there are a lot of software issues with this watch. When it works it's great. But the GPS has tracking issues and the auto pause is useless. I'm pretty sure that the sleep tracking is just guessing about the state of sleep you are in.I've hard reset mine probably 7 to 8 times because something would drain the battery in like an hour then take 10 to 12 to charge back up.I finally sent mine in on a warranty issue and haven't had any hardware issues since buy my wife's is starting to do the same things.I really wish this watch did the things its capable of doingOne last note. Samsung costumer service is top notch and they worked really hard to get my watch fixed under warranty even though the warranty had expired.

Samsung promised a lot of features on this watch, but failed to deliver as usual. Those advanced functions requires Samsung phone to work together. I still do not know why google email cannot be delivered as notification on this watch. You have to enable Samsung Text on your Samsung phone in order to get text notification.Of course, if you want to receive notifications from non-Samsung apps. Good Lucks! It may work, but just a simple notification. Most of time, it does not work. Even a stickers or a GIF in you chat app will not be delivered to watch.Samsung health is Ok, but this is the part the Samsung over promised a lot of functions and even it is there, it does not work well. I heard people with no Samsung phone cannot even get these advanced health functions. I am not sure why Samsung cannot put these apps in Google Play store instead. Probably those apps does not meet Google Play store standard and tracking too many person info which it should not.Otherwise, I upgraded it from S2 watch so everything is good so far. Hope Samsung can make these health functions as it promised.

They say you should always buy a product on the basis of the features it has now, not the features you expect it to have. This watch proves that. It was promised that eventually Samsung would activate the ECG sensor in a software update. And they did... but only if you also have a Samsung phone. So basically they are trying to lock you into the Samsung ecosystem, much like Apple does with their devices. Of course I learned this after the return window passed.I can accept that that's my fault, so I'm not holding that against Samsung too much (though it IS annoying). The other gripes I have are frequent (like 3-4 times a day) disconnects from the Wear app, often requiring me to toggle Bluetooth off and on via the phone in order to reconnect. Maybe that needs a Samsung phone, too?And the sleep tracking is very hit-or-miss. I once took off the watch and set it on a counter and then forgot about it for half a day. When I came back, it said I'd been sleeping and had very precise counts for how much light sleep, deep sleep, and REM sleep I'd gotten. None of which was accurate, of course. It made me think that perhaps all those figures it normally records are made up, as well!Overall, I like the watch. The automatic workout tracking is a nice touch (though not always accurate, either). It just has some issues that keep me from recommending it, possibly unless you have a Samsung phone.

This has been a wonderful smartwatch, and so far, has beaten all other fitness trackers for capabilities and versatility, however, the advertisements, product information, and even reviews from others here are mostly inaccurate regarding the watch's water-resistance.In short, the 5 atmosphere and 30 meter parts are great claims to make if you know that 95% of users won't test those capabilities. Go ahead and shower or wash your hands while wearing the device, but don't go into a pool for more than five minutes, or you're likely to be surprised by the watch starting to glitch, and ultimately dying on you. Repairing the watch costs about what it costs to buy a new model. Also, water damage isn't covered in the warranty, which is odd, as Samsung makes claims about water resistance. Anyway, I'm not a lawyer, but I don't think it should be advertised as possibly being used for swimming laps, when doing so will definitely kill the device.Anyway, all that said, I'm buying the next model, it's $199, and the Active 2 was excellent but for the bit of false advertisement, I'm hoping to have better luck with the 4, which is the same price as getting the 2 fixed.Well-played, Samsung, but the moment I find a better android watch, I'm switching brands, as you can't be trusted.

The "water lock" feature, which is a huge part of what sold me on this particular watch, is ineffective. I turned it on before showers and it was ok, but the first and only time I took it swimming, the lock disabled itself in the pool. I immediately turned it off, dried it out, etc. But it's never been the same. It regularly gets stuck in reboot loops, the heart rate is completely gone, and on some days it repeatedly opens Samsung Pay until I shut it off completely. I loved it while it worked, but as it is now, it's more useful as a paperweight half the time :(

