Samsung Galaxy Fit The surprisingly affordable Samsung Galaxy Fit is a sleek, accurate fitness tracker with a lovely display, a simple interface, and long battery life.

Samsung Galaxy Fit

  • Pros

    Affordable. Accurate fitness tracking and heart rate monitoring. Big, sharp display. Long battery life. Simple interface. Smartphone notifications. Sleek, lightweight design.

  • Cons

    Big for small wrists. Requires two apps. Thick bezel.

  • Bottom Line


Samsung isn't a brand you typically associate with affordability, but for $99.99, the Galaxy Fit offers a ton of value. It accurately tracks step count, distance, heart rate, and sleep. Its sleek, streamlined design is easy on the eyes and versatile enough to wear both in and out of the gym. While we don't love the fact that the Fit requires two different apps to use, its interface is intuitive and smooth. Throw in smartphone notifications and up to seven days of battery life, and you get an entry-level fitness tracker that's worthy of sharing our Editors' Choice with the Fitbit Inspire HR.

Similar Products


There's no denying the Galaxy Fit bears a strong resemblance to Samsung's Gear Fit2 Pro, but in a more compact form factor. Its aluminum case measures 1.70 by 0.72 by 0.44 inches (HWD), which is a little bulky for my small wrist, but it still manages to look unobtrusive and elegant. At 0.8 ounces, it's also super light and comfortable to wear throughout the day.

Samsung Galaxy Fit 19

The Fit comes in two different color options: a black case with a black silicone wristband, or a silver case with a white wristband. While the straps are interchangeable, Samsung doesn't currently offer additional bands to purchase.

I tested the black model, which is easy to pair with workout wear and casual outfits. The wristband has a pin-and-tuck closure that feels secure during exercise, though I still prefer the ease of a traditional buckle clasp. As mentioned, it's a little big for my wrist—in order to get accurate heart rate readings, I had to wear it on the second to last notch for a snug fit.

The Fit has a color AMOLED display that measures 0.95 inches diagonally, which is large enough to show you multiple stats at once. With a resolution of 240 by 120 pixels, content looks vibrant and colors really pop against the black background. It's much nicer than the Inspire HR's display, even if the bezels surrounding it are still pretty chunky.

As for durability, both the case and wristband are water resistant up to 5ATM, so you're safe to wear it in the shower or take it with you for a swim.

Samsung Galaxy Fit

Left to right: Fitbit Inspire HR, Samsung Galaxy Fit

Stats at a Glance

Under the hood of the Fit is an MCU Cortex M33F processor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a heart rate monitor. Instead of Samsung's Tizen operating system, it runs Real Time OS, which is compatible with Android and iOS. You can accept or reject calls from your connected phone, and view app alerts and text messages. If you have an Android phone, you can use the Fit to send quick replies from a preset list or create your own.

The Fit's interface is smooth and easy to navigate. The main screen shows time and fitness metrics depending on the watch face you choose. At the top are different icons that indicate specific settings. For instance, a heart symbol appears when the heart rate monitor is turned on for all-day use, a tiny orange dot appears for notifications, and a cell phone icon means the tracker is disconnected from your phone. To access your fitness stats, widgets, and notifications, you can swipe to the right or left.

On the left side of the case is a power button that wakes the display and takes you back to the previous screen. A long press automatically starts whatever workout you assign to it. Swipe down from the top of the screen to access battery life, as well as shortcuts for brightness, finding your connected phone, water lock mode (for swimming), do not disturb mode, and more.

Out of the box, the Fit comes with five widgets that you can cycle through. The health summary widget shows your step count, heart rate, calories, and distance throughout the day. The exercise widget shows the workout of your choice along with a start button, and a preview of your last workout. Tap on the arrow and you'll find additional exercises to choose from. The sleep widget shows the amount of time you slept, a small graphic of your sleep stages, and the exact time you fell asleep and woke up. A weather widget lists your location, its temperature, and a schedule of expected weather throughout the day.

The stress widget includes a meter that reads your stress levels throughout the day and shows your average levels, along with a breathing app. I didn't find the stress feature too accurate in testing, however. There were moments when I definitely felt stressed, but the meter remained stagnant.

The Fit is also fully customizable, with the ability to add or remove widgets depending on your preferences. Samsung Galaxy Fit app settingsAdditional options include caffeine intake, calendar, calories burned, heart rate, steps, stopwatch and timer, and water intake. All of this can be done using the connected app.

