Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 in Digit Test Labs: Familiar, but fresh

I just got the newly launched Galaxy Watch 9 for review and I had to wear it in place of the Galaxy Watch 4 (review) that I have been using daily for years now. While the Watch 4 was the first Samsung smartwatch to boot Wear OS, the Watch 9 is the first one to be powered by Snapdragon Wear Elite platform. So, that switch has got me intrigued. But I haven’t worn it long enough to tell you how much better the performance from the Snapdragon processor is. And even though the Watch 9 arrives with Wear OS 7-based One UI 9 Watch UI, a brighter display, a bigger battery and a signature design, only after extended use will I be able to tell you how long its battery actually lasts or how accurate its health tracking is. For now, this piece covers my initial impressions about what it is like to move from a well-worn Galaxy Watch 4 to Samsung’s latest smartwatch.

Galaxy Watch 9 first look: Still a distinct design

Coming from a rounded Galaxy Watch 4, the Watch 9’s squircle design would appear to be the biggest change. Unless you are a Galaxy Watch 8 user or someone who knows about Samsung’s adoption of this shape last year, this would look different from square and circle-shaped watches out there. While I wasn’t impressed by the renders of Galaxy Watch 9, the new form factor looks better in person.

And it is not fully squircle. Rather, the screen itself is circular, but it sits inside a squarer outer frame with rounded corners. The brushed metal frame offers a strong contrast to the otherwise sober green and black finish of the watch.

The squircle body is fairly thin at 8.6mm and sits flat on the wrist. It doesn’t feel too heavy at 31.5 grams. The flatter profile of the watch chassis sits nicely inside formal shirt and coat sleeves.

I just wish Samsung included more holes in the strap to accommodate people with very slim wrist, like me. Also, the strap has a proprietary release mechanism called Dynamic Lug System that makes it easy to swap bands, but you can’t use any spare strap lying with you.

Galaxy Watch 9: The upgrades I noticed

Samsung has given the Galaxy Watch 9 a Super AMOLED display with up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. The 40mm model has a 1.34-inch 438 x 438 display, while the 44mm model gets a 1.47-inch 480 x 480 panel. Both are protected by sapphire crystal.

Coming from the 40mm Galaxy Watch 4, the 44mm display here feels noticeably bigger, brighter and more striking. In the brief time I have spent with the watch, it has been easy to read both indoors and outdoors. And since Samsung introduced sapphire crystal with Galaxy Watch 5 series, I am hopeful for a stronger screen protection. It is said to offer better resistance to everyday scratches than regular Gorilla Glass. Let’s see.

Meanwhile, under the hood, Samsung is using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite platform with on-device AI processing, alongside a bigger 390mAh battery and the newer One UI 9 Watch interface based on Wear OS 7. The company says the Snapdragon platform is designed to improve responsiveness and efficiency. And among its new features, you get Gemini integration out of the box. That makes the watch feel more capable and, in some ways, more like the Galaxy S23 I use.

Besides that, what I have noticed so far is smooth animation, quick app loading and generally responsive interactions. But I am not going to call that a performance improvement just yet. I need to use the watch for longer and put it through the kind of testing I normally do before reaching that conclusion.

Also Read: Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 vs Galaxy Watch 8: specs, price and is the upgrade worth it?

Galaxy Watch 9: Health features I will be testing

The Galaxy Watch 9 also brings an updated BioActive Sensor system, a temperature sensor and features such as sleep apnoea detection, Daily Cardio Load, Heart Health Score, Vitals Dashboard, Fitness Index and Antioxidant Index.

There is a clear shift here from simply collecting health data to trying to make that data easier to understand. That is something I am particularly interested in testing because a smartwatch can give you plenty of numbers without necessarily telling you what to do with them.

But that health tracking and analysis will take a few days of use. Over the coming days, I will be looking at battery endurance, charging, GPS behaviour, health tracking, sleep tracking, workout tracking, notifications, app performance and how comfortable the watch is to wear continuously.

And as a long-time Galaxy Watch 4 user, you’ll get to know my thoughts as someone who has kept an older Galaxy Watch for years. Read on to know if the Watch 9 actually make daily smartwatch use better, or does it simply have a longer list of features? That answer will come in the full review.

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Also Read: Realme Watch S5 review: A good looking smartwatch held back by its software