 Okay, look, it's confession time. I've spent the last year and a half or so complaining that there aren't any good smartwatch options for Android users, but here's a question for me. What if I've been too hard on all of these watches? Now, look, there aren't any great options. There's nothing as good as the Apple Watch for iPhone users. That's just facts. But this watch right here, the Galaxy Watch Active 2 from Samsung, it is a good smartwatch. Not great, but good. So anyway, if you have an Android phone and you want a smartwatch, you should really give this thing a look. And if your Android phone happens to be a Samsung phone, you should definitely give it a second look because this thing is actually kind of a looker. You see what I did there? ["Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"] All right, so the Active 2 is a smartwatch that comes with a round OLED screen and it comes in two sizes, a 40 and a 44 millimeter. This is the 44 millimeter. It starts at 279, which ain't bad. It comes in a few different colors and finishes, and there's also an LTE version if you want to spend more money. Now, it runs this operating system called Tizen, which is a custom Samsung thing that also happens to run their TVs. Anyway, the watch can work with both iPhones and Android phones. But if you have an iPhone, well, trust me, you should just move on, get an Apple Watch if you want a smartwatch. Anyway, the Tizen underpinning here doesn't really matter so much as the interface that's on top of it. And I love it, and I hate it. It's a hate-love relationship. See, Samsung designed everything here to work in circles because the watch is round. You spin your finger around the bezel to do things like look at widgets or notifications or even apps. And I love that. It's really clear and really consistent and it's fast to get around. That whole circle system, by the way, is why this is the Galaxy Active 2. The first Galaxy Watch Active was released like six months before this one, and six months isn't a very long time between models. But the thing is, Samsung just straight up didn't think about how this OS works in circles, so the first one didn't have a bezel. This one does have a touch-sensitive rotating bezel that you can run your finger around. I will say that a touch-sensitive bezel, it's not quite as fun or as cool as an actual physical rotating one, but it works. And overall, I think this hardware works really well. It's simple, but it's not basic. And it's clean without being boring. Plus, the OLED screen is great. It's always on, and that is how watches are supposed to be. And I don't know why it took Apple five years to get that. Look, why is this watch good? It gets the basics right. It mirrors notifications, it lets you reply to incoming messages, it has a bunch of health features for tracking most of the stuff that you'd expect, and it has a battery that lasts a full day. It's comfortable to wear, and it's not aggressively chunky. It just kinda blends in. It also does some really nice stuff that I haven't seen other smartwatches do well. It has this good night mode, which is actually really smart. It turns off the screen and notifications and goes into a sleep tracking mode. You can set up these widgets on this watch, which you can scroll into with the touch-sensitive bezel, and I use them all the time. It's actually a feature that Google pretty much straight up copied for Wear OS, and they should've copied it because it's great. It also comes with Spotify, and you can download Spotify music directly to the watch, which is great. What's not so great is the third-party app ecosystem. There's really not a lot of things you're gonna want there. Also, if you've seen anybody recommend the YouTube or Twitter apps for this watch, just trust me, you don't want them. Besides, there's a full Samsung internet web browser here if you want. You can watch YouTube on that. There's also no Maps app built in, and I haven't found a great third-party option that I really like. Now, the watch faces are, well, look, they're fine. There's a ton of ones built in, but I haven't found one that I love, just one that I kind of like. Plus all the complication options, they're just, they're too complicated. There are third-party watch faces, though, in the store, which is great, but finding a good one requires wading through a lot of really, really bad ones. But look, top level, this is a watch that looks pretty good, can handle fitness stuff, lasts all day, and has a nice interface. Why is this just a good watch and not, well, great? Samsung. Specifically, it's Samsung's software. It's just, it's so much, and I'm not even talking about the aesthetics. If you aren't already using a Samsung phone, you have to install at least like three things on your phone just to get started, and that doesn't even include Samsung Health or Samsung Pay. And, well, the voice assistant on this watch is Bixby. And look, I don't wanna make fun too much of Bixby because, honestly, it can do some basic stuff okay, like transcription, but overall, it is slow, and it's, you know, it's bad. Overall, I would say that this is the best asterisk smartwatch for Android users. I don't think there's anything better, so this is de facto the best. But while it's good, it's not great, and that's the asterisk. For Android users, good is about as good as it gets, and, you know, I'll take it. If you're watching this video closely, you probably saw this thing sitting right here. It is the Galaxy Fold. I am currently reviewing it. If you got questions about this thing, let me know down in the comments. Also, are you interested in a smartwatch? I'm curious about that too. What are you looking at right now?
 Okay, look, it's confession time.
 I've spent the last year and a half or so
 complaining that there aren't any good smartwatch options
 for Android users, but here's a question for me.
 What if I've been too hard on all of these watches?
 Now, look, there aren't any great options.
 There's nothing as good as the Apple Watch
 for iPhone users.
 That's just facts.
