Leaked Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic renders show the return of a missed feature

Galaxy Watch 5 Pro
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro (Image credit: Samsung)

The launch of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 line is fast approaching, with August or potentially even July on the cards for an official reveal. It's odd, then, that there haven’t been many leaks yet – in fact, we’re only now getting our first look at the possible design of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic.

This comes in the form of leaked renders courtesy of OnLeaks (a leaker with a great track record) on behalf of MySmartPrice, and they show a large, raised bezel, which apparently rotates. This is quite big news, as while the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic had a rotating bezel, Samsung ditched the feature for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 line.

Instead, both the Watch 5 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro had a touch-sensitive digital bezel at the edge of their respective displays that you could run your finger along to access the same functionality.

In either case, the bezel lets you cycle through menu options and other aspects of the interface, but having a physical rotating bezel feels a lot more intuitive and tactile for this than the solution used on the latest models.

So, this is an appreciated change, and probably linked to the wearable apparently being called the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. The mention of this name comes from the same source, and it seems then that Samsung thinks of the rotating bezel as being a ‘Classic’ model feature, not a ‘Pro’ feature.

We probably won’t also get a Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Pro, but there will almost certainly be a standard Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, which, based on past form, will likely lack the rotating bezel, so that’s an option for anyone who doesn’t like this feature.

No more surprises

Other than the rotating bezel, these images don’t show anything very surprising, but you can see that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is shown as having home and back buttons on the right edge, and a black magnetic loop strap, though there will almost certainly be multiple strap colors and designs to choose from.

While we’d take these images with a pinch of salt, they come from a reputable source, so there’s a good chance they’re accurate.

We should find out in around two months, and this could be a busy event for Samsung, with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 expected to make an appearance alongside these wearables, too.

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.