• Samsung Galaxy Watch users are getting a completely redesigned health app with new features
• These new features include Vitals, Cardio Load and a dedicated Heart Health score
• The app is now AI-first, designed to turn Galaxy Watches into 'AI-powered health companions'

Samsung Galaxy Watch and Samsung Galaxy Ring users are going to see some big changes in the Samsung Health app. Referred to as 'a new experience' by Samsung press material, the redesigned health app includes new metrics and AI-powered summaries to break it all down for you.

Samsung says the new app 'uses AI to translate overnight and daily biometric data into personalized health guidance, helping users better understand everything from recovery and heart health to training load and overall wellbeing'.

This sounds familiar. Fitbit has recently undergone a complete AI-first redesign, too, including a name change to Google Health. It's not all been sunshine and roses, as many Fitbit users intensely dislike the forced pivot to AI, with what was Fitbit Premium now entirely revolving around its new AI Google Health Coach tool.

Samsung Health already uses AI in the background, such as using machine learning to calculate stats like your Energy Score, but this redesigned app is also shifting generative AI to the forefront. The timing of this move is likely to draw serious ire from Samsung users.

Don't panic, Samsung users

Fortunately, it's not as bad as all that, despite Samsung's similar AI-forward messaging and app redesign, so Galaxy Watch users can lower their pitchforks (for now). For one thing, Samsung hasn't introduced a paywall to Samsung Health; otherwise, there would be riots in the streets.

Second, on closer inspection, the redesign is also slightly less drastic than Google's: rather than being entirely oriented around an AI chatbot, as Google Health has chosen to do, Samsung has instead decided to use GenAI to summarize and explain your metrics, adding new ones so the user can drill down into different aspects of their health in more detail.

Existing tools such as Samsung's Sleep Score, Energy Score, and Antioxidant Index remain, and Samsung hasn't announced that it's removing any features — again, unlike Fitbit and Google, which removed features like Badges and Challenges.

I've listed all the new features below. Each of these features will get contextual AI summaries, explaining what the numbers mean and, where necessary, how to improve them.

• Vitals: Similar to Apple Health's feature, Vitals will analyze 'five key overnight bio-signals — heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, skin temperature, and blood oxygen — against their true resting baseline'. Essentially, Samsung will notify you if one or more of these metrics are abnormal, indicating you might be getting sick.
• Heart Health Score: Combining Samsung's Vascular Load metric with the Body Composition features on its watches, which can measure muscle and fat in the same way as the best smart scales. If you've got low Vascular Load and an in-range body fat percentage, your Heart Health Score is likely to be good.
• Daily Cardio Load: Accumulated strain based on recent cardiovascular exercise, like runs and cycle rides. Will contribute to your Energy Score.
• Fitness Index: A radar chart of five different metrics (Strength, Flexibility, Endurance, Cardio, Body Composition). The strangest so far: how Samsung intends to accurately measure flexibility with a Galaxy Watch remains a mystery to me. I've reached out to Samsung to clarify this.

The timing of this upgrade is certainly interesting: reports recently surfaced of a Samsung Galaxy Fit 4 that, when paired with this AI-powered Samsung Health upgrade, would make for a real Google Fitbit Air contender.

• Many Galaxy Watch owners are reporting a battery drain issue
• It seems to have stemmed from a recent software update
• Samsung hasn't yet commented but Google Play Services might be the culprit

Samsung makes some of the best smartwatches around, but we're seeing multiple reports from Galaxy Watch owners about rapidly draining battery life — and the issue seems to be tied to a recent software update.

As spotted by Android Authority and others, users have taken to Reddit to complain about a sudden drop in battery life. Given the number of comments and upvotes that thread has received, it seems quite a few people are having problems.

Some of the models mentioned in the thread are the Galaxy Watch 5 and the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, so this is having an impact on more than one device. In one case, a day's worth of battery life has dropped to just 4-5 hours, which shows the severity of the problem.

One user says battery life has become "significantly worse", while another describes their Galaxy Watch "burning through battery like crazy". One commenter says their watch is now "a total disappointment" and not "what Samsung promised".

Restart or reset

Anyone else having this issue? from r/GalaxyWatch

There's been no official comment on this from Samsung as yet — we've asked the company and will update this story if we hear back. But the Reddit detectives have noticed Google Play Services using up an inordinate amount of battery juice, so that would seem to be the villain of this particular piece.

Google Play Services runs in the background on Android phones and watches, and handles tasks like connecting apps to the operating system, authenticating users, and reporting location data. It's often updated separately from the main Android or Wear OS software.

The standard troubleshooting methods like restarting, clearing out the data cache, or fully resetting might help, if you're seeing this issue. These techniques seem to have helped a proportion of the users affected, but not everyone.

It's also worth mentioning that some users have chimed in to say that they aren't seeing the battery life issues described by others — so this isn't affecting every Galaxy Watch. Let's hope Samsung can roll out a fix sooner rather than later.

I review the best smartwatches for a living. I’m a keen runner and gym-goer. I analyse my sleep and movement data. I'm the biggest smartwatch advocate you'll ever meet, and yet, every time I’m at a formal occasion or I want to look stylish, I switch it out for an analog rotary watch, because smartwatches just don’t look or scream ‘cool’ to me anymore.

I’m certainly not alone. In 2024, a bride and groom banning guests from wearing smartwatches to a wedding ceremony went viral, with commenters equally split on the decision. A post on Reddit's r/malefashionadvice board with the title ‘Anyone else feel like Apple Watches ruin outfits?’ got over 2,000 upvotes and nearly 600 comments. Respondents mostly objected to the overreaction and emphasized how useful they are for monitoring health, tracking workouts and managing notifications, but agreeing they look tacky.

One commenter said: ‘I wish we could find a sweet spot with wearable tech and not looking like a dork’.

It’s the same problem with phones: smartwatches are no longer fun now they’re everywhere and uniform — they’re utilitarian. They’re useful for tracking health (even life-saving in some circumstances) and great for fitness, but they’re another black screen, a point of engagement in a world increasingly trying to engage us non-stop, and so they’re not very stylish. .

In fact, trends are swinging the other way. Decoupling from the constant white noise of smart technology and returning to lo-fi tech has become a statement in its own right for Gen-Z, manifesting in fads for retro tech like wired earphones (cheaper, better for the planet), the sales uptick for compact cameras (a more deliberate, meaningful experience than snapping on smartphones), a rejection of streaming and a return to physical media like CDs and DVDs, and yes, analog and digital watches. Even I wrote about how much I loved the cheap old Casio F-91W way back in 2023.

To match this trend, wearable tech is evolving. Screenless ‘focus wearables’ such as the Whoop MG, Polar Loop, Amazfit Helio Strap and even the upcoming Fitbit shown off by Steph Curry are the new hotness amongst fitness people, as are the best smart rings like Oura. On the r/malefashionadvice Reddit post above, one commenter said ‘I am legitimately looking into a fitness ring like Oura so I can wear my watches and still track steps and what not’, while I’m seeing far more screenless bands in workout classes and in gyms.

On runs and during cycling, screens are still dominant as maps and mileage are very useful to check with a glance. Function beats form here, as a smartwatch is primarily a tool.

So where do smartwatches go from here? The answer is ‘not very far’. Again, like candybar-style phones, smartwatches have reached the point where they are incredibly useful, yet very boring to look at — a slab of black glass on your wrist. Yes, customisable watch faces and always-on displays certainly help, but making them exciting again by radically changing them will remain the province of fringe brands such as Pebble for the foreseeable future.

I think smartwatch wearers (and makers) have to accept the cold hard truth — they’re brilliant functional devices, but not fashionable ones. Leaning into the techy aesthetic instead of trying to make something sleek and cool is the way forward, because when it comes time to put style first, I can’t ever see myself putting on a smartwatch over an old-school analog watch.

I want to hear from you — do you think smartwatches are ugly and unstylish, or are you a big believer in cool tech? Vote in our poll and let me know in the comments below.

• A leaker has spotted a serial number he believes corresponds to the Galaxy Watch9 on a US testing server
• If they're correct, the watch has completed development and is now in the testing stage
• I predict it won't be a drastic departure from the Watch8, which was a big redesign that I called a 'triumph' in my review

It's not even April at the time of writing, but the July / August release crop of Samsung wearables are already starting to show their (watch) faces.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch9, the headline device succeeding 2025's best Samsung watches, has reportedly left the development stage, and may now be in the testing phase.

That's according to leaker Mohammed Khatri (via Sammobile). Posting on X, Khatri spotted a number he believes corresponds to the Samsung Galaxy Watch9 on a US-based testing server known as Checkfirm.

Checkfirm is a program designed to check for new firmware updates for Samsung devices, so this likely indicates both that the Galaxy Watch9 exists, and that it's able to run Samsung's existing software, even in testing.

If true, the watch has completed the first stage of its development process, and is well on its way to a July or August launch at Samsung's biannual Galaxy Unpacked product showcase.

Similar to the Watch8?

I loved the Galaxy Watch8 when I tested it, and I gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars in my Samsung Galaxy Watch8 review, calling it "a triumph". Its new design compared to the Watch7 ensured that the watch sat closer to the wrist for more accurate recording of your metrics during exercise, while making for a sleeker look in general.

The squircle-shaped cushion, which I found quite fat and 'busy' looking on the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra and Samsung Galaxy Watch8 Classic, looks great on the Watch8. But it was the AI-powered running-coach feature that stood out for me, with Samsung taking the fight to the best Garmin watches.

With the range seeing a radical redesign last year, Samsung is unlikely to reinvent the wheel this time around, and if you're after the perfect balance between a high-powered, communication-focused smartwatch and a running watch, the Galaxy Watch9 might be just the watch for you this year.

• Spotify has rolled out a bold upgrade for Wear OS
• As well as new visual elements, you can now use tap gestures to play and skip songs
• It's available to all Wear OS-compatible devices, so long as you update the Spotify app in the Play Store

Are you a Wear OS user and a Spotify subscriber? Your on-wrist experience is about to get better thanks to a major upgrade coming to some of the best smartwatches — which includes a new graphic redesign and handy tap gestures.

If you’re a power-user of a Samsung Galaxy Watch or Google Pixel Watch, you’ll now have access to the new Spotify experience for Wear OS so long as you’ve installed the latest version of the Spotify app via the Play Store. In an email sent to TechRadar, Spotify details that the new wave of Wear OS features are “redesigned to be more intuitive, more discoverable” bringing “the best of Spotify to your watch”. So, what’s new?

First off, Spotify’s Wear OS revamp puts visual aesthetics at the forefront of its new ‘Now Playing’ screen, which displays creator art behind the current playing song as well as the playback controls. You can also view and amend your music queue from this view and control audio output too. When you swipe from top to bottom, it takes you to a new ‘immersive view’, where the creator art is displayed in its entirety without the obstruction of the pause and play icons.

When you swipe up on the ‘Now Playing’ screen it takes you to Spotify's main Home page, where your Liked Songs, Downloads, recently accessed playlists, podcasts, artists, and more will be front and center. That said, one of the more handy tools is the search function allowing you to look up a song to add to your queue, bringing music discovery features to your wrist.

However, the new update isn’t just about how pretty it looks, it also has a slew of practical new tools. Now you can manually use your finger to pause, play, and skip through songs on your watch face, as well as use tap gestures to control the playback. One tap will pause and play music for you, while two taps will skip from one song to the next.

I’m an Apple Watch user, and I’m envious of this upgrade

The best part about Spotify’s smartwatch app is that it takes all the best features from the mobile experience and puts them right on your wrist, providing a convenient way to control your music playback when you’re working out or have your hands tied.

Spotify’s Apple Watch experience isn’t dissimilar to its new Wear OS update. You can still amend your music queue, search for songs, and access your full Library of saved artists, albums, and recently streamed playlists — but it’s certainly not as pretty.

Apple Watch users miss out on the album art feature, a tool that makes the new Wear OS Spotify experience so bold and visually engaging. Instead, the ‘Now Playing’ page on Apple Watch just displays the song title and artist, with pause, play, skip, and queue icons against a plain black background. It’s far too simple for my liking and, dare I say, slightly dull.

However, Spotify for Apple Watch does replicate the Home tab and Your Library from the mobile experience, so at least you don’t have to navigate an interface that feels completely different. That said, I do hope that Spotify gives its watchOS version a bit of TLC in the near future — it should at least emulate the Liquid Glass aesthetic that Apple has been pushing for almost a year.

Smartwatches in 2026 are basically mini smartphones, and in some ways, they are even more ubiquitous, given the placement on your wrist.

The funny thing is, most people still use them like a fancy pedometer: steps, a few notifications, maybe a run every so often, and then a vague sense of guilt when the rings aren’t behaving. However, the genuinely useful fitness features aren’t the most obvious ones. They’re the quieter tools hiding in health dashboards, post-workout screens, and settings menus you probably only opened once, when you first strapped the watch on, and never again.

Set up the right handful, though, and your smartwatch stops being a passive tracker and starts nudging you towards better training decisions. To help you make the most of your smartwatch and keep up with those 2026 fitness goals, I've found eight features worth digging into.

Feature 1: Training Load

Training Load (sometimes called workload) is a simple concept: your watch looks at recent workouts and visualises how hard you’ve been going, so you can see trends you’d otherwise miss.

On Apple Watch, you can view it in the Activity app’s Workload view, and scroll through the past seven days to get a quick sense of whether you’ve been steadily building, staying level, or quietly overdoing it.

The practical win is that it discourages accidental hero weeks.

You don’t need to stare at charts or micromanage your sessions, either. Just do a quick daily glance, plus a check-in after anything particularly demanding.

Feature 2: Rate your workouts

Here’s the problem with relying purely on pace and heart rate: two workouts can look identical on paper and feel completely different.

Heat, hills, poor sleep, stress, and even what you eat can shift how demanding a session feels, even if the numbers don’t scream it.

That’s why effort rating, sometimes shown as perceived exertion, is such a useful little add-on. Apple explicitly ties this into Training Load, allowing you to log how hard a workout felt so the load picture better reflects reality over time, while Garmin also has a smiley-face rating system. You don’t need to be ultra-precise, either; the trick is consistency.

If you keep the meaning of your ratings steady, even in broad strokes like easy, moderate and hard, your training history becomes far more honest.

Feature 3: Set heart-rate or pace targets

Most people use their smartwatch like a receipt: you do the workout, then you look at the stats afterwards. Targets flip that around.

There are two target styles that matter for everyday training. Heart rate targets are brilliant for easy runs that accidentally get harder, and pace targets are great for steady sessions where you want to stay inside a comfortable range.

