This past summer, Samsung launched the Galaxy Watch9 alongside the Galaxy Watch Ultra2, its more rugged, shock-resistant smartwatch for outdoor adventures.
The Watch9 is the everyday option, and it’s a solid smartwatch and fitness tracker with a plethora of health features. It’s available in a 40-mm size in cream and graphite, and a 44-mm size in graphite and silver, starting at $80. Compared with last year’s Galaxy Watch8, it’s a modest update, though. There’s a faster processor, a slightly larger battery capacity, and an expanded suite of wellness metrics.
After two weeks of testing the 40-mm model, I wouldn’t necessarily upgrade to the Watch9 from the Watch8. But if you have an older Galaxy Watch or you’re invested in Samsung’s ecosystem and are looking for a smartwatch, the Watch9 is the best choice.
A Familiar (Squircle) Face
The Galaxy Watch’s main hardware update is its new processor. It now utilizes Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite platform, which Samsung claims enhances CPU and GPU performance along with efficiency. In testing, the watch responded smoothly when scrolling menus, launching apps, and dismissing notifications.
Wear OS 7 also adds more customizable widgets and live updates from compatible apps. One of the more exciting new additions is raise-to-talk for Gemini. Lift your wrist toward your mouth, and you can start talking to Google’s AI assistant. The Google Pixel Watch has had this feature for two generations now, so I’m happy to see Samsung finally catch up.
Samsung has also slightly increased the battery capacity. The 40-mm model has a 390-mAh battery (up from 325 mAh), while the 44-mm models get a 445-mAh cell (up from 435 mAh). Unfortunately, that doesn’t translate to an improvement in battery life, which is probably because it’s being used to power the watch’s expanded suite of health features (more on that later). Samsung still estimates up to 30 hours of battery life, but I averaged closer to 25 hours with Always-On Display enabled. That’s enough to get through a full day and night, but not enough to make charging something you can forget about. A full recharge also took me about 100 minutes on average, which is significantly longer than the 45 minutes it takes the Pixel Watch 5 to reach a full charge.
