Sorry Samsung, I am not a fan of the Galaxy Watch FE — here is why

Samsung’s mid-range Fan Version collection is admittedly good… besides when it’s not. For each Galaxy S20 FE and Galaxy Tab S9 FE that got here alongside and impressed us, we received a Galaxy Tab S7 FE with poor efficiency (and an excellent worse 5G-ready mannequin) or a Galaxy S21 FE — a superb sufficient cellphone however confirmed up means too late, and supplied too little within the course of. Extra not too long ago, although, Samsung has been increasing its fan-focused choices to incorporate earbuds and wearables, hoping to construct a whole Galaxy FE ecosystem. After spending a number of weeks with its debut Galaxy Watch FE, although, I’m undecided that Samsung is heading in the right direction with its first foray into FE-branded smartwatches — and right here’s why.

The Galaxy Watch FE places me in a troublesome spot proper out of the field. On the one hand, I like that it’s small, coming in a singular 40mm case. And but, I’ve realized that its tiny physique may be the one factor that holds it again most. It has the smallest battery we’ve seen on a Galaxy Watch in a couple of years, and it’s paired with the smallest show and thickest bezels I can keep in mind utilizing on a contemporary smartwatch.

The truth is, the Galaxy Watch FE feels quite a bit like a Galaxy Watch from a couple of years in the past, simply given a brand new identify and introduced into 2024 — as a result of that’s what it’s. Its dimensions, all the way down to the final millimeter and pixel, completely match Samsung’s smaller Galaxy Watch 4. It’s not simply the outside, both — the Galaxy Watch FE is similar because the 40mm Galaxy Watch 4 below the hood. You get the identical tiny 247mAh battery and Exynos W920 chipset that Samsung rolled out three years in the past, however they’re anticipated to compete in opposition to a brand new world of wearables. At the least it’s operating Put on OS 4 to match the Galaxy Watch 6, however even that’s now a complete model old-fashioned with Put on OS 5 now out.

Don’t get me incorrect, we preferred the Galaxy Watch 4 rather a lot when it launched in 2021, however that’s when it was leading edge. Since then, Samsung’s design has grown barely to suit a much bigger battery and show with smaller bezels, making its current smartwatches a lot simpler to make use of. And no, I wasn’t anticipating a Fan Version launch to compete with a flagship — that’s not what the collection is for — however I don’t suppose I used to be anticipating this a lot of a niche, both.

Sadly, the pint-sized battery holds a pint-sized cost, barely making it 24 hours earlier than it wants a cost. If I am going to mattress with something lower than 30% remaining on my Galaxy Watch FE, I’m assured to get up to a useless watch — or at the least a watch with excessive energy saving turned on. Perhaps I may stretch my battery life a bit by turning off the always-on show or tweaking my GPS monitoring settings, however I’d reasonably not have to surrender components of a budget-friendly watch to get an honest day of utilization.

For what it’s price, I do nonetheless like Samsung’s basic Galaxy Watch design, even reheated in 2024. I like the truth that the Galaxy Watch FE has constant bezels and a touch-based digital bezel. I like that it has revamped quick-release 20mm watch bands which might be straightforward to swap out and in. I even like Samsung’s two-button navigation reasonably than including a digital crown to scroll up and down — even when the buttons typically take a couple of press to reply. The Galaxy Watch FE is a handsome smartwatch, but it surely’s displaying its age.

