Just Bought A Galaxy Watch 8

[mountainbikermark]

It's supposed to arrive next week and I'll be back to post a bit of a review .
I got $175 trade in for my GW6 plus another $50 off. $124 plus tax.
I'm kinda excited because it's about as large on my wrist as the Ultra but has the lighter weight and thinness of my GW7 .

 

[bkdodger]

Congratulations I'm looking forward to seeing it and getting your impressions on it nice little deal

 

[mountainbikermark]

Congratulations I'm looking forward to seeing it and getting your impressions on it nice little deal

The screen protector , bumper cover , and extra bands I bought from Amazon have begun to arrive already . The watch shipped yesterday and is scheduled to deliver Monday BUT it's Fedex so I'm keeping my hopes down that it'll show up on Monday .
A bumper cover is a must have for me on every GW I've ever owned besides the Ultra because the glass sticks up above the bezel on all of them , including the GW8 . No biggie on the classic because the rotating bezel rises above the glass. Sapphire glass is shatter resistant not shatter proof and my job isn't conducive to products lasting long without protection . I'll probably do like I do my others and just pop it on in the morning and off when I get home .

 

[bkdodger]

The screen protector , bumper cover , and extra bands I bought from Amazon have begun to arrive already . The watch shipped yesterday and is scheduled to deliver Monday BUT it's Fedex so I'm keeping my hopes down that it'll show up on Monday .
A bumper cover is a must have for me on every GW I've ever owned besides the Ultra because the glass sticks up above the bezel on all of them , including the GW8 . No biggie on the classic because the rotating bezel rises above the glass. Sapphire glass is shatter resistant not shatter proof and my job isn't conducive to products lasting long without protection . I'll probably do like I do my others and just pop it on in the morning and off when I get home .

That's a good idea I think you have it protected well. I'm looking forward to seeing it in action.

 

[mountainbikermark]

The watch arrived a little while ago .
Something that NEVER happened on the GW7 or Ultra that has already happened on the GW is going into airplane mode due to overheating . Not cool at all .
Now the good .
It's supposed to be the same screen as the 7 and Ultra but it's crisper and more realistic plus the blacks are amazingly blacker . The UI is a little different in tidbits here and there and to be honest where I find Wear 6 to be Meh or even dislike they seem to have tweaked things just a little more . An example , the egg shape to the notifications and tiles is actually not quite as oval and a hair larger . Bold fonts on the 8 are truly bold and not just a slight thickening of the regular font .
Watchmaker is acting stupid on the 8 but it did the same thing when the Ultra updated to Wear 6 . A bunch of reboots , force closes and a couple of cache clears and it magically started working .
Graphite , to me, is black . To Samsung Graphite seems to be more of a light charcoal gray as the photo will attest and the black is with the bumper/cover I had on it .
The (p)leather band that came with the watch has a silver clasp and clips plus white stitching . Yuk. Fortunately I already bought a black leather (real cowhide) band with black accents and black stitching . It's also wider at the clamps for a more Ultra look and not so dressy watch looking .
I set it up as an existing based on the Ultra and all the settings took and worked great but most of the apps I have on the Ultra didn't cross over . No biggie. I've already added them on . Speaking of that , with Wi-Fi on everything downloads as fast as on my phone , ala VERY fast, but took Scott the same time to install .
The biggest thing , so far , is how comfortable it is . Samsung really hit it out of the park with this one . As comfortable as the GW7 feels it has those sensors sticking seemingly inches out so it never really gets comfortable if you have it the proper snugness . Hopefully the photo will show how the 8 sensor is basically flush so it rests perfectly on my arm . Specs state the 8 is only 10% more slim than the 7 but the photo shows it's thinner PLUS no extremely protruding sensor array for what feels like a much more comfortable wear . It feels like my Active 2 . I just can't say enough about the difference in comfort , especially vs the 7 . The Ultra is twice as thick weighs a lot more and is just a beast so to compare those 2 would be unfair as it's mandarins to grapefruits
I can't speculate on the battery yet but I'm hoping it's on par with the GW7. I could get as much as 2 days on that watch without turning anything off I usually keep on . I got the Bluetooth, non LTE , version just like with the 7 .
The new style clip works just like the Ultra but they are not interchangeable . That's a little disappointing . The band I'm using on my Ultra right now is supremely comfortable , is tough as nails and the beating the leather had taken along with sweat stains have given it a superb look that'll be missed . It started as a medium light brown that is now a dark carmel and lots of scratches . It also has hinges at the clip for extra comfort . Anyway I'll adapt .
As things progress I'll post back and hopefully the overheat was just a glitch .

