In his official press launch for the Galaxy Watch 6, Samsung president TM Roh promised new “health teaching” and “customized exercises.” Galaxy Unpacked centered on the watch’s new personalised coronary heart price zones, however I deluded myself into pondering there is perhaps extra behind the scenes as soon as I may take a look at it for myself.
I am within the midst of reviewing the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional. My early ideas? The health {hardware} and One UI 5 Watch software program nonetheless depart a lot to be desired for runners. And I really feel silly for guessing in any other case.
I hoped that Samsung would lastly shut the health hole between it and different manufacturers. However the easy reality is, Samsung’s definition of “teaching” could be very totally different than what Garmin, Fitbit, Apple, and even Amazfit brings to the desk.
Most devoted health manufacturers have begun suggesting exercises, step targets, or restoration time primarily based in your health degree. Samsung took step one with its new customized coronary heart price zones, however beneath the floor, this new characteristic is not very thrilling. In each different respect, from metrics to location monitoring, Samsung is not doing sufficient to maintain up with the pack.
What’s new with Galaxy Watch 6 health
Sunday Runday
In his new weekly column, Android Central Health Editor Michael Hicks talks concerning the world of wearables, apps, and general health tech associated to operating and well being.
Here is what new health instruments you truly get with the Galaxy Watch 6: personalised coronary heart price zones, Monitor Run, and Customized Exercises. That is it. Every thing else, like irregular coronary heart rhythm information and sleep teaching, fall extra into Samsung’s love of well being monitoring, not health information. Samsung did not even add the GPX routes which are unique to the Galaxy Watch 5 Professional.
My customized coronary heart price zones are calculated off the max coronary heart price Samsung detected on my first GPS-tracked run. So as a result of I hit 189bpm on my 10K exercise, all of my zones begin at 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, or 90% of that quantity. In 2023, this is not groundbreaking health tech; and its “teaching” is simply telling you the way laborious you ran primarily based on these numbers.
My precise max BPM is 196, so my numbers ought to regulate as soon as I do a max-effort run carrying the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional. However there is not any possibility to make use of lactate threshold or coronary heart price reserve information, or to edit your zone percentages as different manufacturers (like Apple and Garmin) enable.
As for Customized Exercises, Samsung has supplied the choice to set targets for a run primarily based on Period, Distance, Energy, or Intervals for the reason that Galaxy Watch 4. The one new possibility is to start out a run with an HR Zone Information, telling you for those who’ve fallen above or under your goal zone.
I do like that Samsung added a customized coronary heart price vary, so I can intention for a few zones or simply guarantee I keep in my first three or 4 zones. I simply want this wasn’t the one Customized Exercise Samsung supplied.
Samsung’s Working Coach is for couch-to-5K runners
I complained about Samsung’s missed potential once I reviewed the Galaxy Watch 5 Professional. One UI 5 Watch has a very cool Working Coach sport mode with guided runs like Calorie Burning Coach and Endurance Working Coach. However the problem is absolutely skewed in the direction of freshmen. “Intermediate” runs like Endurance jogging problem you to hit 2.85 miles in 50 minutes (17:30 tempo), whereas the very best problem is 5.37 miles in 70 minutes (slightly below 15-minute tempo).
Equally, Samsung Well being’s health tab has a couple of Working Applications which are truly nice couch-to-5K and first-10K guides for operating newbies. All of them set three exercises per week of accelerating problem throughout 8–10 weeks that will help you hit your targets. Once more, most tempo targets are within the 10-to-15-minute vary, extra jogging than operating; however for freshmen, it is fairly darn cool!
Placing apart the dearth of higher-difficulty choices or personalization à la Garmin Coach, the larger problem is that these packages cannot be imported onto your Galaxy Watch 6. It’s important to begin a GPS exercise in your Galaxy cellphone, after which health information seems in your watch to match it.
