Experience Galaxy Watch Ultra2 climbing Dinh Mountain: A watch for people who like to exercise

Hello everyone, wearing a smart watch in an office space or looking through technical specifications on paper is probably too familiar to everyone. This time, I want to change things up by taking the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 straight out into the real natural environment to experience it. The location I chose for this test is the trail at Dinh Mountain, an area near Vung Tau.

The reason I brought the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 to run the Dinh Mountain trail

Talking a little about my personal perspective, I am a person who loves to exercise and regularly participate in many different sports. Previously, I had the opportunity to accompany the Galaxy Watch 8 in a Galaxy Run running event, as well as maintain a daily exercise routine on the treadmill at Tinhte office.

However, exercising indoors or on urban roads is difficult to fully demonstrate the capabilities of an Ultra series positioning watch. I'm curious to know when taking it on a real trail run with complex terrain, how this device will help sports players be more active, easier and safer.

The route at Dinh Mountain that I experienced can be chosen as a route with a length of about 6.3 km and a cumulative altitude of about 251 m. This is a route with a continuous steep slope, interspersed with many stone steps, paths following streams and cutting through temple areas.

During my run, the weather was not really favorable when it rained quite heavily, making the hilly path slippery. However, the wet weather and complex rocky terrain became an ideal practical test for this watch.

Experience actual navigation at Dinh Mountain according to GPX files and trail running support features

When it comes to trail running experience, the ability to navigate and navigate is always the most important factor. Before departing, I went to running groups to find a GPX format map file of the Nui Dinh route, then copied it straight to the Galaxy Watch Ultra2.

During the process of moving between dense forests and mountains, the Off-track Alarm feature is very effective. Because the path on Dinh Mountain has many confusing branches, I deliberately tried to deviate from the pre-established route.

Just go about 3 to 4 meters, the watch will immediately vibrate and make a warning sound to let you know that you have gone in the wrong direction. Thanks to that, I can quickly turn back on the right route without worrying about getting lost deep in the forest. As soon as I returned to the correct route, the machine vibrated slightly to notify me that I was back on the right path, giving me a very reassuring feeling.

For example, swipe one page to see the incline graph, or switch to another page to check your heart rate and distance. However, compared to some specialized outdoor watch models on the market, the Galaxy Watch Ultra2's mapping system still has a small limitation. The navigation map here is displayed as a route line (thread) on a dark background, but does not incorporate a topographic map layer that clearly shows detailed images of rivers, streams, hills or surrounding forests.

In return, the actual altitude and slope tracking feature works extremely effectively. The watch continuously updates the slope of the road ahead, for example displaying a slope down to minus 8% or minus 10%. Knowing the upcoming slope helps you easily calculate and distribute your energy appropriately. Know when to proactively slow down, when to go for a recovery walk or have energy gels and salt tablets ready for the next steep climb.

In addition, thanks to sensors that continuously measure heart rate, environmental temperature and skin humidity, the watch will automatically issue a reminder to rehydrate when it detects that the body is overexercised or dehydrated. In fact, on the run, when I was climbing a long slope, breathing heavily and sweating a lot, the watch displayed a notification to rehydrate. Right at that moment, I promptly stopped by a local people's rest stop to ask for a bottle of soft drink to cool down, helping my body regain stability to continue the journey.

In addition, Galaxy Watch Ultra2 is also equipped with the TrackBack feature. This feature will rely on all positioning data recorded by the watch during travel to redraw the route, supporting directions for you to return to the correct starting point.

In case an unexpected incident occurs such as slipping or falling or exhaustion in the forest, you can activate the emergency siren feature. The watch's external speaker will emit a siren sound with a very high capacity, helping surrounding people or rescuers easily locate their location from a distance.

Thinner and lighter design, more comfortable to wear

Speaking of appearance and practical use, the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 brings many notable improvements compared to its predecessor. Although it still has a bold and sporty 47 mm Titanium frame, the body has been trimmed about 12% thinner than the first Ultra. This change makes the overall watch much neater, when bending the wrist or exercising vigorously, it no longer feels stiff or entangled on the wrist.

