I've worn and tested every Apple Watch since its release in 2014. I was in the Apple Store on the first day of the Apple Watch's release, and for the entire last decade I've been wearing, wearing, or typing. about the Apple Watch.
But after years in the Apple fold, 2024 heralded a new opportunity to test fitness technology from the other side of the iOS/Android divide. I used the incredibly impressive Mobvoi Ticwatch Atlas and to close out the year I got my hands on the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is hands down the best smartwatch out there and one of my favorite pieces of tech, so I was really looking forward to seeing Samsung's answer to the rugged, durable and adventurous smartwatch.
But after just 10 minutes with the Samsung Galaxy Ultra, I was stunned by the absence of a feature I'd never considered that wasn't ubiquitous in smartwatches of all shapes, sizes, and manufacturers. I am referring, of course, to the digital crown.
my first samsung
I didn't realize the Galaxy Watch Ultra didn't have a digital crown until I put it on and used it for the first time. After successfully pairing it with my Samsung Galaxy Fold Z 6, I started playing with the basic settings and functions of the watch.
The first time I encountered a menu, I instinctively reached for the digital crown to scroll and, to my horror, felt nothing. I tried again but still nothing. “What the hell is going on?” I thought to myself, staring in dismay at the side of my Galaxy Watch Ultra. There, staring back at me was the Ultra's array of quick buttons, home buttons, and a Back button, with nary a scroll crown in sight.
The lack of a digital crown has made me question everything I thought I knew about smartwatches. In 10 years of covering and using the Apple Watch, I've had little reason to stray beyond Apple's walled garden, but I've never stopped to consider that some Android smartwatch models don't have a digital crown.
How on earth do you scroll on a watch with a digital crown? A quick purchase assured me that Google has adopted this indispensable technology with its Google Pixel Watch range, but I'm really surprised that Samsung hasn't jumped on board.
Challenging conventions
The Galaxy Watch Ultra is definitely an impressive watch and also one of the best Android smartwatches. It certainly relies too much on the design of the Apple Watch Ultra, from the more boxy, blocky design, the rear sensor setup, and the orange flashes, which everyone seems to have decided is the color of adventure.
However, I love the band attachment mechanism and the vibrant screen really brings out the colors. However, this emulation of Apple hardware makes the lack of a digital crown even more confusing. How did Samsung take so much inspiration from the Apple Watch Ultra and skip one of its most important and useful features?
An “ultra” smartwatch by definition is designed to handle outdoor activities. A world of mud, dirt, sand and water that makes a touch screen unreliable. Having a touch input like a digital crown is vital to retaining more control and functionality over your watch in inclement weather conditions. What's more, it's essential if you try to use your smartwatch with gloves, as I discovered on a recent trip to the English Lake District.
I use the digital crown on my Apple Watch every day. It's there to scroll through messages and emails, control the music volume during a workout, or quickly browse smartstack tiles.
Now I know what you're thinking and yes, I have used Samsung's Touch Bezel on the Galaxy Watch Ultra. I hate it. Not only is it not conducive to outdoor use for all the reasons mentioned above, but I think it hurts the user experience because your finger often obscures what you're trying to look at and scroll on the screen.
Maybe in time I'll get used to the Ultra's Touch Bezel and its lack of a digital crown, but the revelation that not all smartwatches have a digital crown has ruined me. I would challenge anyone who uses a Galaxy Watch to try their luck with a digital crown on any Apple Watch or Android alternative and tell me it's not a better, more tactile, more satisfying experience.
There are many things to like about the Galaxy Watch Ultra if you are an Android user. It's the most rugged and exciting adventure watch on the smartwatch market right now. It has excellent battery life and a durable titanium exterior, and is often marked down to the extreme, dramatically increasing its value.
Rumors about the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 are slim to none, but I'd say a definite update for the next version would be the introduction of a digital crown for scrolling that would dramatically improve the user experience. It's not a bad watch by any means, but a digital crown seems like an easy place to start when it comes to second-generation improvements.