thanks. did you manage test if it syncs properly to the iphone. my galaxy watch with the same OS doesn't sync to the health app unless i open it, and if i havent for > 4-5 days the older data disappears! do you have this problem?
liked just because you did an actual review of the features. Ppl review straight out the box or barely using it 😡 lol so I'm super glad I stumbled across your review
Agreed! I subbed to him as well, great content. I just dropped my first video as well on why I switched to Android from iPhone after 10 years. Honest feedback would be appreciated 🙏🏼
Coming from the military I would wear my watch on the flip side of my wrist (facing in, not away from me while wearing) and it hasnt skipped a beat since, maybe trying spinning that watch onto the inside of your wrist and there alot more veins which would essentially give you a better reading! Try it! Thanks for the video it was solid!
Yeah I was thinking the same thing to wear it on the under side of my wrist but seems to be doing ok on top so i haven't flipped it yet inconsistent readings can also come from not wearing the band tight enough against the wrist and can pose greater inconsistency.
@Maz this allows you to look at the time on your wrist without lowering your rifle, imagine your holding a rifle. and then imagine the watch is on the arm that isnt holding hte trigger because you wrist faces up to hold the rifle up. you can look and see the time. it alwso helps keep it out of the way form getting damaged and such. -prior service
@@cnsmooth hey joe I actually just got the active 2 and the battery is definitely longer but I’m reading you could get around 60 hours if you just use it for normal watch features but it’s been a while since I remember exactly but hope this helps!
I'm happy you mentioned the heart-rate escapes. I thought I'm special or have a broken watch. Thank you so much for the video. I have my Galaxy Watch Active for 4 weeks now and I face the same problem for the heart rate. Even in rest it seems to lock on double my heart-rate until I manually take a measurement with the watch and then I get a correct reading...still, in "Always ON" mode, it has a hard time measuring it - occasionally. Samsung Support doesn't really help even though I provided an accurate description of the problem. For me, it has better accuracy when I don't pull the strap too tightly - it's odd but I think once you start sweating, the sensors have problems determining the correct beat. By wearing it not so tight, there is less chance of sweat building up underneath the watch. These problems go away during sleeping, so it could also be that ambient light disrupts the readings. It was surprisingly accurate while swimming where other devices don't work at all. All in all I think it works great - is super light, so I can wear it while playing tennis. The heart rate thing is a bit odd but I know that the watch is capable of reading correctly, so I hope that this will be fixed in an update when enough people scream about it.
Would greatly appreciate an update for this watch. Im currently researching watches that would be good at accurately measuring stats from my swims such as laps, distance, strokes, swolf, etc. Would you say that the GWA measures these stats accurately? I swim 3x a week at a 25m indoor pool, 1hour each session so these stats are important to me. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
I love that you went over all of the little features. It's nice to be able to weigh the pros and cons before I commit to buying it. Will you be doing a review of the Galaxy Watch Active2?
I wound up returning mine. I wanted to like it so bad since I use a note9. The heart rate monitor just couldn't hang during workouts. Major bummer. Steps were off by over 1000 every day. The battery was terrible. Some cool apps and whatnot but who cares? For something marketed as an ACTIVE device it was severely lacking. I've now been using a Ticwatch pro for almost a week and, while it's not perfect, i've been impressed by the blend of acceptably accurate activity tracking and smartwatch features. Thanks for all your reviews 👍🏻
By far the most useful review. In depth fitness features, and HR monitoring are the open questions that I had about this watch. Now it's crispy clear. Thanks a ton!
Just found out about your channel, unusually very well put together video! Kudos. It's really hard to find such a detailed review on youtube for fitness devices! Subscribed! Looking forward to coming up video.
Love your reviews Des! I use my Galaxy active with my iPhone I've been extremely impressed with its heart rate accuracy even in water and stroke recognition! Its impressed me so much Im considering trading in my iPhone for an S10
Thank you very informative! I thought something was wrong with my watch because it would tell me workout is detected after I already started or sometimes it wouldn't have my workout at all
I have one and I love it. It's much smaller on your wrist and comfortable than other watches. You can't answer calls from your watcj but if you have a headset or wireless airbuds as soon as you answer it on the watch the call will pick up on your headphones. I can even start my music on it without taking out my phone. I sometimes forget I even have a watch on which is great.
