Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 leak points to major charging boost, but the Galaxy Watch FE could miss out
I might just stick with the Galaxy Watch 6
It’s no secret that Samsung is gearing up to launch its next line of smartwatches, with the anticipated Galaxy Watch 7 expected to be announced on July 10 - the speculated date for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event. Now, more online leaks reveal details about a potential new charging boost for the watch – and lack thereof, in the case of the rumored Galaxy Watch FE.
Over the weekend, we reported that new leaks were spotted on the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) list hinting at several variations of the new Galaxy Watch 7, alongside an additional certification rumored to be the more affordable Galaxy Watch FE, which would be Samsung’s equivalent of the Apple Watch SE. After taking a closer look,
SamMobile discovered that at least one of the Galaxy Watch 7 variants could support 15W charging, a 50% increase in charging speed over the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6.
While this is exciting news and would be a great upgrade from the already excellent Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, it seems from the FCC listing that the Galaxy Watch FE won’t be receiving this kind of feature, unfortunately. Instead, the FCC documents reveal the Galaxy Watch FE may only support 5W charging – which is even less than the Galaxy Watch 6.
Alongside a new line of smartwatches, we are expecting Samsung to drop the Galaxy Z Flip 6, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, and the Samsung Galaxy Ring, which could well hit our best smart ring list.
A stingy move from Samsung?
If this is true, the Galaxy Watch 7 will pack a 50% charging boost compared to the Galaxy Watch 6, meaning that it could only take you 45 minutes to charge it from zero to full, as estimated by SamMobile. But as for the Galaxy Watch FE, its 5W charging power will be 50% slower than the Galaxy Watch 6, meaning it could take you up to three hours to completely charge.
Despite the Galaxy Watch FE being tipped to be Samsung’s first budget-friendly smartwatch, the decision to not integrate a more powerful charging system is a poor move, since prospective buyers could stick with purchasing the Galaxy Watch 6 for last year’s best features, better battery life and faster charging.
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It also doesn’t help with convincing people to purchase the new Galaxy Watch FE, as the Apple Watch SE 2 is already out there as a great affordable smartwatch with good specs; a high bar to clear in terms of value. However, the watch is yet to be unveiled, so hopefully there’s a redeeming factor that could convince us otherwise.
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Rowan is an Editorial Associate and Apprentice Writer for TechRadar. A recent addition to the news team, he is involved in generating stories for topics that spread across TechRadar's categories. His interests in audio tech and knowledge in entertainment culture help bring the latest updates in tech news to our readers.