Those in the market for a quality lifestyle smartwatch to receive mobile notifications and such would have two Samsung Galaxy watches to consider this year. Unlike the Galaxy Watch Ultra, the Galaxy Watch7 looks rather ordinary—in fact, it looks like the Watch6, which looks like the Watch5, which looks like the Watch4… you get the idea. On the outside, the Watch7 doesn’t really look like an upgrade.
So, the question here is, if you already have the Galaxy Watch6, should you upgrade? Our verdict is that there are some details that makes it a worthwhile upgrade if you own anything older than the Galaxy Watch6.
Here's our review of the Samsung Galaxy Watch7!
Editor
Jennifer chevron_right
Table of Contents
Samsung Galaxy Watch7 Specifications
- Processor (CPU): Exynos W1000 (3 nm)
- Display: Super AMOLED, 1.5” Sapphire Crystal
- Memory: 32GB
- Battery: 425 mAh, 10W wireless charging
- Operating System: Android Wear OS 5, One UI Watch 6
- Weight: 28.8 g (40mm)
Design and Display
Like its predecessors, the Galaxy Watch7 has a classic circle design and comes in two sizes, 40mm and 44mm. The 40mm Galaxy Watch7, which is our unit, definitely looks and feels better for small, "feminine" wrists as compared to the 44 mm Galaxy Watch7 size or the even bulkier Watch7 Ultra that's a whopping 47mm. We dare say that the 40mm Watch7 exudes a nicer touch of elegance than the others.
Still, the watch's size and strap themselves took some time to get used to. Initially, they looked too bulky but we eventually warmed up. plus, we could switch the straps so it wasn't a big dealbreaker.
The watch also sports a great viewing screen with a 1.5" sapphire crystal glass display, fitted with a Super AMOLED screen panel for ample brightness and readability. Under the Malaysian sun, we hardly had any problem viewing the rich, well-contrasted screen with any glare. Even in dim settings such as being out for an evening run; the sharpness of the screen made it easy to see regardless of constant aerobic movements,
One thing we wished could've come with the Galaxy Watch7 was the Watch Ultra's action button, which lets you access your most used or usually frequented smartphone apps.
Performance & Battery
Samsung’s new 3nm Exynos W1000 chip powers the Galaxy Watch 7, and while that sounds impressive on paper, we don’t really notice a significant performance jump. Yes, the watch runs smoothly—whether we’re scrolling through notifications or answering calls—but it’s not a game-changer.
The real upgrade comes from the 3-in-1 BioActive sensor, which tracks heart rate, blood oxygen, skin temperature, and body composition. These metrics are more accurate than before, but once again, the difference is subtle. If you’re coming from an older Galaxy Watch, this might be a welcome upgrade, but if you’ve been using the Watch 6 or even the Watch 5, the improvements feel incremental at best.
Sleep & health tracking
Those new to Samsung will be happy with the Galaxy Watch7 as it has all the health and wellness features you need, and then more. Apart from the blood pressure and ECG monitoring as well as sleep tracking, there's also the new Sleep Apnea detection feature and upgraded advanced AI algorithms for sleep analysis.
We're glad to say that sleep tracking were largely accurate. For our reviewer, it detected when they went back to sleep after a bathroom visit in the middle of the night. The Galaxy Watch7 also tells us how many hours of restful sleep versus how long we were in bed without proper sleep, how long our REM sleep lasted etc.
Battery life
The Galaxy Watch7 has a similar battery capacity as the Galaxy Watch6, but considering that the Galaxy Watch7 has a better processor than the latter, we were hoping for a day or two's worth of battery on a single charge. Unfortunately, we barely managed 24 hours of wear with it.
This is by no means an upgrade or a downgrade; the Watch7's battery life is nothing outstanding compared to the Watch6 and generations before. Or, maybe because the auto screen brightness was too responsive to our sunny weather here in Malaysia.
Other features
According to Samsung, the Galaxy Watch7 comes with even better ecosystem integration, with features such as "Suggested Replies" — to suggest suitable responses by analyzing previous conversations through Galaxy AI, and "Double Pinch Gestures", which allows you to easily control the watch without having to touch it.
Of course, if you're a colloquial texter (like most Malaysians), you'll find little use for Suggested Replies outside of formal replies to your boss.
Moreover, it works with not just only the Galaxy Fold6 and Galaxy Flip6; it also only works in the actual Messaging app, so the feature is limited to SMS texting—and who even does that nowadays? Yes, Suggested Replies on your Galaxy Watch7 do not work for other popular app message services such as WhatsApp & Facebook Messenger.
It would've been useful if it did work with other message apps. But as it stands, we found Suggested Replies to be a little useless on the Galaxy Watch7. Luckily, the Galaxy Watch7 is elligble for future Samsung software updates, so we hope to see Suggested Replies enhanced in the next patches.
Meanwhile, Double Pinch Gestures, required to have your fingers doing a 'pinch' gesture mid-air, are for customising what response you want the Galaxy Watch7 to do when using it. For example, you could skip a song, shut off alarms and pick up calls. A little note to add is that the pinch gestures require a small learning curve or accuracy to do; our tech editor did it easy-peasy whereas a non-editor colleague new to the watch couldn't carry it out on the first try.
For this review, our reviewer connected the Galaxy Watch7 with the Galaxy Z Flip5, so everything worked well, but one of the biggest limitations of the Galaxy Watch7 is that it only works properly with a Samsung phone.There is straight-up no support for iOS devices at all, and for other non-Samsung phones, you'll miss out on things like EKG and blood pressure monitoring.
Why Get The Samsung Galaxy Watch7
- Accurate health tracker especially for sleeping
- Great customisation due to strap and UI choices
If you are looking for more insights into your health, especially for recovery, the Samsung Galaxy Watch7 is a great choice. We find the Galaxy Watch7’s Sleep Coach and advanced fitness tracking to be very very helpful and would be great for those looking to get better quality sleep and to have more awareness when it comes to their overall health, fitness and wellbeing.
Of course, if you're coming from other smartphone brands looking to incorporate the Galaxy Watch7 into your life, the watch is not exactly for you due to its full potential only visible with a Samsung smartphone. But otherwise, it's still a fine piece of gadget that is useable on its own, minus smartphone notification services and such.
- End of review -