The Trail strap is comfortable and doesn't pinch your hands

Another huge plus comes from the Trail Band strap. In the previous generation, the default rubber band was quite thick and hard, leading to sweating a lot when jogging or going in the rain, often causing a feeling of stuffiness and itching and burning of the skin. The new Trail Band is a lightweight fabric, has good ventilation and hugs the wrist smoothly. Even when I ran continuously in the rain, sweat combined with rainwater condensed, the rope still dried relatively quickly, without causing any discomfort to the skin of my hands.

The 5000 nits screen displays clearly in sunlight and durability are two valuable things on the Galaxy Watch Ultra2.

Regarding outdoor visibility, the device's 1.52-inch round screen has a maximum brightness of up to 5000 nits. This is a very high brightness level on a smart watch today. When I run through empty roads without trees, the noon sunlight shines directly on the Sapphire glass, the parameters of speed, heart rate or road map are still displayed clearly and sharply. On the contrary, when entering deep trails under the dense canopy of low-light forests, the screen also automatically adjusts the brightness to make it more comfortable for the eyes.

In terms of durability, this watch meets 10 ATM water resistance, IP69K water and dust resistance standards with a Titanium shell and durable Sapphire glass. During the trip, due to the slippery rain, I slipped and fell a few times, causing the watch face to collide directly with dry tree branches, sandy soil, and loose rocks along the road.

However, after completing the exercise and using water to wash off the mud, the glass surface as well as the Titan case edge are still smooth, without any scratches. This shows that the machine's impact resistance is completely suitable for harsh journeys.

Smooth performance, decent battery life, and Gemini AI assistant

In terms of hardware power, Galaxy Watch Ultra2 is equipped with the new Snapdragon Wear Elite chip. The combination of the new processor and WearOS operating system provides very smooth response speed. Every swipe between exercise menus, switching widgets, or opening apps happens instantly. The commendable point is that even when the watch has to operate continuously outdoors, turning on GPS positioning while measuring many sensors causing the device to warm up, the system still maintains stability and does not suffer from lag or frame freezes like some other watch models.

Regarding battery life, the device has an 800 mAh battery. To check the reality, the night before the trip I fully charged the watch to 100% and then slept all night. The purpose is for the device to record sleep data and calculate Energy Score for the next day. The next morning, I wore the watch to travel from Ho Chi Minh City to Dinh Mountain and turned on the GPS tracking mode to run the trail continuously for about 1 to 2 hours. At around noon when finishing the exercise, the battery level of the device was about 67%.

With such battery consumption in mixed usage conditions including measuring overnight sleep and turning on GPS to continuously receive signals outdoors, the device's battery life is very satisfactory. If only used for daily wear, receiving notifications and light exercise, this watch can maintain good performance for about 3 to 4 days before needing to be recharged.

Another interesting point on the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 is the support of the Raise To Talk feature with Gemini. When I'm jogging on a slope and my hands are busy using sticks or rocks, I just need to raise my wrist to ask Gemini a question directly without having to press any buttons.

For example, when I felt a slight sign of muscle tension in my calves, I raised my hand to ask Gemini how to handle cramps while jogging, and the AI ​​assistant immediately gave advice on gentle stretching and replenishing electrolyte water. Or before climbing, you can also raise your hand to ask about the weather in the Dinh Mountain area in the next few hours to proactively prepare a raincoat.

In addition, the Double Pinch gesture is also extremely convenient. Thanks to this feature, I can easily control and pause music, receive calls or remotely trigger photography on the phone without having to touch my muddy fingers on the watch's touch screen. All data collected during the trip is also automatically and smoothly synced to the Samsung Health app on the phone, helping me easily review the heart rate chart, sleep analysis as well as daily Energy Score.

In short...

After an actual trail run at Dinh Mountain, it can be seen that the Galaxy Watch Ultra2 is a very good step forward for Samsung's sports smartwatch line. The device has effectively overcome the bad points of the previous generation thanks to its thinner and lighter design, the Trail Band strap is comfortable to wear without causing itching, the 5000 nits screen brightness is extremely clear in bright sunlight and the battery life is long enough for extended trips.

In my opinion, this watch will be a great assistant for those who regularly practice sports from the basic level to hardcore activities. It serves both as a fashionable, modern smartwatch for daily wear and as a reliable health monitoring and navigation device during trips to explore nature.

If you are interested and want to own a Galaxy Watch Ultra2, you can go directly to the Samsung.com homepage to see more details and receive the best purchasing incentives.