Samsung Galaxy Watch9 review.

A $559.99 watch that fixed the slow part and left the short part alone

Here's the number that decides this review: Best Buy Canada sells the Galaxy Watch 8 44 mm for $349.99 right now, and the new Galaxy Watch 9 44 mm for $559.99. That's $210 for a faster chip, one extra year of updates and a new colour. The battery, screen, case and sensors are the same as last year. Samsung Canada's own product pages showed no price when checked on October 24, 2026, so Best Buy and Staples set the Canadian numbers here.

The full Canadian lineup at Best Buy is $519.99 for the 40 mm Bluetooth model, $559.99 for the 44 mm, $599.99 for the 40 mm LTE and $639.99 for the 44 mm LTE. Staples.ca lists the 40 mm LTE at the same $599.99. In the US the 44 mm Bluetooth model is US$409.99. Colours are Cream or Graphite on the 40 mm and Silver or Graphite on the 44 mm.

This is a research review. Cameron hasn't worn a Watch 9 yet, so what follows comes from Samsung's documentation, reviews at Notebookcheck, Android Authority and others, Best Buy Canada's blog, and owner posts on r/GalaxyWatch. The question it answers: is the Watch 9 worth $210 more than a Watch 8, or should you buy the cheaper one and pocket the difference?

What Samsung changed, what it quietly skipped, and who shouldn't upgrade

The headline change is the chip. Samsung dropped its own Exynos W1000 for Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear Elite. Notebookcheck lists it as the SW6100 with one 2.1 GHz performance core and four 2.0 GHz efficiency cores, paired with 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. Bluetooth moves from 5.3 to 6.0, which the Best Buy Canada blog credits for a steadier phone link. The 40 mm battery grows 20% to 390 mAh. The 44 mm gains just 10 mAh, to 445 mAh.

On the software side you get Wear OS 7 with One UI 9 Watch, Gemini with Raise to Talk, a Vitals dashboard that compares your overnight heart rate, breathing rate, skin temperature and blood oxygen against your baseline, a Fitness Index built from VO2 max and steps, and a hearing-health sound monitor. The Best Buy blog expects the Vitals dashboard to reach the Watch 8 through an update, so don't count it as a Watch 9 exclusive.

What Samsung skipped matters as much. There's no Galaxy Watch 9 Classic with the rotating bezel this year, and no faster charging. The display is the same 1.47-inch, 480 x 480 panel with the same 3,000-nit peak. The squircle case, the Dynamic Lug bands and the sapphire glass all arrived with the Watch 8. Android Authority sums it up as about 90% of the experience already in the Watch 8. If you own a Watch 7 or Watch 8, keep it. The chip is the one reason to look closer.

Up to 65% faster on paper: what the Snapdragon chip changes on your wrist

Notebookcheck ran browser benchmarks on both generations and the gap is big. Octane V2 scored 21,546 on the Watch 9 against 13,026 on the Watch 8. Speedometer 2.0 went from 38.9 to 66.8 runs per minute. Mozilla Kraken dropped from 2,854.5 ms to 1,832.6 ms, where lower is better. Notebookcheck puts the gains at up to 65% and notes the Apple Watch Series 11 managed only 40.5 in Speedometer, so on these tests the Watch 9 is the quicker watch.

Does that show up in daily use? Partly. Android Authority describes smoother scrolling, faster app launches and fewer pauses, but says the change isn't transformative next to a Watch 7. Smartprix noticed something more useful: the watch stayed cool through long GPS workouts, which older Galaxy Watches didn't. Notebookcheck still saw occasional small delays despite the faster silicon.

In plain terms, the Watch 9 won't make you gasp, but it stops the little stutters that made a two-year-old Galaxy Watch feel tired, and it should age better. Several r/GalaxyWatch posters weighing a Watch 8 against a Watch 9 raise exactly this point after an older watch began lagging following a One UI update. The Snapdragon chip is insurance against that. Whether it also saves battery is the next question, and the answer is no.

The 30-hour claim, and why reviewers and owners both call it a one-day watch

Samsung claims up to 30 hours with the always-on display and 40 hours without, the same figures it gave the Watch 8. The reviews line up against it. Android Authority's 44 mm unit lasted 30 to 35 hours with the always-on display off and about an hour of workout tracking, and on a heavy day with roughly 20,000 steps it had 15% left after 24 hours. Some nights it fell from about 40% to dead and lost the sleep data. Wareable puts real-world life at 24 to 30 hours.