 

[mountainbikermark]

I got a software update and Watchmaker is working fine . I read even though security patch is still listed as May that the update was to fix a couple of holes in the security .
It also added 6 bloatware apps that didn't add onto the Ultra . Other than Calm they're already gone .

 

[bkdodger]

Thank you for sharing some excellent points on the watch, and some early thoughts and navigation on set up.

 

[mountainbikermark]

Thank you for sharing some excellent points on the watch, and some early thoughts and navigation on set up.

First day at work with the usual pattern is settings and usual texts , steps , etc and the battery is beating even the Ultra . Took it off charger at 430 this morning and at 345 when I left work it was 89% . The GW7 would have been around 70-75% and Ultra 75-80%.
Super comfortable all day. Vibration is as strong as the Ultra , volume of tones and such was on par with the Ultra (that's a very good thing) and speakerphone was about the same as the Ultra in volume but not quite as good with sound quality . It was a little distorted at max volume , unlike the Ultra and 7 .
Range from the phone is within inches , all 3 of them . In front of my airfryer they are connected . 3 steps to the left and all 3 drop when my phone is downstairs on the other side of the house so about 40' and between 1 floor and 2 doors .
Oh and with Wear 6 on the GW8 the timer has its own ring tone whereas with Wear 6 on the Ultra it shares the call ringtone. Something different and kinda cool .

 

[mountainbikermark]

I made this face to go with this watch . I think the gray ticks really offset the graphite body of the watch and the hands bring out the blacker than black screen background it has . On the Ultra and 7 it's meh .

 

[bkdodger]

Really nice looking watch Samsung has done good

 

[mountainbikermark]

Another software update . This was was very small installed in only a couple of minutes and the security patch now says August 1 .
The Ultra got the August update yesterday .
I've found that though the Ultra is using Wear 6 it's still using the Wear app for Wear 5 whereas the GW8 is using an app designed to best utilize Wear 6 .
If you're using a GW7 or GW Ultra (2024 and 2025) you're not getting the latest and fullest abilities of Wear 6/UI8 yet .

 

[mountainbikermark]

I wore the Ultra to work yesterday to see how it performs and feels different than the GW8 .
Obviously there was the extra bulk and weight but I never felt the Ultra as being heavy or uncomfortable, just a different type of comfortable .
The heart rate was about the same but automatic workout starts MUCH easier on the Ultra . What I mean by that is when I'm at work often I'll walk long distances for stretches as long as an hour and at a pace that gets my heart into the upper 110s , which at my age is considered aerobic . Only once did the 8 start a workout and it missed most of the time I was that active , recording only 11 minutes . The Ultra picked up 2 yesterday and averages about 1 a day , sometimes as little as 10 minutes but still gets them . Most of my active spurts are about 15-20 minutes anyway . The 1 the 8 started missed about the first half hour . Might be a fitment thing?
For some reason both watches keep turning Wi-Fi on by themselves even though I've disabled auto AND have it toggled off . I was hoping that would have been fixed in the latest security update but it wasn't . The GW7 doesn't do it and the Ultra didn't start doing it until Wear 6 installed . When there's no Wi-Fi available the watch uses huge battery continuously looking for a signal that isn't there . The Ultra used 80% of its battery at work yesterday . Very very unusual and I attribute it to me not catching the Wi-Fi turning on by itself until late in the work day .
I really appreciate the feel and comfort of the Galaxy Watch 8 while at the same time really appreciate the oomph on my wrist feeling of the Ultra . It feels sturdy and fits my personally in that there's nothing dainty or dressy about me .They will both be used often I feel . The 7 will become my "church and funeral" watch most likely .