It is a critically missed alternative that Samsung hasn’t employed some operating coaches to create some generic coaching plans for severe runners. Even some new coached exercises that allow you to go quicker than 4 miles an hour, or an choice to obtain user-made exercises or packages with extra rigorous pacing onto your watch, would go a great distance in making the Galaxy Watch 6 extra viable as a operating watch.
How the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional performs for health (thus far)
Sufficient complaining about lacking software program. Let’s discuss concerning the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional itself, and the way the {hardware} handles for operating.
I took out my Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional with the Garmin Forerunner 265 on my different wrist for a 10K run. Each watches gave me the very same 172bpm common — although the Galaxy Watch 6 appeared to lag behind my Garmin each time I climbed a hill and my coronary heart price shot up. Up to now, so good.
Samsung’s computerized exercise detection is spectacular, too. It registers fairly rapidly for those who’re strolling or operating, beginning the exercise for you. And for those who cease at a stoplight throughout a run, it is actually responsive at pausing the exercise with out you having to set off it.
It is not all good, nonetheless. Identical to once I reviewed the Galaxy Watch 5 Professional, I discovered that the GPS-only Watch 6 collection struggles to maintain monitor of me throughout runs, sending me on suspiciously straight traces off trails, by way of homes, and into streets regardless of there not being a lot tree cowl on my route. I needed to run an additional 50 seconds to hit the identical 6.2-mile mark as Garmin’s, which had dual-band GPS lively for extra correct outcomes.
Plus, the registered elevation acquire was actually off: Throughout 6 miles of rolling, often steep hills, it solely registered 133 toes of acquire to Garmin’s 335 toes.
I am not going to carry it towards Samsung that my VO2 Max is decrease than Garmin’s estimate with so little information. I do discover it weird that my rating dipped 0.4 (0.2 twice) after two fast-paced strolling actions, as if Samsung was holding it towards me that I wasn’t operating.
I am side-eyeing Samsung rather more about my physique composition rating, which had my fats proportion considerably greater than what each my Withings and Renpho good scales inform me I’ve. That is the third technology of watch to have a BIA sensor, and it nonetheless looks like it is hit and miss, various wildly from one studying to the subsequent. I am going to hold testing over the subsequent week to make sure.
That is solely an in-progress health overview of the Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional, as I must put it by way of its paces extra to see if some downside areas enhance or keep unreliable.
Past the wrinkles and lack of software program methods, I like utilizing my 47mm Galaxy Watch 6 Traditional greater than the 5 Professional for operating, regardless of it weighing extra. The default band matches my wrist a lot better, giving me extra correct coronary heart price information. The efficiency increase means much less lag when scrolling by way of menus and settings. And I like the rotating bezel for skimming by way of my exercise information, in comparison with how irritating the Professional’s contact bezel might be.
Nonetheless, Samsung’s personalised coronary heart price zones are only a small step in the precise path, a stop-gap measure. The Galaxy Watch collection wants to enhance in some key health areas to show that Samsung is severe about all this.
With an Apple Watch, you’ll be able to see extra information throughout a run like your exercise rings, operating energy, cadence, and elevation. You may even race a previous route, whereas Samsung will not even allow you to obtain offline maps on the Watch 6. And Apple has since introduced its customized coronary heart price zones to biking, whereas Samsung’s new instrument is running-only.
I have not even touched on how Garmin’s coaching and restoration information is a lot extra subtle, nor how rather more correct its watches may be for GPS monitoring. It’s possible you’ll not see this as a good comparability, however most business specialists agree that Apple is attempting to catch as much as Garmin for health, slowly however certainly. You not often hear anybody say that about Samsung.
Samsung must do extra to make it possible for health followers who purchase Android watches do not depart the Galaxy Watch behind for different manufacturers. Whether or not they select the Pixel Watch for Fitbit or a extra specialised health machine, they most likely will not miss Samsung Well being all that a lot. No less than, I would not.