Two of the mostultrasmartwatches available right now should n’t come as any surprisal . TheApple take in Ultra 2is the biggest and baddest smartwatch for iPhone owners , while Android fans now have theSamsung Galaxy Watch Ultra . Ultras for everyone !

Although I do n’t enter in extremist - level activeness like mountain mounting or diving , I know running . It ’s the eccentric of exercising I enjoy the most , and as such , I need my smartwatch to be a suitable running companion .

For much of this year , the Apple Watch Ultra has been my go - to running spotter , and I quite like it . How does the Galaxy Watch Ultra comparability ? I found out .

How I tested the watches

For this examination , I keep thing jolly dim-witted . I put the Apple Watch Ultra 2 on my unexpended wrist and the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra on my right wrist , and I set off on a 2 - Swedish mile outpouring .

The watches are both very similar in their tally - tracking . Both pass over your distance , calories , heart pace zones , elevation , cadence , and more . Each watch also has a dual - frequency GPS for accurate location tracking . Furthermore , both watches also have a workout clit ( Action Button on the Apple Watch , Quick Button on the Galaxy Watch ) that you may use to set off , pause , survey , and mark segments during your run .

In sum-up , both watch should return fairly similar running experience — at least on paper .

Galaxy Watch Ultra vs. Apple Watch Ultra 2: the results

Now that you ’re caught up on the spec and features , what did the results look like ? Here you go :

What brook out to me the most is the average heart rate . Both smartwatches recorded an intermediate heart and soul rate of 179 bpm for the test , which is something I didnotexpect run into this test . I kept my eye on both watches throughout my run , and almost every time I checked , they were within 1 - 2 bpm of each other — if not returning the exact same reading . I mostly consider the Apple Watch Ultra 2 to have one of the best heart rate sensors on a smartwatch , so this is really telling accuracy on Samsung ’s part .

I ’m also impressed by the active nutritionist’s calorie and cadence numbers being so similar . There are expected variations for other metrics ( namely , lift gain , ground contact prison term , and upright oscillation ) , but none of them appear to be worryingly dissimilar .

I was also agreeably surprise by the Galaxy Watch Ultra ’s GPS carrying into action . The Galaxy Watch Ultra told me I completed my 2 - mile tally just a couple of seconds sooner than the Apple Watch Ultra 2 did . Givencomplaints people have hadabout previous Galaxy Watch GPS reliability , it ’s nice to see the new threefold - frequency Global Positioning System in the Galaxy Watch Ultra is doing its task .

The other affair I ’d like to mention is how all of this data point is presented . The Samsung Health and Apple Fitness apps are both splendid , and they both showcase your exercise information in a uncontaminating , organised manner . However , I cogitate Samsung does a better job presenting some of the “ nerdier ” system of measurement .

After a run , you could tapAdvanced running metricsto see a crack-up of your asymmetry , contact time , escape prison term , regularity , vertical cycle , and stiffness . Each one is graded as either heavy , Good , or Improve . For ones that need oeuvre , you’re able to tip on aDrillsbutton to see a handful of exercise routines that can ameliorate that specific area . This is n’t new to the Galaxy Watch Ultra , but it ’s a much better layout compared to Apple , which just present graphs of this data without any account .

Which smartwatch should you run with?

So , considering all of that , which smartwatch should you go scarper with ? That ’s in the end decided by what kind of phone you have . If you ’re an iPhone user , you’re able to only use the Apple Watch . If you have an Android sound , your only choice is the Galaxy Watch . The Apple Watch Ultra 2 does n’t work with Android phones , nor does the Galaxy Watch Ultra work with iPhones .

The braggy takeaway here is that , regardless of which Ultra smartwatch you end up choosing , you ’re buzz off a moderately rattling wearable . I ’m thoroughly impressed by the Galaxy Watch Ultra ’s carrying into action in this test , and combine with some of the software advantages in the Samsung Health app , I ’m severely considering making it my go - to running smartwatch .

The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is still one of thebest smartwatchesyou can bribe , but if exact and robust exercise tracking is eminent on your priority list , the Galaxy Watch Ultra is n’t far behind it .