Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2; An Elegant and Luxurious Upgrade from Predecessor

It only takes six months for Samsung to reach the advancement of original Watch Active series when they finally came out with the new product called Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2. Bringing the big name of South Korean Mogul, the watch focuses more on health and fitness.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 is offered in two size variants; both are boasting an improvement range of the watch inside out. There are more sensors, bigger batteries, and improved LTE connectivity for those who want to put your phone at home when running.

Overall, the enhancement in Galaxy Watch Active 2 is very significant compared to previous model, and below is the overview of this small powerful watch from Samsung.

Galaxy Watch Active 2; Minimalist Wearable for Fitness Tracking

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2
Watch Active 2

Galaxy Watch Active 2 is well-known for assisting people who are practicing intensive fitness.

Even so, the manufacturer still presents the watch in traditional look Although it does not look sporty as other fitness watches, but Watch Active 2 minimalist design can be easily recognized as a fitness wearable.

At least, it would not be mistaken as a pure traditional watch.

In term of materials, the Active 2 has black aluminum body to give an understated look. It also has stainless-steel version to show the classy side of this watch, especially with the combination of leather straps and shiny metallic materials.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 close up
Watch Active 2

There are two size variants are offered; the 44mm and 40mm. The bigger 44 mm model has 1.4-inch screen with a 360 x 360 resolution. With this kind of dimension, this obviously fits more to male users or for those who has bigger wrist.

On the other hand, the smaller 40 mm variant fits more on woman or for those who has smaller wrist. While for the screen size, this smaller variant has 1.2-inch of size.

Overall, the screen on both variants are great in any lightning situation. The text displayed is pretty sharp, while black color are deep and other colors are popped.

Galaxy Watch Active 2 has two buttons on the right edge, and they are bloody easy to press. Talking about its strap, it has default 20mm interchangeable silicone that is easy to swap.

Active 2 series is also suitable for fitness due to the dust and water resistance capability. You can also bring it to swimming pool as it has 5-ATM standard as well as advanced swimming tracking feature.

WATCH DISPLAY & DESIGN

Galaxy Watch Active 2 has rotating dial which is more manageable than the previous Series. The watch is pretty light with 26g of weight with no strap for 40mm version, and 30g of weight for the 44mm.

Just like the previous series Samsung gives aluminum body to this new upgrade. While about colors, the watch is launched in cloud silver, aqua black, and pink gold colors. Stainless steel body will also be available in LTE models in silver, black and gold colors.

This convenient watch also has rubberized Fluoroelastomer band. It is the same band as on the Apple Watch. The material is smooth and felt natural on skin especially when we use it for casual and sweaty activity.

There is also classier type like 11g stainless steel body with a leather strap. Basically, strap option is quite flexible because you may swap out any Samsung-sold or aftermarket 20mm band.

Moving to the side of the body, there are two side buttons that are very similar to previous series. The function of back button on top is to outline the menu, while the ‘home’ button below will bring up the apps. Double-tapping the latter brings up Samsung’s smart assistant, Bixby.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 back case
Watch Active 2

Moreover, Galaxy Active 2 also uses 360 x 360 resolution Super AMOLED screen. It has slightly (0,1 inches) expanded to 1,2 inches with the thin bezel around, especially in 40mm model. While in 44mm, it has a 1,4-inch screen of same resolution. Finally, it’s large enough screen to see some essential information such text message or notification.

UNDER THE HOOD

Apparently, Samsung chooses to use its own TIZEN OS for Galaxy Watch 2. Independently developed by Samsung, this OS is the hottest features launched in this edition of Samsung smartwatch along with the iconic digital rotating bezel.

This rotating bezel is quite helpful to scroll the menus. Using this rotating bezel is also more functional and easy than manually navigating screens by swiping the screen which in most cases, will leave annoying fingerprints mark.

Under the hood, the TIZEN OS 4.0 is paired with amazing processor from Exynos 9110 Dual core 1,15 Ghz chipset to result better performance. The watch is also equipped with 768mb of RAM, makes switching between apps is smoother and easier.

And if you buy the LTE version, the RAM is even expanded to be 1.5 GB. This combination is enough, even though for some costumers, they hope to get around 4GB storage in there.

Battery

Galaxy Watch Active 2 is enormously superior watch with the 340 mAh battery capacity for 44mm type and 247 mAh for 40mm type. With this battery, the watch can last for two days with light usage without workouts or just taking notification.

If it’s used for playing music, tracking your run through GPS, doing workout or other heavy duty activity, the lifespan decreases quite rapidly.

Furthermore, there is also battery-saving setting that will turn on the grayscale and switching off the Wi-Fi. Even if it’s not that significant, but this setting adds more life between charges.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 on hand

SAMSUNG GALAXY WATCH ACTIVE 2 PRICE AND AVAILABILITY

Samsung offers one-year warranty for Active 2 series, and the watch is offered in variants colors. We can get black, pink, and silver aluminum color.

While for the price, this smartwatch starts selling at $280 for the 40mm variant and $300 for the 44mm aluminum. While for the LTE version, it has three colors; gold, silver, and black.

For this more advance variant, Samsung offers it in $430 for 40mm and 44mm is $450. One to keep in mind, using LTE means that you have to set the data plan and pay a monthly fee to service provider.

Originally written by: Reno Prasetyo

Edited by: Eko Prasetyo

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