Apple Watch Ultra 4 vs. Galaxy Watch Ultra 2: Their features, durability and screens compared

This year brought a pair of timely updates to some of the premium smartwatch lines on the market. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 both debuted this summer, and the premium wearables have quite a bit in common. Beyond the obvious personal preference for one product ecosystem over another, here’s a look at the features and specs these two smartwatches bring to your wrist.

These devices are aligned in terms of materials, both made with titanium bodies. Samsung offers gray or silver options while Apple offers black or natural shades. Both offer a range of neutral and colorful wristband options in different material options, so you can choose something that matches your aesthetic and fitness requirements. Fashionistas may appreciate the ongoing collaboration between Apple and Hermés, which brings the Ultra 4 a titanium bracelet and a pair of unique ocean-themed dials.

As you would expect for a high-end activity-focused smartwatch, they also both rate highly for durability. The Apple model has an IP6X dust resistance rating, can be submerged up to 100 meters and has an EN13319 depth rating. Samsung has the same EN13319 rating and 100 meters submersion, as well as IP69K dust and water resistance. Either is a valid option for serious swimmers and divers.

As you might expect from devices that sit in separate hardware silos, the innards of these watches are completely different. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 has a Snapdragon Wear Elite chip and comes with Google Gemini AI Assistant. It has 64 GB of storage and 2 GB of memory.

Apple has the company’s new Siri and S11 chip, which means it will support the controversial Audio Intelligence features that are also coming to its new Watch Series 12. It includes 64GB of storage.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is 10.7mm thick and the screen is 1.52 inches wide. The screen is slightly larger than that of the previous Galaxy Watch Ultra, but it has become considerably thinner in depth compared to its predecessor. Its design is similar to the original Ultra, with a circular Super AMOLED screen placed in a rounded square frame.

Apple’s offering is a little broader in all areas. It has a depth of 12mm while the rectangular screen measures 49mm high and 44mm wide (~1.9 inches by 1.7 inches). The company has kept its Retina technology on a wide-angle LTPO3 OLED display.

One of the most notable distinctions between the displays is peak brightness, with the Galaxy option hitting 5,000 nits, compared to a peak of 3,000 for the Apple Watch. If you have trouble reading a smartwatch screen in bright sunlight, the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2’s higher cap could help alleviate the problem.

Apple claims its Watch Ultra 4 can provide up to 50 hours of battery life, or up to 84 hours in low power mode. This wearable also offers some flexibility in how it can be more efficient when using location data thanks to the Extended Workout Mode, which provides 25 hours of battery life during continuous GPS and heart rate readings.

On the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 side, the company has focused on the smartwatch’s battery size rather than its performance in most of its posts. An 800mAh battery is huge, but it’s a weird stat to focus on because it doesn’t necessarily equate to longer battery life. But it should perform well on that front too, with Samsung promising up to 60 hours of use.

Fast charging can be an important factor in how a wearable is used on a daily basis, and Samsung’s official line is that the watch can reach 40% battery in about half an hour. Apple technology promises up to 18 hours of additional battery life with 15 minutes of fast charging.

Here’s where we get to the nitty-gritty of what these devices can do and what makes each of them unique.

Apple has updated the Watch Ultra 4 with a new sensor system that brings more tracking and options to the wearable. The highlight here is more accurate heart rate detection with measurements taken every five seconds. There’s also a new pedometer that Apple says should bring more precision to step tracking. The Ultra 4 can use Apple’s new Readiness app, which aggregates health stats like recent activity and sleep score to gauge how prepared the wearer is for the day’s actions. This generation of smartwatches also comes with a new Apple Health app scheduled for release later this year.

Samsung also recently overhauled the data available in its Samsung Health app. The Vitals menu offers daily readings of key biomarkers to better alert the wearer to deviations from their baseline. There are several options for monitoring heart health, including daily blood pressure estimates and a heart health score. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 also has a few additional offerings unique among wearables, such as antioxidant readings (although our review found them to be mixed in terms of effectiveness) and a Trail Run mode that includes some very helpful hydration tips.

On the security side, both devices are capable of issuing emergency SOS calls in appropriate situations. They also have warning sirens and fall detection, and Apple’s Watch also has crash detection.

Here is the full list of health and wellness tools offered by each model:

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2

• Energy score
• Sleep apnea
• Bedtime Tips
• High Stress Alert
• Fitness Index
• Trail running
• Daily cardio load
• Running coach
• Vitality
• Heart Health Score
• Custom heart rate zone
• Personalized functional power threshold
• AGE Index
• Blood pressure
• ECG
• Irregular heartbeat notification
• Antioxidant
• Body composition
• Cycle tracking
• Hearing protection

Apple Watch Ultra 4

• Prep app
• Vitals app with heart rate, respiratory rate, wrist temperature, sleep duration and heart rate variability (HRV)
• Blood Oxygen app
• ECG app
• Heart Rate app
• High and low heart rate notifications
• Recovery HRV
• High frequency background heart rate tracking
• Irregular rhythm notifications
• Advanced Cycle Tracking App
• Application of medicines
• Mindfulness app with mindset tracking
• Noise app
• Sleep app including sleep stages
• Sleep score
• Sleep apnea notifications
• Hypertension notifications

Finally, there is the financial side. The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 starts at $700, but you may be able to bring the price down through a trade-in or simply by waiting for a deal; Just a month after it hit the market, Samsung was offering $100 off the device.

The Apple Watch Ultra 4, on the other hand, costs $799. The device is still up for pre-order at the time of writing, so you’re unlikely to see any discounts for a while. But as with Samsung, you can save a bit by going the trade-in route with an old Apple smartwatch.

Unlike many fitness trackers, these smartwatches don’t require an ongoing monthly subscription to use most of their features. There is an option for smartwatch owners to integrate personal training subscriptions, like Apple Fitness+ or iFIT for Samsung, but these are additive rather than a mandatory extra cost. Both products also offer options for running specialized applications, such as dive computers for scuba or freediving excursions, which may require separate fees.