Thanks for the review Des! I took a leap and bought it before your review came out and, I'm dissapointed. My first 5k run, I also had the HR problems, even thereafter it stuggled to start reading my bpm again. The steps are okay, but its def still off. The other major problem is how Samung defines a "floor". You have to move for 3m uphill inorder to register a floor climb. So me walking up and down my house's staircase registered NOTHING, but running the stairs at my office does improve the accuracy, because it is "longer" stairs... I am really not impressed as this is labeled as ACTIVE but it seriously lacks... You might aswell buy a Galaxy Watch cause the health features are lacking. :( i am going to return mine for a refund. I believe some of Fitbits cheapest watches might even do a better job at fitness. RIP Samung , such a shame
I know this video is a few months old, however I haven’t seen many reviews on third party apps ie Strava and Nike. Some forums detail a lot of problems with those particular apps. ALSO.... love to see a video reviewing the best third party apps for running cycling etc ❤️❤️❤️
I take that back!!! I see it in your gear sport iPhone/Android comparison. I had to do some digging but I had a feeling I heard you speak on it a bit. 😩😩😩 I am not worthy of your robust tech reviews 😭😭😭
Awesome review, really detailed, thanks! Do you (or does anyone) know if the heart rate issues have been updated/fixed by now? This watch seems to do everything I want it to AND it's not to big for my wrists.
Very useful review, thank you! Looking forward to comparison video, even though you already did a brief comparison here. It saddens me a bit that this watch doesn't seem like an all-around upgrade to MS Band 2, oh, well. Anyway, thanks again, great content!
Great video as always! In the next video could you include in the comparison the galaxy watch? maybe with the last updates it would do better than your last year video! Hope to see your next video soon :)
I purchased this watch this (2019) holiday season (and I got a nice deal for $120) but it just wasn't quite good enough for me. A new update enabled the haptic rotating bezel, but it felt awkward and didn't work consistently. I'm an iPhone owner, and I could definitely tell that certain features were missing because of that. Ultimately, the battery life is what got me to return this watch to the store. I was only able to get about 18 hours from it before it went dead. If you are okay with charging your watch every night while sleeping, this wouldn't be an issue, but I don't like getting down to the last few hours of the evening and seeing my device under 15% battery. Knowing that I'll be running on fumes as I get to my nightstand isn't my cup of tea.
Took a shot on this myself and ended up returning it. Samsung Health is it's Achilles heel along with the battery life. Even though the battery specs are largely the same I get much better life out of the AW4. And for pure sports tracking, Garmin or Suunto are much better and accurate. Great review though, glad it wasn't just me.
Thanks! And no it wasn’t just you. It’s a shame that over the course of 3 watches (Gear Sport, Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Watch Active) that there are very few improvements if any with Samsung Health.
Great review as always, straight to the point, short intro, very practical insights and clear. What’s the best way to count reps, that is apps or hardware, in addition to me counting silently?
I really wanted to buy this watch, but I was waiting for your review to make a decision. I'll be sticking with my Fitbit for now, hopefully next model will have a heart sensor that competes with apple's.
The watch says its not released for another 10 days, maybe they will get an update to polish off some of the issues when it launches. Samsung probably views these kinds of release videos too see the feedback. My preorder comes tomorrow ill see how mine works.
This watch was released on March 8th in the U.S. as I purchased it myself from a local retailer. This was not a pre-release version of the device that I tested.
hey man great thorough video. Samsung released an update a few weeks ago that allegedly correctly accounts for heart rate. Seems that the algorithm was indeed off. Have you seen if the update shows improvement?
Thanks for your review, was thinking about getting one of these and just subscribed. Could you tell me what you believe is the best device that tracks your running and cycling by gps, has the most accurate heart rate sensor and is best for tracking sleep?