In Fitbit’s ecosystem, which covers both Fitbit devices and Fitbit-powered Wear OS watches, zone-based guidance and workout targets are designed to keep you in the right intensity range during the session.

The trick is finding the target in the first place, because it’s often tucked inside workout settings, custom runs, or coaching options, not the default “start run” screen. Luckily, it only takes a few minutes to find and configure.

Feature 4: Use your Readiness Score

A readiness score is basically a daily tie-breaker. Instead of guessing whether you’re up for a tough session, your watch uses recovery signals to nudge you towards the right type of workout.

In Fitbit’s ecosystem, the Daily Readiness Score is designed to reflect how prepared your body is for activity, using factors like sleep, recent activity, and heart metrics such as resting heart rate and heart rate variability.

The best way to use it is as a decision tool, not a strict rule. A low score does not have to mean “do nothing”, but it is often a good prompt to swap intervals for an easy run, a walk, or mobility work.

Feature 5: Check your Vitals

Some mornings you wake up and feel off – not ill, just sluggish or strangely flat. This is where Vitals-style dashboards are genuinely useful, because they turn a vague feeling into something you can act on.

On Apple Watch, the Vitals app builds a typical range for overnight health metrics it collects while you sleep, then flags readings as outliers when they’re meaningfully above or below your norm. Garmin watches offer a Health Status digest with five key metrics, such as pulse ox and heart rate variability, as well as a Morning Report on how you slept.

If multiple metrics fall outside your typical range, you can also get a notification the next morning, alongside context for factors that can influence the results, such as medications, elevation changes, or alcohol.

It's important to note that you do not need to obsess over the numbers. The simplest, most useful habit is to treat it as a traffic-light check on mornings you feel questionable; if everything looks typical, you can train as planned.

Feature 6: Wrist temperature trends

Wrist temperature is easy to misunderstand, so it helps to set expectations upfront: it's not a “take your temperature on demand” feature, and it is not about obsessing over one reading.

The value is in night-to-night trends, which can add a useful layer of context when you’re trying to work out if you’re under-recovered, travelling poorly, or simply heading into a rough week.

On Apple Watch, wrist temperature is measured overnight and shown as a baseline with changes from baseline, rather than a single absolute number, and it can take several nights of wear to establish that personal reference point.

Feature 7: Irregular rhythm notifications

This one sits slightly to the side of pure fitness, but it’s exactly the sort of feature people forget they have.

Irregular rhythm notifications can run in the background and look for signs of an irregular heart rhythm, while ECG is usually an on-demand test where you open an app and follow the prompts.

On Apple Watch, Apple describes irregular rhythm notifications as a feature that can occasionally check your heart rhythm and send a notification if it detects an irregular rhythm that appears consistent with atrial fibrillation. Fitbit, Google Pixel, Samsung and Garmin behave the same way.

We need to stress that this is not medical equipment, and you should contact your doctor for anything serious.

If your watch supports these features, it’s worth enabling the notifications and making sure you know where the ECG app lives.

Feature 8: Use an adaptive running coach

A lot of people would run more consistently if they didn’t have to decide what to do every single time, which is why built-in coaching features can be such a win.

On Samsung’s recent Galaxy Watch line, the company's personalised Running Coach is designed to assess your running level and build a tailored plan, with the coaching experience running through Samsung Health.

Fitbit’s ecosystem also leans heavily into guided training and readiness-style prompts, which is why it tends to be a natural fit for Wear OS watches that prioritize health coaching alongside workout tracking.

• Tech firm UnaliWear is suing Apple, Google, Garmin and Samsung
• At issue is the use of fall detection tech on some of the best smartwatches
• If UnaliWear wins, there could be huge ramifications for the industry

Fall detection is a key feature of many of the best smartwatches, including the Apple Watch and models from Garmin, Samsung and Google’s Fitbit. Yet its future on your device might be in jeopardy, as one company claims that all these devices have illegally copied its technology relating to trips and falls. If it prevails, the smartwatch industry could look very different.

At issue is the aforementioned fall detection tech, which wearables company UnaliWear says infringes on its patents. UnaliWear makes wearables for older adults, with these products featuring a fall detection system called RealFall that it says can distinguish between actual falls and everyday movement.

It’s that ability to differentiate real falls from false alerts that is at the core of the dispute. UnaliWear says that the wearables it has taken issue with – those from Apple, Google, Garmin and Samsung – have infringed upon its patents in order to solve a specific problem.

Right now, the case is being investigated by the US International Trade Commission, with responses expected from the affected companies by roughly the end of January. The case is expected to take over a year to complete, but it could have massive ramifications once it concludes.

For one thing, if UnaliWear is successful, it might request a limited exclusion order. This would block the import of affected smartwatches into the US, leaving the likes of Apple and Garmin unable to ship some of the most popular smartwatches to US customers. As well as that, UnaliWear has filed cases in several US district courts – if it prevails there, it could lead to massive financial penalties being handed out.

How likely is a ban?

Ultimately, it's unlikely that we'll see the likes of the Apple Watch or the Samsung Galaxy Watch banned from import into the US.

One more likely option is that the big-name players might have to license their fall detection technology from UnaliWear. Or they could create a workaround or alternative solution that does not infringe on UnaliWear’s patents, as Apple did when its blood oxygen sensor was ruled to have overstepped on patents held by medical tech firm Masimo.

Speaking of which, the Masimo case demonstrates that this is not the first time that Apple has been sued by a smaller company over the tech it uses in its Apple Watch. In the Masimo case, certain models of the Apple Watch were restricted from import into the US, which meant Apple had to disable the feature for US customers – a significant headache for the Cupertino company.

No doubt Apple – and Samsung, Google and Garmin – will want to avoid anything as drastic this time around. If you’re interested in any of these smartwatches and want to know whether you’ll still be able to buy one in the future, keep an eye on this case.

Most people buy a Samsung Galaxy Watch for the basics – fitness tracking, notifications, and the convenience of having a small slice of their phone on their wrist at all times.

But Samsung’s wearables have steadily gained more advanced, genuinely helpful features that often sit buried in menus or require an extra toggle during setup, meaning many owners never try them.

If you’re using a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 or newer, several tools can help to support you in tracking your health, daily habits, and overall ease of use.

In this guide, we’re highlighting three features that deserve far more attention, with each one working across the most recent Galaxy Watch line-up, provided you’re running recent Wear OS updates. Each feature can be switched on in a couple of minutes, to boot.

1. Body Composition Analysis

Samsung’s Body Composition Analysis is one of the most powerful features on the Galaxy Watch, yet many people try it once during setup and rarely return for more.

Using a built-in sensor – introduced with the Galaxy Watch 4 and now standard across newer models – the watch estimates key metrics such as body fat percentage, skeletal muscle mass, body water, and BMI.

It’s designed for personal insight rather than medical use, but when used consistently, it can help you understand how your training, diet, and sleep habits are affecting your body over time.

To start using it, the process is straightforward. Open Samsung Health on your watch, scroll to Body composition, and follow the on-screen positioning guide.

You’ll need to keep the watch snug on your wrist, lightly touch two fingers to the side buttons, and remain still while the reading completes – it usually takes around fifteen seconds.

Where this feature really shines is in trend-tracking: Single readings are less important than how your metrics shift across weeks or months, and Samsung Health presents this long-term view clearly.

It's worth noting that there are a few caveats.

Anyone with implanted medical devices should avoid BIA measurements (Samsung includes clear warnings in the app), and results should also be understood as estimates rather than absolutes, with an emphasis on patterns, not precision.

2. Gestures for calls and apps

Gesture controls might be one of the most overlooked conveniences on the Galaxy Watch, largely because they’re not all enabled by default.

Once switched on, though, they make the watch far easier to use when your hands are full, when you’re mid-workout, or when you simply want quicker access to actions.

The standout gesture is the double-pinch: A quick pinch of your thumb and index finger twice lets you answer a call, dismiss an alarm, pause media, or trigger supported apps.

It’s subtle, fast, and works even when the screen is wet or your other hand is occupied. The companion gesture – shake to dismiss – lets you decline calls or silence alerts with a brief flick of the wrist.

Samsung has also added the more flexible "knock-knock" gesture, which uses a light knocking motion of the wrist to launch a pre-selected shortcut.

You can assign it to almost anything: the Torch, Stopwatch, recent apps, a favourite workout, or even a specific tool inside Samsung Health.

All of these options live under Settings > Advanced features (or Gestures, depending on your model), and each one can be toggled independently.

If you find gestures too sensitive, or they trigger by mistake, you can retrain or disable them individually, but most users find that a few minutes of practice makes them dependable.

Combined with “Hey Google” or Samsung’s own assistant, gesture shortcuts can turn the watch into a genuinely hands-free tool, and might even make your Apple Watch-owning friends jealous.

3. Sleep Apnoea detection

Samsung’s Sleep Apnoea detection tool is one of the most meaningful health additions to the Galaxy Watch line-up, yet it’s easy to miss unless you explore Samsung Health Monitor in detail.

After receiving FDA authorisation in the US and regulatory clearance across much of Europe, the feature is now available on Galaxy Watch 4 and newer models when paired with a compatible Galaxy phone.

The watch assesses potential signs of moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnoea by analyzing overnight blood oxygen patterns and estimating an Apnoea–Hypopnoea Index.

To activate it, open Samsung Health Monitor on your paired phone, head to the Sleep apnoea section, and follow the setup instructions.

It's worth saying that Samsung requires at least two nights of sleep within a ten-day window, with the watch worn securely for a minimum of four hours per night.

A Galaxy Watch cannot confirm the condition on its own, but it can flag concerning patterns and encourage a conversation with a doctor, who can then arrange proper testing if needed.

As with all health features, there are limitations. The tool is intended for adults aged 22 and over, and it should not be used by anyone with a confirmed diagnosis, nor should it replace clinical evaluation.

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• Samsung watches will "soon" get early heart failure detection
• The feature already has regulatory approval in South Korea
• Meanwhile, Galaxy Watch Sleep Scores don't seem to be working properly

Wearables are getting better at detecting various health conditions, through improvements in sensor technology and AI, and Samsung has announced that its Galaxy Watches will soon be able to spot certain early signs of heart failure.

As per a new blog post, Samsung's wearables will "soon" be able to alert users to signs of Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction or LVSD. This is where heart muscles weaken, affecting blood pumping ability, and it's thought to be responsible for around half of heart failures worldwide.

Having already received regulatory approval in South Korea, the next step will be clearance in other parts of the world. The feature could be on the way fairly soon, though Samsung hasn't specified which of its Galaxy Watch models might get it.

The same blog post also outlines non-invasive brain scanning tech that Samsung is working on, which would enable EEG (electroencephalogram) style scans to look for issues such as drowsiness, for example. This innovation seems further off, though it could eventually work as an add-on to the Samsung Galaxy Buds.

Sleeping more soundly?

Meanwhile, back with Samsung's existing Galaxy Watch apps and features, something strange seems to be going on with Sleep Score reports: as noted by Android Authority, a lot of users are seeing changes in the figures they're getting in the morning.

Galaxy Watches are able to produce a personalized Sleep Score after each period of slumber, which factors in several variables – including how long you slept for and how deep your sleep was – to produce a number up to 100 (which would equal the perfect sleep session, with no improvements needed).

This Reddit thread features numerous examples of users who have started hitting 99 or 100 almost every day. Either something has changed in the algorithms Samsung is using, or Galaxy Watch owners are sleeping a lot, lot better. As bugs go, it's not the most serious, but it is interfering with people's ability to keep track of their sleep hygiene.

Samsung has yet to comment on the issue, and it's possible that these scores will go back to normal as suddenly as they've gone awry. In the meantime, if you're seeing similar figures in your own Samsung Health app, know that you're not the only one.

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The Samsung Galaxy Watch8 is Samsung's latest flagship smartwatch, and it's got some serious running smarts. A new slimmer, lighter shape and strap redesign means it sits snug on your wrist, preventing movement during running, while on the metrics front it tracks everything from asymmetry in your stride to stiffness in your gait. A new Running Coach feature offers you one of over 150 different running plans for your chosen distance, switching intelligently as you progress based on your performance.

It seems like, for the first time, we might have a Samsung watch in our best running watches list. However, the running watch category tends to get dominated by one name in particular: Garmin. The best Garmin watches last for days or even weeks as opposed to Samsung's paltry 40 hours, and come stacked with great running features such as Hill Score, measuring your effectiveness up hills, and easy running route creation. Can Samsung's latest offering stack up to a top-flight Garmin watch? Time we found out.

The test

I measured the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 against the Garmin Venu X1, Garmin's latest high-end activity-focused watch. The aim was not to see which was the better smartwatch overall, but to test Samsung's mettle as part of my review process. I'm looking for a close match in heart rate and GPS information, along with detail and quality in the analysis of my test run.

The route was an easy lunch break-friendly 4km (or 2.5 miles, take your pick) with a good amount of elevation both up and down. The first half of the route is by a river, without many buildings, but the homeward leg of the run is through some densely packed streets, which has the potential to interfere with either watch's GPS.

The results

As you can see in the gallery above, Picture 1 shows Samsung reading the run as 3.86km, with an average heart rate of 144 beats per minute. It estimates my calorie expenditure as 292 kcal, with a 24m elevation gain.

Picture 2 shows Garmin's results, clocking in at 3.88km, a 0.02% difference and well within the acceptable margin for error to account for the algorithmic difference in processing GPS information. For more details on the differences in how GPS data are processed from different watch brands, I covered how it works in my Apple Watch vs Garmin Watch marathon test.

Garmin shows a 144 beats per minute average heart rate, exactly the same as Samsung, with a 17kcal difference in calorie expenditure and 26m elevation gain. Again, I'm happy with this acceptable margin for error, and satisfied that both watches have recorded accurately given that their results landed so close together. Garmin recorded my cadence at 145 steps per minute on average, as opposed to Samsung's 151 steps per minute. Again, a six-step difference over 25 minutes is hardly a statistical gulf.

The conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy Watch8's running metrics are very much up to snuff, and can compete with the best running watches out there. I'd be more than happy to train for a major event with the Watch8 on my wrist, as it's a lot lighter than the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra – although the battery life remains lackluster.

I was even impressed with the Watch8's post-game analysis: it registered some stiffness in my gait and marked it in the Samsung Health app as "needs improvement", but that's not what really impressed me. Alongside the verdict was a little icon marked "drills". When I tapped it, it showed me a series of five exercises, complete with demonstrations, to improve my running stiffness score.

Actionable, contextual information, rather than just throwing stats at you for the sake of it? Superb. We don't need more information on our watches: we need more useful ways to take the learnings these wearables can provide, and incorporate them into our training.

