Samsung·smartwatch
Galaxy Watch 8
Based on 54 credible posts from Bluesky, YouTube & Hacker News. 32 filtered out as bot-like or off-topic.
Medium confidenceA solid sample; expect small shifts as more owners post. How we score
Scored November 11, 2026
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Owner reviews
Overall owner mood
Owners are split: 57% of 54 reviews are positive, 28% negative, and the rest mixed or neutral. The most common complaint is health tracking (3 owners). Owners are divided on battery & charging and display. Owners with 6+ months of use are less positive (33%), which suggests it wears on people over time.
What owners like
Nothing two or more owners agree on yet.
What owners complain about
Health tracking raised by 3 owners (1 disagree)
“Sleep tracking is mediocre.”
Price & value raised by 2 owners (1 disagree)
“This watch battery life is no good, I have one and it don't even last a day, it die very fast and mine is very new, it's not worth buying”
Connectivity raised by 2 owners
“End run, start a new run and now it takes 5 seconds for GPS to get a lock.”
Owners are split on
- Battery & charging 6 like it · 6 don't
- Display 4 like it · 3 don't
- Software & AI 2 like it · 2 don't
Worth reading the reviews on these if they matter to you.
What owners talk about
- Battery & charging6 praise · 6 complain
- Display4 praise · 3 complain
- Health tracking1 praise · 3 complain
- Software & AI2 praise · 2 complain
- Price & value1 praise · 2 complain
- Comfort & size1 praise · 1 complain
- Connectivity0 praise · 2 complain
Built from the reviews themselves — every quote links to the owner who wrote it.
Every credible owner review, most detailed first. Bots, off-topic comments, and ones that say nothing about using it are left out.
Why are Samsung watches so much more laggy compared to Apple Watch? I've had my Watch8 for a year and my brother has an Apple watch from 2 generations ago. His watch OS runs so much more fluid and has almost no stutters/hiccups like my Galaxy Watch8 does, and the Apple Watch responds almost instantly to touches where my Watch8 takes like half a second to start launching the app I tap. [...]
[...] Don't be like me, ruining my watch during a Caribbean cruise. [...]
I have an original Galaxy Active watch from 2016 it was still working when I bought the Galaxy watch 8 44 mm. Now my old watch would go 3 days between charges. Even with a 10-year-old battery. This new watch it's barely 24 hours on a charge. Even though I turned off the always-on display. Very disappointing that I have to charge the watch every single day.
Great little watch until you ask it to last 12 hours of hiking and the battery goes... [...] Think samsung are so hyped up with all these "features" and forgot having a battery to use these features is a feature that is missing! [...] Watch 8 battery... [...]
I bought one. [...]
I bought the watch 8 from a watch 4, I didn't think I'd like the squirqle in person. [...] It feels modern, looks stylish, it's super comfortable and when paired with a nice band, amazing. [...] Snappy, battery is great, screen is nice and going from a watch4, the 32gb of storage is nice when you want to save extra music or podcasts to the watch
[...] By the way, I also wish Samsung did the anti-glare screen on the watch, but on Amazon I found for $10 or so a pack of amazingly good anti-glare film pieces for the Watch 8 Classic. [...]
[...] i would get like weeks on a charge with the garmin but the issue is my vision is getting worse as i get older and garmin doesnt have but one display setting with a weak light and was difficult to see what was on the watch. [...] I get about 2 days on mine, all health functions on but wifi off, bluetooth on, nfc off until needed.
[...] I get a lot of antioxidants in my diet but I mainly got it for sleep tracking which it does well. [...]
I've got the galaxy watch ultra , Lte on auto , AOD on, brightness on auto and I use Gemini all the time, I get 2 days battery life , and it charges fairly quickly so no problem. The reason I won't use Garmin is they don't integrate with the phone like a Samsung watch does , another thing I found out is to get a watch plan , in the UK it has to be a Samsung watch with a Samsung phone , so I couldn't get a pixel watch on a plan and use it with my 24 ultra, unless I use Bluetooth only , I got a free watch plan with my mobile plan with EE
[...] I got the watch 8 classic and sadly the health tracking is not accurate at all. Can't maintain proper heart rate tracking during work outs. Sleep tracking is mediocre. [...] I then updated the watch ultra 2024 to ui8 and it has the same issue. I didn't try the watch 8 but at this stage I'd rather not spend money on a third watch. [...]
