by Anura Guruge

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Samsung Watch 3 on its own.

Samsung Watch 3 (on right) next to Garmin Fenix 6
— both titanium.

The display on the Samsung ‘Watch 3’ is absolutely BRILLIANT — in every way, & the much-vaunted rotating bezel is just great. But, beyond that the Watch 3 disappoints.

Yes, I am comparing it to a Garmin Fenix 6 — which is a more expensive watch. I appreciate & acknowledge that. But, I discovered today, to my cost & chagrin, that you can’t move from a Garmin Fenix 6 to the Watch 3. Just doesn’t cut it.

Here are the MAIN things I found beyond trying:

1. That beautiful display becomes UNREADABLE when outside, in Sun, because Samsung has a stupid “Outdoor Mode” which dims the screen — BUT there is NO WAY you can turn this off or adjust the brightness. That started to drive me crazy.
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2. Yes, plenty of gorgeous watch faces but many do NOT offer any customization — & those that do still limit your flexibility. Look at the watch face (ActiFace) I have on my Fenix 6. I could not get all that info on a Samsung face. I really missed sunrise/sunset (which is only available on SOME faces).
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3. Even with ‘Always On’ watch face goes dark!
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4. ECG functionality ONLY available with a Samsung phone & I don’t have one. That was a killer.
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5. Getting navigational APPs was difficult.

Bottom line was that the Watch 3 is 75% — ‘pretty display’, BUT even that is muddied by the stupid “Outdoor Mode” & erratic “Aways On”.

Yes, it would have been very different IF I wasn’t coming from a Fenix 6. If it is to be your first smartwatch you will probably LOVE it. SMILE.

Related posts:
Search ‘Garmin’ & ‘Samsung’.

by Anura Guruge