Okay, I’ve been wearing the Watch5 Pro for a year now and this is a controversial smartwatch. This watch “replaced” the rotating bezel design that apparently a lot of people liked, and the default strap was incompatible with their own charger. And it was also expensive.
So, Samsung brought back the rotating bezel design for the Watch6 series – and that is what I’m wearing now. This Galaxy Watch6 Classic is not just a refresh of what we had previously as it got quite a lot of upgrades.
Let’s see what’s new and then also do some comparison with the Watch5 Pro.
The new design of the Galaxy Watch6 series in general is simple – the screen is bigger. In actuality, the Watch6 sizes are identical since 2 generations ago, but the bezels have shrunken now and that made the watch looks absolutely gorgeous.
For the Watch6 Classic though, instead of having 42 and 46mm like the Watch4 Classic, it has now been increased to 43mm and 47mm instead. The one we have here is the 47mm size, by the way.
For someone with a rather small and flat wrist like me, this is how the 47mm size looks. I don’t really care if anyone says it’s too big for my wrist – I think it’s comfortable and I have no issues with it.
The screen is super big in comparison to the Watch5 Pro. The official specs state that it is a 1.5-inch screen – and that is 0.1-inch larger than its predecessors, and that tiny increment makes a huge difference.
I mean, just look at these two watches. That 0.1-inch is very noticeable and makes the watch look so much better. To achieve this, Samsung actually shrunk the bezel and the ring with those numbers printed on. I don’t know what they’re called, but I like this design better. Honestly speaking, I wish to remove all of these numbers, actually.
Other than that, the design remains pretty much the same as before. We still have two buttons, microphones, and a large speaker on this watch – and the speaker actually sounds much louder this time.
The sensors at the bottom of the watch are the same as before, but for us here in Malaysia – we can finally use both blood pressure and electrocardiogram features on the Watch6 series. Actually, the Watch4 and Watch5 series can use it too, after the software update that was released early this year.
What I did realize is that the Samsung Health app allows me to turn on skin temperature monitoring as well. You see, there is a small silver dot at the back of this watch and that is the skin temperature sensor. It was not used on the Watch5 Pro, and finally – Samsung turned it on for the Watch6 series, and now I know that I need to get even colder to sleep properly.
Knowing how Samsung behaves with its software features, I do think that the skin temperature sensor will be enabled for the Watch5 series in an upcoming update.
Looking at the Galaxy Wearables app, all of the settings and features remain mostly the same here so there’s really nothing much to talk about. We do have a lot more watchfaces that are designed by Samsung. There are more animated watchfaces now since Samsung upgraded the Watch6 series to use the new Exynos W930 chipset.
It’s using the One UI Watch 5.0 now and I realized the notifications received are displayed with this rectangular box. Adding new tiles is also easier thanks to the new UI. Other than that, it looks and feels pretty much identical to the Watch5 Pro that I was wearing.
A quick reminder – this is a true, full-fledged smartwatch whereby we can install apps and do a lot more things with it. There are many other glorified fitness bands in the market that just calls themselves “smartwatch” to trick customers.
The battery life though, is what I am concerned about the most. The Watch5 Pro is a big watch. It’s thick because it has a massive 590mAh battery inside. But the Watch6 Classic only has a 425mAh battery. I was worried that it would be a significant downgrade in terms of the battery life but turns out – not really.
The Watch6 Classic can still last for more than 2 days with a single charge. That’s actually impressive, honestly.
Surprisingly, the Watch5 Pro is still thicker even considering the Watch6 Classic’s rotating bezel bump.
Also, the Watch5 and Watch6 series shares the same charger – so you can reuse them if you want to. However, they are incompatible with the Watch4 series’s charger.
Lastly – let’s talk about the strap. The Watch6 Classic’s default strap seems to be a hybrid between leather for the front, and silicone at the back.
It still has the little notches to make the watch become like a cantilever to push the main unit down so that the sensors are always touching our skin.
To remove the strap, you can just press this button here and you can remove the strap. This is a small upgrade but it’s better than messing with those tiny little pins.
If you’re not a fan of this strap, then you can change it. It’s still using the same 20mm width straps too. Thank you, Samsung for this because I don’t want to buy watch straps again. Seriously, I have been using the same watch straps from the Watch4 series all the way to the latest Watch6 series.
Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy Watch6 Classic?
And lastly, the starting price of the Watch6 series is at RM1,099. I’ll leave all of the sizes and their respective prices on the screen here – and the one we’re featuring today is the Watch6 Classic Bluetooth version, priced at RM1,499.
I do think that it is indeed a beautiful watch and it is still the best smartwatch in the Android world. You’ll still have to pair it with a Samsung phone to get the most out of it – which I still think is a weird decision. Samsung could’ve further dominated the Android smartwatch market if they just open up all features to all Android smartphones.
Honestly, I think both of these watches are still fantastic. The Watch5 Pro is still undefeated in terms of the battery life – but the Watch6 series has a much nicer screen with that thinner bezel.
If you’re upgrading from the Watch4 Classic, I think you’ll just love the Watch6 Classic instantly.
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