Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 review, the best Wear OS on the square!
About three weeks have passed since the official announcement of Samsung’s new Galaxy Watch 4, three weeks in which I was able to keep one of the new smartwatches of the Korean giant on my wrist, try its functions and, above all, evaluate how much it has benefited from the most important novelty among those introduced in this family of products. I’m obviously talking about the transition from Tizen to Wear OS which, in my opinion, could have been a double-edged sword.
The adoption of Google’s operating system, certainly customized and optimized by Samsung, is in fact a very important step, a clean cut with the past, and as such may not be without unforeseen events. The main risk is to distort a product, and especially a user experience, which has long been the reason why I consider Samsung smartwatches as the most complete on the market, Apple Watch aside. Will Samsung have managed to limit the damage in this regard? And if the answer is positive, how? I’ll tell you everything in the next few lines.
First of all I start by telling you that on the market you will find 4 versions of the new Watch 4, indeed, to tell the truth there are 8 because all these versions are available both with LTE connectivity and without. We therefore have Galaxy Watch 4 in the 40 and 44 mm models, and Watch 4 Classic, characterized by a design more similar to a chronograph, measuring 42 or 46 mm. The first two have an aluminum shell and Gorilla Glass DX+ glass, the second in stainless steel and a Gorilla Glass DX; the Classic models offer the rotating physical bezel while the standard ones take advantage of the touch of the display to have a sort of virtual ring.
The model that I have kept on my wrist in recent weeks is a Classic with a 42 mm diagonal dial that, from a purely aesthetic point of view, does not stray so far from the Galaxy Watch 3. The build quality and the choice of materials leads to a feeling of high-level solidity, as has been the case for years when we talk about Samsung smartwatches. Features that gain even more value if we consider that they do not clearly impact on the footprint. The thickness remains in fact just over one centimeter and the weight is 46.5 grams.
The strap included in the package is of good workmanship. The impression is that it is made of a very durable rubber, while remaining sufficiently flexible. The locking system is the classic one, as well as the wheelbase, which is 20 mm and allows us, if necessary, to replace it with one of the hundreds of alternatives available online. The only drawback, as far as I am concerned, is given by the rigidity of the two portions that are hooked to the case. The attachment system and the rigidity of the strap at that point mean that, with a slender wrist, it can be complicated to make the watch adhere well to the arm.
