Smartwatches and fitness trackers beta · Samsung
Owners keep the Galaxy Watch 3 for years as an everyday watch for notifications, calls and media, and it survives swimming and showers, though they accept a battery that shortens with age.
Durability is clear praise. Owners describe watches still in daily use years after launch, and one has taken theirs swimming in the ocean and a pool and into the shower every week with no water damage.
Owners are divided on battery life. Some still get a full day, or two days with Always On Display turned off. Others say an aging battery forced daily charging, and one found it ran out halfway through long hikes with music and navigation.
The Galaxy Watch3 is a round smartwatch from Samsung that came out in 2020. It comes in 41mm and 45mm sizes, with Bluetooth-only or LTE versions. It's for people who want fitness and heart tracking and phone alerts on their wrist, and it works best with an Android phone.
| Display | 45mm: 1.4 in, 41mm: 1.2 in, full colour, always-on, Corning Gorilla Glass DX |
|---|---|
| Battery life | |
| Water resistance | 5ATM + IP68, MIL-STD-810G |
| GPS | Yes (A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou) |
| Health sensors | Optical heart rate, electrical heart sensor (ECG), blood oxygen, accelerometer (fall detection), gyroscope, barometer |
| Works with | Android 5.0 or later with at least 1.5 GB RAM; iPhone 5 or later on iOS 9.0 or later |
| Weight | 45mm stainless steel: 53.8 g; 45mm titanium: 43 g; 41mm stainless steel: 48.2 g (case only) |
| Warranty |
From the maker's spec page, checked October 10, 2026. A blank row means the maker does not state it.
5ATM plus IP68 means you can swim in a pool or shower with it on, but it is not made for diving. MIL-STD-810G means it was tested to handle knocks, heat and cold better than a typical watch. It has its own GPS, so it can map a run without your phone. It works with Android phones and older iPhones, but some features, like the heart (ECG) reading, may need a Samsung phone. Samsung's pages that I could read gave the battery size but not how many hours it lasts.
Pick up to three. You get a page with just those, side by side, on the subjects owners raised.
Years in, the watch has settled into a simple daily job: it stays connected to the phone, shows notifications, takes calls and controls media, and for some owners that covers everything they need. Some still like how it looks. One owner considers the Titanium version one of the best-looking Galaxy watches and prefers its size and 22mm strap width to the Watch 6 Classic. Another is glad they kept theirs rather than trading it in for a Watch 4 Classic.
The main adjustment is around charging. Some owners turn off Always On Display to stretch it to two days, and others have come to accept charging every day. One owner who loved the watch moved to Garmin once they took up more serious sport, saying it is not built for all-day hikes or rides.
The parts that keep working are the body, the water resistance and the phone connection. Owners describe watches running since launch, still pairing reliably, and handling pool, ocean and shower use without trouble. The main thing that wears out is the battery, which owners say holds less charge over time, though some still get close to a full day from older units. One owner also reported a scuffed case and a bezel peeling from the inside, and replaced the watch with a budget fitness band and a Casio.
The long-term picture here rests on a small number of owner accounts, so treat it as a handful of experiences rather than a firm pattern. None of them describe repairs or battery replacements. Owners deal with battery wear by changing settings or how often they charge, or by moving to a different watch.
From 3 owner accounts that said how long they have had it. Own one? Add how long yours has lasted.
Nothing has a clear majority against it yet. Counted from the owners who raised each subject, not from everyone. A subject is judged once at least 4 owners raise it.
7 more subjects came up from fewer than 4 owners each, which is not enough for a fair reading. To see how it stacks up, compare it with another machine.
The same owner, asked again at each point. Fills in as owners answer.
Two questions: how long you have had it, and anything you would like to say about it. Then we ask again as it ages. This helps our mission.
More in smartwatches and fitness trackers: Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch 5, Garmin Venu 3.
Among the 3 owner accounts here that gave a duration, 1 described a failure. Parts named most: battery.
Before you buy one used, ask the seller: how old it is, whether it was ever repaired and by whom, and whether any of the parts above have been replaced. Ask to see it run. A receipt tells you the warranty start date; most makers honour the term only for the first owner.
Public discussions we read and summarised in our own words. Nothing here was submitted to Still Kicks.
Counted from public accounts by people who said they own it, and summarised by Still Kicks in its own words. Not a manufacturer claim, a lab test or an estimate.
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