Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 review: making smartwatches easy

TechRadar Verdict The Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 brings simple but sweeping changes to the smartwatch experience, by making all the data it collects mean something. It compiles your info into useful figures and provides points on how to improve. It's also full of useful tools and is mostly accurate for tracking, though some of its tools work better than others. Bear in mind it doesn't offer the experience the most prolific exercisers will need, despite the high price. Reasons to buy +Provides useful, actionable advice +Reliable for tracking workouts +Lightweight and thin Reasons to avoid -Unimpressive battery life -It’s not a budget watch -Some features locked to Samsung phones Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you're buying the best. Find out more about how we test. Jump To: One minute review Specs Price and availability Design Features Performance Should I buy? Also consider How I tested Samsung Galaxy Watch 9: One minute reviewEvery time a new smartwatch is released, it’s sold on its ability to collect new and improved types of health data. Any old fitness tracker knows more about your body’s comings and goings than you do, but without interpretation, these figures, statistics and metrics are all just numbers to you and I. A graph of my blood oxygen through the day, or my HRV while sleeping, won’t tell me how fit I am.That’s why the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 feels like a breath of fresh air. Its core upgrade isn’t some new facet of health to track, or a different kind of number which it can count, but something simpler. It ties into recent Samsung Health changes to actually provide actionable advice based on your data.It’s the aggregate watch. All your workouts and body data are condensed into a Fitness Index, which compares your wellness in several different departments to other Samsung users on average, and helps you expand your exercise regimen to improve. Your sleep schedule, daily cadence and heart rate turns into your Energy Score, which helps you understand if, and when, it’s time to workout.Latest Videos FromTechRadarAll of that is to say, that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 is far more useful than most wearables I’ve tested, because it actually makes your data mean something. Its smarts may be unnecessary for prolific exercisers, who already know how to use their data, but the average person who cares about health but hasn't yet dived into their fitness with the same granuarity will find it incredibly useful.Perfect it is not. There are all the usual smartwatch quirks: navigation, and information locations within the UI, can sometimes feel counterintuitive, and it’ll easily pick up scuffs and marks over time. More significantly, the battery life is poor: it’ll go for about a day of use on a single charge, or even less if you’re doing multiple exercises per day, but this has always been a sticking point with Samsung watches.Some features are also only available if you own a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, and although one could argue that these are more minor tools, it’s still a shame that not all buyers get the same smartwatch.Still, this feels like one of the most accessible smartwatches you can buy, in terms of its feature set and performance. It’s worth buying if you’ve been on the fence, liking the idea of a smartwatch but never feeling like they justify themselves; this one does.Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inboxSign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.Samsung Galaxy Watch 9: Specifications Swipe to scroll horizontally Component Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 (40mm) Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 (44mm) Price From $379.99 / £349.99 / AU$647 From $409.99 / £379.99 / AU$697 Dimensions 42.7 x 40.4 x 8.6mm 46.0 x 43.7 x 8.6mm Weight 30g 34g Case/Bezel Armor Aluminum Armor Aluminum Display 1.3-in super AMOLED 1.5-in super AMOLED GPS GPS, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo GPS, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo Battery Life Up to 30 hours Up to 40 hours Connection Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 6.0 Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 6.0 Water Resistance 5 ATM 5 ATM Samsung Galaxy Watch 9: Price and availability (Image credit: Future)40mm Bluetooth model starts at $349.99 / £319 / AU$64944mm model starts at $399.99 / £349 / AU$699Available to pre-order July 9 The Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 was unveiled at Galaxy Unpacked on July 22, 2026, alongside the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra.There are many variants of the watch. You can choose between Bluetooth or LTE connectivity, in 40mm or 44mm size, in a range of body and band sizes and colors, with certain different types of band. You can see some of the prices below for the main four configurations. Swipe to scroll horizontally Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 prices variant US UK AU 40mm Bluetooth $379.99 £349.99 AU$647 40mm cell / LTE $429.99 £399.99 AU$747 44mm Bluetooth $409.99 £379.99 AU$697 44mm cell / LTE $459.99 £429.99 AU$797 At that price, the watch slightly undercuts the Apple Watch Series 11 – bearing in mind that Apple’s sizes are slightly bigger. However it’s slightly more expensive than the Galaxy Watch 8 was, which is sad but unsurprising in the current tech market given the supply chain crisis.It’s worth pointing out that lots of the new Galaxy Watch 9 features come from Samsung Health, and many other Samsung wearables are also compatible – and get many of the new tools as a result. They won’t be baked into the watch interface like on the Watch 9, but you’ll still get access to the new tools for cheaper.And of course, if you’re not interested in this aggregated data, there are budget wearables for literally a fifth of the price which will