[Closed] Samsung Galaxy watch

HR monitor works reasonably well for a wrist mounted one, will show your current rate on screen and save to the Samsung health app. Not sure if it gives you a graph or just your max, I'm never that bothered about it to check. Think you have to activate an exercise in the watch though
Strava works on the watch, but don't think it syncs your HR. Strava has a list of compatible devices for this

Wrist HR sensors are generally accepted to be crap for actual exercise.

Can't speak for Strava but I love my active2. I've got the 4G version so can go out without my phone and still have access to everything (Spotify, Samsung pay, MSG's and make/receive calls)

I've got a spare one bnib that I was going to put on classifieds/eBay once I can be arsed to go through the mountain of stuff I need to sell, if you're interested (will work without a 4G contract)

I've got one I was thinking about selling if you are interested. It's the am r800 one

I've got a Samsung S3 Frontier watch.

Overall I'd say it is excellent, however, the one area that lets it down is the HRM. It just doesn't record consistently and has to be in just the right "spot". I don't really mind as I don't use it specifically for exercise but if I did I'd want a strap for certain.

As a day to day watch for email, WhatsApp, activity tracking, etc, it's great. Looks pretty smart and actually watch like, which I prefer to the Apple efforts. I even use the a leather strap for work and many assume it's just a regular watch.

If you want to test the water have a look on Ebay. There are loads of Galaxy Active (original) watches BNIB as they were given away as an incentive with certain phones. I got one for £65 and one for £75 making offers.

The HR recording is as good as any watch I've used but then I'm not serious about HR for training, just for curiosity.

As a day to day watch it's pretty good too.

Had a Galaxy Watch but sold it and got a Garmin Vivoactive 3.

Samsung has an amazing screen and rotating bezel is great for scrolling through screens. The app store is rubbish - watch apps are largely rubbish anyway! It does<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> sync with Strava but due to some sort of issue with the Samsung Health app and Strava API, only a small number of activities globally can sync each day. So unless you finish an early morning ride, it won't sync with Strava until after midnight, so really frustrating. Also, the Health app doesn't use the same HR zones as Garmin so if you can't compare if that's important. I did find the HR readings to generally be ok but did regularly get wild readings.</span>

Much prefer the Garmin now. More reliable HR readings, no Strava sync issues and better for training. Still does the main phone sync issues such as messages and notifications too.

The Galaxy is a beautiful watch but definitely a smart watch that does a bit of fitness. If you're more interested in decent fitness info, go for a Garmin.

Just doing the same research and the new Garmin Venu/Vivoactive 4 is looking good. DC Rainmaker has reviewed both.

Just doing the same research and the new Garmin Venu/Vivoactive 4 is looking good. DC Rainmaker has reviewed both.

I bought my g/f a Vivoactive 4s on Vitality for £120 last week. It’s a superb bit of kit. I’m toying with a Vivoactive 4 or Fenix 6 Pro next month depending on what offer is on, but the V4 is a strong contender.... Venu nice but you pay in battery terms for the screen...

My wife has a Galaxy Watch and really likes it. It does do HR for Strava if you use the Strava app.
Interface is nice, it deals with notifications really well, and the health tracking stuff and pay is really good.

I bought a Venu a month or so ago and I'm really chuffed with it. It's definitely more sports orientated, does tracking stuff better, but the interface isn't as intuitive. However, HR tracking seems much better, and the battery life is waaaay better.

Do either of you have a battery life comparison of the Venu vs the VA4?   Its the one thing I've failed to find to convince me of which to go for.

I haven't tried a va4. I think my Venu lasts about 4 or 5 days, dependant on whether I use it for GPS runs/rides.

The battery life with the active2 is odd and I can't pin it down, when I'm at work it'll last the day but now i'm furloughed it lasts 3 days

K57...
The V4 is about 9 days. Venu 5 days off top of my head.

Hi

Have Gear S3 Classic and it is a great watch. I do occasionally use the Strava App on it for the odd walk etc but the HR is not very reliable. It will often give high HR values when you are just walking about. GPS etc is very good.

As a normal watch it is excellent, I get about 2 to 3 days out of a full charge. I use it for text, email, step tracking, sleep tracking, cooking timer, cool watch torch, daily wake up alarm (no sound just vibrates) etc etc.

Have some good Rolex faces from svartling.net if you are into that kind of thing.

Probably better off with a Garmin if you want accurate HR tracking for exercise.

Regards