Now I've finished testing, stay tuned to TechRadar for my full verdict on the new Samsung watches.

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It's almost time for a refresh of Samsung's smartwatch range – check our Galaxy Watch 7 review and Galaxy Watch Ultra review for details of last year – and thanks to a succession of leaks, we think we've got a pretty good idea of what's coming.

Samsung seems likely to change up its approach to smartwatch launches again for 2025, and we're probably not going to get just the Galaxy Watch 8 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, as you might expect – and that's something of a problem for Samsung and Wear OS fans making plans to upgrade this year.

Indeed, as you might have noticed, Samsung tends to change up its wearables strategy every year, which seems needlessly confusing. I think Apple's approach in this category makes far more sense, and I'll explain why.

Clear: the Apple approach

The first Apple Watch was announced in September 2014, and went on sale in April 2015. We then got the Series 1 and the Series 2 (actually more like the Apple Watch 2 and the Apple Watch Ultra) in September 2015. Admittedly that's a bit of a messy start, but since then there's been much clarity to the Apple Watch schedule.

Specifically: a next-generation Apple Watch each and every September. You can (if you'll forgive the pun) set your watch by the cadence of these wearable launches. It would be a huge surprise if we didn't get the Apple Watch Series 11 this coming September, alongside the new iPhone 17 series.

Now admittedly, Apple has muddied the waters a bit with different variations – most recently the Apple Watch SE 2 (launched in September 2022 and still awaiting a follow-up), and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 (launched in September 2023 and still awaiting a follow-up, though we got a new color last year).

Even better, we know exactly where we stand with the software updates as well: watchOS gets an update every September as well, alongside the new hardware.

The numbering system may have changed, so it's now watchOS 26 that's due later in 2025, but we know when these new software versions are coming, and Apple always previews them a few months before at WWDC 2025. It's consistent, clear, and easy to follow.

Confusing: the Samsung approach

Let's contrast the Apple approach with the way Samsung launches smartwatches: it changes its line-up year after year, apparently unsure about what products it wants to launch or what its users are actually after. We've had Galaxy Watches since 2018, and the launch pattern has been rather patchy since then.

Last year we got the Galaxy Watch 7 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra, and the year before that we were treated to the Galaxy Watch 6 and the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. The year before that, 2022, was different again: Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Watch 5 and the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro (oh, and launched them in August rather than July).

It seems we're back on a 'Classic' year for 2025, because the leaks to date have been pointing towards the arrival of the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic. At the same time there's also been chatter around the imminent launch of both a standard Galaxy Watch 8 and a Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. All we're missing is a Pro model and we'd have a full set (and that's without mentioning the FE or older Active models).

Not only does this make it difficult for anyone planning to upgrade year on year, it also makes it harder to figure out exactly what you're going to get – does a Classic beat a Pro? Are Pros and Ultras the same? Which one has the rotating bezel again? Some Apple-like clarity from Samsung wouldn't go amiss.

We'll be covering the Samsung Unpacked event live on Wednesday, July 9, and you can watch along online as well. Whatever Samsung decides to unveil this time around, we'll explain everything you need to know about how the models compare to each other, and what's new from last year.

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• Advanced coaching features would be included free in new watches, while being locked behind a paywall for older models

In these cash-strapped times, none of us enjoy paying more than we have to. When our best streaming service prices go up, we grumble, even though more films and TV are added all the time.

Likewise, if we buy a device such as one of the best smartwatches, and previously we've been able to use all its features for free, we don't like being charged a monthly subscription for future ones.

Just ask Garmin users. There was an enormous outcry of vitriol and outrage from the brand's highly engaged userbase when Garmin introduced its premium tier, Garmin Connect+. Despite promising AI training insights, new LiveTrack abilities for endurance athletes and advanced ways to view your training metrics, the new tier was deemed not good enough for the cost – and especially given the best Garmin watches are sold at premium prices in the first place. The community was in uproar, but Garmin has not wavered, continuing with its plans.

Now, Samsung is in on the act. In an interview with CNet, Samsung's Head of Digital Health, Dr Hon Pak, confirmed it's "exploring a premium subscription model similar to Fitbit Premium or Garmin's new Connect Plus that requires a monthly subscription to unlock advanced coaching features."

This is bad news for Samsung Galaxy Watch owners, and even owners of the best Samsung phones or the Samsung Galaxy Ring. Any changes Samsung makes here will likely affect the Samsung Health app, so if you want any extra features Samsung decides to bring forward behind a paywall, you'll need to fork out for a premium tier.

Samsung hasn't yet revealed whether it's definitely going ahead, or how much it will cost: these kind of mid-interview slips are likely testing the waters, to see if an outcry as loud as Garmin's userbase will follow.

The writer of the original article goes on to suggest that Samsung might offer the features for free with its new watch, and make them available owners of older models for a fee, but there are no direct quotes from Pak or anyone at Samsung addressing that particular idea.

Just like Garmin Connect+, it's likely if this premium tier launches, many of the new features that would have come to your watches for free will land behind a paywall instead. This means there's a risk of 'feature creep' so that in a few years' time, all the features Samsung fans really want will be behind a paywall, forcing users to subscribe to avoid missing out.

To paraphrase Dune, it's the slow blade that penetrates the shield. Premium tiers are a way for companies to extract long-term revenue from users and subscribers, unlike launching a soon-to-be-obsolete tech product, which creates a temporary revenue spike.

Of course, no-one's saying you shouldn't pay a fair price for the features you use, and having your data sat around in a server, ready to be recalled at a moment's notice, costs companies money in the long term. Many of our best fitness apps require subscription costs, and we rate them highly.

However, when a wearables company offers a subscription tier, that money is recouped as long as you subscribe, as it's recurring revenue in addition to the one-time purchase of a watch. I can't shake the feeling that I'm paying twice: once for the privilege of having the watch collect my data, and once to have the data sold back to me in graph form. And however you choose to pay, be it one-off or recurring, I think you should only pay the once.

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All the health information we get from our wearables can feel nice to have or, worse, confusing. It rarely feels actionable. However, several major updates coming to the Samsung Galaxy Watch lineup could change how we view all this sensor-driven health intelligence, make the advice useful, and, most importantly, personal.

When I last spoke to Samsung's Dr. Hon Pak, he told me that Samsung was working on a "goal-based experience" as it relates to Samsung Health, which Dr. Pak, a trained dermatologist, runs.

Now, it appears that Samsung is achieving that goal with a collection of updates that impact, run training, sleep, toxins, and more.

Better sleep

Your Galaxy Watch and Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, for instance, are already helping you keep track of things like sleep and even how ready you are for the day with an "Energy Score,' which mostly relates to the quality of sleep and how prepared you are for your day. However, a new Bedtime Guidance feature will help you craft a better sleeping experience. Dr. Pak told me it's designed to help shift workers who have unreliable schedules and want to "bring regularity back to their sleeping patterns".

The setting looks at circadian rhythms and accumulating sleep debt (not getting enough sleep over a series of days, which tends to build up a deficit). The system learns over three days and nights and then presents a score, but more importantly, gives you recommendations for bedtime. So instead of a bedtime setting that's set once and forgotten, the system is analyzing you and your sleep needs and providing variable bedtimes.

Run coach

The second and most personalized health and fitness update is Running Coach. Like Bedtime Guidance, it uses a training activity to learn about your current skills and needs – in this case, using a 12-minute run (or walk, whatever, you can do). You start by telling the feature your running goals, say, a 5K in two months or a marathon before the end of the year.

"We want to give them a training program specifically designed for them," Dr. Pak told me, "Because what we're finding is that people either push themselves too much and get injured or they underpush and never get to the goals."

Samsung is working with sports medicine experts at various universities for guidance on what training to provide based on the 12-minute run results, which produce a score between 0 (non-runners) and 10 (marathoners), and the goal.

"It isn't just, 'Hey, go do these programs.' This is, as you're doing those programs, we're guiding you actively and saying that you need to push yourself a little further, or you need to step back a little bit," explained Dr. Pak.

Heart health

While Vascular Load doesn't provide as much personal guidance, it can provide, after three nights of sensing, a baseline about your cardiovascular and heart health. It also tracks trends as to whether the stress on your cardiovascular system is going up or down. Since it's continuously monitoring during sleep, you get the baseline and long-term trends that you can perhaps act on.

Finally, and as rumors have suggested, Samsung Galaxy Watch will add a sensor to look at your Antioxidant Index, an approximation of the levels of beneficial antioxidants in your diet. The LED sensor measures carotenoids, which is a form of beta-carotene: a powerful antioxidant. From this measurement, you get a number from 1-100.

"Using LED lights, we're able to test the adequacy of beta-keratin and, as a substitute, antioxidants, in your system," said Dr. Pak.

Instead of building a new sensor, Samsung took the BioActive Sensor it added to its Galaxy Watch last year and is now taking advantage of the additional LED sensors (especially certain wavelengths). This means antioxidant measurements will carry through last year's and this year's Galaxy Watch models.

Samsung let me quickly test drive the new Antioxidant Index by placing my finger on the back of a Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra. It only took a few seconds for my score, 52, to appear on the paired Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. From what I've been told, that's an average rating, so I feel pretty good about my antioxidant level.

Getting the score

It's been a year since Samsung launched its Energy Score and the Galaxy Ring, and I was curious what they've learned so far.

Dr. Pak told me that since Energy Scores' introduction, Samsung Health's weekly average users have gone up considerably. "I think people are very motivated and encouraged to come see their energy score; there's something about, as they get up, not only how do they sleep, but what should they do? It's the one new feature that looks forward and helps you plan for that day."

As for how the Galaxy Ring has been embraced, Dr. Pak told me people like the form factor, "and the simplicity of not having a screen, and just wear it and forget it because of the long battery life." He added that predominant use cases thus far have been for sleep and women's health (cycle tracking).

We also talked about wearable form factors and if there's a space between the screenless Galaxy Ring and the beefy Galaxy Watch Ultra. Dr. Pak reminded me of the low-profile Galaxy Fit 3 band but added, "Clearly, I agree that there's something, that the need is still there, that these two are not." Then he added, "So you'll see the newest watches that are very comfortable. You'll be surprised."

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• Samsung Galaxy Watch users are complaining of resetting issues
• Galaxy Watch 7 and Ultra users appear to be affected
• Users say their watches go through a forced reset that requires setting up the watch again

A slew of Samsung Galaxy Watch users are reporting that their Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra models keep encountering a forced-reset issue that requires them to setup their devices again.

I was first alerted to the issue by reader Spike, who reached out to me about a problem with their Samsung Galaxy Watch 7. Since the last update, they and other users have noticed the Watch 7 randomly disconnecting from the phone it's paired with, such that the Samsung Galaxy Wearable app won't recognize the watch, requiring a factory reset to re-pair.

"For me this happens about once a week," Spike told me. "I contacted Samsung who wanted me to send my watch in, but I'm pretty certain it's a software issue since a lot of people on the forum are having the same issue."

Samsung Galaxy Watch reset issue

A Samsung Community forum scoured by TechRadar does indeed reveal an extensive thread of users who seem to be suffering from this issue.

"For no apparent reason, my watch keeps doing a forced reset," the original poster said. "I then have to go through the whole process of setting it up again," they added, even mentioning that the latest hiccup completely changed some watch settings.

Other users chimed in to say that they've been experiencing the same issue. "Me too. 3 times now in under 2 weeks," one user replied.

The thread is titled '"Galaxy Watch 7/Ultra resetting', which seems to indicate that this problem is affecting Samsung's two best Android smartwatches; it's unclear if it extends to any other models.

The precise nature of the issue and its extent are little murky, but users are definitely reporting persistent forced resets on their Galaxy Watches, often multiple times a week. At least some of the time, this requires users to go through the setup process to reconnect the watch.

We've reached out to Samsung regarding the problem, but this is definitely a developing issue, and one that appears to be fairly prevalent.

The Samsung forum post has 24 likes and over 300 replies from similarly affected users. Samsung also recently confirmed that some of its watches were not tracking sleep properly, and recommended a fix to users.

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Samsung is launching an all-new Galaxy Watch for Kids 'experience' on the eve of today's (Jan 22) Samsung Galaxy Unpacked presentation – a few hours before its big keynote kicks off.

Rather than making a dedicated version of the Galaxy Watch, like the Fitbit Ace LTE, Samsung has created the Galaxy Watch for Kids experience, a new mode you can select on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 LTE – one of the best Samsung watches. This mode prevents the child from accessing certain features, allows parents to stay connected, offers safety features like SOS messages, and provides 'self-expression and learning experiences.'

These experiences are launching with over 20 'teacher-approved' apps, including some from a variety of recognizable IPs, such as Barbie, Crayola, PBS Kids, and Unicorn Academy.

However, it's Marvel that takes front and center in the marketing. The Marvel HQ app offers watch faces inspired by characters like Captain America and Groot but kicks it into high gear by allowing kids to mix tunes on the app's DJ interface and dance in real life to move with Groot.

By pairing the watch with a parent's smartphone, the parent can select "set up for a child" on the Watch 7 LTE, using Google Family Link to create multiple accounts. After activating the eSim on the watch, a phone is no longer required for the child to use the watch and access the core functionality.

Safety tools for parents include location sharing, managing their child's contacts, a 'Do-Not-Disturb-like' mode, and SOS Messages, which can be sent by pressing the watch's side button five times.

Kids bands will be available to purchase for the watch, which acts as a protective silicone covering, although users buying a Galaxy Watch 7 LTE from Samsung.com will receive a free kids band.

Like the Fitbit Ace LTE, Galaxy Watch for Kids is only available in the US at present.

This mode is similar to Apple's 'Apple Watch For Your Kids' experience, which also offers emergency SOS messages, child-orientated movement tracking, kid-friendly watch faces and educational apps, alongside Apple Cash, a way to send money through Apple devices to act like an allowance used with Apple Pay. Like the Samsung experience, you need an LTE watch to use the 'Apple Watch for Kids' feature.

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Samsung is testing a new battery technology for its wearable devices that could give its Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Ring models the best battery life on the market.

The maker of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, and the new Samsung Galaxy Ring has reportedly developed "the world's first ultra-small all-solid-state battery for wearable devices." That's according to a report from Business Korea, which says the tech has been dubbed a "dream battery."

The news states that Samsung Electro-Mechanics has created an all-solid-state battery for wearables with an energy density of 200Wh/L, the highest in the industry.