Do you have any plans to review the Huawei GT watches? Loved your reviews of fitness smartwatches and really hope you can include Huawei devices if possible..
Thanks for all your hard work. I really enjoy the detail and scope of your vids. Great work! Now for a quick question. I have both the Amazfit Stratos and the Galaxy Watch Active, if you had to choose between them for heart rate data and fitness analytics which would you choose? And which would you choose overall considering all features?
That's a great review! I have never seen such a detailed and kind review anywhere else. By the way, can I ask you what version you used for this review?
Thanks for this test. I have a Samsung Gear Sport and it is such a good smartwatch with a Galaxy phone. My Gear Sport has 2 days of battery life with continue heart Rate and Always on Display all the day. I have just got Tizen 4.0 update and the using experience is better than ever. But this Galaxy Watch Active is smaller and it is better for people that have a email wrist like my teenager wrist size.
Thank you, good man! I stay with my TomTom Runner 3 while it works. I do not have to buy a new watch ... This watch is not a sports watch, Garmin is too expensive, Suunto and Polar do not offer a sports watch with everything like heart rate monitoring and MP3 player. In reality, I'm just thinking of buying a bracelet like Polar OH1 and running it with a smartphone. And wait for a good sports watch with everything for a reasonable price. Too bad that TomTom has stopped. Greetings from Germany.
So calories burned was always bad on the GW. One issue is obviously the heartrate dropping completely, the other is how Samsung calculates it's data. I could use Under Armor Record and the calories burned would match nicely to my chest strap, whereas the Galaxy would be 30-40 percent less. Gonna take a second and thank you for all your reviews. When I was dissatisfied with the GW I turned to you to get your views on Garmin and Suunto.
Thanks a bunch! I'm gonna have a follow-up video or two about some very odd things that I found - it's all related to some of the results I have in this video but ya, I think there is a bit of work that needs to be done under the covers.
Great vid! Just wanted to ask if you found the swimming lap and stroke detection to be accurate, because you did say there were issies with the galaxy watch in a previous video
it seems like Garmin needs to step in to the Wear OS market for people that want an active watch with more features. i had a Fenix 3HR and switched to the Series 3 because of the features that Watch OS had over it.
what apps are you using to review the data post-exercise, I've just purchased the watch and over the winter I've mostly been doing indoor treadmill running but can't seem to find the data to review the stats....could you/anyone advise pls ty kindly
What would you recommend from a fitness perspective (fitness, cycling, ...): Samsung Galaxy watch active or Garmin vivoactive music? Great video with all the needed information, thx!
I've been researching for hours on which fitness watch I want to buy. I find it incredibly overwhelming. Best review of this watch by far. What tracker do you recommend? Top priorities are HR and swimming. Any help, by anyone, is welcomed. (FYI, I'm using S10e, so no apple)
as far as HR go i would definitely stay away from any Samsung watches. They are all horrible at keeping accurate heart rate. Try fitbit or garmin if HR/swimming is your priority
Im also in the process of looking for an accurate tracker for swimming. Accurately measuring laps, distance, strokes/strokes per min, swolf, etc are things Im looking for. Im definitely interested in what you ended up getting or what you would suggest!
I bought it yesterday ,and i am an active woman ,but i was surprised when i saw the Calories count for my cardio class ,it was lower than expected , my friend which does the same cardio class but doesnot move as much as i do ,she burned 200 cal more than me!!! I don't know if there is something wrong woth my watch, also it was not detecting my heart beat all the time
Damn the heart rate performance is a deal breaker. Been wanting to upgrade my gear fit 2 and I was so close to picking this up but seems like it's not the one to get after watching this. Great video however.
Thank you, I was waiting for this review. I got a little over anxious and went ahead and ordered this watch this week before your review and now I’m a bit concern knowing that it had issues with the HRM. I was looking at the Vivoactive 3 Music, but decided on the Galaxy Active. I’m tempted to cancel my order now because I’m looking for a solid fitness watch. Maybe Samsung will issue a software fix for this issue.
