This past week, I decided to upgrade my smartwatch. The new model arrived Friday, 6-Sept.
I chose to stick with Samsung. All of my personal tech is Samsung (phone, tablet, old smartwatch), and I’ve been satisfied. I wanted to replace the prior watch for a couple of reasons. The new model had some features I was interested in trying. More significantly, that prior watch was a “gift” from the abusive roommate. She got it free when upgrading her phone, didn’t like it, and changed to a Fitbit. I need to be rid of that reminder.
The new watch is a Galaxy Watch 7 (44 mm). That’s slightly larger than the 40mm of the prior watch, but not really noticeably so. It advertised several new health monitoring features, as well as a longer battery life than the Watch 4 it’s replacing (425 mAh vs 247).
I have been using it about 18 hours since last full charge, and it says it has 62% battery remaining. That suggests I will get close to 30 hours of usage between charges. Since I tend to charge my watch during the day, I won’t complain about that.
Also, it’s water resistant and can be worn in the shower / pool. I kept it on when I took my shower this morning, and nothing untoward occurred. I just shook my wrist to get rid of water droplets, and dried the sensor. The prior watch you had to run an applet to clear water from it’s speakers after any water exposure.
I’ve discovered that one of the health features I was interested in is not available to me. I wanted to try out the sleep apnea detection. As soon as I started to turn that on, it asked several health questions. One was “Are you diagnosed with AFib”. I said yes, and it immediately told me that I could not use the feature. I don’t really know why that’s a contraindication, but “It is what it is.”
The upgraded watch bands I had bought for the Watch 4 fit the Watch 7, so I’m still wearing my gold glitter band. The watch cover, of course, didn’t fit. I knew that out of the gate though, so I bought a set of covers for the Watch 7 in the 44 mm size. The new covers are not only easier to attach, but they have a screen protector built in. That’s a nice new feature for that item.
I got a big trade-in discount on the old watch. That made the new one much more affordable. The trade-in discount was actually 53% of the list price of the Watch 7. Both watches (the Watch 4 and the Watch 7) are LTE-enabled.
I already had a line for the old watch. I called my provider on Friday and requested that the line be changed over to the new watch. Customer service assured me that this had been done. It hasn’t, both according to my account page, and personal testing. So I will call the provider again tomorrow and deal with that.
The journey continues.
An Aging Trans Woman 
nice! I have the 40mm BT one and don’t get nearly the battery life you do.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s your fault, Cass. If it hadn’t been for you, I probably wouldn’t have gone looking at it and found that trade-in deal. Seriously though, thank you.
Worth noting: I don’t use always on display. That’s the biggest usage item for Samsung watches in my experience.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve had it on for about 26 hours now. The estimate is 21.5 hours more. So sometime tomorrow, I will charge it again. I am impressed with a nearly 48 hour life. And I’m running the sleep sensors too. Only thing I’ve turned off is the “Always on display.”
LikeLike
After 44 hours, it was down to 11% this morning when I woke up. It’s on the charger now, and the estimate to full charge is 2 hours and 21 minutes.
I’ll likely charge it more often, for convenience sake. But I did want an idea of how long it could go, if absolutely necessary.
LikeLike
That’s great battery life. I usually charge mine in the morning while I eat breakfast. I can really use up the battery if I don’t sleep well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will probably do the same. I tended to charge the old Watch 4 at ~50%. That was occurring at various times of the day, but I never would have been able to go even 24 hours without risking it dying while I slept.
LikeLike
It looks like a really pretty watch, Janet! Plus I agree you’ll be happier with your own newer watch. Enjoy!
LikeLiked by 1 person