Higher density means higher capacity, which in turn means longer battery life for daily use, fitness tracking, and beyond. BK reports that Samsung is evaluating its battery with corporate customers right now, and that it could begin mass production in the first half of 2026. Specifically, the report names the Galaxy Ring, Galaxy Watch, and Galaxy Buzz as the first wearable devices expected to benefit.

Samsung's solid-state revelation

The introduction of solid-state battery tech to Samsung's wearables would be a real shakeup for the wearables industry, but it's not the only company with its eyes on the prize.

Earlier this year, Apple supplier TDK reported its own breakthrough in the technology, which it says could offer battery capacities around 100 times greater than existing technologies.

While the capacity and battery-life benefits are obvious, there are other clear bonuses. Solid-state batteries charge much faster than traditional batteries, and they offer more flexibly in terms of their design, so they can be applied to a wealth of different technologies of all shapes and sizes – hence the aforementioned application in devices like the Galaxy Ring as well as the best smartwatches.

As it stands, unless you're using one of the best Garmin watches on the market, your average smartwatch (such as the Apple Watch Series 10 or Galaxy Watch 7) will struggle to get you through 24 hours of use. As we come to rely more on wearable devices for health and well-being, including vital protection against heart problems and sleep apnea, the need for more reliable and longer-lasting devices will grow exponentially. The first company to crack solid-state wearable batteries, be it Samsung, Apple, or someone else, will definitely have a huge advantage.

Samsung has just launched its latest Galaxy Watch, and so far we’ve been pretty impressed with it in our hands-on Galaxy Watch 7 review. But not everyone has been blown away, and it all comes down to one thing: battery life.

Complaints have arisen from users on social media that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7’s battery is draining rather more quickly than people would like. On X (formerly Twitter), @Nole_fan_girl noted that after just over 10 hours of use, their smartwatch had just 10% battery life remaining, with them commenting that they “can’t get a full day use” out of it. Similarly, @JeffTechnically said that “Personally I’m lucky to get 16 hours on my 44mm Watch 7.”

They’re far from the only people to complain on forums, and it seems like Samsung has taken notice. Writing on Samsung’s South Korean forums, a company representative said that Samsung was aware of the issue. According to a machine translated version of the page, the rep explained that “we have identified the cause and prepared a solution,” adding that they hope to distribute the patch soon.

The representative claimed that the issue was software-related rather than being due to faulty hardware. That is encouraging, as a software glitch can usually be fixed with an update, and it would be much harder to address the problem if hardware was at its root.

A big step back

Despite the Samsung official’s assertion that software was to blame – and that Samsung has discovered the cause of the issue – we still don’t know exactly what is going on and what has caused the cases of excessive battery drain.

Still, poor battery performance such as this is well out of the ordinary. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6, for example, got around 25 hours from a full charge in our testing. For some users to only be getting 10 to 11 hours out of the Galaxy Watch 7, then, is a big step back.

We’ll have to see how Samsung addresses the problem, whether it reveals exactly what caused the issue, and how long it takes to get things fixed up. Hopefully we won’t be waiting too long, or there are going to be some very disappointed smartwatch users out there.

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Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: One-Minute Review

Unlike Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Ultra and the brand’s Galaxy Ring, the Galaxy Watch 7 is more familiar. In a world of exciting designs, Samsung is sticking with a working formula that’s been here on some of the best smartwatches like the Galaxy Watch 5 and 2024’s Galaxy Watch 6 – but that’s not a bad thing. Similar to Apple’s approach with a standard Series 9 and an Ultra, the Galaxy Watch 7 is a refreshing bit of familiarity with some minor changes.

Thanks to Samsung’s first 3-nanometer Exynos chip under the hood, much of the experience truly zips here – applications, be they Spotify, Messages, or Workout, open quickly, and processes wrap up pretty fast. This also powers some Galaxy AI features, but you do need a Galaxy smartphone to use them; and that includes the new Energy Score feature, which reminds me a lot of the Oura Ring. It's a welcome addition to the already highly-accurate health and activity experience the Galaxy Watch has long offered, especially for workout and sleep tracking.

I also really like the new gestures, which speed up the one-handed use of the Galaxy Watch, but that also means it's an iterative refresh for this year's model, a trend that Samsung has been continuing for several generations.

Suffice it to say the Galaxy Watch 7 is one of the best WearOS smartwatches around, especially if you have a Galaxy phone. Compared to the Ultra, it's the one for everyone. Just know, you don't need to rush out and grab one if you have a Watch 5 or a Watch 6.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: Specs

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: price and availability

Unlike the folding phones the Watch 7 launched alongside, the latest Galaxy Watch doesn’t have a heftier price tag than its predecessor.

The Galaxy Watch 7 starts at $299.99 / £289 / AU$549 for the 40mm or $329.99/ £319 / AU$599 for the 44mm with standard Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. If you’d like 4G LTE connectivity, the 40mm Galaxy Watch 7 jumps to $349 / £339 / AU$649 and the 44mm model to $379 / £369 / AU$699.

The 40mm Galaxy Watch 7 is available in Green or Cream, while the larger 44mm model comes in Green or Silver. Both support a broad range of fabrics and can be custom-ordered to arrive with a fabric, sport, or athleisure band in varying colors.

Just like the Galaxy Watch Ultra or Z Flip 6, Samsung is offering some competitive trade-in bonuses to make the Galaxy Watch 7 very affordable.

• Value score: 4/5

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: Design

• Almost all screen
• Gorgeous AMOLED brightness
• New BioActive Sensor

At first glance, you might confuse the Galaxy Watch 7 with the Galaxy Watch 6. And that’s not a knock on Samsung’s design chops. The Galaxy Watch, with its sleek circular design, still looks fantastic; it’s just more of an iterative change when it comes to design.

I’ve been testing the 41mm Galaxy Watch 7 in Green. It’s basically all screen on the front, with smooth stainless steel sides, and thanks to its Super AMOLED screen, the display here gets plenty bright enough and text is easy to read. It can also be left in an always-on mode, but that will limit the battery life – more on that below.

You’ll largely control the interface via the touchscreen with swipes or taps, but there are two physical buttons on the right-hand side. The top one takes you home, as always, and a long press on the bottom will pull up the Samsung Wallet.

Compared to Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Ultra, a Garmin running watch, or an Apple Watch Ultra 2, the Galaxy Watch 7 feels a lot more manageable on the wrist and is a good bit lighter. I’ve grown accustomed to the smaller 41mm size here as well, which is more in line with the Pixel Watch 2. I’ll also note that the Galaxy Watch 7 still distinctly feels like its own thing; yes, it’s a circular smartwatch like the Pixel Watch 2, but it doesn’t stray all that much into the territory of other wearables.

Regarding minimal physical changes, the Galaxy Watch 7 uses the same attaching and detaching band mechanism that Samsung ushered in with the Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic; it’s as easy as pushing in on a tab and pulling the band out to swap them. There are a few new band designs, some of which look very similar to Apple’s lineup, but Samsung has added two pops of color sewn in near the top of the watch bands for the Galaxy Watch 7 – it’s a simple touch that adds a bit of personality.

Samsung’s new BioActive Sensor lives on the back and still delivers accurate metrics in line with other wearables. Visibly, compared to previous Galaxy Watches, there are more LEDs and sensors on the back to get a clear reading. You’ll also still charge the Galaxy Watch 7 with Samsung’s proprietary charger which magnetically attaches to the back.

So, while the design isn’t a striking departure from the Galaxy Watch 6, I still really like the overall look and feel of a Galaxy Watch. It’s sharp-looking and modern, all in a circular build that reminds me of a physical timepiece. I wish Samsung had given us one other option in 2024, though – the Galaxy Watch 7 Classic, with a moveable, rotating bezel. Sadly, folks who want that must get the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: Features

• Tons of workout profiles
• New hands-free gestures
• New Energy Score tells you how tired (or not) you are

Nearly all of the changes live under the hood with the Galaxy Watch 7, so let’s start with Samsung’s first 3-nanometer chip in a smartwatch. It’s a new Exynos processor that does feel downright snappy and makes WearOS 5 with Samsung’s One UI 6 on top. While applications do open promptly, you can start a workout without hitting a snag, and measurements are prompt; the chip itself does a lot of heavy lifting in regards to health features in tandem with the BioActive Sensor on the back.

Out of the box, the Galaxy Watch 7 can track hundreds of workouts, and you can create custom ones as well. This generation it can also let you compete with yourself if the historical data is there. In my weeks of testing, I ran through several rides on a Peloton indoor cycle with it, yoga, strength, and some walks around NJ and NYC.

Like previous Galaxy Watches, the Watch 7 can easily take a heart-rate measurement, perform an electrocardiogram, and alert if it detects irregular rhythms. What’s new with the Galaxy Watch 7 is tracking AGEs, or advanced glycation end products, which indicate overall metabolic health. Additionally, it’s certified for sleep apnea detection out of the box by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This, in tandem with already excellent sleep tracking, will take a few weeks to acclimate but should deliver a solid experience.

Samsung has already done a good job of making data actionable, but if you pair the Galaxy Watch 7 with a Galaxy smartphone, you’ll get two other headlining features that work together well. An Energy Score looks at your data, from steps to calories burned with workouts and sleep, to sum up how you’re doing daily, and Wellness Tips works with it to provide suggestions.

Maybe it’s taking it easier or trying to fit in another workout. It also pulls from pretty great data courtesy of the BioActive Sensors and Samsung’s proprietary formulas and algorithms. Even so, and similar to Oura, the Energy Score here depends on how much you put into it and if you find the data relatable.

The new Double Pinch gesture has proven very handy for stopping timers, quickly silencing or taking a call, or even triggering a camera. It’s basically a carbon copy of the experience on the Apple Watch, but that’s not a bad thing, and I think folks will genuinely find it useful if one of their hands is full.

• Features score: 4.5 / 5

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: Performance

• Excellent speed
• Intelligent AI health features
• Battery life could be better

The Galaxy Watch 7 has performed great in my time with it – I’ve worn it regularly and daily since getting it right after Galaxy Unpacked, and it’s been paired with a Galaxy S24 Ultra.

And I really wouldn’t recommend diving into this Galaxy Watch if you don’t have a Samsung smartphone – like years past, the experience is really designed to be used together, and some features, including the new AI health features, require it. Not to mention, Samsung Health is deeply integrated on both devices.

The entire experience is really prompt here, as I noted above, especially when it comes to using the Galaxy Watch 7 day in and day out. I can jump between apps, swipe to quickly jump into a tile to see my Energy Score or how I’m doing with daily goals, scroll through messages, or even control playback within Spotify. Remember that since it’s a WearOS watch with a Samsung skin, you’ll find that the latter apps all have equivalents here, but you can also get anything from the Play Store.

With the new BioActive Sensor, I’m finding that heart rate measurements and general data from workouts are pretty much on par with competing smartwatches, including the Pixel Watch 2 or the Apple Watch Ultra 2. What’s a bit different is the level of detail Samsung provides and explanations for each statistic; it’s basically on par with the Galaxy Watch 6 from 2023.

Sadly, battery life is also the same in that if you plan to wear the Galaxy Watch 7 during the day and want to use sleep tracking, you’ll need to recharge it daily. Inside the 41mm is a 300mAh battery, and while I had hoped the new processor might stretch this further, with the Always-On display enabled, you’re still going to have an issue stretching more than a day – especially with a workout or two and sleep tracking. Samsung has released a patch for battery performance, but I didn’t notice a difference here … though others I’ve spoken with can stretch a little bit longer with the 44mm that contains a larger battery.

Much of the Galaxy Watch 7 experience here is tried and true Samsung, both in what it can do and the form it presents itself in. The new AI features are pretty nice, and I’m especially a fan of the context that the Energy Score can provide here – it takes a few days to get used to, but compared to the Oura or Fitbit, it is missing some things. It’s also entirely reliant on sleep tracking and activity from the day before, which means you will need to recharge daily.

These AI-health features aren’t necessarily a reason to upgrade, though, as they are arriving on older Galaxy Watch models, including the 6 and 6 Classic. Given that there aren’t massive leaps in performance or design, the Galaxy Watch 7 is best for those with a Watch 5 or older or someone entirely new to the wearable category from Samsung. Then, though, I’d also recommend you check out the Galaxy Ring.

However, alongside two entirely new wearables from Samsung – the Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Ring – the Galaxy Watch 7 plays it safe with familiarity and great performance. Just remember to charge it.

• Performance score: 4 / 5

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: Scorecard

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: Should I Buy?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I Tested The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7

To effectively test the Galaxy Watch 7 and evaluate its overall performance as well as specific features, I used it as my daily driver for several weeks, dating back to the day Samsung unveiled it at its July 2024 Galaxy Unpacked. I first unboxed and set up the Galaxy Watch 7, pairing it with a Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Then, I fully charged it, strapped it onto my left wrist, and began using it daily.

I used it with various applications, including those pre-loaded courtesy of Samsung and Google, as part of the WearOS experience. Those included personal and productivity applications like messages, mail, calendar, weather, activity, health, and Spotify, among others. For the various health features, including Energy Score, I wore it for several days to establish a baseline for daily activity. I tracked workouts like indoor cycling, strength, yoga, meditation, running, and walking.

For battery life, I monitored what I got from the Galaxy Watch 7 daily and noted how often I charged it. I also tested the extreme battery-saver modes and used the Watch 7 with the always-on enabled and disabled. I compared the battery life, general performance, and health or activity tracking with other wearables, including the Galaxy Watch 6, Pixel Watch 2, Apple Watch SE second-generation, Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2, and Oura Ring.

Smartwatch fans may have their eyes on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, which is likely to land later this year, but fresh rumors suggest that the older Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 could also get a surprise refresh before that flagship model.

Serial leaker Roland Quandt (via Phandroid) claims that the Galaxy Watch 4 is likely to get an improved 2024 version, alongside a Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024). There's no hint of a release date for both devices, but Quandt claims they could "pop up soon". 

If so, they're likely to arrive well before the rumored Galaxy Watch 7, which we're expecting to see announced in August – if previous Samsung smartwatch launches are any guide, at least.

So, why might Samsung be rebooting the Galaxy Watch 4, which came out back in 2021? My guess is it'll be so the Watch 4 can act as the more affordable Apple Watch SE in Samsung's smartwatch range.

The original Apple Watch SE was effectively a combination of the Apple Watch Series 6's design and features from its two predecessors. Just as Apple released the Apple Watch SE 2 two years after the original model, Samsung could be doing the same with the Galaxy Watch 4 (and maybe Galaxy Watch 4 Classic).

The Watch 4 was the first Samsung watch to run Wear OS rather than Tizen and is still being sold directly by Samsung, but its older Exynos W920 chipset and specs mean it was only slated to get four years of software support when it launched. So, a minor refresh could help it to continue for longer as Samsung's budget smartwatch.