Battery life on this watch is HORRIBLE. I had a lower brand version watch that did everything this active 2 does minus actually responding and answering calls. I really wanted a smart watch that could answer calls and reply to texts. I just dont understand how Samsung can make a watch to monitor fitness and sleep but the watch needs to be recharged before one of the two activities. I usually charge it daily in the evening. For instance i put it on to be charged and took it off charger by 11p by the time i woke up at 8a it was at 84%. Ive changed several settings by taking off constant HR monitoring, vibrates for notifications, wifi is off, brightness at 5(just changed it to 1 today to see if it helps) just to name a few things. I really want to like the watch but i guess coming from a watch that last 6 days with phone and text notifications, HR, sleep, BP monitoring, BT, (i think wifi but if so i didnt use it)numerous of watch faces(not as many as active, but enough for a decent selection) i just dont understand how a higher brand company can have such a horrible battery life. The overall look of watch is blah(just the face of watch without being on) i did buy a watch cover with some"bling" to bring it some life. Im debating if i should return this watch because im just not satisfied that i csnt go a day without tracking a whole day of steps, sleep, fitness without having to charge it. This mean my actual step counts are never accurate. Fitness tracking ive only used treadmill and it does great. HR monitor does great. Overall its accurate except for the flawed battery life. So, i have a love/hate relationship with Active 2. Most important thing i was looking for call and text response in addition to sleep, fitness, step counter i have but battery life is so disappointing.

It has all the basic features you'd expect of the smart watch like Heart rate monitor, being able to take or make a call, calculate burned calories during workout, etc.Pros:1.It's reasonably priced. I paid $200 for 44mm Bluetooth model which is noticeably cheaper than apple watch Series 5, yet I hate to admit it, but it's not as good and convenient as the apple product.2.Light weight. I don't really notice its weight on my wrist.3.Battery life is decent for it's weight and size. Usually lasts me around 2 days.4.Nice looking design.5.Colorful and bright screen (the resolution is a bit too low though).Cons:1. Very limited apps. It's not an android the watch is running on, so there is a very limited selection of apps that you can use, most of which you also need to pay for.2. No notifications for apps like Viber, Telegram, Messenger, Skype (probably because there is no app that can be installed on the watch). You can read text messages and outlook emails (not gmail emails though) perfectly fine. The problem is I can check my watch for all notifications and think that I've read it all, but I still could have a missed message on Viber on my phone, and the watch will not show it.3. Selection of workouts is not as good as on Samsung phone even though it should be the same health app.4. Low resolution screen. You could definitely see pixels on the 44mm model screen. I guess I just expected a little better from the company that has the edge in display manufacturing. It's not terrible though. You can still read all the texts perfectly fine.5. Blood pressure monitor is a joke. It's very inaccurate and only can be used as a toy.6. Sometimes the watch lags a little bit (not to much, so not a big deal)7. Bixby is okay, but not as good as Siri or Google Assistant.Overall it's worth the money, but don't expect it to be as good as Apple Watch 5 series which was released at about the same time.

Diary of a Fitness Watch Addict. My name is Joe and I am a fitness watch addict. So far I have owned a Garmin Vivoactive 4, Garmin Venu, Huawei GT 2 (2 of them), Fitbit Blaze, Galaxy Active 2, Apple SE, and a host of watches for under $100 that promise the world (but give very little.)Lets talk.....Garmin watches. Neither Garmin watch that I owned could ply music direct to earbuds. No matter what I tried. For some reason, everytime I tried to set this feature uo, it failed. It will get you outside though becuase you have to go out there and gain GPS coordinates in order to listen to music. I don't know why; as an addict I just did as directed. It never worked. I purchases earbuds Garmin suggested and....nothing. Every once in a whil It would work, but only briefly and then,,,,,time to go outside again. The Vivoactive screen is as washed out as any I have ever seen. Battery life is metsa-metsa and that is if you don't do much. I imagine if I was able to get music it would have cut the battery life even more. The venu has a much better screen; however, the cost in battery life is significant.Garmin watches remind me of Microsoft computers. Spend more time diddling with them then using them. Sold mine on eBay.The Huawei GT 2. Now there is a watch. Well made, beautiful to look at, battery life forever, syncs music flawlessly. I would love to have kept this watch. Unfortunately I don't live in China where this watch works. In the usa this watch will only count active calories and is extremely arbitrary and capricous regarding how many you are going to get. Frustrating as hell. Don't bother with customer service. When you tell them you are in the US you will be sent to HOLD purgatory. The one thing that this watch could do is estimate treadmill distance. I mean accurate to 1/50th of a mile. Garmin was 10 percent off every 1/4 mile and no matter how many times I would enter stridelength or the correct distance traveled on the treadmills display it would again display a significant error. Like I said, if you like dicking around with your fitness watch.Fitbits Fitbits. I lost 50 lbs when my wife bought me one of their first models. That wrist-wife had me up walking at night to finish my goals before midnight. Now...eh...I mean monthly Fitbit fees. I don't think so.Galaxy active 2. Here is a watch that does everything/nothing. Again, if you like dicking with watches. First is the calorie counting which is horrible on every watch I have had. This watch is so horrible at it that, wven though it is monitoring heatrate and Sp02 your results are a joke. Don't believe me. Take the watch off, start a workout, and watch the unearned calories start adding even though you are doing nothing. A million workouts to choose from. Try adding boxing or a host of other workouts to the watch. Not going to happen! Also, because their calorie counting is so flawed they removed total calories burned from the watch so you can't view them. Sold mine on eBay.So, let me save you. The Apple watch SE. Thank you God! Battery life is crap and promised to be crap so no disappointment. Syncs to Apple SE phone flawlessly; like without your help. Every workout is listed and has a specialized formula for calorie count that is amazingly accurate. Frankly I am so happy with this watch I could go on for hours. So if you feel that you are burning 300 calories a day in frustration sweat while you are trying to get your newest fitness watch to monitor your health, try the apple. Pay a little more save yourself the aggrivation.