Same crap software. [...] The GPS wont get a lock. End run, start a new run and now it takes 5 seconds for GPS to get a lock. [...] Its a software bug.
[...] I don't use always in display and i am lucky if I get 15 hours out of it. I did have adaptive brightness on... [...] Also, it overheats often, rendering it unuseable. [...]
[...] It's big bulky and the way the strap sits in, the straps stick out on the sides rather than angling down. [...]
Once the galaxy ring came out I bought one and I stopped caring about the watch battery life. [...] I drop it on the charger every night and don't have to worry about any of that. [...]
I just came from the watch 5 and my god I love the 8! I hated the old band swapping, this one makes it so easy, I bought about 4/5 bands of temu all for different things and they can all easily just be swapped out alot quick then the old style, only this is my partner is an apple user and I kinda wish I could get snap notifications on the watch and reply and the last biggest thing for me is being a drone user I'd love to be able to control and view and connect to dji app like the Apple watch can... one day, still won't make me switch tho 😅
Well, I still have the original Samsung Watch (no number!!) and it is still working just as well as when I bought it. The battery life is still a good 2 days and nights. I was thinking of upgrading mainly because the charger is in danger of breaking at the wires (both ends) and I won't be able to recharge if that happens. Not sure if I can replace this old model charger I really love the turnable bezel which seems to have been left off the newer watches - that is another downer for me
Man I'm still using the Galaxy watch from 2018 , 4-5 day battery life and it has the rotating bezzle. Hard to justify upgrading.
got my laptop fixed and got a new galaxy watch 8 :3 great day
Lately this Galaxy Watch 8 has been giving me alarmingly high heartrate readings. Fortunately, those readings are wrong. Today I got a reading as high as 181 bpm, but when I checked with a pulsoximeter I got 79 bpm.
the only reason why i upgraded my watch was because (i'm not kidding here) my father said it was about time... [...]
This watch battery life is no good, I have one and it don't even last a day, it die very fast and mine is very new, it's not worth buying
I had a galaxy watch active 2, this feels like going from a flip phone to a smart phone haha i love it
Isn't it about time they worked on battery life. My first one was the watch 3 and would last 4 days, currently have the watch 5 and its 2 days . [...]
Great video 🎉Just now buying this watch. Looking forward as I am coming from a Galaxy Watch 4 at 40 mm. Bought this one with 44 mm. I like the larger size. [...]
Been wearing this for a couple months, and it's been amazing. Got $200 off althought it's middle east based region which doesn't bother me at all.
I have a magnetic bracelet on my watch 8 and no sliding at all when moving hands, you can adjust it so presice its just perfect fit. No issues with my watch, easy 2 days usage, it's easy to recharge while your taking a shower etc. At your good to go again.
Horrible battery life and I only have heart rate and battery life tracking. 36 hours maybe.😮
My galaxy watch 8 pisses me off so much. The stupid always on display barely works, I cant stand having to hit a button or something to see my watch. [...]
I dont understand why young people use the heart rate or sleep tracking. I could see if you have health problems i use mine for work. [...] I keep my phone close to me still so it doesn't disconnect. I find it better to not have my phone in my pocket or on my phone clip. Also disabling those features and permissions saves so much battery life to.
I switched from the fitbit sense 2 ... and man I am impressed ... what this watch8 features is beyond words.. nice work samsung.. even the bloodpresure and ECG is f awesome..
I have the 44mm LTE and get just under 2 days with full sleep monitor almost two weeks now,appears battery gets better with charging.. Impressive
I have the LTE 44mm version and the battery life appears to be getting better after each recharge given I use full health monitoring and sleep at night.
In Australia here where things cost a bomb 💣 got mine on a 24 mth plan with telstra and i hate it but locked in for 2 years 😭 i dont like it and im upset that i only get a day charge , my husband has a $30 smart watch from temu and it last a week before he charges it and its features are brilliant.... 😢
This man just said "now if you have a galaxy watch 4", brother the watch im wearing is why the classics are called classics
I'm having mine all stuff on . Charge it while bathing. I bought it only for fitness and health stuff.