Who is the Galaxy Watch 4 for?

It's shaping up to be a big year for Samsung wearables, with the Samsung Galaxy Ring also arriving "later this year", and the leaked Samsung Galaxy Fit 3 and Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 also thought to be en route.

That begs the question: where might a refreshed Galaxy Watch 4 fit in among all of this? It currently costs $199 / £199 / AU$399, but you can find it for even less than that at some retailers. A new version with some refreshed specs (for example, the Galaxy Watch 6's Exynos W930 chipset) should see it sell for around that price tag, too.

With the Galaxy Fit 3 likely to cost in the region of $120 / £80 / AU$270 and the Galaxy Watch 6 starting at $299 / £289 / AU$549 (for the 40mm version), that would make the Watch 4 an affordable, middle ground between the Fit and flagship Watch.

One of the key differences between the Fit and Watch series is that the latter has third-party apps, alongside other bonuses like built-in GPS. So, if you need those features, but don't want to shell out for a Galaxy Watch 6 or 7, it could well be worth waiting to see if Samsung does indeed reboot its 2021 smartwatch to help extend its life.

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Samsung unveiled the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series at Samsung Unpacked 2023 – but iPhone users needn’t take any notice. 

Samsung’s Galaxy Watches haven’t been compatible with iOS devices since the release of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 in 2021, when Samsung abandoned its existing Tizen platform in favor of a return to Wear OS on new and future Galaxy Watch models.

You’re still able to pair an iPhone to Tizen-powered Galaxy Watches like the Galaxy Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch 2 Active, and other manufacturers – including Montblanc and Fossil – have since proven that Wear OS can be compatible with iOS devices, which begs the question: why did Samsung suddenly decide to limit the functionality of its best smartwatches to Android devices only?

Well, in an interview with TechRadar at Samsung Unpacked 2023, Samsung’s Director of Global Product Planning, Junho Park, elaborated on the matter: “The goal is: how can we provide the best experience to our customers? We found that some of the heavy limitations [users experienced when using a Galaxy Watch with iOS] were not driven by the Watch [itself], by the core product. 

“So we thought, ‘Hey, there is still a lot of disconnection [between these two systems].' That was one of the reasons we dropped [iOS support on Galaxy Watches] – we could not deliver the same level of experience with Android and iOS.”

Analysis: Getting a matching set

Let's be honest: if you're looking for a watch to go with your iPhone, chances are you're looking at the best Apple Watch models, not a Samsung Galaxy Watch. Apple's goal has always been end-to-end control, with everything Apple working in a seamless ecosystem. While it's possible to use a Samsung Galaxy Watch anyway, it's far from an ideal experience. 

Park is implying that some of the limitations of the Samsung Galaxy Watch are driven 'not by the Watch itself', but while you can use the Galaxy Watch series with any one of the best Android phones, many of its abilities are locked unless you're using the Samsung Health app. Samsung has also built its camera software around being able to use the Galaxy Watch as a viewfinder, as you can see above. 

There are lots of examples of features that require both devices to work, so you really need a Samsung Galaxy phone to get the most out of the Galaxy Watch. For tech companies that make both phones and wearables, system-agnostic devices and open-source software are a thing of the past. 

In a way, it makes a lot of sense to use a watch specifically designed to pair with your phone, coupled with software that ensures you'll get the best experience possible out of both devices. However, if you're really into your fitness and you're looking for a system-agnostic watch, you can check out our best Fitbit and best Garmin watch lists, which work well with any phone that can download the Fitbit app or Garmin Connect. 

ChatGPT is continuing its quest to colonize every piece of tech we own by landing on Wear OS smartwatches, by way of a new third-party app.

The free app, WearGPT, is available on the Play Store, and is compatible with the best Wear OS watches, including the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Google Pixel Watch.

Just like rival apps like Petey for the Apple Watch, WearGPT supports voice input, so you can talk to it in a similar way to how you interact voice helpers like Google Assistant. But WearGPT is more of a sidekick to the latter rather than a true replacement, as it can't be used to control the other apps on your watch.

Instead, it's more of an all-knowing AI assistant that will make a good stab at answering your questions. WearGPT isn't exactly ChatGPT on your wrist, as it's based on OpenAI's underlying GPT-3 models rather than the chatbot itself. And as always, the usual AI disclaimers also apply – it'll be very capable of getting answers wrong or going off topic.

Still, it certainly looks like a fun new companion to help give you a taste of where voice assistants are going – even if the likes of Google Assistant and Siri are a long way from getting there. The benefit of these assistants is that they're conversational, allowing you pick their brains on complex topics, rather than having to phrase very specific demands. 

The maker of WearGPT says the app is customizable, allowing you to adjust and fine-tune parameters so that it answers questions in the way you want. Perhaps the only downside is that the Wear OS app appears to have some very questionable font choices that have a distinct hint of Comic Sans about them.

Analysis: a taste of voice assistants to come 

ChatGPT, or at least the technology behind the AI chatbot, is now widely available in some form on most smartwatches, from the Apple Watch to the more niche Amazfit GTR4. 

Right now, these are fun, early demos that showcase the potential of having an AI assistant on your wrist, but they're little more than that. In fact, TechRadar's Fitness editor Matt Evans has stressed that relying on a wrist-based ChatGPT to give you fitness advice could go very wrong.

AI chatbots like ChatGPT have been trained on vast amounts of information gathered from books, articles, websites, and even social media – and that spells danger for anyone who's looking to get consistently accurate information. After all, you don't have to look far, particularly online, to find suspect advice on all kinds of topics.

But as long as we treat them as a sci-fi taste of the future, rather than as a fully featured service for the present, apps like WearGPT are an enjoyable addition to the best smartwatches, particularly for those who remember sci-fi timepieces like Dick Tracy's Two-Way Wrist Radio or Star Trek's wrist communicators.

Samsung has filed a strange new patent for a Samsung Galaxy Watch. After coming out with the Samsung I8530 Galaxy Beam, a phone with a built-in projector attached, Samsung is working on a Samsung Galaxy Watch with a smaller built-in multimedia projector.

It might not be top of your wishlist when selecting the best smartwatch (or best cheap smartwatch), but it looks like a cool feature nonetheless. Spotted by GSMArena, the projector is said to be able to “beam information from the outer side of its housing onto the back side of the user's hand”. This could include the time, like a bedroom projector clock, or even “broadcasts and multimedia content”.

The feature uses a tiny projector and LEDs, described as being able to adjust their luminescence, so you can tweak the settings as you could with a screen. The diagram suggests projecting the time and your heart rate on the back of the user’s hand, but the suggestion of “broadcasts” is intriguing. I imagine watching a tinny projected copy of Avatar: The Way of Water using the back of your hand as a projector canvas is exactly the way James Cameron envisioned viewers getting the most out of the film.

The United States patent was published on February 2nd, having been filed in August 2022. It’s clear the technology has been in the works for a while, so perhaps we’ll see a Samsung Galaxy Watch Beam cropping up this year.  

Analysis: Be careful what you wish for

I both love and hate this in equal measure. At the time of writing, it was just a few days ago that I argued for smartwatches to embrace more weird and wonderful gadgets. Off the back of the Huawei Watch D, Huawei Watch Buds and the Garmin Instinct Crossover, I wanted wearable tech to become interesting and physical again, like the future we imagined in the 1990s.

This is an interesting and physical idea. It’s not a new app or all-digital product, or an improved version of an existing sensor, but a brand-new concept you could show off to your grandma. It’s also a thoroughly goofy idea, and I can’t imagine a situation in which I’d ever want to read the time off the back of my hand rather than, oh I don’t know, look at my watch using the same arm-raising motion. 

As an everyday tool, it’s almost useless, unless you wanted to point your wrist at a wall like Buzz Lightyear during a work presentation. I feel like someone read my previous post and took it to the logical extreme, to show me what an idiot I am. But that person underestimates my ability to be easily amused, and although I wouldn’t buy one, I cannot wait to try it out. 

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The best Samsung watches make brilliant smartwatch companions for anyone on Android, but as you might expect, they truly shine paired with Samsung's smartphone hardware.

The big news of 2025 was the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 and Watch8 Classic, while 2024 introduced a rugged, durable alternative to the Apple Watch Ultra which sits as our Best Premium pick thanks to its great battery life and durable design.

Of course, there's also the Galaxy Watch 7, as well as cheaper models for those on a budget like the Samsung Galaxy Fit 3. Across the board, many of these support One UI 6, Samsung's wrapped-up version of Wear OS 5.

So whether you want the best, most expensive model, a great all-rounder, or a budget pick, here are the best Samsung Watch models in 2025.

The Quick list

The best Samsung Watch overall

In 2025 Samsung's Galaxy Watch8 is the best for most people. It's Samsung's latest and greatest watch with plenty of features available; from an onboard running coach that adapts to your performance, to a sensor determining your antioxidant levels.

The whole thing's had a redesign to bring it thematically closer to the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, chiefly the squircle cushion aesthetic. It's slimmer, lighter and hardier than previous mainline Galaxy Watches, and the new flat design sits snug on the wrist thanks to the Dynamic Lug strap design.

I loved it: it was certainly the best Galaxy Watch I've tried in ages, and the best for most people. I tested its fitness credentials against a top Garmin watch, and found the Samsung watch matched it almost exactly, so it's accurate too.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch8 review

The best budget Samsung Watch

If you want a much smaller and cheaper Samsung fitness tracker, then the sub-$100 Galaxy Fit3 is the perfect pick. It's got a small, rectangular display reminiscent of a Fitbit, lightweight design (less than 20 grams), and a whopping 13 days of battery life.

The 1.6" AMOLED display won't dazzle you, but it provides insight into all your fitness tracking and health metrics, including workouts for over 100 different exercises. It also supports notifications and media controls. When it does run out of juice you'll get 65% battery from just a 30-minute charge.

The 5ATM and IP68 ratings mean you can use it in the rain and dust, just don't take it swimming. There's also built-in sleep tracking, daily activity scores, step counting, and heart rate monitoring.

Emergency features like fall detection, SOS messages, and onboard Medical info keep you safe, and there are over 100 Watchfaces so you can customize the experience.

The Fit3 is designed to be light and unobtrusive, with none of the flashy hardware of the Watch models, and a cheap price tag to match.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Fit 3 review

The best premium Samsung Watch

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is the best premium Samsung Watch thanks to its brilliant feature set and rugged titanium exterior. We love how durable that chassis feels, and the accompanying Quick button is very handy. There's no denying the design influence of the Apple Watch Ultra, but this is a great Android alternative for users who want a taste of Apple's great adventure companion.

Under the hood, you'll get dual-precision GPS for features like TrackBack, a Dive Mode, and a new upgraded Samsung BioActive Sensor array. The latter powers measurements for heart rate, blood oxygen, HRV, skin temperature, ECG, and even a body composition analysis feature.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra supports Samsung's One UI Watch 6, its own skinned version of Wear OS 5, and works with the companion Samsung health app.

The overall running metrics were fantastic, GPS remains accurate, and there's something for almost everyone when it comes to activity tracking. Battery life is rated for up to 100 hours of use. That won't challenge your favorite Garmin, but it's better than the Apple Watch Ultra and the best of any Samsung on the market.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra review

• ^ Back to the top

The best Samsung watch for discounts

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is the best pick for those who want an all-round workhorse but doesn't come with the new design or heftier price tag of the latest models. Now the Watch8 is out, you can often pick up the Watch 7 as cheap, or cheaper, than the so-called budget Galaxy Watch FE.

As you might expect, it comes with Wear OS 5, upgradeable to Wear OS 6, and a host of health tracking and fitness features. There's a wide range of colors, two sizes (40mm and 44mm), and options for Bluetooth as well as LTE. There's no Classic option like you might expect (we'll get to the Galaxy Watch 6 shortly), but there are various colorways and a choice for pretty much everyone.

Fitness comes powered by Galaxy AI for interesting insights into your health, fitness, and the progress you're making as you train. You'll get a daily personalized Energy Score (also powered by AI), as well as improved Heart Rate Tracking, Wellness Tips, and sleep tracking. The latter even comes with detection for sleep apnea.

There's also 32GB of onboard storage, and battery life is rated for up to 40 hours of use. We really like the new design with the invisible bezel and the snappy performance of the new Exynos chip. Battery life hasn't been improved over the last one.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 review

The best Samsung Galaxy Watch Classic

The Samsung Galaxy Watch8 Classic is the upgraded Watch8 with new ways to navigate around the watch. Every Classic edition of the previous watches, usually brought out biannually, has featured a rotating bezel. This serves a dual function of making the watch look nice, like a dress watch, and providing a way to interact with the watch by using it as a digital crown.

However, the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 Classic takes things a step further by adding the Quick button from the Ultra, leaving you with a Galaxy Watch8 with two new ways to navigate and interact with the display. Throw in a leather-effect band rather than a pure silicon one, and the impression the two watches leave on you are very different.

However, under the hood, the watches are functionally the same. They're great, but the Galaxy Watch8 Classic costs more, and unless you're in love with the boxier style, I think you get less value out of the total package here. However, dress-watch fans will adore it.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Watch8 Classic review

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How to choose the best Samsung smartwatch

As you can see, there's an embarrassment of riches in the Samsung lineup that ensures there's really something for everyone. When picking the best Samsung Watch for you, consider your budget and what you need from a smartwatch.

If you need a watch for the great outdoors, climbing, and hiking, then the Ultra is an obvious pick. If you want the cheapest option available, or a simple fitness tracker, consider the Fit3.

The hardest decision will likely be for those choosing between the Galaxy Watch8, Watch 7 and Watch8 Classic. If that dress watch design is important to you, take the Classic route, otherwise, there are enough upgrades in the 7 to warrant picking the newest model.

If battery life is top of your priority list, definitely consider either the Ultra or the Fit 3. If fitness tracking and health features are the most important aspect, then consider one of the new models for 2025.

Do Samsung Watches work with iPhone?

No, while some older Galaxy Watch models worked with iPhone, the lineup in 2024 are Android smartwatches. However, while they won't work with iPhone, they will work with other Android OEMs such as OnePlus and Huawei. Naturally, of course, the best experience comes from pairing a Samsung Galaxy Watch with a Samsung smartphone.

How we test the best Samsung Watches

Of the picks in this guide, all of them have been put through their paces by our experts, using them everyday to see how they fit into your life. We test fitness tracking, battery life and charging, durability, and more. Each products gets a score for pricing, design, features, performance, and an overall rating based on all of those factors.

Looking to save money on a Samsung product? Check out our Samsung coupons for the latest deals on top-rated tech and gadgets.