Notebookcheck's numbers are the most detailed. With the always-on display on and automatic workout detection running, a day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. used 40 to 50% of the charge. Add sleep tracking with blood oxygen and the watch burned 60 to 70% in 24 hours. Its conclusion: no better than the Watch 8, possibly slightly worse on the 44 mm. Even the Best Buy Canada blog, a retailer that sells the watch, calls battery the weak point and never got a full day over several weeks.

r/GalaxyWatch tells the same story with more heat. A common complaint there is a watch that drops into power-saving mode before a 12-hour shift ends, or loses 30% overnight with the display off. Several separate owners say drain got worse after a software update, and at least one had the watch replaced under warranty. On the other side, a well-upvoted post reports over 41 hours from a fresh setup with the always-on display off, Raise to Talk disabled and the battery run flat and recharged a few times first. Owners agree the LTE model drains faster.

So the practical rule: charge it every morning while you shower and you'll be fine. Skip a morning and it dies around dinner. The next question is how long that morning charge takes.

Why owners are 3D-printing fans for the charger

Charging is the second complaint in every review. Android Headlines timed a 0 to 100% charge at about 1 hour 50 minutes and pointed out the Pixel Watch 4 does it in barely an hour. Smartprix saw 7% to 100% take 2 hours 30 minutes. Notebookcheck and Android Authority both put a full charge at around 1.5 hours. Google claims the Pixel Watch 5 hits 50% in about 15 minutes, a comparison Samsung loses badly.

The r/GalaxyWatch community points at heat. The watch throttles charging when the puck warms up. One of the subreddit's most upvoted posts this year logged a 44 mm LTE going from 50% to 90% in 60 minutes on the standard puck in a 29 °C room, 37 minutes with a small heatsink, and 27 minutes with a small fan. A different owner went from 15% to 100% in 1 hour 15 minutes with a fan-cooled charger, down from 2 hours 10 minutes. Several others charge on top of a PC or air purifier for the same reason.

In a Canadian house in winter the puck runs cooler, but you still can't top up in the 20 minutes before you leave. Samsung ships only a charging puck and cable, no wall plug, so budget for a spare puck at the office if you want to charge twice a day. Now, assuming you keep it charged, how good is the data it collects?

Heart rate within 4 bpm, blood pressure within 1%, calories way off

Notebookcheck is the only outlet that ran the sensors against reference gear, and the Watch 9 did well. At rest the heart-rate reading matched a Polar H10 chest strap; on a bike ride the average deviation was 4.3 bpm, or 1.5%. Blood oxygen was within 0.7% of a Braun pulse oximeter. Blood pressure, after calibration with an upper-arm cuff that must be repeated at least every four weeks, averaged 1.1% off on systolic and 0.4% on diastolic against a certified Braun cuff. Dual-band GPS matched a Garmin Venu 2 with minor errors on both.

The weak spots are consistent across outlets. The Best Buy Canada blog and Smartprix both saw calorie estimates run far higher than other devices even when heart rate matched. Smartprix's body-fat readings from the bioimpedance sensor swung between 7% and 10% over a week against a separate 17% measurement, so treat body composition as a trend line at best. Notebookcheck says sleep start and end times aren't always right, and continuous heart rate shows only as ranges, which hides small errors. Wareable reported workout heart-rate inconsistencies, and r/GalaxyWatch runners ask whether the new sensor reads low, though those threads don't agree.

Then there's the phone lock. Samsung Canada's product page says most health features need Android 13 or newer. Android Authority and Notebookcheck both confirm ECG, irregular rhythm notifications, sleep apnea detection and blood pressure aren't available with Pixel or OnePlus phones. There's no iPhone support at all. Without a Galaxy phone, you're paying full price for a watch with its best medical-style features switched off. Gemini works for everyone, so is it any good?

Raise to Talk is the one feature that feels new, when it works

Raise to Talk means lifting the watch toward your mouth and speaking to Gemini without a wake word or a button. Smartprix calls it useful: responses were quick, transcription was fast, and in a busy gym most requests got through, though loud rooms swallowed some words. The Best Buy Canada blog found Gemini answers faster than on the Watch 8, and liked it for weather, unit conversions while cooking and summarising your health status.

It isn't flawless. Android Authority says it works better than expected but sometimes fails or seems to freeze. Android Headlines had it refuse to run for about the first week, demanding a digital-assistant setup that was already done, before it fixed itself without an update. Smartprix adds that the always-listening mode costs battery, and the r/GalaxyWatch owner who hit 41 hours did it partly by turning Gemini wake-up off. It's a convenience with a battery price.

