Galaxy Fit3 – an affordable fitness bracelet from Samsung

In the era of smart and sports watches, fitness bracelets have faded into the background, and it seemed that they were no longer very interesting to major manufacturers. However, Samsung has no plans to leave this market and has recently introduced a new sports bracelet, Galaxy Fit3. The model promises high autonomy, a wide range of features for tracking health and physical activity. I will tell you if it is true in this review.

Galaxy Fit3 specifications

Delivery set and straps

In the box, along with the bracelet itself, you can find only documentation and a charging cable. The latter connects to the power supply via USB-C, and to the Galaxy Fit3 itself via its own magnetic connector.

The included silicone strap has only one size, but it’s large enough to fit different hand sizes.

It also has its own fastening system with metal rods that are firmly clamped into the bracelet body.

This is very good, as it reduces the likelihood of the strap coming off during a contact game, such as football or basketball. Moreover, both the fastening system and the strap are all manufactured by Samsung, and at least for now, the first Galaxy Fit3 owners won’t have a wide range of colors, designs, and materials in their straps.

For 599 UAH, you can buy the same official silicone straps in orange and dark green colors only. Perhaps in the future, this list will be expanded, including by third-party manufacturers. However, this will depend on the popularity of the fitness bracelet.

Design and materials

With a bracelet costing 2299 UAH from such a big brand as Samsung, you expect quite a few simplifications, especially in design. In particular, the use of only plastic in the case. But in this regard, Galaxy Fit3 is a pleasant surprise.

The base of the bracelet is, of course, plastic, but it has an aluminum frame, the same metal button on the right side, and the display is covered with a protective glass. The manufacturer doesn’t specify what kind of glass it is, so you shouldn’t expect anything more secure, but in general, it has a good oleophobic coating.

It’s also worth noting that the details of the bracelet’s body are very well fitted, with the glass immediately going into the metal frame, and it, in turn, into the plastic base, all with minimal gaps. This design allowed the Galaxy Fit3 to receive IP68 and 5ATM water and dust protection certification, which allows you to swim in the pool while wearing the bracelet.

All in all, the Galaxy Fit3 has good materials and build quality, as well as a simple but pleasant design, which is noticeably diluted by the watch faces displayed on the 1.6-inch display of the bracelet. There are more than 100 of them, which is much more than the Samsung Galaxy Watch offers out of the box. And this is the case when a budget solution outperforms the flagships.

In addition, it’s worth noting the bracelet’s light weight – only 36.8 grams, it’s almost invisible on the wrist while in use, and it’s more comfortable to sleep in than a smartwatch.

Display and platform

The Galaxy Fit3 has a 1.6-inch AMOLED touchscreen display with a resolution of 256 x 402 pixels. For such a device, this is a fairly high-quality matrix with good viewing angles, which makes it convenient to read information, and its brightness is enough to prevent the screen from completely fading in the sun.

By the way, the brightness level can be adjusted both manually and automatically, thanks to the light sensor.

Samsung does not specify what kind of processor is used in the Galaxy Fit3, but it is known that it is complemented by 16 MB of RAM and up to 256 MB of internal memory. Yes, that’s megabytes. For modern smartwatches, these are rather ridiculous characteristics, but the Galaxy Fit3 uses the RTOS (Real Time OS) operating system, for which this platform seems to be more than enough. At least the bracelet works quickly, without any noticeable delays.

Other features of the platform include an accelerometer, a pulse oximeter, a barometer, and an optical heart rate sensor located on the back of the bracelet.

What it doesn’t have is GPS. Accordingly, the distance data will be determined based on the calculation of the average step length from the accelerometer, so it can have a strong error. Therefore, for those who are fond of running on the street or cycling, the bracelet will show rather conditional distances. For more accurate data, you still need GPS.

The Galaxy Fit3 interface is quite similar to the One UI shell used in Samsung smartwatches running Wear OS. It has the same icons and navigation logic. The main screen of the bracelet is always the watch face, and I’ve already mentioned that you can choose from more than 100 design options.

