Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic Review: Bezelicious!

I had the pleasure of reviewing the 47mm version of the smartwatch, and from the very get-go, you are presented with one large and imposing smartwatch that successfully rivals the Apple Watch Ultra in size and heft. One thing is for certain––you will feel the presence of the smartwatch on your wrist at all times. Sleeping with the wearable isn't a terribly comfortable scenario either; if it hadn't been for the sleep tracking that I had to test out for the purposes of this review, I wouldn't have worn the watch in bed. 

Design-wise, new Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is the pinnacle of Samsung's smartwatch design by a longshot. With a svelte stainless steel body and a durable sapphire screen, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic was one sleek and beautiful device, the closest we've ever got to a classic dress smartwatch. 

Much to my delight, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic comes with a rotating hardware bezel, a staple of most premium Galaxy Watch wearables of old. This useful hardware feature was missing on the Galaxy Watch 5/5 Pro, both of which used capacitive digital bezels to sort of emulate the same level of utility, but didn't live up to the simple yet effective utility of the rotating bezel. The bezel is serrated on the outside, which helps with tactility. 

The other two functional buttons on the side are quite clicky and responsive, which is a great thing to have on a smartwatch. No trace of mushiness here, excellent! You can customize the function of these buttons to a certain extent, similarly to the way you can chase the functionality of the Action Button on the Apple Watch Ultra.

The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic features a hardware bezel is 15% slimmer, which allows for a slightly larger display to be fitted on the smartwatch. Speaking of displays, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is available in two distinct sizes: a 43mm one with a 1.3-inch display and a larger 47mm version with a 1.5-inch display. 

The screen is colorful and has superb contrast, just like any other AMOLED display out there, but what I love most about the smartwatch is its exceptional brightness, up to 2,000 nits. The display gets so bright under direct sunlight that there's no issue with legibility at all. Definitely an improvement over the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, for example, which was dimmer.

The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is IP68-certified, making it dust and water-resistant for up to 30 minutes. The Watch 6 Classic can also withstand up to 5ATM of pressure corresponding to submerges of up to 50 meters for no longer than 10 minutes, so the occasional recreational dive is perfectly fine. There's no Apple Watch Ultra-like dive computer functionality here, though. 

Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is available in Black and Silver colors, both of which are stylish and classy. 

With the Watch 6 Classic, Samsung switches things up and employs a new one-click band latching mechanism, which makes it easier to change bands with a single press. Previously, Samsung used a spring bar that had to be pressed sideways in order for the watch band to be detached. 

Fortunately, your old Galaxy bands are still compatible with the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, which is great news for those with a collection of watch bands. Out for a jog? Pop a breathable band. Going to a cocktail party? Just throw on a classier band and you're good to go!

As far as band options, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is available with a Hybrid Leather band, a silicone sport one, an 'extreme' version of the sport band with extra holes for improved perspiration, and finally, a new lightweight fabric band that’s touted as perfect for using during sleep. 

The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic that I reviewed came with the Hybrid Leather band in black. It employs a faux leather grain on the outside, but the inside is made of soft silicone, making it quite comfortable to wear. However, it doesn't let your skin breathe too much, so your wrist would be moist most of the time. 

The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic comes with the One UI 5 Watch interface running on top of Wear OS. One UI 5 Watch has a ton of improvements on board, including enhanced sleep tracking, fall detection, improved emergency calling, and more.

Navigating the interface hasn't changed from previous Wear OS Galaxy Watches and is quite intuitive and easy to master. A big difference here makes the super-convenient rotating bezel, which allows you to navigate the interface with ease. Switching between the available widgets, the so-called Tiles, is extremely intuitive and rewarding with the bezel. The same applies to exploring the app list, as well as interacting with just about any app on the watch.

There are a ton of watchfaces available, and I have no doubt that you will easily find one that suits your every needs. No matter which one you choose, they all look gorgeous on this large and colorful display. 

In terms of functionality, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic comes with improved sleep tracking, but my anecdotal experience is that the data isn't very accurate and objective. For example, my colleague Victor noticed some big discrepancies when comparing the Galaxy Watch 6 versus a recent Apple Watch. 

I noticed some weird metrics as well: despite logging 30 minutes of deep sleep, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic only gave a fair score of 65 for that specific night's sleep. Meanwhile, Victor got a score of 80 with merely 7 minutes of the rejuvenating deep sleep. 

What's more, I noticed that the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic would routinely log blood oxygen saturation levels well below 90% for more than twenty minutes, which has never before happened while using my Apple Watch.

Speaking of the Apple Watch, here's your reminder that Wear OS smartwatches only work with Android devices, so harbor no hopes that the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic will be able to pair with your iPhone. What's more, some health and wellness features of the Samsung smartwatch are exclusive to Galaxy phones and tablets. Samsung is forced to do that in order to comply with medical approval legislation terms.

Protected by sapphire, the latest iteration of the BioActive sensor that sits at the bottom of the smartwatch supports optical heart rate as well as bioelectrical impedance analysis, including a plethora of additional heart-related measurements. For example, you can once again take a Body Composition reading, breaking down your skeletal muscle, basal metabolic rate, body fat, and so on. It's a fun metric to have, but don't rely on it too much. 

Activities score a new Personalized Heart Rate Zone feature, which will measure and showcase the optimal intensity intervals in a trove of available activities. Speaking of these, there are well over 100 existing workouts, including a new Track Run feature that detects when you arrive at a running track, and customizable workouts. 

Menstrual cycle tracking and Fall Detection are on deck, but so is the skin temperature sensor that was introduced with the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. This time, however, Samsung is opening up the API and allowing third-party app developers to tap into the sensor and utilize its data in various ways. Like, measuring the temperature of the pool you're about to plunge in, or see how hot the tortilla you just took out of the microwave truly is.

Another new health-related feature that comes along in the Watch 6 Classic is the Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification (IHRN) functionality. This new feature will send you notifications if it detects a certain number of irregular heart rhythm measurements even if you are asleep, promptly sending you on your way to your favorite cardiologist.  

You can take phone calls on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, and the sound quality is more than passable. You can hear the other party quite well considering you're talking through a smartwatch, and the person on the other line didn't have any complaints as far as call quality goes.

In terms of haptics, the smartwatch doesn't disappoint. Feedback is superb; you can customize the vibration strength as well as its duration. You will never miss a notification or an incoming call, that's for sure.