1 day, with all turn on and 4 days with only gps turn on and i have galaxy watch ultra 2025!
I have a galaxy watch 5 it’s still working good when’s a good time to upgrade
got my watch 8 lte with Rs 12000 /- discount price .. paid just Rs 31000 as final price ... couldn't miss the deal ...such a spectacular price where watch 7 lte costing Rs 26000 , Watch 8 lte is a no brainer buy 😊😊 🎉🎉
Sweet no bull as always mark👌got my watch 8 44mm silver last week.i love it.what watch face do you have on yours mark?looks super cool mate.steve 🇬🇧
[...] I have my watch ultra 2024. [...]
I have the 5. Definitely thinking about getting this one. Lol
I absolutely love the new look of the 8, got mine a few days ago and couldn't be happier.
I got my watch today and I'm super excited about all these features. I upgraded from the Samsung Galaxy watch 7. So this is going to be interesting and exciting.
I've had my watch now for 2 days. I charged to full before going to bed. [...] Always on display turned off. Have managed to get 2 nights and days before charging.
I like 8 better than classic. I bought it with a hybrid leather band.
watch 7 ya tiene gemini desde hace una semana, i already have it in my galaxy watch 7
Idk why but my galaxy watch ultra (2024) got suddently gemini too.
I got this watch even after I said I didnt want it. Now I have to figure out out how to use a smart watch. ugh. I liked my fitbit but it just wouldnt track my steps properly as it tracks while driving which is terrible. I hope this does a better job at tracking steps. Thats all I wanted but now i have to learn all this other stuff and I dont like change..
My gear 3 needed a pin to pay but the 8 has to have the pin set all the time if you want to have pay on it which is annoying. I only received mine today so a work in progress.
The claims, and the evidence
Owners push back on 2 of 5 marketing claims.
What the brand claims
- Thinnest Galaxy Watch design yetFew owner reports
- Antioxidant IndexOwners disagreeHealth tracking: 1 of 4 positive
- Bedtime Guidance
- Running CoachOwners disagreeHealth tracking: 1 of 4 positive
- Gemini on the wristMixedSoftware & AI: 2 of 4 positive
What owners report
“I bought the watch 8 from a watch 4, I didn't think I'd like the squirqle in person. [...] It feels modern, looks stylish, it's super comfortable and when paired with a nice band, amazing. [...] Snappy, battery is great, screen is nice and going from a watch4, the 32gb of storage is nice when you want to save extra music or podcasts to the watch”
“I've got the galaxy watch ultra , Lte on auto , AOD on, brightness on auto and I use Gemini all the time, I get 2 days battery life , and it charges fairly quickly so no problem. The reason I won't use Garmin is they don't integrate with the phone like a Samsung watch does , another thing I found out is to get a watch plan , in the UK it has to be a Samsung watch with a Samsung phone , so I couldn't get a pixel watch on a plan and use it with my 24 ultra, unless I use Bluetooth only , I got a free watch plan with my mobile plan with EE”
“Why are Samsung watches so much more laggy compared to Apple Watch? I've had my Watch8 for a year and my brother has an Apple watch from 2 generations ago. His watch OS runs so much more fluid and has almost no stutters/hiccups like my Galaxy Watch8 does, and the Apple Watch responds almost instantly to touches where my Watch8 takes like half a second to start launching the app I tap. [...]”
after 1 yearView on YouTube“[...] Don't be like me, ruining my watch during a Caribbean cruise. [...]”
after 5 yearsView on YouTube
Common Galaxy Watch 8 problems
Problems most owners who mention them agree on, plus ones owners are split on.
- Battery & chargingOwners split: 6 complain, 6 happyView on YouTube
“Very disappointing that I have to charge the watch every single day.”
- Health tracking3 owners report this (1 disagree)View on YouTube
“Horrible battery life and I only have heart rate and battery life tracking.”
- Connectivity2 owners report this
- Price & value2 owners report this (1 disagree)
- DisplayOwners split: 3 complain, 4 happyView on Bluesky
“The stupid always on display barely works, I cant stand having to hit a button or something to see my watch.”
- Software & AIOwners split: 2 complain, 2 happy