do the job just fine. If you need any old smartwatch or tracker, you can get one offering a lot better value for money.Value score: 4/5Samsung Galaxy Watch 9: Design (Image credit: Future)Relatively thin and lightweight: solid on wrist3,000 nits screen works well outdoorsUnchanged design from Watch 8To look at it, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 is incredibly similar to its predecessor. You’re getting the same circle display, housed in a squircle metal ‘cushion’. The similarities are more than aesthetic: design-wise, this is basically the same watch.That’s not a complaint; we gave the Watch 8 a five-star design score. It’s a sleek watch, with two barely-protruding but easy-to-tap buttons on the right edge. It’s small enough to be comfortable to wear in bed, and light enough not to wiggle around when you’re running or working out.The watch has a 5ATM rating for waterproofing (up to 50 meters), a MIL-STD-810H certification for protection (against extreme temperature, altitude, dust, drops and many more military-grade requirements) and is also IPX8 rated. That is to say, it’s pretty well protected… though it’ll show its war wounds. My review unit, as you’ll see in images, quickly picked up a few dings and scrapes.All these similarities extend to the screen. A Super AMOLED panel with a max brightness of 3,000 nits, it’s nice and bright for when you’re out in sunlight, or to double as a torch if you need one. Not once did I struggle to see what was going on. (Image credit: Future)Mostly, the screen was responsive, but a few times it wouldn’t recognize my touch if my swipe began off the screen (as the screen isn’t huge, it’s easy to miss on gestures). On the 40mm, then, some gestures can be a little finickity, but I don’t imagine this is the case on the 44mm model.You can buy the watch with Sport, Misty or Fabric bands, in a range of colors. My test sample had the former, which quickly gave me a rash; if you have sensitive skin, I’d recommend avoiding this strap. Luckily, loads more are available to buy online, and they’re easy to replace with a simple press-to-release catch system on the watch body.The watch’s user interface seems quite simple on the surface, but mastering it can speed up the way you use your watch. Swiping down for quick settings or right for notifications is easy, as is pulling up to see your app drawer. Swiping left brings you Tiles, which are basically on-watch widgets which you can customize. They let you easily see metrics, start tracking certain activities or see information from weather or calendar apps, and learning to use these properly transformed my time with the watch.It’s not quite perfect, and there are some navigation quirks which are quite annoying. It’s hard to change app on the fly; for example if you’re tracking your cycle ride while also navigating on Google Maps and managing your tunes on Spotify, you’ll constantly have to jump back to the main menu rather than swiping between menus. But these are minor gripes.Design score: 5/5Samsung Galaxy Watch 9: Features (Image credit: Future)Aggregates all your data for useful scoresOffers pointers and feedback which are mostly usefulRequires Samsung phone for all featuresThe Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 feature set revolves around the brand’s redesigned Samsung Health. The key note change is this: instead of simply recording and reporting all your health and fitness metrics, the watch (and app) will boil all your data down into several key metrics, and then provide feedback and analytics.Some are really useful. Fitness index was a handy way to compare my strengths and weaknesses in several departments, while Heart Health is a handy way to nudge you towards best cardiovascular practice. However not all are equal: Daily Cardio Load should help you decide whether you’re exercising enough, but it only takes into account logged workouts, rather than actual activity (ie, 20,000 steps will count for less than a 100 meter run), so its feedback doesn’t feel relevant. Likewise, the energy score felt light years from accurate; I’d wake up feeling exhausted, and be told by the watch that my energy level was ‘excellent’.But for good or ill, it’s great that Samsung Health actually does something with the data the Watch 9 collects. Features like the sleep score and sleep coaching, and the aforementioned Fitness Index, can give you useful pointers towards various goals. For example, the latter tool can give you recommendations to hit health targets, and show you data over time.Again, the results are sometimes mixed. Running coach – which is admittedly in beta – gave me a laughably incorrect assessment of my running habits, giving me a 4-week training plan which I could complete in two days. (Image credit: Future)Some might find the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9’s approach a little oversimplistic, and if you’re in that camp, you might need a device geared more towards pros.I was constantly surprised by what the Galaxy Watch 9 could track. You can use its sensors to measure body composition, stress and antioxidant levels in the body – obviously these won’t match the accuracy of an actual medical test, but it’s useful for contributing to the aforementioned metrics. I also really appreciated receiving a sweat loss figure during runs, telling me how much to rehydrate.During testing, I paired the Galaxy Watch 9 with both a Samsung phone, and later a non-Samsung one. Unfortunately, some features are gated for Galaxy device owners, like ECG or blood pressure, so if you have another device you’re missing some of the tech you’re paying for.Generally, Bluetooth connection was reliable. I had a few unexpected drop-outs, but most of the time, the watch could re-pair to my phone easily. Only once did I need to reboot the watch to regain connection.Beyond the fitness tools, the Galaxy Watch has plenty of useful extra tools like a torch, music controls and Play Store for extras. I really appreciated the ability to set vibration