For a commuter on the GO train, raising a wrist and asking for the next departure beats fishing out a phone. The honest take: Gemini is a nice reason to want a Watch 9, not a reason to pay $210 over a Watch 8. Which brings us to the rivals.

Watch 8, Pixel Watch, Apple Watch Series 12 or Garmin Venu 3: where $559.99 lands

Inside Samsung's lineup the maths is brutal. Best Buy Canada lists the Galaxy Watch 8 44 mm at $349.99 on sale from $489.99, and Tech Standpoint scored it 8.1. It has the same screen, case, sensors and battery claim, just the slower Exynos chip and one fewer promised OS upgrade. Pickr says the Watch 8 may be the better buy if it's cheaper. In Canada it's much cheaper.

Google's Pixel Watch 4 45 mm is $548.97 at Best Buy Canada and the newer Pixel Watch 5 starts at $549.99. Wareable's verdict is that the Watch 9 isn't polished enough to unseat the Pixel Watch as the best mid-range pick for Android, and Android Authority points to the Pixel Watch 5's far faster charging. If you don't own a Samsung phone, the Pixel is the safer Wear OS buy, because the Watch 9 locks away its best health features.

For an iPhone owner the Watch 9 isn't an option; the Apple Watch Series 12 starts at $549.99 for the 42 mm GPS model and $619.99 for the 46 mm at Best Buy Canada, and Tech Standpoint gave it 8.5. If battery is your priority, the Garmin Venu 3 at $659.99 (one Best Buy listing is on sale at $569) runs for days and scored 8.3 here, and the Amazfit Balance 2 at 8.2 does the same for less, with fewer apps. The Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, which Android Authority lists at US$699.99 with an 800 mAh battery, is the multi-day Samsung answer, but we couldn't confirm a Canadian price for it.

Living with it: a 12-month warranty that excludes the battery, and a five-year promise Samsung hasn't written down

Samsung Canada's warranty page gives wearables 12 months of coverage for manufacturing defects, carry-in or mail-in, and it lists batteries among the consumables the warranty does not cover. Costco.ca's listing also shows a one-year warranty on the 44 mm. That matters for a watch whose main complaint is battery, though one r/GalaxyWatch owner did get a replacement that fixed a drain problem. Costco's listing cites its 90-day return policy; for Best Buy, Staples or Samsung.ca, check the retailer's return policy before you buy.

Software support is the strongest ownership argument and the least documented. Android Authority, SamMobile and Smartprix all report five major OS upgrades and five years of security patches, which would carry the Watch 9 to 2031. TechRepublic cautions that Samsung hadn't formally published that policy as of late July, and Samsung's security page lists the Watch 9 only for quarterly updates with no year count. Treat five years as likely, not guaranteed.

Running costs are low. The health features are free with no subscription. Samsung bundles trials for Strava and iFIT, and the Best Buy blog notes iFIT workouts cost extra after that. Watch 8 straps fit and Watch 7 straps don't; Smartprix found the small/medium band in the box runs small. One owner reported the charging puck failing after three months, a single report so far. Long term, the risk owners raise most is the battery shrinking from a one-day watch to a shift-length one.

Who should buy the Galaxy Watch 9, who should skip it, and what to buy instead

Buy it if you have a Galaxy phone, you're coming from a Watch 6 or older, and you want the full Samsung health package with the longest update promise on Wear OS. Android Authority recommends it for first-time buyers and owners of three- or four-year-old Galaxy Watches; Smartprix gives it 8 out of 10, Pickr and Android Headlines 4 out of 5. Get the 40 mm if your wrist is small: it has the bigger battery gain and the same claimed runtime.

Skip it if you own a Watch 7 or Watch 8: that's $210 for a chip you'll notice for a week and a software year you'll get in 2030. Skip it if you want to sleep with the watch and not think about charging. And skip it if you carry a Pixel, OnePlus or iPhone, since the ECG, apnea and blood pressure tools won't switch on.

Instead, a Galaxy owner on a budget should take the Watch 8 at $349.99 while the sale lasts. A non-Samsung Android owner should look at the Pixel Watch 5 at $549.99. Anyone whose first complaint is battery should price the Garmin Venu 3 or Amazfit Balance 2 and accept a thinner app library. Our score reflects a fast, comfortable and accurate watch that Samsung priced as a flagship and powered like last year's.