Samsung Galaxy Watch9 review

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Introduction and specs

Undoubtedly, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2 stole the spotlight this year, with the Galaxy Watch9 looking more like an appendix to the Ultra. However, the Watch9 brings a couple of hardware upgrades that are worth exploring.

The most notable one is the chipset upgrade. Now the Galaxy Watch lineup is powered by the Snapdragon Wear Elite SoC, which is a departure from Samsung's own Exynos silicon. Also, the considerably more affordable Watch9 rocks the same chip as the Galaxy Watch Ultra2.

Secondly, the new Watch9 comes with an upgraded battery. The 40mm gets a 390 mAh one, up from 325 mAh, while the 44m variant gets a much more modest update from 435 mAh to 445 mAh.

Samsung Galaxy Watch9 specs at a glance:

• Body: 42.7x40.4x8.6mm (40mm) / 46.0x43.7x8.6mm (44mm), 32g / 34g; Glass front (Sapphire crystal), aluminum frame; MIL-STD-810H compliant, IP68 dust-tight and water-resistant (immersion up to 50m/5ATM), ECG certified, Blood pressure monitor, Armor Aluminum 2.
• Display: 1.34" (40mm) / 1.47" (44mm) Super AMOLED, 3000 nits (peak), 438x438px / 480x480px resolution, 327ppi.
• Chipset: Snapdragon SW6100 Wear Elite (3 nm).
• Memory: 32GB 2GB RAM.
• OS/Software: Android Wear OS 7, One UI Watch 9.
• Rear camera: No.
• Front camera: No.
• Video capture: Rear camera: No.
• Battery: 390mAh (40mm) / 445mAh (44mm); 10W wireless.
• Connectivity: LTE; eSIM; Wi-Fi 4; BT 6.0; NFC.
• Misc: Accelerometer, gyro, heart rate, barometer, altimeter, compass, SpO2, temperature (skin), BioActive, antioxidant index.

As before, the Galaxy Watch9 comes in two sizes - 40mm and 44mm. The former that we have for testing is clearly tailored toward women, while the 44mm version is more suitable for men who don't need the extra Ultra2 functionalities but just a regular, stylish smartwatch.

Aside from the modest battery update and the new chipset, the Watch9 isn't much different from its predecessor. We have the same 1.34-inch display for the 40mm variant and 1.47-inch screen for the 44mm one. Same sensors, same design, same everything. Though, most of you will be upgrading from an older watch like the Galaxy Watch7, for example.

Hardware improvements aside, some new health and fitness-tracking features debut with the Galaxy Watch9, so let's take a deeper dive.

Unboxing the Samsung Galaxy Watch9

The Galaxy Watch9 comes in a small retail box containing only the watch itself, the band and a proprietary 10W wireless charging pad.