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| Samsung Galaxy Watch9 Review |
The Samsung Galaxy Watch9 impresses in daily use with its premium design, comprehensive health tracking capabilities, snappy performance, and a brilliantly bright OLED display. However, there's a catch that power users won't be able to ignore: when it comes to battery life, Samsung seems to have hit a plateau in the Galaxy Watch universe.
Impressive Features, Limited Endurance
Our hands-on review of the Galaxy Watch9 reveals that the smartwatch's battery life could become a daily frustration for those who rely heavily on its features. In our typical usage scenario—which included an active always-on display, a brief workout with GPS tracking, and overnight sleep monitoring with blood oxygen measurement—the successor to the Galaxy Watch8 demonstrated notably limited staying power.
If you take full advantage of all the health features and the conveniences offered by that gorgeous OLED panel, you'll quickly find yourself pushing the battery to its limits. The watch drains approximately 60 to 70 percent of its charge over a 24-hour period. For anyone who needs the LTE version's eSIM functionality for everyday connectivity or tracks endurance activities with an active satellite connection, making it through a full day on a single charge will be a challenge.
Charging Times Leave Something to Be Desired
Unfortunately, the time spent tethered to a charger is equally underwhelming. In our testing, a completely depleted Watch9 took nearly 1.5 hours to reach a full charge. For users who wear their smartwatch around the clock for sleep tracking, this waiting period likely feels like an eternity.
The Competition Shows How It's Done
The Xiaomi Watch 5 demonstrates that there's significant room for improvement. The Chinese manufacturer has adopted a silicon-carbon battery, which delivers much higher energy density. The result? A massive 900 mAh battery with double the capacity of the Galaxy Watch9's power cell.
For more detailed technical insights, you can check out the full review on Notebookcheck.
What We'd Like to See Next
Looking ahead to the successor of the Galaxy Watch9 (prices start at around $400, available on Amazon.com), we'd love to see Samsung equip its next flagship smartwatch with a battery as substantial as the one found in Xiaomi's Watch 5. Such an upgrade would be a genuine game-changer for everyday use, finally allowing users to enjoy all those impressive features without constantly worrying about the next charge.
The Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy Watch9 remains a stylish and capable smartwatch with plenty of attractive qualities. But until Samsung addresses the battery life concerns, power users may find themselves caught between wanting to use all the features they paid for and needing to conserve energy just to make it through the day.