Speaking of apps, it's important to note that the Galaxy Fit requires two—the dedicated Galaxy Fit app and the Samsung Health app (which I'll get to later). The Fit app is what you use to pair the tracker to your phone via Bluetooth. It also allows you to customize display settings, manage notifications, switch between watch faces, and check connectivity status.

Unfortunately, having two apps makes for a more cumbersome experience than Fitbit offers. The Galaxy Fit app has a tab for Samsung Health, so you can automatically access it from there without having to manually find it on your phone. But since there's no way to get back to the Fit app via the Health app, you're often bouncing back and forth between the two.

Fitness Features and Battery Life

When it comes to exercise, the Galaxy Fit has over 90 activities to choose from. Using the Samsung Health app, you can also create goal-based exercises for specific workouts. This includes setting a target distance, duration, or burned calories.

It also supports automatic recognition for activities like the treadmill, walking, running, elliptical, rowing, and dynamic workouts. At the gym, I went on the elliptical to test this feature out. After about eleven minutes, it correctly identified that I was on the machine. After I was done, it took a few minutes to recognize I stopped before automatically ending the workout and syncing the information to my phone.

Workout Mode

While in workout mode, you can swipe through stats like miles, heart rate, speed, calories burned, and time elapsed. Once you're done with your workout, the session syncs to the Health app where you can see an in-depth summary. Samsung Health app dashboard In addition to the stats mentioned above, you also see your average and maximum heart rate, speed, pace, and cadence. On the Samsung Health app dashboard, you can see a variety of different metrics including fitness goals, steps, heart rate, weight, food intake, and more. But unlike Fitbit's app, which organizes everything into neat tiles that are easy to follow, the grid on the Health app can be a little overwhelming until you get used to it.

As for battery life, Samsung says the Galaxy Fit's 120mAh battery lasts up to seven days depending on usage. After using it for 24 hours to track my steps and heart rate during the day, a two-hour workout, and my sleep throughout the night, I was at about 78 percent.


The Galaxy Fit delivered solid, consistent results in testing. During a one-mile walk, the Fit logged 2,074 steps to a 3DTriMax pedometer's 2,316 steps, for a difference of 242 steps. Results for a one-mile run were similar—the Fit logged 2,027 steps to the pedometer's 2,247, for a difference of 220. The tracker fared even better on an outdoor run. After running half a mile, the Fit logged 1,097 steps to the pedometer's 1,127, for a difference of only 30 steps.

For distance tracking, I compared the Fit's results against a Stryd footpod. When the Fit logged one mile during a walk on the treadmill, the Stryd logged 0.92 miles, for a difference of .08 miles. When the tracker hit one mile during my indoor run, the Stryd logged 0.98 miles, for a difference of only .02. On an outdoor run, the Fit logged 0.52 miles to the Stryd's 0.58 miles, for a difference of .06.

Samsung Galaxy Fit 04

The Galaxy Fit's heart rate monitor was also accurate in testing compared with a Polar H10 chest strap. After a one-mile walk on the treadmill, the Fit recorded an average of 127bpm to the Polar's 124bpm. After a one-mile run on the treadmill, the Fit recorded 151bpm to the Polar's 156bpm. And for my outdoor run, the Fit recorded an average of 172bpm to the Polar's 179bpm.

When it comes to sleep tracking, the Fit is also accurate. To compare results, I wore it to bed alongside the Fitbit Inspire HR. The Fit logged four hours and 39 minutes, while the Inspire HR logged four hours and 38 minutes (yes, I realize I should get more sleep). It also correctly identified when I fell asleep (even after tossing and turning for a little while before falling asleep) and woke up. Using the app, I could see a graph of my sleep stages and at what points I was in REM, light, and deep sleep.


The Samsung Galaxy Fit is a terrific entry-level fitness tracker that accurately measures workouts, heart rate, and sleep. With its sleek design, crisp display, and easy-to-use interface, it's a worthy alternative to the Fitbit Inspire HR, particularly if you plan to do most of your tracking on the device itself. The Inspire HR, meanwhile, remains a better choice for more data-centric users, as it tracks your heart rate zones (fat burn, cardio, and peak zone) during workouts and also calculates your cardio fitness score using VO2 Max. Both are excellent options for the price, and equally worthy of our being called our Editors' Choice.

About the Author

blog comments powered by Disqus

Most Popular Stories