• Not committed to Samsung? Try our best smartwatch list instead

Samsung Galaxy Watches will soon be getting new accessibility features that aim to improve device usability.

Being billed as the “complete watch experience”, One UI Watch4.5 will offer new communication options, add tools for the visually impaired, and streamline menus for easier navigation. Samsung states the update will be released sometime in the “third [fiscal] quarter.” This translates to within the next three months.

Better accessibility

Taking a page from Apple’s playbook, Galaxy Watches will have a full QWERTY keyboard for writing out messages alongside the current dictation and handwriting methods. The Swipe functionality will be added to make typing on a tiny screen easier. Samsung states users can easily switch between the three methods for whatever's more convenient.

Samsung is also adding dual SIM support to its Galaxy Watches. This feature only works if the Galaxy phone that’s connected to the Watch supports dual SIM cards, like certain Galaxy S22 Plus models for example. On the Watch interface, you can select which card you want to use, either SIM1 or SIM2. You can sync one SIM to the Galaxy Watch or have the device always ask you which card to use every time a call is made.

For the visually impaired, Samsung is adding the ability to adjust the Watch face to show a specific color hue like grayscale or a red-green filter. Other visual features include increasing font contrast for easier reading, reducing transparency and blur effects, and stopping all animations.

As for audio, Galaxy Watch owners can, through the watch, tweak their Bluetooth headset's sound balance. But it appears the tool is only for listening to music or video as it’s not supported for phone calls, according to the fine print.

Menus are being streamlined as well with all these accessibility options being thrown into a single settings page. And if you don’t want to deal with menus at all, you can map your most used feature to the home button.

There aren't many new customization changes in this update, but it does add the ability to save watch face styles to a favorites list.

Analysis: Setting up the Galaxy Watch 5

Recent leaks suggest the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 may arrive in August 2022, roughly the same time as this One UI update. This would mean Galaxy Watch 4 users and potential Watch 5 owners can have a similar experience. 

Right now, we’re eagerly awaiting the announcement of Samsung's next Unpacked event where we hope to see the Watch 5. Even if August doesn’t pan out, September isn't too far off. If you’re interested in picking up a smartwatch, be sure to check out our list of the best Android smartwatches for 2022. 

The Google Pixel Watch is now official, though we don't know too much about the details yet. The rumor mill is filling in some of those details, and the latest leak suggests that the wearable will come with a four year-old chipset.

According to sources speaking to 9to5Google, the smartwatch may sport a Samsung Exynos 9110 chipset, which made its debut in 2018. This is the same chipset that powered Samsung's first Galaxy Watch, which used Tizen OS for its software.

There were previous rumours that the smartwatch would be featuring a Samsung chipset, but it was also speculated that Google might use the Exynos W920 which the Galaxy Watch 4 runs on.

Tried and trusted

We don't know for sure yet what components the Pixel Watch is using, or why this decision might have been made – but the fact that the smartwatch has been so long in development could be something to do with it.

Presumably the choice to go with the Exynos 9110 was made quite some time ago. While newer chipsets are now available, adding them to the Pixel Watch may well have pushed its launch back even further (we're thinking it'll show up alongside the Google Pixel 7 in October).

The Exynos 9110 is a 10nm chipset that has similar performance levels as the less efficient 12nm Snapdragon 4100+ chipset. Samsung's W920 chipset claims almost a 20% increased performance and better graphics performance than its predecessor.

Analysis: Google is wooing developers

One of the main reasons for Google showing off the Pixel Watch so early is to woo developers: the more the excitement around the device, and the more coders working on apps for the wearable, the better. Google was also probably wanting to put an end to the non-stop speculation about the device.

Giving us all a glimpse at the device during Google IO 2022 was definitely a positive for Google, sending out a positive note that Google is busy making something that's worth waiting for – and good enough to take on the Apple Watch.

Now if the smartwatch does indeed come with the older Exynos chipset, that may hint that Google has something else in store: perhaps a Pixel Watch Pro or Plus that could come with a newer chipset and better battery life (after all, if we look back at the unveiling, we didn't get much information about the watch at all).

All the company showcased was how the smartwatch works well with the company’s new and upcoming software features – no specifications or features were revealed. Perhaps we're to take that as meaning there are still some surprises in store.

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You might be perfectly happy with your current smartwatch, but what if its screen could roll out and extend to become bigger? And what if it had a little camera for snapping pictures from your wrist too? Interested?

Samsung patent filings spotted by LetsGoDigital suggest that these features are in the pipeline, perhaps in time for the Galaxy Watch 5 – although that's perhaps a little early for this technology to make it from the drawing board into a real product.

The Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic broke cover in August, marking the switch back to Google's Wear OS software rather than Samsung's own Tizen operating system, and so we'd expect any follow-up devices to appear in August 2022.

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More screen space

As you can see from the pictures procured by LetsGoDigital, smartwatch users of the future would use a pinch-and-zoom gesture to roll out the display on their wrists, giving an extra 40% of screen space according to the document submitted by Samsung (it runs to 96 pages, by the way).

The watch crown can also be used to manipulate the display it looks like, while the frame between the two halves of the screen can optionally house a little camera and a flash – so you'll be able to take photos and videos without getting your old smartphone out.

As ever with patents, this indicates something Samsung is thinking about – not necessarily something it's ever going to launch. However, it's an intriguing prospect, and one that could help the Galaxy Watch devices of the future stand out amongst the competition.

Analysis: smartwatches are growing up

Smartwatches have been around for years at this point, but it's fair to say that they haven't evolved too much since their inception – in fact, it's difficult to know how they might evolve, other than packing in more sensors and improving performance year on year.

Innovations in terms of the display could be one way that smartwatches move forward, as this newly discovered patent from Samsung. Devices like the Nubia Watch have shown how curved, wraparound screens could work on these wearables, although these alternative designs only feature on a small number of devices right now.

It's obviously not easy to get a curved piece of glass manufactured at this small a size, and if Samsung does bring its extendable smartwatch screen to market, it's going to have to overcome some serious engineering challenges to get it working smoothly and reliably.

However, it's an indication of where the smartwatch industry is going: and we like the direction. With manufacturers continuing to get better at making foldable phones and miniaturized internal components, we're hopeful that we'll see more and more innovative smartwatches in the years ahead.

• Take a look at the best Samsung smartwatches you can buy

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is the eagerly awaited successor to one of our favorite wearables, the original Samsung Galaxy Watch, and it comes close to topping our best smartwatch list. But how do they compare?

No, you didn’t miss a smartwatch – there is no Galaxy Watch 2. Instead, Samsung has leapfrogged the sportsy Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 to name its next top-tier wearable the Galaxy Watch 3 - though all of these could be old news soon, with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic expected imminently.

The Galaxy Watch 3 has a leaner design and better specs than its predecessor, which is to be expected, given it landed two years after the original Galaxy Watch came out in August 2018. It also has more health and workout features, an ECG, SpO2 blood oxygen monitoring, and blood pressure tracking. 

The real question is whether there’s been enough improvement to warrant the newer smartwatch’s high price, or if consumers should be satisfied with the reliable (and discounted) original Galaxy Watch. We don’t have an easy answer, unless you’re very budget-conscious – in which case, the new watch likely isn’t worth it. 

But if you’re looking to replace an aging watch or are just curious how the old and new Galaxy Watches stack up, read on for our category breakdowns. We're also rounding up the latest smartwatch sales if you're looking for more options.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Watch price and release date

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 was announced on August 5, 2020 and became available a day later on August 6 in the US, UK and other ‘select countries'.

The Galaxy Watch 3 comes in two sizes: 41mm starting at $399 / £399 / AU$649 and 45mm starting at $429 / £419 / AU$699. Prices go up to $449 / £439 / AU$799 for the 41mm version, and $479 / £459 / AU$849 for the 45mm model, if you want cellular connectivity.

These are available in Mystic Bronze, Mystic Black, and Mystic White colors with leather straps. The watch also comes in titanium in a single color (Mystic Black) with a metal strap.

The original Samsung Galaxy Watch was released in August 2018 alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, with launch prices for the non-LTE versions of $329 / £279 / AU$499 for the smaller 42mm model and $349 / £299 / AU$549 for the 46mm. The LTE-connected models cost $379 / AU$599 (about £290) for the 42mm model and $399/ AU$649 for the 46mm version. 

The original Galaxy Watch came in Midnight Black and Rose Gold for the smaller 42mm size, and a single Silver color for the larger 46mm model.

At this point, both the Galaxy Watch 3 and the original Galaxy Watch can be found for less than those prices, but the older model has dropped substantially further.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Watch design

The Galaxy Watch 3 is a sleeker version of its predecessor, coming in 14% thinner and 15% lighter than the original Galaxy Watch, but most of the change is in the appearance: it simply looks less bulky than the older wearable.

Specifically, the lugs (the arms connecting the watch’s case to the band) are thinner, with open space around the watch band strap’s bar. There are other touches that make the watch look leaner – for instance, the cylindrical side buttons are more pronounced, jutting out rather than lining up flush with the edge of the case, as the original Galaxy Watch’s buttons did. 

Some of these changes make the Galaxy Watch 3 simply look classier. The switch from a rubberized strap to a leather band is an obvious one, but the rotating bezel no longer has the triangle pips aligned with the inner bezel’s time intervals for an overall more minimal look. Not everything has changed, thankfully – the bezel still physically rotates, which was one of our favorite features in the original.

And the original Galaxy Watch remains an attractive device, though it looks a bit chunkier in comparison. Its lugs jut out a bit longer than its successor’s, but the 12.7mm and 13mm thicknesses for the 42mm and 46mm versions are bigger than the 11.3mm and 11.1mm thicknesses of the 41mm and 45mm versions of the newer Galaxy Watch 3 (not a typo, the larger watch is thinner, somehow).

And while the smaller versions of both watches weigh about the same (49g), the larger versions packing more battery have the biggest disparity in weight: the 46mm original Galaxy Watch weighs 63g, while the 45mm Galaxy Watch 3 weighs just over 53g. And if you pony up for the 45mm titanium model, expect a relatively featherweight 43g.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Watch display

Despite being smaller than the original Galaxy Watch, the newer Galaxy Watch 3 has an equivalent or slightly larger display, with a 1.2-inch screen on the 41mm version and a 1.4-inch screen on the larger 45mm model. Compare that to the 1.2-inch screen on the 42mm and 1.3mm in the 46mm Galaxy Watch versions.

The other difference is curious: the Galaxy Watch’s display is protected by Gorilla Glass DX Plus, which was also used for the Galaxy Watch Active 2’s display. The Galaxy Watch 3, on the other hand, has Gorilla Glass DX.

Otherwise, both watches’ displays are full-color, always-on Super AMOLED with a 360 x 360 resolution. 

Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 vs Samsung Galaxy Watch fitness

The big addition to the Galaxy Watch 3 is its SpO2 monitor, which tracks the oxygen levels in blood. That’s a feature found in the Apple Watch 6 and the Withings ScanWatch, which enhances sleep tracking. The Watch 3 also adds an electrocardiogram (ECG) app and has blood pressure monitoring. 

Those last two features require medical certification in every region the Watch 3 is released – which means these features won't necessarily be available everywhere yet, though at the time of writing they're available in much of the world.

Beyond that, the Watch 3 inherits most of the original Galaxy Watch’s fitness software, but it adds seven new workout activities for a total of 40. The Watch 3 also adds the capability to activate workouts by voice as well as cast the Samsung Health app to Samsung TVs. 

Training mode allows you to customize which metrics you’d like to display as complications, from VO2 to balance and stride. Samsung also consulted with the National Sleep Institute to improve the sleep tracking feature, which automatically tracks your sleep cycle and gives a report on sleep quality in the morning.

But don’t sell the original Galaxy Watch short – it still auto-tracks six major workouts like walking, running, cycling, and rowing, nudges you to move if you remain sedentary too long, and has adequate sleep tracking. But again, the Galaxy Watch 3 builds on all of this and adds more, meaning its fitness capabilities exceed an already decent selection in the original Galaxy Watch.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 vs. Samsung Galaxy Watch performance and battery

The Galaxy Watch 3 packs the same Exynos 9110 chipset as the original Galaxy Watch – the improvements lie in the newer smartwatch’s 8GB of storage, which is double its predecessor’s 4GB. That’s more room for media and apps.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 also packs 1GB of RAM, which is more than the original Galaxy Watch’s 42mm version (768MB RAM) but less than the 46mm model (1.5GB RAM). That's not exactly worrying: the Apple Watch 6 runs on 1GB of RAM.

Battery is where the Galaxy Watch 3 slightly loses pace with its predecessor. The capacity for the larger 45mm version of the newer smartwatch is 340mAh, while the 46mm Galaxy Watch packed a whopping 472mAh that lasted over three days without recharging in our testing. We found the Galaxy Watch 3 would last two to three days though, so it's only slightly behind here.

We’re consciously comparing the larger models of both watches, which have noticeably more capacity than the smaller versions: for instance, the 41mm model of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 has a 247mAh battery, while the 42mm version of the original Galaxy Watch has a 270mAh battery. 

The original Galaxy Watch drops to around two days of life if you opt for the smaller model, and while we haven't extensively tested the smaller Galaxy Watch 3, we'd expect a similar drop there.

Takeaway

It’s hard not to like the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, with its leading specs and cleaner look over the original Galaxy Watch. It’s also noticeably lighter, which is an unsung quality in a watch you might use casually and in workouts.

But do these improvements warrant the increased price? That’s up to the consumer, as the newer Galaxy Watch 3 does have certain perks – ECG, SpO2 tracking, improved fitness – that might be worth the cost.

For those who want a sturdy smartwatch to pair with their Android phone for basic tracking and tasks, it’s hard to see the Galaxy Watch 3 being worth the extra expense. And if you want the best Galaxy Watch possible then you might want to hold out for the Galaxy Watch 4, which is expected soon.

Still, until that lands the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 is the best Samsung smartwatch you can buy, and one of the best from any brand, it's just not a huge upgrade on its predecessor.

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The Samsung Galaxy Watch is still one of the most refined smartwatches you can buy today thanks to its attractive design, cohesive user interface and, importantly, four-day battery life.

Sure, it's not the newest Galaxy Watch, thanks to its successor, the Galaxy Watch 3, or the one after that, the Galaxy Watch 4 (don't worry, you didn't miss anything – there was no Watch 2). This new gadget brings upgrades in a range of areas and if you're looking for a new Samsung watch it's worth checking out our review of it so you can see any improvements.

