The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 was touted as the Android doppelgänger to Apple’s Series 6 smartwatch. However, soon after its release, it started receiving several critical opinions. Many of them criticize the lacklustre union of Samsung and Google especially given its buggy UI. As it stands, the are plenty of complaints that flood internet forums.
Thus, the task entrusted to this article is to make a collective compendium of those issues along with possible explanations that offer a plausible solution. Making this compendium required a lot of help from several forums on Reddit, so do show them some love as well.
Terrible Battery Life on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4
One of the most frequently encountered issues were claims of poor battery life. While it is possible that the unstable UI is to blame, there are other alternatives. According to a Reddit post, the GW4 is rumored to have poor battery life shortly after its purchase.
At first sight, it may seem like another typical case. However, several members did point out that the initial days of usage (setting up accounts and downloading updates) can be somewhat taxing. Once a user settles into their everyday groove, the watch adapts with Samsung Galaxy watch bands likewise. Doing timely updates were said to resolve the issue for some users. Even so, the dissenters outnumber the ones in assent.
With regards to poor battery optimization, well, we have a list. Most of the battery drain troubles are often found on the LTE versions of the smartwatch. Bluetooth only devices have little to no accounts of such trouble.
Battery drains were significantly noticed by one user who claims to have nearly 9-15% battery drain overnight. The functions run by the watch were hardly taxing and were some of the watch’s basic utilities.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Issues
There are plenty of software bugs that have held the GW4 back. The common Galaxy Watch 4 issues are delayed notifications or activity reminders that fail to do their task. Much of the delayed notifications pertained to apps like Gmail or Whatsapp.
The efficiency of the device has also witnessed a steady decline after giving up the Tizen OS. Samsung and Google’s collaboration on the GW4 has more issues to be worked on. Battery life is also comparatively poor when comparing the previous generation of Galaxy Watches. As a result, Battery Statistics indicate high system drain, even when not in use.
Moreover, any voice calls being made will result in a direct transfer to the smartphone rather than the earphones. Trying to reconnect to the earbuds usually requires turning Bluetooth off and on.
Yet another frequently posted query is regarding the variations in the Fitness Trackers that the Galaxy Watch 4 employs. Fitness goals are often not displayed while gaps in tracking one’s progress are somewhat frequent. In one instance, the Samsung Health monitor measured almost 15% higher than the Google Fit version. Some of the reasons are speculation while others remain plausible to an extent.
In both apps, Google Fit and Samsung health the step counter or distance tracker always accounts for the same. The distinction is made in terms of the calories burnt or heart rate.
Moreover, uploading to Strava and downloading records is possible via Google Fit. On Samsung Health it mostly tends to be a one-way or no way approach. Data transfer is possible from the SHealth to Strava, but not vice-versa.
u/Abraham5G‘s comment surmises the situation.
Speaking of the heart rate, there are few complaints of devices occasionally failing to record the correct Heart Rate; this might lead to the earlier conclusion that we drew regarding the distinction between the two fitness apps.
Latest Software Update Fixes Galaxy Watch 4 Battery Drain issue
Samsung has released an update R8**XXU1BUH9 which at resolving the most common issue of battery drain. While being a somewhat large update at 305 MB, the update priority is aimed at “system stability and reliability”. This does sound somewhat vague, but results will probably prove otherwise.
Samsung Health has more impetus in the fitness tracking department of the device, possibly streamlining the tracker process. The ECG recording process can be expected to improve, especially during workouts.
Moreover, the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic may receive a solution to the LTE signal problem. A weak LTE signal prompts the device to amplify the available resource which leads to excessive battery drain and in some cases overheats. While there’s no clear response insight one could resort to using the Airplane mode.
That’s pretty much all we’ve got on our end. Let us know what you think about the device down below. For more similar content, visit our website.