Perhaps the true cause that I’m not satisfied by the Galaxy Watch FE is as a result of it doesn’t comply with the standard Fan Version development. Samsung’s current mid-range launches, just like the Galaxy S23 FE and Galaxy Tab S9 FE, have include at the least one thing to differentiate them from the usual fashions. Samsung gave the Galaxy S23 FE a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, a bigger show than the bottom Galaxy S23, and Gorilla Glass round an aluminum body to make it worthwhile. The Galaxy Tab S9 FE grabbed a six-month-old Exynos 1380 chipset and an IP68 ranking at a fraction of the price of the Galaxy Tab S9, too. You can probably name the Galaxy Watch FE’s Sapphire Crystal show and IP68 ranking its value-adding tweaks, however I’d have preferred to see extra in areas the place it actually issues like battery life and exercise monitoring. Talking of…

Samsung additionally payments its Galaxy Watch FE as an reasonably priced method to begin your health journey, which is… formidable. Sure, it presents automated exercise monitoring for issues like runs and walks, however the smaller battery, older chipset, and budget-conscious sensors are as soon as once more limiting — at the least for an already-avid runner like me. Samsung’s streamlined method might be excellent as you begin to run, however as you attain for longer miles and need extra in-depth info, you would possibly end up again in the marketplace for a greater health tracker with a for much longer battery life.

To indicate you what I imply, I strapped the Galaxy Watch FE on one wrist and my trusty Coros Tempo 3 (which solely prices $30 extra) on the opposite and headed out for an eight-mile run. Truthfully, the fundamentals have been fairly good. Each watches have been about even when it comes to logging my distance and fairly shut when it comes to monitoring my coronary heart fee — which is the naked minimal you may hope for from a operating watch. The Galaxy Watch FE skewed a bit bit larger all through my run, normally staying one beat per minute faster however typically leaping to 2 or three. It’s not excellent, but it surely’s shut for a wrist-mounted sensor.

As you may see on the map, the 2 watches had no bother following me alongside Baltimore’s promenade. They simply saved me out of the water or inside buildings, solely tripping up barely as I crossed the road at an angle. There’s a small spot the place the Galaxy Watch FE lower a nook too tightly on the map, however I’d reasonably have that than sharp jumps a technique or one other.

When evaluating the Galaxy Watch FE to the Coros Tempo 3, I run into issues after I search for extra particular metrics like cadence and tempo. The graphs under present extremely complicated numbers from Samsung’s watch, seemingly solely measuring in 10-second increments. Unusually, the readouts from the Galaxy Watch FE appear to be right, with the purple spikes coming fairly near the Tempo 3’s constant blue line, however the result’s that I can’t belief Samsung’s evaluation of my common tempo throughout a small part of my run.

In fact, you would possibly have a look at the graphs and level out {that a} devoted GPS watch ought to all the time be extra correct than a do-it-all smartwatch. I’d agree with that. Nevertheless, when you’re about to spend cash on a watch to begin your health journey, you’ll in all probability need to put it in the direction of a wearable that may develop with you reasonably than one you’ll have to improve earlier than lengthy. My eight-mile run was additionally brutal on the Galaxy Watch FE’s battery, chugging by practically 35% of the cell in simply over an hour.

The excellent news, although, is that Samsung’s different monitoring metrics are a lot, significantly better. It presents superior operating metrics as a part of the Samsung Well being app, which might measure your operating symmetry, contact time, flight time, and extra. I’m not totally certain the way it measures the size of time every of my toes is on the bottom from a wrist-based studying, however the Galaxy Watch FE appeared usually happy with my operating type. Should you’re used to exporting your operating knowledge and performing your personal evaluation, nonetheless, as seen above, Samsung’s knowledge turns into a bit more durable to make sense of.

I may also respect Samsung’s Sleep Rating, not least as a result of it thinks I’m an excellent sleeper. The Galaxy Watch FE considers a number of completely different metrics when measuring your slumber, together with time, bodily restoration, psychological restoration, and the general variety of sleep cycles. Put on the watch sufficient nights in a row, and it’ll supply sleep teaching that will help you enhance your rating.