Saying that, the Samsung Galaxy Watch is still a competitive wristwatch, one which rivals Apple Watches in a few key ways, so it's still worth considering. Its price has dropped since it was superseded by the Galaxy Watch 3, but it remains a good choice in 2021.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch will probably be even more affordable with Amazon Prime Day deals – and given the discounts we saw last year on Samsung wearables, we expect its big smartwatch to have a price drop when the deals holiday starts.

The Galaxy Watch looks and feels like a high-end wristwatch, with a circular stainless steel case and stylized bezel. It’s both stylish and functional because, like the previous Gear S3, the bezel rotates to cycle through its various on-screen menus.

This is the most satisfying way to navigate a smartwatch. Your fingers won’t cover up the watch’s small, hard-to-accurately-target touchscreen (an issue with any smartwatch), and the rotating bezel: an idea exclusive to newer Samsung watches. 

The older Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is cheaper than the Galaxy Watch, but it doesn't feature that rotating bezel. Thankfully, the newer Samsung Galaxy Active Watch 2 has a rotating digital bezel, with haptic buzzing to simulate a 'tactile' feel when spinning through menus. It is, however, more expensive than its now-discounted predecessor.

And we're expecting even more price drops for the Galaxy Watch during the upcoming deals season leading up to Black Friday on November 27 and Cyber Monday thereafter. We've seen discounts on the Galaxy Watch in years past, and expect even more savings now that its successor has been released.

You also won’t find rotating bezels supported by Google’s Wear OS, while Apple’s watchOS uses a less intuitive rotating digital crown button on the side. This is one of two reasons why the Galaxy Watch runs Samsung’s Tizen software, not Wear OS.

To see the Samsung Galaxy Watch in action, watch our hands-on video below:

The other reason for the Tizen operating system is battery life. We found that the larger 46mm Galaxy Watch lasted a solid four days with normal use during our two months of testing. We checked messages, fetched constant notifications, tracked workouts, played Spotify, and talked to Bixby, Samsung’s mostly terrible AI. Samsung says the smaller 42mm Galaxy Watch lasts three days.

The big difference between the Galaxy Watch and the Gear S3, besides an extra day of battery, is that it’s more fitness-focused, thanks to additional sensors and a revamped Samsung Health app. It auto-detects six of (an expanded) 39 exercises – and still helpfully nudges you when you’re too sedentary, and it has a fairly accurate sleep tracker. It’s also now waterproof down to 50 meters, matching the Gear S3 Sport 5ATM rating in a more adult design.

The Galaxy Watch does inherit problems from previous Gear watches, however – and what's bad is almost all software-related. Samsung’s core apps are polished, sure, but the Galaxy Apps store lacks critical third-party apps, notably Google Maps, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp. The Bixby voice assistant is here, but it’s no better than S Voice at understanding us, and Samsung Pay doesn’t use Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) despite the fact the Gear S3 did.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch is very much the Samsung Gear S4 that never was. It’s an iterative update, one that adds fitness software, new sensors, and extra waterproofing to everything we liked in the Gear Sport and the Gear S3 before that. 

Samsung Galaxy Watch release date and price

• Out now in the US, UK and Australia
• 42mm Rose Gold or Midnight Black watch started at $329 / £279
• 46mm Silver watch cost $349 / £299, less than Gear S3 at launch
• LTE version exists, but exclusive EE in UK with more options in the US

The Galaxy Watch launched in the US in August 2018, the same day the Galaxy Note 9 came out, and in the UK in September. Those in Australia had to wait a bit longer, but it's available there too.

At launch, the Galaxy Watch started at $329 / £279 / AU$499 for the 42mm version, and $349 / £299 / AU$549 for the larger 46mm size.  When it first came out the Gear S3 cost $349 / £349 (around AU$475), and only came in one size.

We've seen prices fluctuate a little too with it hitting $50 less than the above in the US and around the £250 mark in the UK. 

The LTE version of the Galaxy Watch cost a bit more at launch: $379 / AU$599 (about £290) for the 42mm model and $399/ AU$649 for the 46mm version. In the US it began life as an exclusive to T-Mobile, but now you can get it on Verizon, AT&T and Sprint too.

In Australia it's only available with Telstra. In the UK, you can now buy the LTE version of the watch but it's exclusive to EE. It costs £20 per month over the course of 24 months with unlimited data as well as 1GB extra internet for the your smartphone data allowance.

The newer Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 starts at $399 / £399 / AU$649 for the smaller 41mm model for its lowest option and only goes up from there, so if you're on a budget, perhaps this older smartwatch will suit you better.

Sizes and design

• Looks like a real wrist watch compared to the Apple Watch
• Larger 46mm size looks fine on our medium-sized wrists
• Circular screen and rotating bezel make it stylish, functional and durable
• Screen takes a half a second to refresh the time and stats when woken up each time

The Galaxy Watch comes in two sizes: the larger 46mm size in a two-toned silver-and-black color scheme, and the smaller 42mm size in either straight-up Midnight Black or Rose Gold. We tried on both sizes, and recommend the 46mm version for its larger battery and bigger touchscreen – it looks just fine on medium-sized wrists if you don’t mind a slightly bigger watch.

It’s more of a fashion statement than the understated Apple Watch – even with the more screen-focused Apple Watch 4. Samsung's timepiece is big, circular, and meant to look like a wrist watch. We got compliments on its design when wearing it out; there was a lot of surprise that this was a smartwatch in a sea of people wearing the Apple Watch. It stands out.

There’s less variety when it comes to the case colors and included straps. The silver-and-black 46mm watch has three 22mm strap options: Onyx Black, Deep Ocean Blue, and Basalt Grey. The smaller black or rose gold 42mm watch has more 20mm strap variety: Onyx Black, Lunar Grey, Terracotta Red, Lime Yellow, Cosmo Purple, Pink Beige, Cloud Grey, and Natural Brown. Samsung sells extra straps, and any interchangeable 22mm or 20mm will work if you want to change up the style from day to day.

The 1.3-inch Super AMOLED screen (1.2-inch on the 42mm watch) is bright and color-rich, as we’ve come to expect from Samsung’s stellar display technology. It’s easy to see everything, even during an outdoor run, thanks to adaptive brightness settings. And its smart use of blacks, especially in the background, burns fewer pixels on the 320 x 320 resolution. The one downside is that the screen is slow to update when it’s woken – the time and steps show old figures for half a second. It’s like you’re literally waking the watch up from a nap and it’s taking a moment to come to its senses.

The ornate and functional rotating bezel has a third characteristic: it makes the Samsung Galaxy Watch durable. Take it from us – we’ve broken the exposed Apple Watch glass screen more than once. There’s protection here for the screen, with military-grade durability and Corning Gorilla Glass DX+ that prevents the display from getting scratched, according to Samsung.

Two physical buttons adorn the Galaxy Watch, and while they’re on the right side of the case, Samsung has wisely offset them from the usual center location, which means they’re not prone to accidental presses against your bent wrist as on other smartwatches. This is a well-engineered watch – at least during the day.

You’ll want to wear this watch to bed for its helpful sleep-tracking capabilities, but be warned: it’s large and cumbersome to leave strapped to your wrist the entire night. The 46mm version is an ever-present 63g, and it can feel like a rock tethered to your wrist. This is the one (and only) area in which you’ll be in better shape with the 42mm version, which weighs 49g.

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Image Credit: TechRadar

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Fitness

• Six auto-tracked exercises and 39 total exercises
• Includes rarer ones for indoor equipment and strength training
• Great sleep tracking, sedentary reminders, and 1:1 challenges
• Needs better stress management tracker and group challenges

The Samsung Galaxy Watch puts more emphasis on fitness, with new auto-tracked workouts. Cycling, elliptical trainer, and rowing join returning auto-tracked exercises walking, running, and dynamic workout for a total of six exercises that you don’t need to worry about activating ahead of time. 

For example, every time we walked for 10 minutes the watch would reliably – and often unexpectedly – trigger the exercise tracker that we forgot to activate while speedily navigating New York City’s bustling streets. It was always nice to get these prompts, and to know that the Galaxy Watch was keeping a count of our steps, calories burned, and distance.

That doesn’t mean you should rely on the watch to trigger every exercise, or their close variants. We took the Galaxy Watch downhill mountain-biking and, to our dismay (but not total shock), it didn’t auto-track that exercise under cycling or anything else.

Samsung’s watch tracks 39 exercises in total, including 21 indoor exercises and strength-training exercises we rarely see on dapper-looking smartwatches (the LG Watch Sport is the other exception).

• Running
• Walking
• Cycling
• Swimming
• Other workout
• Treadmill
• Exercise Bike
• Weight machine
• Circuit training
• Arm curls
• Arm extensions
• Back extensions
• Bench press
• Burpee test
• Crunches
• Deadlifts
• Elliptical trainer
• Front raises
• Hiking
• Lat pulldowns
• Lateral raises
• Legs curls
• Leg extensions
• Leg press
• Leg raises
• Lunges
• Mountain climbers
• Pilates
• Plank
• Pull-ups
• Push-ups
• Rowing machine
• Shoulder presses
• Sit-ups
• Squats
• Star jumps
• Step machine
• Stretching
• Yoga

Manual and auto-tracked runs were more accurate on the watch than on a Fitbit Versa (which tended to inflate steps and distance just a bit) and a generic smartphone activity tracking app (which inflated steps and distance a lot), with all trying to accomplish the same task. But the watch wasn’t as successful at tracking sit-ups; at times, having to do five sit-ups for every three counted didn’t inspire us with confidence.

Throughout the day the watch vibrates if you’re too sedentary, as if it’s giving you a gentle nudge to get moving. It’ll pester you to do Torso Twists (and give you the option to switch that out for another exercise), and count them like it doesn’t believe you’ll do it – it follows through with specifics, and doesn’t just ask you to stand up for one minute each hour.

Another motivator is challenging friends in the ‘Together’ tab of Samsung Health. This lets you compete with a buddy to see who can expend more energy each day. The good news is that your friend doesn’t need to have the new Samsung Galaxy Watch to compete – just any Gear watch or the app. The bad news is that this is a one-on-one challenge, so you can’t stage a competition with a group of friends.

We found Samsung’s new stress management tracker to be a neat idea, albeit fairly pointless in its execution. It’s coupled with breathing exercises which we found calming – 15 seconds to breath in... and 15 seconds to breath out. All of this would have been better if the stress management feature truly worked automatically, like it’s supposed to. Instead, we had to manually measure our stress – fine! – and it just seems to base everything on our heart rate. In the end, we were only stressed about this feature not working as advertised. Go figure.

Sleep tracking does work as advertised – for the most part. It determines your sleep efficiency percentage with a three-tier breakdown of your time in bed: motionless, light, and restless sleep. You can rate your sleep and follow a timeline of your sleep trend, though you’ll have to draw your own conclusions from this data – there are no pointers on how to get a better night’s sleep.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch tracks sleep automatically, and the metrics appear to be accurate. We did tire of wearing it on our wrist some nights – as mentioned the 46mm version is especially big – but we still went to bed wearing the watch every night because we wanted our zzzs tracked, and we noticed that the Watch lost very little battery life overnight.

Software and apps

• The user interface is our favorite so far on a smartwatch
• Includes 60,000 watch faces and Spotify offline playlists
• You won't find Google Maps, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Lyft or many other apps
• Bixby is just terrible compared to Google Assistant and Siri
• Samsung Pay lacks novel MST for non-NFC contactless payments

The Samsung Galaxy Watch has polished software – it just doesn’t have enough to it. And that’s our biggest complaint about this smartwatch.

Lift the Galaxy Watch off its wireless charging pedestal and it greets you with a ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello,’ then draws a little smiley face on the round display. It’s warm, it’s inviting, and it makes the Apple Watch – made by the company that insisted on making the Macintosh ’talk’ at its on-stage debut in 1984 – seem unimaginative and pedestrian. Everything about Samsung’s watch is more animated.

As we shifted through the menus with the rotating bezel, the colorful, creative-looking widgets stood out as being easy to read, yet informative. The weather widget is a great example. It displays the temperature and a sometimes-sunny icon in the biggest font, with highs and lows underneath in smaller characters. There are blue precipitation percentage and red UV level metrics that run along the circular perimeter of the display. Tapping into this menu reveals a just-as-colorful five-day forecast.

Every morning we were greeted with a Daily Briefing, a rundown of our schedule, the weather, and other important items. And sometimes our planned agenda didn’t agree with impending weather conditions, which was helpful to know before setting out for the day.

The Galaxy Watch widgets and settings are customizable, down to the quick settings pulldown menu at the top, and you can actually edit the row of quick settings icons to your liking –  something we wanted from the watchOS 5 and still haven’t gotten yet.

Samsung touted two software perks at launch and delivered: Tizen is up to 60,000 watch faces, giving you choices over styling (and you can develop your own if you don’t like what’s available), and its partnership with Spotify allows for offline music playback, which is great if you’re looking to ditch your smartphone but don’t want to manually load music onto the watch’s 4GB of internal storage space. 

If there’s one thing Samsung gets right, it’s creating a well-laid-out operating system; if there’s one thing the company gets wrong, it’s consistently failing to lure app developers to its platform. It’s also an extra step to download ‘Gear’ apps (yes, they’re still named this in the phone app and the Galaxy Apps store). Apps on your phone don’t automatically show up on your watch. 

There’s no Google Maps or native map software for your wrist (the Here maps app is a good third-party alternative), no Lyft (even if Uber is here); and there’s no Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, although there are a lot of sketchy alternatives, if you want to risk your message privacy. 

You can get notifications for these messages and even respond to them, but starting a new conversation will see you fetching your phone. And while Samsung Pay is present, the company cut the Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology that made it special by working with non-NFC credit card machines – yet MST was in the Gear S3 watches.

Bixby, Samsung’s unlikable voice assistant on its phones (and, soon, the Samsung Galaxy Home speaker), is no better than S Voice on the Gear S3, to the point where we missed Google Assistant, and even the sometimes-mediocre Siri, because they understood our commands.

Not everyone needs a voice assistant on their watch, or a good third-party app ecosystem – a lot of app developers are pulling away from Apple’s watchOS platform. For you, having a well-polished operating system for core content may be more important than having a deep one.

Image Credit: TechRadar

Battery

• 46mm watch has four-day battery life; one test went into part of fifth day
• 42mm version is rated for three-day battery life with a much smaller capacity
• Helpful low-power mode hung onto the last 2% for us for hours
• Unhelpful wireless charging pedestal uses micro USB and is priority – don't lose it!

We got a solid four days out of the Samsung Galaxy Watch battery, running three different 100% to 0% tests over the course of 12 days. It didn’t quit early any time we tested it under normal conditions, meaning without the always-on display enabled (it’s turned off by default).

