like walking and running within a few minutes. The built-in GPS is accurate and locks on quickly, making it ideal for outdoor workouts. I also appreciated the body composition measurement feature, which, while not something I used daily, gave a broader view of fitness progress over time.

As a smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch 8 integrates notifications, allowing you to reply to messages directly from your wrist using text, voice, or suggested replies. The library of customisable watch faces is vast, ranging from playful designs to professional complications.

Navigating through widgets and tiles is intuitive, and everything can be customised either on the watch itself or via the companion app.

While the Watch 8 works with most Android phones, several features remain exclusive to Samsung handsets, including ECG, sleep apnoea detection, irregular heart rhythm notifications, and Galaxy AI energy score if you’re paired with a Samsung phone. If you are outside the Samsung ecosystem, you’ll still get a lot of functionality, but not the full experience.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is an ultra-light, feature-packed smartwatch that delivers excellent health tracking and a superb display. However, it carries a premium price tag, and you’ll need a Samsung phone to unlock its full potential.

From €429 samsung.com