Apple Watch Ultra 2 vs Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic: The best smartwatches of 2023

The Apple Watch 2 looks just the same as its predecessor, boasting that iconic and overly masculine design language that is often associated with traversing the great outdoors. This isn't a bad thing, as the Apple Watch Ultra still looks great and sufficiently different from the other cookie-cutter Apple Watch smartwatches thanks to its oversized titanium and sapphire build. The customizable button on the side also helps achieve this look. 

It's a large device that definitely looks improper, even comical on thin wrists. Even on my fairly large arm, the Apple Watch Ultra surely makes a very bold statement. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is water-resistant up to 10 ATM, or 100 meters, recreational divers might be interested in that. 

The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, on the other hand, is a very classy and traditional wearable that's surprisingly hefty in its larger 47mm version. The new Samsung smartwatch is also available in 43mm. The stainless-steel case and sapphire glass both over the screen and at the bottom, protecting all the sensors, make for a rather premium build that stands out, especially in comparison with last year's rugged Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. 

The big change with the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is the use of a new one-click band mechanism, which allows for easier band switching. Although the mechanism is new, older watch bands and just about any standard 22mm watch band fits the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. With a proper watch band, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic easily passes as a dress watch. 

Samsung released several new watch bands with the smartwatch, namely a Hybrid Leather band, a silicone sport one, an 'extreme' sports band with extra holes for improved perspiration, as well as a lightweight fabric band. Of course, if you have an extensive collection of older bands, you can use whichever you like. 

Apple revealed three brand-new watch bands with the first Apple Watch Ultra: the rugged Alpine Loop, the lightweight Trail Loop, and the silicone Ocean Band. And, with the Apple Watch Ultra 2, we get new colors for all watch bands, which surely spice things up. Of course, you can still use any watch band fit for 44mm/45mm/49mm Apple Watches on the new Ultra. 

Apple has been essentially using the one and the same chipset on its past few smartwatch generations. The Apple S6 chip, which was based on the Apple A13 Bionic chipset, was essentially repackaged into the Apple S7 and Apple S8 chipsets, that powered the Apple Watch Series 7 and Series 8 devices. Although decent, performance and battery life are definitely in for an upgrade.

And that's precisely what we get out of the new Apple S9 SiP. Aside from being much faster than Apple's previous chip iterations, the new chipset also enables on-device Siri processing and a trove of other features. There's a new app library layout that makes more sense than the previous grid. There are also several new watch faces, most of which come to all Apple Watches, but a few remain exclusive to the Apple Watch Ultra 1 & 2. With widget support, a new UI layout, and a slew of other new features, watchOS 10 finally shakes things up and adds excitement to the Apple Watch.

That's precisely what's likely happening with the Apple Watch Ultra 2, which has the new Apple S9 chip, based on the same chip that powers the iPhone 13 series and iPhone 14/iPhone 14 Plus. This one will also power the Apple Watch Series 9 and will likely be faster and deliver better battery life in comparison with the Apple S6 chip and its derivatives. 

Meanwhile, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic comes along with the Exynos W930 chipset, which is much faster than the previous W920 chip that Samsung used on most of its previous smartwatches, like the Galaxy Watch 4, Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, and Galaxy Watch 5. 

A big new deal for the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is the new Double Tap gesture, which lets you interact with the phone with a single hand. For example, you can reply to incoming phone calls, start an activity, and the main action of any app on screen. The feature arrived a month after the Apple Watch Ultra 2 arrived on the market; in real-life, it works superbly and delivers much more depth to the Apple Watch Ultra interface.

Both the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 support a plethora of health features, with the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic being better in terms of quantity. Thanks to its BioActive sensor, it can take your BMI index and break down your body structure, but this isn't a feature you'll use more than once. 

What you're much likely to use every single night is sleep tracking on both watches. The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is once again much better as far as features come and go: it has a ton of additional sleep tracking-related features, and would even track down your midday naps; at the same time, the Apple Watch Ultra 2, just like any other Apple Watch out there, would only track your sleep if you enable the smartwatch's dedicated Sleep Mode, and naps are out of the question.