Before you even start, check to see if they've fixed the app after the Jan. update that DESTROYED IT.100,000 posts in two weeks from people who can't use their device because the app won't pass the log in stage, which the old version didn't even require. I wouldn't even be able to use mine without my IT friend getting me an APK of the old version.Also, before you even start, know that you need to download Samsung wearables app first, then the plug-in for this watch, then the actual health app. It's in the paperwork, but that doesn't cover the actual process of doing it. It just doesn't finish pairing until you figure out what's wrong, but it LOOKS like it does. And it sounds like the new app lost a lot of key features that I'm already hooked on.(stairs climbed,for one) It counts all those times I climb a ladder in a day(live on a ladder)and that's really cool to know. Also doing that as a workout will be cool, though I haven't tried it yet.Now, the watch.Where to begin. It has more features than you can possibly keep track of, including Dick Tracy(make/receive voice calls on watch). You can configure many things from the watch itself, but it's SO much easier to use the wearables app. Now is a good time to mention that if your not an "ecosystem" fan, it will annoy you a bit. Your in Samsung's world now, and you will do certain things the way we say, or you won't do them. Just like Apple, and Google, certain apps(Samsung pay, Samsung store) cannot be uninstalled, but they can be removed from the watch screen. Even with this big watch(I have 44mm)screen space is not to be wasted. And I'll NEVER pay for something with my watch. I refuse to use tap-to-pay credit cards also. It's a security risk, up to you.I've been playing with this watch for about five days so far, still changing settings every day as I find better ways to arraign things. The watch itself has Bluetooth, GPS, and WIFI, which is pretty cool. you can connect to your home WIFI(import networks and passwords from phone)which will let you leave the phone on the table, yet stay connected even when you're out of BT range. There's other functionality there that I haven't explored yet, will advise.There are odd weak spots, during workouts, the voice gives updates, during which the voice says "heart rate one hundred twent eye five". Really? At this point in time we still have high-end devices that can't pronounce words right? It's funny, in a ridiculous "I can't believe I paid this much to get that" sort of way. Also, even though I have the GPS enabled on the watch, if you start your walk/run from the watch, it doesn't record your route. Does so very well when starting it from the phone app, but they should behave the same, and they don't. I've seen this before on my Huawei band, but it cost $60. This could be me doing something wrong, like I said in my title line, the learning curve on this thing is STEEP.It will do almost anything you could want(no, not that), but you'll need to learn how to "make it so".Doing voice calls from the phone works, they can hear you well, but the volume from the phone requires holding it near your ear(for me at least, deaf geezer with tinnitus). I think I have it all the way up, but maybe not. When I changed the volume in the app, nothing really changed. Probably me, we'll see.If your wrist can fit it, get the 44mm, it has a 50 percent larger battery, and costs the same. Charging disc works well, and sticks to the watch, and any other metal part in reach, with a magnet. You can literally just drop it on and it starts charging, no fiddling around. My Huawei has a clip thing, and the need to clean it all the time or it won't charge. I have a Donerton as well, with a little "pogo" magnet that falls off at the slightest touch, and also needs to be cleaned(watch side on both of those) or it won't charge. This one is night and day to those.Battery life.I don't use optimization, as this turns the screen off too fast for me to read anything, as well as trimming other functions that I would like to keep on. So, know that you can do better than me if that works for you. At full charge, it says it has about 2.5 days with only the BT connected, if you use the WIFI or GPS a lot, that's sure to drop. That being said, if you drop it on the charger during your nightly shower, it recovers more than one days worth of charge. Try to full