Samsung’s wearables are top notch. They have a slick design, outstanding features, great operating system and work well with Samsung phones. For a long time they have had their own clear identity in the market, suited perfectly to the Samsung Galaxy owner. Today, the company announced two products for which it simply cannot be denied a decent slice of inspiration has come from the company’s biggest competitor – Apple.

Now to be clear, I think this is genius. Apple’s most recent watch model the “Apple Watch Ultra” has been a huge success. I say this only from anecdotal evidence of simply seeing them worn a lot.

And no one will deny the success of the Apple AirPods – even if I hated that stalk design from day one, the shorter stalk has been a success, and most brands now feature that style design as at least an option.

Now, Samsung enters the frame with the all-new Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, and Galaxy Buds3 (and Buds3 Pro).

Yep, a Watch Ultra. It’s literally in the name.

A side mounted programmable action button – where have I seen that before? And made for the outdoorsy type, with it’s own unique watch bands and applications.

This is a way of saying “oh you like that over there, but have a Galaxy Phone, we gotcha, we gotcha. Brilliant.

The Watch Ultra compliments the other new Smartwatch, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch7 which continues their design principals and adds a range of new features, my favourite being “Race”.

Just like cutting time-trial laps in F1 2024 where you see your best lap represented by a ghost car on track, Watch7 will tell you if you’re ahead or behind of your best time on this “course”. Genius actually. I’m going to try that for walking, to get just a better pace over time.

For maximum performance, Galaxy Watch Ultra has the core circular screen design, but adds a bulk for protection and performance.

A new cushion design gives protection and what Samsung describe as “visual completeness”, and the new system for interchanging bands makes swapping your style even easier.

It has 10ATM water resistance so it’s good in all environments.

A new multi-sport tile is designed for those athletes doing run, cycle, swim and doing it in one touch.

There’s a night mode which turns the screen to red (where have I seen that before?), and when outdoors the 3,000 peak nits is going to make it ever glancable.

Kylie Mason, Head of Wearables and Accessories at Samsung Electronics Australia says “Galaxy Watch Ultra represents an exciting leap forward for active Australians who push the boundaries of achievement. With our most significant hardware and software advancements to date, it features drastically improved accuracy and performance to better meet Australians’ needs. Whether you are an elite athlete, an outdoor addict or simply someone who values health and wellness, the Watch Ultra is the ultimate companion for those who demand the best.”

Having seen it, worn it, I can tell you – just like Apple’s Watch Ultra, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra will be worn by people who have no intention of being outdoorsy, they’ll wear it because it looks good too.

Meanwhile, in a break from any sense of history and tradition on their Galaxy Buds range, the new Buds3 and Buds3 Pro are an AirPod inspired masterpeice.

The stalk, or Blade as Samsung call it brings the microphones closer to you for better call sound, but also have function with pinch and swipe gestures and even a light on the side as well.

Basically, Samsung has supercharged the in-ear bud and stalk design.

Adaptive Active Noise Cancelling means you can get the level of blocking of the outside world that you need for the circumstances too.

The Buds3 Pro is a bud and tip design to go in the ear canal for full passive closure as well, while Buds 3 is the “Open” type to just sit in the ear.

Buds3 pro also adds additional hardware and enhanced two way speakers with a “planar tweeter” for a more precise high range sound reproduction.

Sample rates are up, basically, these are high end and should perform as such.

At $399 and $299 for the Buds3 Pro and Buds3 respectively, they aren’t cheap either.

However, with easy pairing on Android there will be much love for these among Samsung Galaxy users.

Kylie Mason says “Samsung is committed to delivering the best sound experience with greater ease for Australians, and this is reflected in our Galaxy Buds series. Through the continuous development and innovation of audio technology, we’re proud to bring an intelligent sound experience to users everywhere through Galaxy Buds3 series, now enhanced further with its new design.”

Pre-orders for watch and buds start Thursday 11 July, with availability from 31 July.

For more Aussie focussed coverage of Samsung’s news out of Paris, check out Stephen Fenech’s look at the Galaxy RING and Watch at TechGuide.com.au and his specific post on the details of the Galaxy Buds here, or Val Quinn over at GadgetGuy.com.au re the Watch Ultra and Buds3

Trevor Long travelled to Paris as a guest of Samsung Australia