Samsung has launched its latest generation of Galaxy smartwatches in Australia, with the Galaxy Watch9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra2 putting an even greater emphasis on turning all that health data on your wrist into something actually useful.
And Samsung reckons Australians, particularly women, are increasingly looking for exactly that.
New research commissioned by Samsung found 53% of Australian women would consider investing in a smartwatch that acts as a personal health coach, helping with sleep, fitness and general wellbeing.
Samsung’s own sales figures suggest there’s already a sizeable audience, with women accounting for 73% of Galaxy Watch9 40mm users in Australia.
From tracking to coaching
Smartwatches have become remarkably good at collecting data.
Heart rate. Steps. Sleep. Workouts. Recovery. Stress. The list keeps growing.
The harder problem is working out what you’re supposed to do with all of it.
That’s increasingly where Samsung sees Samsung Health and Galaxy AI fitting into the equation, using the information collected by Galaxy Watch to provide personalised wellness insights rather than simply another dashboard full of measurements.
Kylie Mason, Head of Wearables, Mobile eXperience at Samsung Electronics Australia, says Australians are taking a broader view of what looking after themselves actually means.
“Australian women are embracing a more holistic approach to their wellbeing, with growing interest in technology that can help support everything from sleep and movement to long-term health habits.“
Samsung’s research found 66% of Australian women either own or plan to buy wearable technology to track health and wellness indicators, while also using everyday smartwatch features including messaging and safety functions.
Sleep appears particularly high on the agenda.
Some 55% of women surveyed nominated improving sleep as a top health goal, while 30% identified tracking capabilities including bedtime guidance and sleep apnoea warnings among the most important features when choosing a wearable.
Galaxy Watch9 for everyday health
The Galaxy Watch9 is Samsung’s mainstream option, combining its health monitoring capabilities with improved battery life and a design intended to make the watch more comfortable for extended wear.
That latter point becomes increasingly important as manufacturers encourage us to wear these devices around the clock. A smartwatch can have all the sleep analytics in the world, but they’re not much use if the watch spends every night sitting on the charger.
Samsung Health combines the information collected by the watch with Galaxy AI to provide personalised insights around sleep, activity, recovery and longer-term health habits.
The idea is to move beyond simply telling you what happened and provide information that might actually help you build better routines.
Galaxy Watch Ultra2 goes harder
For those whose idea of exercise extends considerably beyond closing a few activity rings, there’s the **Galaxy Watch Ultra2**.
Samsung’s flagship wearable builds on the same health platform with specialised sports tracking, advanced health monitoring and a tougher design aimed at outdoor activities and higher-performance training.
That gives Samsung two fairly distinct propositions: Watch9 as the everyday health and wellness companion, and Ultra2 for users wanting the same ecosystem wrapped around more serious training and outdoor activity.
There’s certainly an appetite for wearables that can do more than count steps, but the real value increasingly lies in what they can tell us about all the information they’re collecting.
It’s also a space we know reasonably well at DRN. Our own Jo is a long-time Samsung Galaxy Watch user, so Samsung’s continuing push towards more personalised health and wellness insights will be particularly interesting to follow.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra2 are available in Australia now, with more information available through Samsung Australia.