best on comfort but a little chick autonomy

Available in 40 and 44 mm, with a screen that climbs up to 3,000 brightness, it remains perfectly readable even in direct sunlight. The Classic, the most imposing model (46 mm), has in addition to a rotating telescope that makes all the difference: navigating in the menus without covering the screen with fingerprints is a real plus, especially in full effort. For our part, we tested the standard, fine and light version, ideal for a daily port in all discretion.

Fluid interface and artificial wrist artificial intelligence

On the software side, the Galaxy Watch 8 runs under One Ui Watch (on the Base Wear OS 6). The interface is fluid, the tiles respond without a hitch and navigation remains intuitive. Long support on the upper button activates Gemini, Google’s artificial intelligence. We dictate an appointment reminder, we ask him for the weather for the next day or play a playlist. The answer is almost instantly displayed on the screen, with contextualized cards.

We played the game for several days via the watch rather than going out our smartphone. Find the opening schedule of a store, launch a timer for shell eggs, send a message … The function correctly answers most of the questions but with nevertheless a little embarrassing latency (we do not know if a reflection is in progress or if there is a bug). And the size of the screen is nevertheless that we sometimes remain frustrated by somewhat generic responses. Well, but can do better.

Health and sport: ever more sensors

Samsung wanted to enrich the health part. In addition to cardiac monitoring, stress or blood oxygen, two new metrics appear: “the antioxidant index” and the “vascular load”. The first is measured by placing his thumb on the sensor at the back of the watch (so it must be won from the wrist). Results ? The results are variable depending on the lighting, the skin color, the pressure … fun therefore, but not yet a reliable indicator. The second, on the other hand, quite well reflects the cardiovascular load after a sports session. A good point.

On the ground, the Watch 8 is doing well. During a jogging of 6 km, GPS measures were in the margin of 1 to 2 % compared to a specialized watch. The heart rate follows properly, with only a slight delay when changes in brutal rhythm. We will therefore not trust him on a 30/30 fractional session for example. As for “running coach”, he adapts a training plan according to a 12 -minute test: practical to motivate himself to progress without getting lost in the settings.

Autonomy: an Achilles heel still present

This is the angry point. In daily use, notifications, health follow -up, a little sport, some Gemini queries, the Galaxy Watch 8 holds between 28 and 32 hours. In the maximum, almost without sport, you can reach almost two days of use. Conversely, with the Always screen we activate, we go down to around 24 hours. In intensive use, it is even possible to empty the battery before the end of the day … Note that the classic version, more massive, is slightly better thanks to its larger battery, but not to the point of changing the situation.

Recharge, magnetic, does not help things. Count half an hour to go back to 50 %, around 1:30 for a full full. You have to be relatively patient. No universal Qi load, and no generational leap compared to the Galaxy Watch 7. If you want to wear the watch at night to analyze your sleep, you have to think about recharging it in the evening or early in the morning – a small ritual that ends up annoying. Especially since many competing watches ended up finding the solution.

Price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 starts at around € 380 for the 40mm Bluetooth version, and climbs depending on the size, LTE connectivity or the classic finish (this starts at € 520). The prices remain competitive in the face of high -end competition, even if some more endurance oriented models (Garmin, Coros, Suunto, etc.) keep a clear advance on the battery.