Until December 25, 2019, I had no interest in the Galaxy Watch Active 2, nor any other smartwatches. I never felt that I needed it and did not have much knowledge about the product. Now that I used the watch for a little over 2 weeks, I can demonstrate my first impressions (opinions about the practicality of the smart watch for a short-term usage.
Description of the product
I purchased the pink gold Galaxy Watch Active 2 in 4o mm. The watch itself comes with a silicone strap, which is good for workouts, and has an aluminum build. In my opinion, the color is extremely gorgeous yet tone-down enough to the point where it’s good for everyday use. The 40 mm screen size never felt small so I never regret not getting the 44 mm version. It has a circular screen with a touch bezel that makes navigating much more efficient.
Pros
1. Tracking
Tracking comes in different forms and the watch fulfilled its role in all of the tracking it was meant to do among the ones that I’ve tested. The watch tracks sleep, heartbeats, and workouts fairly accurately. As for the sleep tracking, not only does it show the number of hours I was asleep, but it tells me the percent accuracy and splits up the types of sleep (such as deep sleep, rem sleep, light sleep, and awake). As for the workout tracking, if I start running or walking, it automatically starts to log my movements. Otherwise, I can also manually choose a workout I’m doing, such as the treadmill, and based on my steps and speed, it will show the number of calories burned. Although the calorie tracker may not be too accurate, it was a good estimation of how hard I worked out. Heartbeat tracking is incredibly accurate as well.
2. Battery life
I try not to charge my watch overnight because I want to have my sleep tracked. Therefore, I try to charge it sometime before I sleep. This means that my watch needs to stay charged for 24 hours until I charge it. I was pleasantly surprised to see how long my battery lasts. By the time I charge it, I have around 30-50% remaining, even though I have it track my sleep, the number of steps, workouts, get all the notifications, etc.. If charged daily, there is no problem with the battery. The battery, however, may last long as it does because I do not keep the Always On Display on.
3. Functionality
Based on its usage as just a smartwatch, I found that it improved my daily life a lot due to how convenient it is. For example, I can receive and make phone calls directly on the watch. Since the call quality is great, I have absolutely no problem calling on the watch. I get the general notifications from my phone on the watch so that even if my phone is not right next to me, I can still get notifications and not miss out. I can check the weather from directly on my watch, control the music, make voice recordings, go on the internet, download apps, customize the watch, etc.. Also, since it turns on every time I lift my arm up, even without having the AOD on, I can check the time seamlessly. Although Bixby is not favored on the Galaxy smartphones, it is incredibly useful on the watch. For example, I can comfortably start an alarm, timer, and stopwatch on my watch directly. Not only this, but I can also ask Bixby for the weather and questions. Since I do not need to have my phone nearby, it was very convenient.
Cons
1. Accessories
The watch is waterproof, allowing it to be used in the pool to track swim. Not only this, but it could also be taken into the shower to wash it if there was any sweat. This is not the watch’s fault but just a discomfort that will come with any form of smart watch. First, in order to protect the screen from scratches, I put a screen protector on. However, since the protector itself is not waterproof, I cannot wash my watch after my workout. Therefore, I need to separately take out baby wipes and wipe every part of the watch rather than simply bringing it in with me to the shower. In addition, to protect the watch, a case should be bought. However, I didn’t purchase one for the reason being that most cases wrap around the back part of the watch. This is a problem since sweat can go in it after a workout, and there may also not be an accurate tracking of heartbeat and the exercise.
2. Sound control
Once in a while, Bixby starts talking on the watch to notify me with something, but since there are no volume control buttons, I just have to hope that me covering the speakers will be good enough. These random notifications do not matter as much when the place I am is very loud. In quiet situations, however, it gets extremely annoying. It does not happen often, but when it does happen, I find myself wanting to shut it off.
3. Connection
The purpose of the watch is to stay connected to my watch so that I can receive the notifications on the watch. However, the range in which my phone and the watch stay connected is very small. When I just go outside of my room to the living room without my phone, the watch disconnects from my phone. This means that even though I have the watch, I will need to keep my phone near me, which defeats the purpose a little. I wish the range was a little larger. Even if it disconnects, however, it can still track workouts and heartbeat, etc.
Rachel’s Reviews 