Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra could give Apple a real run for its money, if leaked spec list is anything to go by

Galaxy Watch Ultra could become the Apple Watch Ultra for Android users

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra leak (in black)
(Image credit: @evleaks)
Quick Summary

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is expected to launch on 10 July. With a large display, rugged design and Wear OS 5, it appears to be a strong competitor to the Apple Watch Ultra.

An entire spec list has now leaked revealing even more juicy details.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra could be one of the best smartwatches to launch this year, clearly seeking some inspiration from the Apple Watch Ultra and looking to put Wear OS devices on the map.

It's expected to launch at Galaxy Unpacked on 10 July and we've already seen a number of leaks surrounding this device. We've seen images revealing a new design – switching to a squarer overall aesthetic – while giving us a glimpse at a strap that's highly reminiscent of Apple's Ocean Band on Watch Ultra.

Now, thanks to a leak landing at Dealabs (via 91mobiles) we have a list of the full specs for the watch. That tells us that the Galaxy Watch Ultra will come in a 47mm size, larger than the Galaxy Watch 7 that will offer 40mm and 44mm options.

It will result in a 1.5-inch display, 480 x 480 pixels, with a pixel density of 327ppi. That happens to be the same quality as the Apple Watch Ultra. It's a Super AMOLED display.

The watch itself measures 47.4 x 47.1 x 12.1mm and weighs 60.5g with a titanium case topped with sapphire glass. The rear is glass too.

It offers an IP68 protection rating, 10 ATM waterproofing and conforms to MIL-STD 810 H standards, so this thing is going to be rugged.

Elsewhere there's a 590mAh battery, but otherwise the specs seem to match those of the Galaxy Watch 7 models. It will be powered by the Exynos 1000W and offer 32GB of storage. It will run Wear OS 5 and One UI Watch 6.0.

How does Galaxy Watch Ultra compare to the Apple Watch Ultra?

As we've already explored, it offers the same pixel density as the Apple Watch Ultra 2, which also has an OLED display. It appears to offer similar durability with that 810 H and IP68 rating too, while the sapphire crystal and titanium body also going toe-to-toe.

According to the dimensions, the Galaxy Watch Ultra is a little slimmer and squarer, while it's fractionally lighter, but not by much – although the Apple Watch Ultra display might be slightly larger.

There's no way to compare the processor performance and Apple's device has double the storage. There's no mention of ultra-wideband on Samsung's device (which would enable things like digital car keys), but we assume it will offer Samsung Pay to rival Apple Pay.

It looks as though Samsung is also going to offer the same run of sensors, perhaps omitting the depth gauge and temperature sensor, maybe because Samsung doesn't think you'll be using it for SCUBA diving.

Of course, hardware is only part of the picture, what this spec leak doesn't tell us anything about is the software features. Will Wear OS 5 be able to compete with watchOS? We're expecting Samsung to make some key announcements around Galaxy AI at Unpacked and that could make the Galaxy Watch Ultra super smart.

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Chris Hall

Chris has been writing about consumer tech for over 15 years. Formerly the Editor-in-Chief of Pocket-lint, he's covered just about every product launched, witnessed the birth of Android, the evolution of 5G, and the drive towards electric cars. You name it and Chris has written about it, driven it or reviewed it. Now working as a freelance technology expert, Chris' experience sees him covering all aspects of smartphones, smart homes and anything else connected. Chris has been published in titles as diverse as Computer Active and Autocar, and regularly appears on BBC News, BBC Radio, Sky, Monocle and Times Radio. He was once even on The Apprentice... but we don't talk about that.