I bought Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Ultra 2025 – here is why I am sorry the buyer

Last year’s Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra was my favorite Google Wearos smartwatch, so when I was the 2025 View Ultra With its new blue and orange color scheme that matches my USCG military service colors, I had to buy it.

It appears that the new color scheme (and twice the internal storage amount) are the only hardware differences between 2024 and 2025 Watch Ultra models, so if you don’t have a burning wish for the color, search for the 2024 model that may be available at a reduced price.

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That said, there are a handful of new software functions with Samsung’s new ones One onion 8 Update, including Running CoachGoogle Gemini (available with the push of a button), antioxidant measurements of the heart rate sensor and support of vascular load.

Note that none of these software functions is limited to the 2025 Galaxy Watch Ultra, so there are not many fascinating reasons to buy the latest model.

But if you are looking for more storage, expanding 32 GB to the 64 GB of the new model can be important enough for some people to jump for the new watch.

One reason why I like the Watch Ultra is the integrated LTE service, so that I can run safely without my phone and I also use the watch to save downloaded Spotify music to enjoy bone guidance headsets. With the 2025 Watch Ultra I can now load it with a huge collection of media content to motivate me to move.

With the addition of so many new apps for the Watch Ultra, that extra storage space may be more valuable than you would think for the first time. Media -playing apps such as Spotify, for example, are a must for many, while fitness -tracking apps such as Strava, Map My Run of Hole19 are some of the most downloaded.

All these take up space, and the advantage of that extra storage ultimately means more choices. This is especially handy with my new Z fold 7 that serves as a mini tablet, while the watch serves ultra as my communication trium device.

I enjoy running and after a few weeks I found the Samsung Running Coach To meet my modest needs. I am not going to win races, but I love the audible guidance and personalized coaching that offers this function, especially when it takes me two weeks to complete a week of a training plan. The ongoing coach under pressure is not gone to run more often, but is there to fit in my schedule and to support my efforts to improve my performance and train with some variable routines.

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Although it is nice that both years of the Galaxy Watch Ultra support the antioxidant index, I have to see no result than “low”, so that I question the usefulness of this statistics. Even if I spend a day eating salads and fruit, my index value does not change and I get no value from this test.

Vascular load is interesting for me, because I am now 56 and the health of the heart is now more important than in the past. Samsung is doing better than others to give you information about what every metric means and ways in which you can improve for better health.

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When comparing this watch with others, I have the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic For a few weeks and although I love the liquid redding ring, the small display and the limited battery life did not satisfy me enough to give up the Galaxy Watch Ultra. Samsung made this big watch for people like me and the price of $ 650 is still $ 150 less than the Apple Watch Ultra 2.

ZDnet’s buying advice

Thanks to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, I am back to the use of an Android as my primary smartphone and with that movement, the 2025 Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Is the perfect companion.

The long service life of the battery, accurate GPS tracking and heart rate measurements during running, and a large watch that fits well with my wrist means that I have a combination to cover all my adventures. I know that the color of something might not be much for many people, but the fact that I can show off my college and military service colors leads to conversations about the USCG and portable technology.