At its last Unpacked event, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and Galaxy Watch Ultra, which don’t just sound like Apple products—they look suspiciously like them too. But now that the first deliveries of the devices have started arriving in customers’ hands, it’s pretty clear that the Apple imitation is skin-deep.
A picture posted by Redditor Ibuddhaa shows their new Galaxy Watch Ultra with a display that’s misaligned with the faux depth marks on the bezel. It’s only off by a millimeter or two, but it’s enough to make the watch look like a cheap knockoff of a premium smartwatch. Ibuddhaa says every watch face is misaligned, suggesting that the issue stems from the display. Several responses to the original post say the issue isn’t present on their watch.
Last week Samsung announced it was delaying the general release of its AirPods Pro clone (also known as the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro) to “urgently” assess and enhance its quality control processes following reports that the ear tips were tearing during the initial try-on. For those devices, Samsung “temporarily suspended deliveries of Galaxy Buds 3 Pro devices to distribution channels to conduct a full quality control evaluation before shipments to consumers take place.”
It’s not clear whether the Galaxy Watch Pro issues are a one-off thing or a symptom of something more widespread, but the buds issue certainly raises our eyebrows. And maybe the next time Samsung wants to take some inspiration from Apple, it should consider copying its build quality instead.
We’re expecting to see Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3rd generation, running watchOS 11, launch in September 2024 at the company’s Glowtime event (see how to watch the September event). If you’re in the market for a new Apple Watch, see our Apple Watch buying guide, round-up of the best Apple Watch deals, and advice on whether you should buy Apple Watch now or wait. You might also be interested in what other new Apple products are coming this year, and when is the next Apple event.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor, Macworld
Michael Simon has been covering Apple for more than 20 years. He started covering rumors with Spymac when the iPod was the iWalk, and has owned nearly every iPhone Apple has ever made. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, son, and far too many gadgets.