alarms, so my wrist-mounted wake-up call wouldn’t also rouse my partner, and set alarms on my wrist before bed.Features score: 4/5Samsung Galaxy Watch 9: Performance (Image credit: Future)Mostly accurate for exercises and sleep trackingBattery only lasts a day per chargeLots of activities to train, but they range in usefulnessLet’s start with one of the weak elements of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9: its battery life. In my testing, it generally lasted a day of serious use; by that I mean workouts tracked most days (sometimes multiple a day), a night of sleep tracking, and notification handling. In fact, during busy days, I’d have to top it up in the afternoon.A sole day of battery life isn’t ideal, as it means charging the device takes up a significant amount of your potential use time. By reducing my workout frequency, turning off raise-to-wake and reducing notifications handled, I managed to get the device to last closer to two days, but not everyone will want to switch off many features of their fancy smart device.When it comes to tracking activities, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 felt largely accurate. Its location results matched other trackers I’ve used, as well as GPS mapping tools, and heart rate data was comparable to another fitness watch I used at the same time.Sleep tracking was a little more iffy. The watch was great at recognizing sleep time versus idling in bed time, avoiding a common wearable problem in which your pre-sleep book reading or post-wake-up dawdle would count as more sleep. However it didn’t always catch my waking up during the night, and sometimes didn’t report all my sleep data after I woke up. Oh well – I was just happy to wear a fitness tracker which wasn’t so big that it disrupted my sleep. (Image credit: Future)The watch’s sleep coaching is quite useful: after a test, I was told I sleep like a penguin, and given some tasks to accomplish to get better rest. Since many of these are self-reported, I lied a little bit – yes, Galaxy Watch, of course I meditated before bed – but pointers to get out of bed quickly after an alarm were handy.Generally, the Samsung is adept at auto-recognizing pauses in your workout: when I stopped at traffic lights, it could tell when I was motionless, and when I’d resumed. It’s a little more unreliable for auto-tracking exercises though. When I took the watch on holiday and spent days wandering around a city, it’d sometimes track my wanders and other times neglect to. Don’t rely on this tool.The Galaxy Watch has about ten activities available to track via its menu, but you can easily add more from a pre-determined list, or create your own activity if your favorite one is missing (there was no bouldering, so I had to make my own). These are often quite basic – when making bouldering, I could only set it to track duration and calories burnt – but it all contributes to the fitness metrics.Done a workout? Good luck finding the data. As far as I can tell, you can’t see past workouts on the watch, even via the Samsung Health applet. You can see any done on that day on Samsung Health, but your long list of past workouts is hidden incredibly well within the app (I only found it by clicking a ‘View Records’ pop-up at the top of the app – not the other ‘View Records’ which takes you to your steps. It’s silly!) . Presumably, the brand doesn’t think you’re going to want to see historic data, but I often find this useful to check against.Performance score: 4/5Samsung Galaxy Watch 9: Should I buy? (Image credit: Future)Buy it if...You want advice, not numbersThe Galaxy Watch 9’s focus on actionable intel means it’s useful for general health users who could do with some advice, motivation or pointers in order to work out better.You want something lightweightI really appreciate how slender and non-bulky the Galaxy Watch is. You can run with it or sleep in it without it weighing you down.You want something that survives everyday lifeThis is no rugged Ultra watch, but its protections ensure it’ll survive normal life. No bumps, splashes or unexpected dust storms are going to stop it working.Don't buy it if...You’re on a budgetThis isn’t a super cheap smartwatch, and plenty of brands make good-value wearables for a much lower price. They won’t do everything the Samsung does, but they’ll do a lot.You don’t have a Samsung phoneSome features are exclusive to Samsung phones, which also have the necessary Watch software pre-installed.You need a multi-day deviceBecause of its low battery life, I can’t recommend the Galaxy Watch for multi-day use. Expect to charge it regularly.Also considerApple Watch Series 12Apple’s newest fitness tracker mostly offers AI-centric upgrades, but it’s still the best wearable for Apple fans due to its wide range of features and tools. You'll need an iPhone though. Review coming soonHow I testedI used the Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 for three weeks, wearing it on my wrist most of the time over that period. For the first week it was used alongside my Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, and the second two with the Fairphone 6 Plus.During that span of time I slept with it, wore it while working, and took it on a week-long holiday. I also tracked various kinds of exercise including runs, walks, bouldering, cycles and tennis, and used all of Samsung Health’s features all that time.I’ve been reviewing gadgets for TechRadar for eight years, and in that time have tested countless smartwatches and Samsung Galaxy devices. I’ve completed multiple marathons and am training for another, giving the Galaxy Watch 9 something to work towards. Tom Bedford is a freelance contributor covering tech, entertainment and gaming. Beyond TechRadar, he has bylines on sites including GamesRadar, Digital Trends, Android Police, TechAdvisor, WhattoWatch and BGR. From 2019 to 2022 he was on the TechRadar team as the staff writer and then deputy editor for the mobile team. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.