Samsung Galaxy Watch9 review
Design and build
There's nothing new or out of the ordinary with the Galaxy Watch9. It features exactly the same design as its Galaxy Watch8 predecessor with virtually no changes. The minor change is the weight - the newer model is 2 grams heavier, likely due to the larger battery, but that's about it.
Interestingly, even the colors haven't changed. The new Galaxy Watch9 is offered in Graphite and Silver. For this review, we have the 40mm, Silver variant.
The level of protection hasn't changed either. The Watch9 comes with IP68 certification against water and dust and can be submerged at up to 50 meters (5ATM). That's far from the 100-meter depth that the Watch Ultra2 is capable of, although the Watch9 isn't supposed to cater to the adventure-seekers anyway.
Armor Aluminum 2 is once again used for the watch casing, but not for its entirety. The underside where the sensors reside is made of plastic. It doesn't look good that we don't get glass there considering the starting price of the watch, but at least the screen is protected by sapphire glass, so it's nearly impossible to scratch it.
Galaxy Watch9
When it comes to straps, now all Galaxy smartwatches support the Dynamic Lug system. It debuted with the original Galaxy Watch Ultra and has trickled down to the rest of the Galaxy watches, including the vanilla and Classic ones.
And while it provides fast and easy replacement, it's also a proprietary lock mechanism, so standard watch straps won't work. You have to look for Dynamic Lug-compatible bands specifically, and that's quite limiting.
The default strap with which the Watch9 ships, however, is nothing special. It's a soft-touch silicone strap that feels familiar and is pretty light in hand. Of course, Samsung is offering a bunch of alternatives - some silicone, some fabric and lots of different colors, too.
