Samsung is pushing the boundaries again with the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025. For me personally, the round-squared design represents a significant departure from what I was used to and what I personally found more fitting, but the upgrade after three years from my Galaxy Watch 5 Pro was already inevitable. But one thing is clear - I didn't like the design of the watch last year and nothing has changed this year.
The watch is precision crafted with a combination of titanium and sapphire crystal, ensuring a premium feel and exceptional durability for any adventure. Despite the distinctive design, which may not be to everyone's taste, it fits on the wrist in a balanced and comfortable way.
The watch is packed with advanced health and fitness sensors that provide accurate data on your activity, sleep, heart rate, stress and, in fact, overall health, including blood pressure and ECG readings. Athletes will appreciate the detailed metrics for a myriad of different sporting activities.
As for battery life, after a week of use, the watch lasts three days on a single charge. And that's with continuous heart rate and stress monitoring, always-on positioning and Wi-Fi. Plus, I wear them every day for sleep monitoring as well. I don't use Always On. Interestingly, my previous Watch 5 Pro with the same battery capacity (590mAh) and the same settings lasted a day and a half longer. However, I've only had the watch for a week and it's possible that it's still learning my style of use, so the final battery life may be longer.
A more critical tone is appropriate on two aspects. Firstly, the lack of the ability to reverse charge from the phone is incomprehensible. The manufacturer justifies this with a new type of sensors - similar to the Ulter last year.
Second, the incompatibility with the Samsung EP-P5400 dual wireless charger is frustrating. Watch 5 Pro already suffered from this three years ago. The strap prevents the watch from properly seating on the charging surface, making charging impossible. The solution is to "fasten" the strap backwards, but hand on heart - for a product with this price tag, this is a ridiculous solution, and just like the "fives", I'm going to spend a long time and solve this by replacing the strap.
Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 is undoubtedly a top-notch watch with many excellent features. They are for those who are looking for the best in terms of features and quality, but are also willing to accept the design direction and possible compromises in charging. I give five stars because I hope that the shortcomings in charging and appearance of the watch will make up for its functionality.