Smart Watch Experience by a Watch Columnist — Series 10. Samsung Galaxy Watch Active

5, 2019

Chang Gyu Kim
Watch Columnist

A sense of difference with the name ‘Active’

With its name emphasizing the sporty side of the watch, I presumed that the Galaxy Watch Active was developed for workout purposes. Though it turns out that the Galaxy Watch looks more like a sports watch and the Galaxy Watch Active just looks like a small and simple dress watch. Better water resistancy could have helped the watch to be more active, but the Galaxy Watch Active is water-resistant to 50m, just like its previous model. Apparently they weren’t making many thoughts when naming the watch.

I’ve tried the green color model which looks most sporty and vivid. There are also other variation models of black, rose gold and silver. The rose gold model absolutely does not match the name Active, as rose gold is usually the color of traditional dress watches. The Active is the most dressy one among all the smartwatches that have a digital screen as the dial front. If I were given the power to name this watch, I would have probably named it either Galaxy Dress Watch or Galaxy Watch Dandy.

Exterior

Once you see the Active, you will immediately notice that the watch has a big difference compared to the previous model. The Active got rid of the rotating bezel. In fact, there is not really a reason for a watch to always carry a rotating bezel and since the width has been substantially reduced to 39.5mm, I didn’t feel sorry about the absence of the bezel. Rather, I take it positive that the bold bezel which felt like the symbol of a sports watch has become dressy.

The two push buttons stick out slightly but are clearly sensible and easy to manipulate. The connection between the body case and the lug runs very smoothly and the curved surface is also even. The watch that I tried out wasn’t hooked to the strap that is basically provided, but to the green leather strap of ‘Mr. Time x Maison Kitsuné’. The strap was symmetrically decorated with red and blue stitches and the bottom of the strap shows the silhouette of a fox, the symbol of Maison Kitsuné, that seems to be laser cut over the French national flag. The simple design of the body case and strap makes a wonderful match, and the wear and controlling of the buckle were all satisfactory. The tight spaces between the buckle holes also go well with such design.

Functionality

To be honest, there is nothing really to criticize about the functionality of Galaxy watches. Galaxy watches provide almost all the features smartwatches have and the quality and design of the display is also outstanding. But the ‘talkative’ aspect that I pointed out in my review of the Galaxy Watch is the same weakness that can be found with this watch too. It’s like a secretary who does a great job but has no sense when reporting.

Summary

I am a man of a particularly big build, even compared with other men. My fingers are too big to accurately manipulate this smaller version of the Galaxy Watch. One would have to weigh 30kg less than me to be able to precisely touch the screen. But, this watch is a good news to the women. The previous Galaxy Watch was too big for women to wear and the design wasn’t matching to. But the Active is a size for women even with thin wrists to wear and it’s also light. It would be a nice watch for women to wear. The price is also affordable at 249,700₩. This is why I believe that Active is probably the best smartwatch women can buy. Even better with the ‘MR.TIME x Maison Kitsuné’ strap.