There are a number of well being options that carry over from extra present Galaxy Watch fashions because of the BioActive Sensor, with monitoring for ECG, SpO2, physique composition, and extra (although the temperature sensor is lacking). However there’s one vital health-tracking metric lacking from the Galaxy Watch FE, although — the Vitality Rating. Samsung didn’t deliver any of the thrilling Galaxy AI options that debuted on its Galaxy Watch Extremely to the budget-friendly wearable, which means that it received’t offer you a day by day readout of your exercise readiness or methods to enhance completely different facets of your waking well being. This isn’t a lot of a shock as a bummer since I’ve begun to examine the Vitality Rating on my Galaxy Watch 7 every single day.

None of Samsung’s different Galaxy AI options have made the lower, both, together with advised replies when texting and the power to create summaries of your voice recordings. The Galaxy Watch FE additionally skips out on the power to race in opposition to your self whereas operating or biking, which seems like an oversight on a fitness-focused wearable. However when you will get all that additional energy for simply $100 extra, any oversight seems like an enormous one.

Perhaps the Black Eyed Peas mentioned it finest once they sang, “I’m so three thousand and eight, you so two thousand and late.” I simply didn’t understand that they have been speaking concerning the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE. It’s a harsh means to take a look at a budget-friendly smartwatch, however I don’t suppose it’s unfair on this case. Samsung’s $200 wearable may be very clearly a three-year-old smartwatch with a brand new identify, and it leaves a nasty style in my mouth.

To an extent, that new identify may be a part of the Galaxy Watch FE’s downside. Once I see Samsung launch a Fan Version product, I robotically give it a stage of expectations, whether or not it’s deserved or not. Sometimes, the FE collection sits above the finances realm however under the flagship, providing strong bang in your buck with a couple of tradeoffs to remain at combating weight. Perhaps Samsung considers these tradeoffs the truth that you get an unbelievable slate of health-tracking metrics and tons of apps to obtain, however I’m undecided that they outweigh a battery that hardly lasts a day and a 1.2-inch show that’s slowed down by its bezels — at the least, not in 2024.

And but, if Samsung have been to drop its Fan Version identify from this budget-friendly smartwatch, I don’t know what else it could name it. I imply, it’s fairly telling that the Galaxy Put on setup course of calls it a Galaxy Watch 4 when it prompts you to obtain software program, in order that’s all the time an choice: Galaxy Watch 4 II? Or, hear me out: Samsung may deliver again the Galaxy Watch Energetic branding to match its fitness-first mentality. It’s not totally honest to name it a Galaxy Watch A to match the budget-friendly Galaxy A smartphone collection, both, since there are lingering components of a flagship wearable in there.

Should you haven’t seen, I’m totally confused by the Galaxy Watch FE, and never in a great way. It’s an honest little smartwatch in a vacuum, pairing an approachable price ticket with wonderful health-tracking options. However, in fact, the Galaxy Watch FE doesn’t exist in a vacuum — it exists in a crowded market of Android wearables, a lot of which provide higher worth if you understand the place to look. And like Samsung did, the very best place to look is within the not-too-distant previous.

The current launches of the Pixel Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch 7 have made it the proper time to select up their predecessors. Samsung’s completely succesful Galaxy Watch 6 ($299.99 at Samsung) is all the way down to a value that matches the Galaxy Watch FE, but it presents a much bigger show and bigger battery. Google’s Pixel Watch 2 ($349.99 at Amazon) is well-positioned, too. It’s a bit dearer than Samsung’s budget-friendly providing, but it surely presents a slick, pebble-like design and Fitbit-based options which might be extra accessible throughout a wider vary of Android gadgets. Even OnePlus has an choice within the OnePlus Watch 2R ($229 at Amazon) with a 100-hour battery, Snapdragon W5 chipset, and dual-band GPS. Strangest of all, Samsung will even promote you a Galaxy Watch 4, full with the identical $200 price ticket, however do your self a favor and get one thing a bit newer.

If the Galaxy Watch FE will get discounted to the $100-$150 mark, then you definitely really feel a bit extra prepared to reside with the trade-offs, but it surely shouldn’t take a value discount for me to really feel like I may name myself a fan.