Galaxy Watch 6 Classic vs Galaxy Watch Ultra

[Blu-Ray]

Edited to correct name from Galaxy Watch 7 Ultra to just Galaxy Watch Ultra.

As some of you may have seen from some of my posts here, I've been running into issues with my watches. Mostly dealing with connectivity and OS bugs. This post is not about that. I know, shocker. This post is a compare and contrast of the GW6C and GWU from my experience not related to the issues.

I'll start with design. While I like the shape of the GWU, I prefer the moving bezel on the GW6C. Why? When working it and lifting weights, it's easier to use the bezel to update your work out logs rather than using your finger on the screen trying to go around the bezel.

Many times while weight lifting my fingers start to get sweaty and sticky. The GWU screen is harder to use when trying to increase or decrease numbers in the workout log. Many times while trying to increase a number I end up with the watch taking me to a secondary screen in the app I'm updating. With the GW6C the bezel makes it nice and easy to change the weights or reps in my log.

Battery life. Hands down the GWU wins this round. While the GW6C isn't bad, it's not great either. However I must add the battery life on the GWU is no where near what I was getting on the Apple Watch Ultra 2. I can get well over a day charge, almost two with the GWU. GW6C I can get about a little over a day if I don't do a work out. If I do a workout it's less than a day.

Watch bands: GWU band is the olive gray Ocean band. GW6C band is a light gray hybrid eco band. I am not a fan of either band to be honest. While I like the look of both bands and the general feel, neither have great excess band control. What I'm referring to is the part of the band that is contained under the band loops past the buckle. The GWU metal loop is nice but it has a tendency to slip during workouts and just in day to day activities. There's no way to keep it positioned at an optimal point like with the Apple watch band. The GW6C band has traditional loops. These slide all over the place. It's nice there are two, I just wish there was a way to keep them in the optimal positions. 

Screen: I really don't notice much of a difference between the two. They appear to be identical screens. I just checked and they are. 

Speed/app switching/etc. The GWU is somewhat quicker than the GW6C. However the speed difference is not very noticable. 

Durability. Yes I'm talking about durability and I haven't owned either watch very long. However, my GWU is a disappointment in regards to durability. I was under the assumption the entire watch was dark gray titanium. This is not the case. The bezel of the GWU already has some scratches in it and the metal underneath the paint is showing thorough. The paint is off pretty bad quality as I don't even remember hitting anything with my watch. The GW6C is all stainless steel from what I understand and as such should not have this problem. I can't speak for the black stainless model that's still available as I'm not sure if that's a black stainless or it is painted black ove the stainless steel. 

The GWU is LTE while the GW6C is Bluetooth. Can't really compare the two here. LTE appears to work ok on the GWU. 

In the end, if you've made it this far, and you're deciding between the two. In my opinion, unless you need the LTE, the GW6C is the better deal.Especially if you can find it on sale somewhere. 

[realaud]

As regards the watch bands. If you don't like the bands, Amazon and TEMU sell a good variety of replacement bands. I am certain you can find at least one you like better.

[RealityNeverLivesUp]

I miss the bezel so much. I interact with my Ultra less than I did my 6C because I hate pulling out my cleaning cloth so often.

As for bands on Amazon: yeah they exist and are cheap and essentially disposable but I really would have like to have an official band from Samsung in blue for my Ultra. I kept my Sammy band on my 6C its entire life. I'm on my 4th Amazon band for my Ultra because the buckles keep aging poorly and looking awful eventually.

That said: I do love my Ultra more for the battery life. Battery has been my biggest complaint about Wearables for years. FWIW I also needed to upgrade to LTE so that made the decision easier.

[PAHelper]

There is no 7 ultra it is just ultra. The watch 7 and ultra have double the storage and dual gps too.

[Blu-Ray]

Ok. GWU If it has dual GPS, it's pretty bad and doesn't work correctly. Battery life still could use mprovement to be considered ultra. Durability isn't that great either.

[realaud]

How long do you want your battery to last?  I am perturbed that I get 36-42 hours out of my Watch 7, when I'd be happy with 26 hours.  having it last longer than that may be convenient at times, but it throws my charging schedule off.  I prefer to charge my watch every morning, but I don't like to charge it if it's above 25 pct battery life.  Having it last so long also means I'm likely to forget to charge it until I get the low battery warning. I know I'm a loner on this issue.  I am actually very happy with the battery life, especially compared to my Watch 4 which, as it lay dying, only got 12 hours of life at best, so I was charging twice a day.

[Blu-Ray]

Well I'm not getting that. I'm getting barley two if I don't workout. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 I came from had the battery life you say you're getting with the GW7. For it being the competition it doesn't really compete.

I will add I've turned of NFC along with some other things and gotten better life. However, I shouldn't have to turn these off to get better life and close to what is advertised.

[realaud]

My average on the Watch 7 is currently 1 day 10 hours of normal use.  I don't have anything turned off, and the only workouts I do are walking, where I listen to music stored on my watch and track the workout (but not every day), and swim, where I put the watch in airplane mode, since neither BT, nor Wi-Fi, nor cell signals penetrate water and the watch wastes a lot of energy trying to connect.  I don't use raise wrist to wake, since every time you raise your wrist for anything, the watch wakes up.  I keep the screen brightness at about 80 percent because there is no need to keep it brighter than that.  I agree that the Ultra should have a higher battery life than the plain old Watch 7, but since it's a more powerful watch with a bigger screen, perhaps that's not feasible.  I am not sure if the batteries are the same size.

[Blu-Ray]

Yeah. I keep brightness at like 20% and turned of auto brightness. I'm thinking of turning off raise to wake. I'd love to use always on display but I'm sure that would just tank the life. LOL

[realaud]

Why would anyone need dual GPS?  You can't be in two places at once.