So to preface this, I'm a college student, I also do long distance jogging multiple times per weak, don't really work out much, my job involves driving around a lot, and I guess that's pretty much it relating to the watch.
I also own first generation Galaxy Buds and a Galaxy S10e, so idk how integration with those work.
Anything useful for people like me?
For me the most useful thing is never missing any notifications when I set my phone down and go to do something.
I've got the s10e and OG galaxy buds too, just got my GWA 2 last week and everything works great together, things I use the most are probably taking calls on it, music controls, and find my phone.
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So, it's been a week since I picked up my new-to-me Galaxy Watch Active 2 and I thought I'd leave a bit of a review for anyone pondering their next move after Pebble. Here's my thoughts in no particular order:
**Note: I did not pay full price for this new, I bought it used for $160 CDN. At that price I think it's solid value, but full price is steep.
Battery life: I'm happier than I expected to be. With the screen always on, you can get about a day and a half, so basically have to charge every night, but with always-on disabled, I'm getting 3 full days of moderate to heavy use on a charge, with about 15% left at bedtime on day 3. The watch activates easily when you lift your wrist, so I haven't found myself missing the always-on display. Is this Pebble-like battery life? Hell no, but I can live with it.
It looks great, beautiful bright display and nice-looking case. My only minor critique would be that the 20mm band feels a little slim, I would've preferred 22mm.
The stock band actually feels pretty good even though I don't normally like plastic bands, but I already have a stainless steel band I'm going to put on tomorrow.
Handles all my notifications nicely, with options to reply by canned message, emoji or dictation. Hell there's even a way to type directly on the watch like texting on an old flip phone, so reply options abound. (On Android, iOS is a lesser experience from my understanding.)
I can initiate a call or text from the watch, with the same input options as above. Same iOS caveat as above.
Lets me control my music. Also lets me download music directly to the watch, but I don't need that feature. One downside is it's on the touchscreen, so you have to look at the watch unlike a Pebble.
You can take a call from the watch. Not something I expect to need, but cool if you're not close to your phone and don't want to miss that call.
Full suite of health options, including heart rate tracking. That wasn't a concern for me, I'm happy with just a step counter, but it seems really well done and Samsung Health seems cool.
Really cool touch bezel to navigate the screen/scroll through messages/navigate to apps. Slick, works great and has a really satisfying haptic feedback 'click' as you move through the dial. Brilliant stuff, way more intuitive than swiping the screen, and also for some degree of no-look operation.
Beyond the bezel navigation is touchscreen, but there's a back button and a home button. The home button can be set to launch a favourite app/function with a double-press.
So far there's no big negative, and nothing that's annoying me. I miss my Pebble, but I think I'm going to be happy with this choice.
Is the galaxy watch or watch active two still worth it in 2024? I dont want wear os cause it got worse battery life than tizen so im looking on buying some secondhand galaxy watches, which one is better? In terms of screen durability especially