The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7’s new sensor isn’t just more colourful – it’s better too

To me, a smartwatch is like a little Tamagotchi. It gives me a clear idea of how much I should drink, sleep and exercise. Samsung’s version of the gizmo has a serious number of features. While I don’t have much interest in sleep-tracking, I do find workout plans helpful. I also enjoy trying to beat my previous running times.

Design and size: no major Galaxy makeovers

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 has a classic, simple design, with barely any differences compared to its predecessor. Its AMOLED display is now slightly larger and reaches a brightness of up to 2,000 nits. The watch comes in two sizes – 40 mm and 44 mm. I’ve got a slim wrist, so I went for the 40-millimetre version. It’s just about right, so it doesn’t bother me when I’m working out or sleeping.

Although I like the white silicone strap and its delicate details, I wouldn’t recommend it for everyday wear. Just a week after I started using it, I can already see signs of serious wear. And during a workout, the skin underneath the strap gets uncomfortably sweaty. Luckily, there are a couple of alternatives.

Chip and sensors: the BioActive sensor is a powerful innovation

Samsung has completely revamped the core of the watch – an innovation they’ve christened the «BioActive Sensor». This is essentially a chip combining various sensors, including Samsung’s tried-and-tested heart rate monitor (HR), electrocardiography (ECG) and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). That last one determines what percentage of your body is made up of fat, water and skeletal muscle.

Samsung has given the new chip larger photodiodes, which capture light to measure various factors. It also has a number of LEDs built into it. Instead of the exclusively green lights it had before, it now also has yellow, blue, violet and ultraviolet LEDs. As a result, its measurements are supposedly more accurate.

The watch’s processing power comes from Samsung’s Exynos W1000. It’s three times more powerful than the Exynos W930 processor in the Galaxy Watch 6. The Galaxy Watch 7 certainly runs smoothly and reliably, processing data quickly. It’s the same story when it comes to synchronisation between the watch and your phone.

Battery, memory and GPS: plenty of storage, not much staying power

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7’s battery is the same size as its predecessor’s – 300 mAh in the 40-millimetre watch, 425 mAh in the 44-millimetre watch. If I’m using the watch without Wi-Fi or the always-on display, and I log a workout, it can hold out until the following evening, i.e. about 36 hours. In serious energy-saving mode, you get almost 24 hours of extra juice. At least I don’t have to charge the watch every day, and can get by doing so every two days. Even so, that’s still too often for my tastes. Using the charging cable that comes with the watch, charging takes about 100 minutes.

The smartwatch is well equipped for water- and outdoor sports. It’s water-resistant to 5 ATM, and Samsung’s given it a dual-frequency GPS upgrade. This is supposed to make the GPS more reliable than the one in the previous model.

You now also get twice as much storage space packed into the little watch – 32 gigabytes instead of 16, to be exact. This gives you much more volume for apps. The device also comes with two gigabytes of RAM.

Set-up: everything in three apps

You set up the Galaxy Watch 7 using the Wearable app. This comes pre-installed on Samsung devices, but if you don’t have one, you can get it on the Google Play store. Using my test device, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, the watch set-up goes without a hitch. I also manage to adjust the settings for the display and connected devices in the app.

If you want to display health data on another device and track metrics such as your food intake, calories and sleep, you’ll also need the Samsung Health app and a Samsung account.

Almost done. Last but not least, there’s the third app, Samsung Health Monitor. This is for the two features you can only use if you have a Samsung Galaxy phone. With it, you’ll be able to monitor your blood pressure and do an ECG.

Software: hey Google!

For the software, Samsung uses Google’s Wear OS 5 with its own watch face. As a result, you can use both Google and Samsung functions. Third-party apps are also available via the Google Play store.

The first thing I do is download Spotify and connect the app to my account. My favourite feature of the Galaxy Watch 7 is that I can upload my playlist to the watch, then connect it to my headphones. It means I don’t need to take my phone when I go jogging, leaving me to direct my full focus towards my run. And AC/DC and the Foo Fighters.

Health and sport data at a glance

The basic health data for my daily goals is displayed on the watch in three heart-shaped rings. Mine are my steps, time spent active and calories burned. To swap from rings to numbers and diagrams, you just scroll down.

I prefer looking at my stats in a large format, so I switch to the Samsung Health app’s dashboard. It displays the rings for my daily goals, as well as lots of other information. The dashboard gives you details about your sleep, blood oxygen level, skin temperature, pulse and breathing rate. A flower-shaped, moving emoji immediately tells me whether my stats are cause for celebration.

This is also where you’ll see your current energy level, a figure calculated using your sleep data, activity data and other metrics. In Samsung Health, I note how much I’ve drunk, what I’ve eaten and any physical activity I’ve done without the watch.

The data collected by the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7’s sensors is turned into a plethora of figures and diagrams. Even so, the display doesn’t look too busy, and the data’s explained in an understandable way. It occasionally takes me a little while to find a specific feature or a previous workout.

A new indicator in the app – the AGEs index – is a product of Samsung’s BioActive sensor. AGE stands for Advanced Glycation End Products, and is an indicator of metabolic health and biological ageing. As it’s still in the beta phase and only shows approximate, average figures, it doesn’t have any medical validity.

An important, interesting aspect for me is the menstrual cycle tracking feature. If I type in the day of my period, the measurements take it into account. As my skin temperature changes during my cycle, for example, the smartwatch is supposedly able to recognise and interpret the change. I didn’t test the watch over a long enough period to verify this.

You can only use the blood pressure monitoring and ECG features if you have a Samsung phone. For the blood pressure feature, however, you need to do a one-time measurement with a blood pressure monitor to calibrate the watch. The ECG function can apparently detect signs of atrial fibrillation, but it’s definitely not a substitute for a medical examination.

Sport: follow a route

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 boasts a host of other functions in addition to everyday health data. These include daily workout plans, cycling routes and running coaching. Some activities, such as walking, cycling, swimming or even using a rowing machine, are recognised automatically. Ten minutes after I set off on a walk, it’s recognised and recorded.

Besides this, you have quick access to more than 100 types of sport on the watch. You can customise your workouts to the sport you’re doing. I, for example, decide how long and how many laps I want to swim, how long or how far I want to jog, how many calories I want to burn while playing squash and whether I need verbal feedback on my sports session.

Another feature worth mentioning is the option to follow preset routes. I can either save workouts I’ve already completed as a route or import GPX files from hiking or cycling trails. If you don’t already have one of these, Swisstravelcenter has some great Swiss hiking routes . I’ve downloaded quite a few of them.

Messages and gesture controls: the watch bugs me when I’m using phone features

As a smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch 7 also offers everyday functions such as displaying texts, answering calls and replying to messages. I generally find this pretty annoying. If I activate all the functions, I’m inundated with push notifications and vibrations. While it may stop me from using my phone as much, the vibrations on my wrist completely disrupt my flow.

I can send quick replies to messages straight from the watch. However, the keyboard on the display is fairly fiddly. It’s also limited to letters – in other words, there are no punctuation marks. As an alternative, the watch offers emojis and AI-generated quick replies. If the situation calls for a fast response, they’re perfectly usable.

The new gesture controls are handy too. Sure, this is a feature that’s been copied from the competition, but it works consistently. You can answer or hang up a call by tapping your index finger and thumb together. Taking remote control photos on your phone works in the same way. You can even see what you’re photographing on the watch.