Drag the screen to the right to open the notification panel, to the left to open widgets with various information, from top to bottom to quick settings, and from bottom to top to the main menu.

It even has a small set of programs, such as a calculator, calendar, and remote control of the smartphone camera. But, of course, you can’t install third-party apps, as the bracelet’s operating system doesn’t support them. Unfortunately, there’s no NFC or contactless payments either, another casualty of a rather simple platform and software.

Overall, the Galaxy Fit3 offers a fairly typical level of features for this class of device.

Connecting and setting up

To connect to smartphones, the bracelet uses a Bluetooth 5.3 module and requires additional applications to be installed for setup and further use. For Android, this is the Samsung Wearable utility, which is also used for the manufacturer’s smartwatches and has the same interface. It allows you to completely change the settings of the Galaxy Fit3 and update it.

For Android, everything is simple and straightforward, and for Samsung smartphones it’s even easier, because they “find” the bracelet automatically and offer to connect it themselves. But with the iPhone, everything is rather strange, there is a Galaxy Fit app for iOS, but at the time of writing, it did not support Galaxy Fit3. Perhaps Samsung will add this support later. However, it is worth noting that the manufacturer generally does not focus on supporting its iOS devices, given Apple’s restrictions on access to the system. Perhaps this will change due to the implementation of the Digital Markets Act in the EU, but for now, iPhone support remains in question.

Tracking physical activity and sports

As you’d expect from a sports bracelet, Galaxy Fit3 can measure your heart rate, track your steps, minutes of activity, and calories burned. It also tracks sleep and provides tips on how to improve it. All the data is transferred to the Samsung Health app and stored in the cloud.

I should note that the bracelet measures heart rate quite accurately, at least I didn’t notice any large deviation in the data compared to the results from sports watches. For example, at rest, the bracelet showed the same heart rate as the Garmin Fenix 7, while during a run the deviation was bigger, but not critical.

But it’s worth noting that an optical heart rate monitor (like the Galaxy Fit3) is greatly affected by factors such as tattoos, moles, and the amount of hair on your arm. Therefore, depending on the physiology and other obstacles to the optical sensor, the data may vary greatly from user to user. Ideally, before buying, you should check how accurately the bracelet measures your heart rate in your case.

Sleep tracking in Galaxy Fit3 allows the bracelet to record its time and cycles, providing analytics on how well you slept. Based on the data collected, the device gives a sleep quality score every morning, from 0 to 100 points.

Like the Galaxy Watch, the bracelet also supports the sleep coach function, providing advice on when to go to bed and trying to help you develop the habit of getting the right amount of rest at night.

To track your workouts, Galaxy Fit3 has a whole set of sports programs, more than 80 of them, and a running coach to help you achieve your goals.

I tried the bracelet in the pool and on the treadmill, and I got basic sports tracking data such as time, distance, pace, average heart rate, and calories burned.

For popular physical activities, there is additional information, such as the type of swimming, average SWOLF (the sum of the time you swim one section of the pool and the number of strokes in that section), and the total number of strokes.

In general, the indicators are not very detailed, but again, compared to sports watches, they are quite accurate. At least, if you don’t need to dive into introspection after each workout and track your progress in detail, the bracelet’s capabilities will be quite enough. Otherwise, you should consider looking at sports watches.

Galaxy Fit3 battery life

The Galaxy Fit3 is equipped with a 208 mAh battery, which, according to the manufacturer, should last up to 13 days of battery life. However, it seems to deliver maximum battery life with minimal usage. In my experience, with the always-on screen option, active heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, and 30 minutes of sports, the bracelet consumes an average of 15% of the charge per day, which is enough for 6 days of use. Turning off the always-on screen significantly improves battery life. In this case, you can achieve up to 10 days of battery life, depending on the intensity of use and sports tracking. This is closer to the manufacturer’s claim.

The bracelet is charged through a magnetic connector located on the back of the case. The Galaxy Fit3 has support for fast charging, from 0 to 65% the bracelet can charge in 30 minutes, but it will require a 25 W power supply.