 

[mountainbikermark]

I traded in my Ultra for an 8 Classic LTE via T-Mobile . $149 after discounts was way too good to pass up . $400 discount! Non LTE was$499 and only $200 trade in . No other discounts . Since I already have a line for the Ultra it is no increase in my phone bill . The watch line actually dropped $2 a month for the next 3 years .
It should arrive at some point this week .
I was using the Ultra less and less because Wear 6 on it is so clunky and the GW8 just operates so smoothly and feels so not there while wearing it BUT it seems small on my ginormous wrist .
Even through the overall body of the Classic is larger than the 8 44mm and even the overall of the Ultra the wearer will lose a little over a millimeter of screen . Though that sounds crazy small it is VERY discernible and could be a turn off for some .300nit maximum brightness should help those older folks, like me , get over the size quickly . Lemonade factor , the Classic has a bigger battery than the 44mm non Classic version that is powering a slightly smaller screen so time between charges is a bit longer on the Classic. The Classic also includes 64GB of internal storage vs 32(still nothing to sneeze at) of the 8 regular . What to do with all that extra storage . Maybe lots more faces , locally stored music or try out some offline Maps routes .
The width and height increase over my regular 8 without the giant wart of a sensor housing the Ultra and 7 have pressing into my wrist has me more excited than when I first purchased the 8 .
With it's tank like body and Sapphire screen protection via the physical bezel I'll be running this one naked for the first time I've run a device ever . Just in case I change my mind Amazon has a 4 pack of screen protectors for $5 .
I'll report back once it arrives and give my take on comfort and how well the LTE works vs on the Ultra .

 

[bkdodger]

Nice good deal indeed and no brainer for you with a new watch.

 

[mountainbikermark]

Yay the watch arrived 2 days early !
I must confess after setting it up with ginormous and bold fonts I'm not missing that 2mm of screen at all .
Just like the GW8 did the Classic overheated while setting it up due to Wi-Fi , NFC, Bluetooth , GPS and data network all sucking on the battery . It dropped 15% in only a few moments before overheating . Once it cooled I turned off every radio but Bluetooth and it hasn't done it again even when data network back on as well.
I know a couple here have an Ultra so I'll compare the feel to that because it is quite a bit heavier and thicker than the GW8 BUUUUT it doesn't have that giant wart like sensor poking out like the Ultra so most of the thickness increase goes up and not down onto the arm . The band also connects a hair higher than the GW8 so as comfortable as that one is this one feels as good , just heavier . The titanium band I'm using on it is super light but the watch doesn't feel out of balance due to the way the band attaches to the watch .
Anyone who ever had a 4 Classic or 6 Classic will truly truly appreciate the very positive feedback turning the bezel creates . With the former 2 you could feel it as long as you were paying attention and it was also much easier to over shoot what you seek . This one could double as a fidget toy with its clicking feel . I'd put this up there with the old Galaxy Gear 2 (first circle watch Samsung did) for tactile satisfaction .
The screen is the same gorgeous AMOLED that Samsung has made a habit of putting it but the black bezel around the screen seems to blacken the blacks even more . I'm really digging the high chrome shine around the black bezel . It really pops .
I do have a gripe though about something the 4 and 6 Classics did not do . On the older models mine didn't change from the home screen to a tile to the left or right when using turn bezel to wake . It only woke the screen . This one turns on screen then flips to whichever direction I turned it so I turned that feature off . Tapping the action button once wakes the screen without doing anything else since I have it set to double tap to start a walking session .
Having a metal band on both 8s really closes the gap on weight feel between the 2 . The only time the Classic seems heavier is when I shake my wrist .
Overall I like the feel on hand just as well with both 8s and much more than the Ultra as well as somewhat better than the GW7 .
If I had to choose just 1 it'd be the Galaxy Watch 8 non Classic over everything else .