 But this watch right here,
 the Galaxy Watch Active 2 from Samsung,
 it is a good smartwatch.
 Not great, but good.
 So anyway, if you have an Android phone
 and you want a smartwatch,
 you should really give this thing a look.
 And if your Android phone happens to be a Samsung phone,
 you should definitely give it a second look
 because this thing is actually kind of a looker.
 You see what I did there?
 ["Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"]
 All right, so the Active 2 is a smartwatch
 that comes with a round OLED screen
 and it comes in two sizes, a 40 and a 44 millimeter.
 This is the 44 millimeter.
 It starts at 279, which ain't bad.
 It comes in a few different colors and finishes,
 and there's also an LTE version
 if you want to spend more money.
 Now, it runs this operating system called Tizen,
 which is a custom Samsung thing
 that also happens to run their TVs.
 Anyway, the watch can work with both iPhones
 and Android phones.
 But if you have an iPhone, well, trust me,
 you should just move on, get an Apple Watch
 if you want a smartwatch.
 Anyway, the Tizen underpinning here doesn't really matter
 so much as the interface that's on top of it.
 And I love it, and I hate it.
 It's a hate-love relationship.
 See, Samsung designed everything here to work in circles
 because the watch is round.
 You spin your finger around the bezel to do things
 like look at widgets or notifications or even apps.
 And I love that.
 It's really clear and really consistent
 and it's fast to get around.
 That whole circle system, by the way,
 is why this is the Galaxy Active 2.
 The first Galaxy Watch Active was released
 like six months before this one,
 and six months isn't a very long time between models.
 But the thing is, Samsung just straight up
 didn't think about how this OS works in circles,
 so the first one didn't have a bezel.
 This one does have a touch-sensitive rotating bezel
 that you can run your finger around.
 I will say that a touch-sensitive bezel,
 it's not quite as fun or as cool
 as an actual physical rotating one, but it works.
 And overall, I think this hardware works really well.
 It's simple, but it's not basic.
 And it's clean without being boring.
 Plus, the OLED screen is great.
 It's always on, and that is how watches are supposed to be.
 And I don't know why it took Apple five years to get that.
 Look, why is this watch good?
 It gets the basics right.
 It mirrors notifications,
 it lets you reply to incoming messages,
 it has a bunch of health features
 for tracking most of the stuff that you'd expect,
 and it has a battery that lasts a full day.
 It's comfortable to wear, and it's not aggressively chunky.
 It just kinda blends in.
 It also does some really nice stuff
 that I haven't seen other smartwatches do well.
 It has this good night mode, which is actually really smart.
 It turns off the screen and notifications
 and goes into a sleep tracking mode.
 You can set up these widgets on this watch,
 which you can scroll into with the touch-sensitive bezel,
 and I use them all the time.
 It's actually a feature that Google
 pretty much straight up copied for Wear OS,
 and they should've copied it because it's great.
 It also comes with Spotify,
 and you can download Spotify music directly to the watch,
 which is great.
 What's not so great is the third-party app ecosystem.
 There's really not a lot of things you're gonna want there.
 Also, if you've seen anybody recommend
 the YouTube or Twitter apps for this watch,
 just trust me, you don't want them.
 Besides, there's a full Samsung
 internet web browser here if you want.
 You can watch YouTube on that.
 There's also no Maps app built in,
 and I haven't found a great third-party option
 that I really like.
 Now, the watch faces are, well, look, they're fine.
 There's a ton of ones built in,
 but I haven't found one that I love,
 just one that I kind of like.
 Plus all the complication options,
 they're just, they're too complicated.
 There are third-party watch faces, though, in the store,
 which is great, but finding a good one
 requires wading through a lot of really, really bad ones.
 But look, top level, this is a watch that looks pretty good,
 can handle fitness stuff, lasts all day,
 and has a nice interface.
 Why is this just a good watch and not, well, great?
 Samsung.
 Specifically, it's Samsung's software.
 It's just, it's so much,
 and I'm not even talking about the aesthetics.
 If you aren't already using a Samsung phone,
 you have to install at least like three things on your phone
 just to get started,
 and that doesn't even include Samsung Health or Samsung Pay.
 And, well, the voice assistant on this watch is Bixby.
 And look, I don't wanna make fun too much of Bixby
 because, honestly, it can do some basic stuff okay,
 like transcription, but overall, it is slow,
 and it's, you know, it's bad.
 Overall, I would say that this is the best asterisk
 smartwatch for Android users.
 I don't think there's anything better,
 so this is de facto the best.
 But while it's good, it's not great,
 and that's the asterisk.
 For Android users, good is about as good as it gets,
 and, you know, I'll take it.
 If you're watching this video closely,
 you probably saw this thing sitting right here.
 It is the Galaxy Fold.
 I am currently reviewing it.
 If you got questions about this thing,
 let me know down in the comments.
 Also, are you interested in a smartwatch?
 I'm curious about that too.
 What are you looking at right now?