Same here, vivoactive 3 music or galaxy active, i've got the active now 1 week and i'm glad that Des made this video, because this are my experiences as well.. So sad, the issues with HRM, i really hope they come up with an software update to fix it.
nice review - enjoyed all of your comments. Depending on how many hours a Day you wear your watch also plays a big factor - I am wearing mine from 5 AM - 9PM - which is 16 hours - I do use about 1 to 1.5 hrs of outdoor exercise and still factor that I would get maybe 30-32 hours (so for me 2 days). I do not wear it to track sleep though it is small enough to use it for that. I also will charge it every night. I don't use the Always on Display (AOD) - but might do that later. I find it a very comfortable watch and the responsiveness to the tizen interface is much , much better than the WearOS (I really wanted my TicWatch Pro to workout for me - but it just couldn't). Thanks again-
I actually prefer Samsung Health because viewing trends is very easy and because you can track numerous types of activities. I love thay level of detail! That's why for now, I'd go with Samsung. Haven't tried anything Garmin though.
Thanks DesFit 😘 Man i've been waiting for this review like ages 🤩 But sadly got disappointed by the HRM just like Galaxy Watch. Does firmware update will make it better or stay the same only time will tell 😣. I'm currently looking for a fitness focused watch with good HRM and GPS onboard at $200 and under to use it for running & outdoor activities. Can you recommend me the other devices that you mentioned at $200~$250 price range 😁
I'm not surprised you did not get any altimeter readings from this watch. I had one and it never once showed any floors climbed. Also I found that it does NOT support NFC payment via iOS so I returned mine. Would have used my android phone instead but they also do not support NFC payment w android unless it is a samsung phone. So please keep that in mind if you go to buy this watch. Otherwise it is actually a great little watch, but they need to open it up to more platforms.
Great video! I highly appreciate someone focusing on the fitness side of these devices. I was about to buy a Garmin VivoActive 3 and just discovered the Galaxy Watch Active... now it seems impossible to make up my mind. Any thoughts? ( subscribed btw :) )
@@tesabc I bought the vivoactive 3 in the end, and I am really happy with it. Here's my advice: if your main focus is on fitness, go with the garmin and don't look back; it's just better than the galaxy watch (+ the Garmin Connect app is amazing, and Samsung Health is terrible IMO). On the other hand, if you want something more general, or an actual smart watch with fitness functionalities, you'd probably prefer the galaxy watch. I hope this helps!
Thanks for putting the work in on this video. I wanted to ask about general fitness (treadmill, weight lifting) without using the specific apps. I am looking for a watch to keep track of calories but not have it be too much of a burden to use. Do you recommend this watch or something else?
I've had my vivoactive3 for a year and 5 months and I just want a garmin with a beautiful OLED screen. Functionality is far superior to Apple and Samsung but the LCD screen just looks so cheesey
I have Vivoactive 3 too, while OLED screen would be great. Just think battery life and full alway on display. I can go away for 5 days and not have to worry about bringing a charging cable for the watch, no GPS use in those days of course.
I would like the option to choose from GARMIN, either OLED and bad battery life or LCD and great battery life. Garmin has the best software hands down and I don't want to swap.
Love the video! I am so torn now on what to do. Switched to Samsung for the S10+, but I am avid into fitness and tracking my workouts. I got the Active to replace my Apple watch, but now I am feeling I should just stick with Apple.
It's tough because most people are tied to their phone of choice - no judgement, every one has their own preference. With that being said, Apple does put much more effort into the algorithms and underlying software. But Garmin should also be considered - not the display quality nor the robust smartwatch experience as Samsung or Apple, but excels in the fitness side of things.
@@30mattdavies I think Garmin is a worthy option, but the screen and interface is awful from what I have seen. I don't miss Apple, but I'm seriously thinking about getting the Galaxy watch as well.
Returned mine because just like other Samsung watches the hr monitor stops working mid workout because of some sweat build up... Pisses me off because I want a Samsung watch that works for my needs :(
