Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra: features, pricing and release date

Made from tough stuff, inside and out

This thing is built tough. Real tough.

The watch itself is built from Titanium Grade 4 so it can withstand your toughest adventures. It has also been rigorously put through its paces.

Galaxy Watch Ultra is dust-resistant and water-resistant up to 10 atmospheres (10ATM/IP68). But Samsung said that wasn’t enough, so it’s tested and certified to military ruggedness specifications, known as MIL-STD-810H.

MIL-STD-810H is a set of tests to simulate extreme temperatures, humidity, vibrations, shocks, and other factors that might affect different equipment. With this standard on the Galaxy Watch Ultra, you’re ready to tackle harsh environments like deserts, jungles, salt fog, as well as low pressure environments down to -500 metres and high pressure environments, up to 9000 metres. For reference: the summit of Mount Everest is 8848 metres!

The device itself is big, measuring 49mm between the lugs. That’s so you can get all the data you need on your journey at a glance, including where you’ve been, where you’re going and how your body is holding up. 

It might be big, but Samsung has worked hard to make it sit flush on your wrist (even if it’s smaller than the average). The “cushion design” means it has a lower vertical profile, so you can still use it to track your sleep comfortably, whether it’s in a tent at Base Camp or snug in bed at home¹. More on that soon.

The screen on the Galaxy Watch Ultra is insanely bright, putting out up to 3000 nits of brightness. 3000 nits is the sort of range you can expect from high-performance TVs and laptops. Basically that means it’s very easy to see in brightly-lit environments like on a sunny day up a mountain in the snow, for example. At night, that screen won’t blind you, either: a “dark mode” that shows your info in an eye-safe orange colour automatically activates. 

And the screen can stand up to tough punishment, too. It’s protected by hardened Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 so it can stand up to punishment.

New tracking tech to keep you at your personal best

You won’t be on extreme adventures everyday, but you’ll always need to train for the next one. Samsung has loaded the new Galaxy Watch Ultra with advances to its fitness, sleep and wellness tracking to keep you at your peak².

Galaxy Fitness now has what Samsung calls the “Multi-Sports Tile” so you can switch seamlessly between multiple workout modes without having to mess with your settings in the middle of a triathlon or a hectic gym circuit. Just tap the dedicated Action Button on the crown of the Galaxy Watch Ultra and you’re onto the next activity mode.

Rest is the cornerstone of fitness, and Samsung has beefed up its sleep tracking so you know exactly what you’re doing when you nod off. The Galaxy Watch Ultra tracks how many breaths you take per hour, how many times you move around and heart rate variability to see how you’re recovering from stress (among other things). You even get to see how your skin temperature changes at different times of your sleep so you can get a handle on your circadian rhythms, cycle tracking and overall sleep quality³.

All of this fitness, sleep and wellness comes together in a single “score” called the Vitality Score throughout the day so you can see your overall health metrics ranked out of a total score of 100. You even get insights onto what needs improvement so you can operate at your peak.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra: pricing, release date and pre-order offers

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra drops for pre-order right after Samsung’s Unpacked event. You can pre-order from 12:01pm on 11 July, 2024.

If you pre-order between 11 July and 30 July, you’ll be eligible for a bonus pair of the new Galaxy Buds3 Pro, worth $399.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra will go on sale in stores from 31 July, with an RRP of $1,299.