Many of today’s watches are not the same as the ones of thirty years ago. Today’s watches are called “smartwatches”. These watches can do almost anything with the exception of maybe cook, do the laundry, exercise for you and recharge its batteries by itself. Hold that thought for a moment… recharge its batteries on the go, without us having to worry when it is going to run out on us. That technology, though in its infancy; is available. A variation of it is being made available by one of the “hip” Chinese tech brands.

There are many brands of watches, including premium watches like Tag Heuer and Fossil that have a range of dress smartwatches; and Fitbit and Garmin that are fitness smartwatches.

Two brands that are in the forefront of smartwatches, technology-wise, are Samsung and Apple. While Apple’s iWatch is in it’s 6th generation; one would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the different generations.

Samsung on the other hand, has come out with different models, shapes, sizes, etc… well until recently with their launch of the Samsung Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic. The Watch 4 is similar to the model its replacing, their Active2; and the Watch 4 Classic is near identical to the Watch 3 its replacing.

I have always been a Samsung watch-user person. My daily timepiece on my wrist is the Samsung Watch 3. My previous watch before the Watch 3 was the Frontier model, which is similar to the Watch 3. Both these watches look fairly identical, except that my Frontier was the silver color version. Initially, when Samsung announced the Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic release, I thought I was going to stick with my Watch 3 as it is almost identical to the new release.

My Watch 3 is running on Samsung’s Tizen Operating System (OS) whereas the Watch 4 is running on Android’s Wear OS. Blah! Blah! Blah! No one is going to say, “Oh really? Wow! You are so cool! Can we wefie a pic of me with you wearing this ever-so-awesome “Android Wear OS?” This info will interest tech-interested guys like me, but not to the extent of nerd mentality.

Samsung’s announcement that they would ditch their Tizen OS and not offer support for it in the future made me decide to get the Watch 4 Classic or Watch 4. So, which watch to get?

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 & Watch 4 Classic specs

	Samsung Galaxy Watch 4	Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic
Display	44mm: 1.36-inch Super AMOLED 450 x 450 resolution 330ppi Corning Gorilla Glass with DX+ 40mm: 1.19-inch Super AMOLED 396 x 396 resolution 330ppi Corning Gorilla Glass with DX+	46mm: 1.36-inch Super AMOLED 450 x 450 resolution 330ppi Corning Gorilla Glass with DX 42mm: 1.19-inch Super AMOLED 396 x 396 resolution 330ppi Corning Gorilla Glass with DX
Dimensions and weight	44mm: 44.4 x 43.3 x 9.8mm 30.3g 40mm: 40.4 x 39.3 x 9.8mm 25.9g Compatible with 20mm straps	46mm: 45.5 x 45.5 x 11mm 52g 42mm: 41.5 x 41.5 x 11.2mm 46.5g Compatible with 20mm straps
Colors and materials	Aluminum case Black, Silver, Green (44mm only), Pink Gold (40mm only)	Stainless steel case Black, Silver
Battery	44mm: 361mAh 40mm: 247mAh WPC-based wireless charging	46mm: 361mAh 42mm: 247mAh WPC-based wireless charging
Processor	5nm Samsung Exynos W920 Dual-core 1.18GHz	5nm Samsung Exynos W920 Dual-core 1.18GHz
RAM	1.5GB	1.5GB
Storage	16GB	16GB
Connectivity	LTE (available in select models) Bluetooth 5.0 Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n 2.4+5GHz NFC GPS/GLONASS/Beidou, Galileo	LTE (available in select models) Bluetooth 5.0 Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n 2.4+5GHz NFC GPS/GLONASS/Beidou, Galileo
Sensors	Accelerometer Barometer Gyroscope Geomagnetic sensor Ambient light sensor Samsung BioActive sensor: optical heart rate (PPG), electrocardiogram (ECG), bioelectrical impedance analysis sensor (BIA)	Accelerometer Barometer Gyroscope Geomagnetic sensor Ambient light sensor Samsung BioActive sensor: optical heart rate (PPG), electrocardiogram (ECG), bioelectrical impedance analysis sensor (BIA)
Durability	5ATM + IP68 MIL-STD-810G	5ATM + IP68 MIL-STD-810G
Software	Wear OS Samsung One UI Watch	Wear OS Samsung One UI Watch
Compatibility	Android	Android

Looking at the specs sheet above, all specs are the same except that the 40mm and 44mm are aluminum cases and the 42mm and 44mm are steel cases with the physical rotating bezel. The Watch 4 has a touch screen bezel which is the black band bordering the face.

I was thinking of opting for the green 44mm Watch 4 – a different look from the Classic-type which I have had over the last two seasons (models). The aluminum case is so light that you won’t realize the watch is on your hand. But the black band… The black “halo” ring or band around the face is ok if the watch faces are black. In Fig. 3, the green Watch 4 sports a black face which makes the overall watch look nice. Other than black, the black band does not look too great.

The Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) was the other main reason that I decided to go for the Watch 4 Classic. All Watch 4 models has this function. I do like to keep track of my health, especially when I go for 15km daily brisk walks. I keep track of my pace time per kilometer, heart rate, number of steps, Oxygen level in blood. Now, the BIA is added on to give me an idea of my body mass composition, which changes daily.

Finally, I decided on the Classic 46mm Silver, a change from having the black Watch 3 and Frontier models. I don’t think it looks too big on my wrist. The strap lugs coming out of the body are rather straight instead of curving towards the shape of the wrist. I guess it is ok, though, as it does not seem to leave empty gaps between the watch and wrist.

I am not exactly thrilled with the cheapish, sort of flimsy, rubbery silicone straps/band. I can’t use the leather straps which I acquired for my Watch 3 because they won’t fit the Watch 4 Classic, for that matter; any of the Watch 4 models because some wise guy at Samsung’s design studios fancied a change in strap band pin width would be dandy. The Watch 4 comes with 20mm pin width as opposed to the 22mm pin width of the Watch 3 and Frontier.

After thought. Just in case some of you may be wondering, I am not paid by Samsung to write this article, though it would be nice 😁 . Neither am I for one brand against the other. It is a matter of preference. In my opinion, The iWatch is limited in its screen creativity. The add-ons like straps, bracelets and case protectors – one is definitely spoilt for choice.

Brrr-ring, brrr-ring. A call notification is coming in on my Watch 4. Gotta go. Maxwell Smart is calling. I hope he’s got one of these “smart” (pun intended) watches. The last time he called, he was using his old, analog outdated shoe phone.

Note: Fig 1, 2, 3; Sarah Tew, Scott Stein; The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Comes in two looks and lots of Colors, Aug 11th, 2021; Drew Evan, CNET