The Galaxy Watch 4 is thinner and lighter. It is made of aluminum, which is lighter, and is meant to be the more sporty choice. It also doesn’t have the rotating bezel that’s usually found on a Galaxy Watch. Instead, it has a touch-enabled bezel that you can spin with your finger to move through software menus. It’s useful, but not nearly as easy to use as the bezel on the Classic.
The OLED screen on each watch is pretty good. Samsung doesn’t mess around when it comes to this. In addition to making each panel a little brighter, which makes it easier to see in direct sunlight, they also made both sizes sharper than before.
In fact, the Watch 4 which have 1.4-inch screens, is almost twice as sharp as the Watch 3 and Watch Active 2. This means that you can read smaller text and see less aliasing around images on the larger Watch 4 and 4 Classic. And the newer Galaxy Watch 5 has the same number of pixels per inch, so you haven’t lost any ground.
Both Galaxy Watch 4 models have bright screens that are easy to read. The resolution is also very good. The 40mm watch has a resolution of 396 x 396, while the 44mm watch has a resolution of 450 x 450. Both models have 330 pixels per inch.
The Galaxy Watch 4 is different from other smartwatches because it has a “virtual” bezel that can be turned. You’ll have to get the Watch 4 Classic if you want a physical bezel that you can turn. Instead, you can use the black bezel around the screen to move through menus and access different features.
The Galaxy Watch 4 has a 3-in-1 health sensor that can measure heart rate, take ECGs, and read body composition. It is the first major smartwatch to offer bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). Google Fit and other fitness apps can run on the Galaxy Watch 4, but only Samsung Health can sync health features like an ECG and a new bioelectric impedance sensor for body analysis measurements. Some health features, like ECG and, in some countries, blood pressure, only work on Samsung phones.
Galaxy Watch 4 owners also get to use Tiles, a new feature that Google just added to Wear OS. Tiles are like widgets that live to the right of the watch face. They give you quick access to information or app actions, like checking the weather, starting a timer, or starting a workout, without having to open an app.
Google said at its recent developer conference that it is working with dozens of companies to add Tiles to their Wear OS apps, even though the Tile API is still in alpha and not available to all developers. It’s one of the best things added to the platform, and it’s also being added to Wear OS 2.