charge it when you can though, better for the battery in the long run.A note on the "waterproof" aspect. I'm not a swimmer, so full immersion is not an issue for me, but I sweat buckets on the mountain bike in the summer, so I hope it's proof against that. Some people mentioned having it fail after swimming, and Samsung asked them if the "water lock" feature was engaged. That's a crock, that doesn't "close the hatches" like a submarine about to dive, it simply disables the touch screen and the "raise to view" features so that the water, and swimming movements, don't activate them.It has NO EFFECT WHATEVER ON THE DEGREE OF WATERPROOFING. Maybe it keeps the watch from going insane from too many conflicting commands? Who knows, evidently not the people who made it.Today I ran it parallel with my Polar fitness app that runs off of a chest strap and is the truest HR/cal counter I've seen(trainer/fitness nut/used this stuff A LOT). Distance tracking by GPS was .3 miles variant at about 8 miles distance. Max and average HR close enough to be not worth mentioning. Total cals burned was off by half, Polar showing twice as much. But this is a very hard thing for these devices to get right, There's a lot of assumptions that must be made, and different developers assume different things. The biggest variable, as long as your weight, age, and height are entered correctly, is they have no way to know your current fitness level, or body fat percentage. Two men, 200 lbs, one a trained athlete with low body fat, and one a middling couch potato, will have HUGELY different calorie consumption while doing the same activity.Ultimately, it's up to you to get good info on how to reach your goals.This will NOT be done by searching the web. See a knowledgeable person that you trust to tell you the truth.Is this where I say "but I digress"?My main focus here has been on the fitness part, as that's my main use for this. Two things I noticed is that it seems to act like I tried to pause the workout, even while I was just walking along.(workout started/stopped from watch). And when started from the app, nothing shows up on watch face related to the started workout. It may be that you have to swipe to the Health App specific screen that can be added from the phone, but you'd think that it would switch on it's own. More things to learn. Once again, we'll see.Enough for now. PLEASE explore the app issues before you buy. I found a workaround for now, but not everyone has that option.I forgot one of the coolest, yet simplest, things. The watch band tucks back under itself. No loops. For anyone who's always fiddling with the loose end of the strap to keep the hold down loops in the right place, this is BRILLIANT. Put it on, slide the loose end back under the other side, and you'll never think about it again.Every watch I've ever had has driven me nuts with that loose end always being in the way, never again.I'll do an update next on the sleep tracking, which IS currently driving me nuts, but after more time to be sure it's not me. So far, it's erratic in recording, and shows inconsistent info on different pages of the app. Again, will advise.Update: This thing is STUBBORNLY stupid. It NEVER starts sleep recording until after midnight, even when I KNOW that I was out like a light by 9:30. But the "Sleep Time" does reflect the correct time, mostly. Even if it recorded midnight to midnight, instead of dusk til dawn, stupid, but at least the data would be there. It just never starts again at bedtime after recording the previous post-midnight time.The "Record Manually" button, though prominently displayed at the bottom of the page, doesn't actually work unless you find the "edit" button under the 3 dots in the top right. And you can't simply correct the times in the hope that it "learns" what "sleep" is in your case, you must delete the data for that night, then getting just a set of bars conforming to your recorded time, but giving no breakdown of light, deep, or REM, sleep.I could write that in a notebook, for craps sake. And I can't even tell if it's the watch, the app, or both, that's causing the problem. Likely both.I don't want to return it, I just want it to WORK. Like my Huawei Band($60), and my Donerton($30!!) did just fine.Restarts, updates make ZERO difference so far.At this price point, from this company, this is a FRIGGING JOKE!!