Samsung Galaxy Watch FE evaluation: Nice, with one caveat

Samsung’s funds units do not usually obtain a lot fanfare, however should you ask me, they’re continuously the corporate’s most compelling choices. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is a powerful cellphone, however let’s be sincere, outdoors of Samsung diehards, most individuals are higher off shopping for the Galaxy S24 or one of many firm’s much more reasonably priced A-series handsets. So it is shocking that it took Samsung until this past June to announce a Fan Version (learn: funds) model of its common Galaxy Watch smartwatch. Much more shocking is how straightforward the Galaxy Watch FE is to advocate.

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Samsung Galaxy Watch FE

Regardless of costing solely $200, the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE seems like the whole bundle. It gives almost all the pieces somebody who desires to enhance their well being would possibly must get extra out of their exercises and sleep.

Execs

• Solely $200
• Strong health and sleep monitoring
• Shiny AMOLED display
• NFC included

Cons

• Massive show bezel
• Battery life might be higher
• Solely accessible in 40mm dimension

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Worth, specs, and availability

The Samsung Galaxy Watch FE is accessible in three colours: Black, Silver, and Pink Gold. On the time of the writing of this evaluation, Samsung is just promoting the Bluetooth model of the FE, which you should buy for $200. An LTE variant will arrive later this 12 months and value $250. As issues stand, the Galaxy Watch FE is accessible in a single dimension: 40mm. I examined the Bluetooth mannequin in Black.

What I preferred concerning the Galaxy Watch FE

It does not really feel compromised

After spending two weeks with the Galaxy Watch FE, the factor that stood out to me was how full it felt. From a function standpoint, there’s little that’s lacking right here. Take health monitoring, for example: Like its costlier siblings, the FE can course of 100 totally different actions. With built-in GPS and coronary heart fee monitoring, the monitoring is as strong as what you will discover on Samsung’s costlier wearables.

As a bicycle owner, I used to be in a position to configure the FE for zone two training. As you’ll be able to see from the pair of screenshots beneath, the watch made a dramatic distinction. On the experience the place the watch warned me after I was pushing myself too onerous, I managed to manage my coronary heart fee for almost 80 % of the exercise.

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I used to be additionally impressed by how rapidly the FE acknowledged after I was ready at a cease signal or purple gentle. Inside seconds, it will pause the exercise to make sure it wasn’t amassing junk knowledge. Equally spectacular are all of the supplementary well being options. Outdoors of a lacking temperature sensor, the FE gives all the pieces I’d count on from a contemporary smartwatch, together with sleep monitoring and blood oxygen monitoring. It will possibly even take physique composition measurements, and throughout the board, all of those options work nicely and are useful.

The FE will not be missing in trendy smartwatch options both. It comes with an NFC modem, enabling assist for cellular funds by Samsung Pay and Google Wallet. The one annoyance right here is you could’t reassign the shortcut Samsung set to rapidly launch Samsung Pay, forcing you to make use of one in every of your valuable few different shortcuts for Google Pockets should you want to make use of that platform as an alternative. Fortunately, you’ll be able to freely drop Bixby for Google Assistant.

Aside from a smaller 1.2-inch display, the FE shares the identical design because the Galaxy Watch 7. I did not thoughts the chunky show bezel, partially as a result of the FE’s AMOLED panel seems to be nice. It is vibrant, brilliant, and simple to learn, even in harsh daylight. With a watch face that contains a black background, the bezel can also be straightforward to disregard, because of the deep blacks provided by OLED tech. In contrast to the Apple Watch SE, the FE’s AMOLED show even comes with an always-on function.

One other space Samsung didn’t minimize prices on was safety. Along with being IP68-certified towards water, Samsung hardened the show towards scratches with sapphire crystal glass. I did not attempt bumping the show, however I did take the look ahead to a swim in a cool Canadian lake, and it got here out simply fantastic.

As I discussed above, Samsung is providing the FE in three totally different colorways. Value noting right here is that every mannequin comes with a color-matched silicone band. Moreover, the FE makes use of the identical clasp mechanism as its costlier siblings, so it’s doable to make use of bands courting way back to these Samsung initially designed for the Galaxy Watch 4. I discovered the band that got here with my evaluation unit made the FE snug to put on all day, together with after I went to sleep.

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What I did not like concerning the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE

Battery life is a priority

Provided that the LTE variant solely prices $250, it is wonderful all of the options Samsung determined to pack into the Galaxy Watch FE. For probably the most half, the corporate’s cutbacks really feel cheap.

Notably, the Galaxy Watch FE options an older Exynos W920 chipset, which Samsung has paired with 1.5GB of RAM and 16GB of inner storage. The corporate announced the W920 in 2021. On the time, it was the business’s first 5nm chipset for wearable units. However three years is almost an eternity within the cellular world, and the W920 is beginning to present its age in 2024.

From a efficiency standpoint, the Galaxy Watch FE is, at greatest, serviceable. Navigating Put on OS does not really feel as snappy because it ought to, with animations which are gradual to render. I additionally seen various hiccups within the two weeks I had the FE. As an example, after I went to log my every day water consumption, the watch would generally register my tapping however not add to my complete depend.

If the Galaxy Watch FE is your first entry into the world of smartwatches, otherwise you’re coming to it from an older gadget, I believe you’ll find the efficiency to be fantastic. Like I mentioned, it is serviceable. However what you’ll discover is the FE’s restricted battery life. That is as a result of, along with outfitting the watch with an older, much less environment friendly processor, Samsung gave the FE a 247mAh battery.

For context, the 40mm variants of the Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 7 function 300mAh batteries. In absolute phrases, a 247mAh battery won’t appear a lot smaller than a 300mAh one, however neither the Galaxy Watch 6 nor Galaxy Watch 7 are recognized for his or her battery life.

On standby, the FE can go about 34 hours on a single cost. In fact, even average use can dramatically have an effect on uptime. I think about myself an lively particular person. My girlfriend and I stroll a minimum of 10,000 steps most days; within the spring, summer time, and fall, I experience my bike virtually every day; and after a protracted, pandemic-enforced absence from the fitness center, I lately received again to weightlifting. In case your days look one thing like mine, be ready to cost the Galaxy Watch FE every day, particularly should you plan to benefit from its sleep monitoring.

On days after I wore the FE to mattress after which used it to trace my morning bike experience, it had about 35% battery after I arrived residence at round 8am. Discovering time to cost the watch wasn’t a difficulty. Though the FE is restricted to charging at 5W, the battery can be almost full by the point I sat all the way down to work at 9, supplied I took it off to cost shortly after strolling by the door.

That mentioned, I fear about how nicely the FE’s battery will age and what the watch might be like to make use of a 12 months or two after somebody buys it. Though I used the FE’s exercise monitoring function on daily basis, there have been different capabilities I turned to much less usually. For instance, I did not measure my physique composition on daily basis, nor did I exploit the watch to take heed to music on my bike rides. I used to be additionally frugal with the show’s always-on function. For those who’re an influence person, you are in all probability higher off contemplating one in every of Samsung’s different smartwatches or a competing option from Garmin.

Do you have to purchase the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE?

As I discussed above, probably the most exceptional factor concerning the Galaxy Watch FE is how full it feels. Positive, it’s not the quickest smartwatch I’ve examined, nevertheless it does include almost all the pieces else I believe most individuals may need from a health tracker. Battery life might be a priority down the highway, however should you’re somebody who’s simply beginning out on their health journey, that is the Put on OS watch to purchase.

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Samsung Galaxy Watch FE