In fact, in one test the 472mAh battery (the capacity of the 46mm watch) proved it could chug along for part of a fifth day before dying on our wrist. This was all while using the heart rate monitor, tracking exercises, tracking sleep, and placing a wrist-initiated ‘phone’ call.

Samsung’s power-saving mode is even more impressive. One evening we turned it on with 2% battery left and the watch stayed alive for the remainder of that night – and we could still get calls and messages in this basic mode. By contrast the Apple Watch 4 low-power mode tells you... the time.

We did see a significant drop in battery life when we activated the always-on display. Screen-on time causes the biggest battery drain, even though the screen is dimly lit when asleep.

The smaller 42mm Galaxy Watch is rated for three days of use, which is to be expected as it has a smaller 270mAh battery. We’ll be sure to test this at a later date when we get the smaller watch in to test.

What we didn’t foresee was that the included wireless charging pedestal was the only way we could charge this smartwatch – not even Samsung’s fast wireless charging pad would charge it. Yes, Samsung’s Watch uses a special wireless charger, and that means you could easily get stuck with a dead Galaxy Watch and have to go back to the office to fetch the tiny pedestal – which, by the way, uses a micro USB, not USB-C, cable.

Samsung’s solution? Buy its new Wireless Charger Duo, of course, which will charge your phone and smartwatch at the same time. It’s also Samsung’s answer to Apple’s AirPower.

Android and iPhone compatibility

• Best with a Samsung phone, or another Android phone
• Works with iPhones, but no calls, messaging, or email
• You still get message notifications from an iOS device 

The Samsung Galaxy Watch works best with Samsung phones, which come with the Gear app already loaded up. But it works with other new and old Android phones, too – they just need to run Android 5.0 or later, which is Android Lollipop from 2014. We used the Pixel 2 in our testing when pairing the watch with a non-Samsung phone.

We also tested our Galaxy Watch out with a third device – an iPhone X. The iPhone 5 and above are compatible with the smartwatch (running iOS 9 or newer), but with more ‘read’ than ‘write’ functionality. You can read iMessage notifications, but you can’t reply to them and you can’t initiate any communications – there’s no email, phone call, or messaging app. We also had to open the Samsung Gear app every once in a while on the iPhone to keep the connection active, otherwise the watch would go into Standalone mode. 

This smartwatch is a better companion to Android phones, specifically a Samsung phone, like the Note 9.

Image Credit: TechRadar

The Samsung Galaxy Watch has the best design and slickest operating system of any smartwatch we’ve tested. It resembles a real watch, has a healthy number of auto-tracked workouts, and its core software operates intuitively via the rotating bezel. The four-day battery life allows for more doing and less charging.

Sure, the chunky design is going to be too big for some people, and the app selection is too small for just about everyone. And no one will use Samsung’s Bixby assistant on this watch, although we’re not sure if this one matters; few people are ready to talk to a voice-controlled AI via their watch just yet.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch feels like the smartwatch of right now instead of tomorrow. Its onboard software is impressive, and shows up nicely on its big circular display. It’s impressive for quickly glancing at notifications and tracking your fitness goals, all on what could be mistaken for a conventional wrist watch.

Who’s it for?

Strap on the Galaxy Watch if you’re looking for a dapper-looking smartwatch that works with your Samsung phone. It works on other Androids and even the iPhone, but we got the best experience with this watch when it was paired with our Note 9. It’s great if you’re looking for notifications on your wrist, and comprehensive fitness tracking (though not as comprehensive as the best Garmin watch).

Should I buy it?

Yes, if you own a Samsung phone and are looking for the best smartwatch to pair it with. Other options include several Wear OS watches, although Google’s software revamp is still in its infancy, and the Apple Watch, although that doesn’t work with Android phones at all. We still recommend the Apple Watch if you’re on an iPhone; the Galaxy Watch will still work with iOS, but in a mainly ‘read’ not ‘write’ capacity.

Also consider

If this Samsung Galaxy Watch review has you interested in other devices on the market, here are a few we think you should look at.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active

Don't want such a large device on your wrist? The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is a slimmer version of the tech included here but you'll lose the rotatable bezel for that to happen.

That likely makes it a more appropriate fitness watch, and you've got all the benefits of Tizen software to use here too. Plus it's cheaper than the original watch, so if you don't want to spend lots definitely consider the Galaxy Watch Active.

Full review: Samsung Galaxy Watch Active

Apple Watch 4

The Apple Watch 4 has a screen-focused digital watch face for densely packed complications, but Samsung's timepiece is still better in certain ways. Samsung’s watch works best with Android phones (and is technically compatible with iOS), while the Apple Watch 4 works strictly with iPhones, and is a great iOS companion. The Galaxy Watch looks more like a real watch, has four times as much battery longevity, and can auto-track exercises.

The ‘iWatch’ is lighter, smaller, and has a variety of case colors and finishes. It looks and feels downright tiny compared to the Galaxy Watch, and for a lot of people this will fit their mobile-centric lifestyle. Siri is certainly smarter, Apple’s third-party app selection is better, and it has perks like fall detection, although the core interface isn’t as spiffy as Samsung’s, especially with the rotating bezel.

Full review: Apple Watch 4

Apple Watch 3

The Apple Watch 3 is more in line with how much the Samsung Galaxy Watch costs, so for some people on a budget, it may make for a more apt comparison. It works a lot like the Apple Watch 4, but the screen has a bit more bezel and it lacks fall detection. The screen size is 42mm and 38mm, and you're likely to find it on sale for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Full review: Apple Watch 3

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Image Credit: TechRadar

Hidden code buried in the latest version of the Galaxy Wear app has given the best hint yet that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 will run Google's Wear OS watch software, rather than Samsung's Tizen.

While we reported on similar leaks back in February, this latest revelation further substantiates the expectation that Samsung’s next wearable will arrive running Google's Android operating system.

The code was spotted by tech writer Max Weinbach, who shared a tweet detailing various codenames including “water”, which he believes to be a reference to the Wear OS compatibility of Samsung’s upcoming watches. 

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In the same tweet, Weinbach refers to further codenames “fresh” and “wise”, which he suggests each represent the new watches that Samsung could release between April and June.

Those watches are expected to be the Galaxy Watch Active 4 and Galaxy Watch 4, successors to the Galaxy Watch Active 2 and Galaxy Watch 3, respectively, which both run Tizen. We’ve already heard mutterings that the Active model would skip a numeric generation in 2021, so this latest rumor adds more fuel to that fire.

Despite the success of using Tizen in its existing wearables range, Samsung may be opting to switch to Wear OS given its potentially superior app support and wider choice of watch faces. Even so, there aren’t a whole lot of top-tier Wear OS smartwatches on the market right now – save for the likes of the Fossil Gen 5 and the TicWatch Pro 3 – so it’ll be interesting to see whether the next Galaxy wearables truly benefit from the change.

Not just a pretty face 

A new OS isn’t the only change expected of the new Galaxy smartwatches watches, though.

In the same tweet, Weinbach makes reference to a "merlot" codename, which he believes could be a nod to the chipset used to power both devices.

The Galaxy Watch 3 didn’t make leaps and bounds with its chipset, using the same internals as the original Galaxy Watch, so it seems high time for Samsung to improve both the chipset and RAM capacity of its next offerings.

While there might be big changes on the way when it comes to software and hardware, we also know, thanks to Twitter leaker @chunvn8888, that there’ll be relatively few design changes with Samsung’s next wearables. According to the leak, the Galaxy Watch 4 will have the rotating bezel of its predecessors, while the Galaxy Watch Active 4 will go without.

You can’t have it all, I guess.

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Via PhoneArena 

Good news if you own a Galaxy Watch or a Galaxy Watch Active: Samsung is pushing out a software update for the older smartwatches that deliver some of the newer features already available on the Galaxy Watch 3 and the Galaxy Watch Active 2.

As reported by TizenHelp, the update is rolling out now and brings a number of improvements with it, which might mean you don't have to think about upgrading your Samsung smartwatch quite so soon.

For a start, incoming messages in apps such as WhatsApp can now display images right on the watches themselves, so you can see at a glance whether the pictures your friends and relatives are sending your way are worth getting your phone out for.

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Then there's support for Bitmoji and Samsung's own AR Emoji right on the Galaxy Watch and the Galaxy Watch Active, giving you more options for adding some variety to your instant messaging conversations when words just aren't enough.

Keeping you updated

When it comes to the fitness features on these smartwatches, voice guidance over Bluetooth is being added so you can hear how far you've traveled and what your heart rate is during a run, walk, cycle or other workout.

There's now a scrolling screenshot capture mode on the wearables, should you need it, and Samsung has apparently added a bunch of stability and performance improvements to the Tizen software too. The update is said to weigh in at 292MB.

With the original Samsung Galaxy Watch launching in August 2018 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active follow-up appearing in March 2019, it's encouraging to see Samsung still updating these devices even though newer models are now available.

The newer models have been getting their own updates in recent days too: blood pressure monitoring functionality has just been added to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 and the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 via a software update.

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Via XDA Developers

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 left a very good impression on us, so we're keen to see what the next wearable from the electronics giant looks like – and the rumor is that a couple of new smartwatches are on the way in the not-too-distant future.

Based on some digging by GalaxyClub (via SamMobile), we have model numbers SM-R86x and SM-R87x incoming. Considering recent Galaxy Watch devices have come with the label series SM-R8xx, it's a safe bet that we're looking at another in the line.

And... that's just about all that we know at the moment. The new report doesn't make any mention of specs or features, or give any indication about what these watches will be called or when they'll be released – but we can still make some educated guesses.

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While Samsung's phones – such as the Galaxy S21 series – are usually refreshed on a yearly basis, it hasn't been the same for its wearables up to this point. That makes it a little bit harder to predict what's coming, and we haven't heard much in the way of rumors so far.

Galaxy Watch history and future

The Galaxy Watch series hasn't been the easiest to keep track of since the original wearable launched back in August 2018. There was no Galaxy Watch 2 the year after, confusingly, but there was a Galaxy Watch Active and then a Galaxy Watch Active 2, both of which made their debuts in 2019.

In 2020 we got the Galaxy Watch 3, but as yet there hasn't been an update to the cheaper, sportier Active line: could this be what the new model numbers are referring to? It seems probable that one of the upcoming wearables could well be the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 3.

That leaves one model reference unaccounted for. Considering the Galaxy Watch 3 has only been with us since August 2020, it seems early for the Galaxy Watch 4 – though perhaps these two mystery devices won't launch at the same time. We could see one in the next few weeks, and one in August.

One of the new features that may show up on one or both of the planned devices could be the ability to monitor blood sugar, according to recent rumors, which in some scenarios can be a life-saving health indicator to have access to.

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Samsung has announced that its Health Monitor app is coming to owners of the latest Samsung Galaxy Watch devices in 31 new countries, including the UK. 

Galaxy Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch Active 2 users will be able to access features including ECG (electrocardiogram) and blood pressure tracking, which have previously only been available on models purchased in South Korea and the US. 

The Samsung Health Monitor app is intended to help users monitor their health and wellness goals, with new features able to detect irregularities in heart rhythm and sense when body tension is too high. 

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The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3’s ECG functionality brings the device in line with many high-end fitness watches, including the Apple Watch 6 and Fitbit Sense, but the device’s blood pressure monitoring capabilities means it arguably offers more health functionality than many of its wearable competitors – especially as it's now a feature more widely available across the globe. 

How to get the update

To take blood pressure and ECG measurements, you must have the Samsung Health Monitor app installed on both the Galaxy Watch 3 or Galaxy Watch Active 2 and their Galaxy smartphone.

The Samsung Health Monitor app is automatically installed when you update your Galaxy smartwatch to the latest version via the Galaxy Wearable app. The smartwatch app will then open a link, which will direct users to the smartphone app download page in the Galaxy Store app.

• The fitness tracker of tomorrow 

Much like 2020 itself, my experience with Ring Fit Adventure wasn’t supposed to be this way. 

You see, there have been two types of people during lockdown. Those who have used this “unprecedented time” to get into incredible shape – publicly documenting every achievement as they go – and those who have slowly watched their waistline expand at a rapid rate (along with their hair). 

I’m in the latter, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m more portly than I’ve ever been. It’s not really a surprise as to why, though. Comfort eating has been my go-to solution to cope with the rigors of lockdown life. Weekly takeaways, late night snacking, and a general fear of leaving the house have all contributed to the type of weight gain that’s usually reserved for the holiday period. (But at least I’ve tamed my unsightly barnet.)

In fact, I’d worry that if I hadn’t ordered so many takeouts, I’d have been robbed of the frequent exercise I get from gleefully going down the stairs to collect my piping hot meal, along with the Everest-esque climb that’s required to get back up them.

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Tech gone wrong

To make matters worse, I know that I have all the tech-based tools to get my now Fall Guys-resembling frame back into gear. My beloved Samsung Galaxy Watch was a great personal trainer before Covid-19 came along, and I even tried to ease the aches and pains of my pitiful posture by purchasing an Upright Go 2. 

My Galaxy Watch hasn’t graced my wrist for well over two months, unfortunately, and I’d be hard-pressed to tell you where my Upright Go 2 currently resides. I swear if you listen closely, you can hear my spine crying out in anguish.

So I’m bigger than I’d like, then, and my sedentary job and hobby of choice doesn’t exactly help matters. For most of the day I’m either firmly rooted to a chair or almost horizontal on the sofa playing video games. And that’s when it hit me: if anything can motivate me, it’s those damn video games.

While there are plenty of fitness games on the market, the logical choice seemed to be Ring Fit Adventure on Nintendo Switch. Typically, I clearly wasn’t the only one who had this revelation, as Ring Fit Adventure has been one of the most sought-after items ever since lockdown began. When stock does come in, it’s snapped up quicker than the last slice of Domino’s pizza in my household. Blink, and you’ll miss it.

Wild workout spotted

Against all odds, though, I managed to find a rare Ring Fit Adventure in the wild. Clearly, the well-chiseled Gods of Retail smiled upon me. I immediately parted ways with the princely sum of £69.99 (nice) in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, this piece of tech would help smooth out some of my burgeoning rolls. (Come to think of it, why are religious figures always so buff?)

When my new personal trainer arrived, I was optimistic – cocky even – that I’d be back to my best shape in no time. I started in earnest, completing three workouts in the space of three days, which served as a stark reminder that yes, I am out of shape, and no, this pursuit of a healthier physique will not be easy. For some daft reason, I thought it would be.

Ring Fit Adventure is no joke. The workouts may take place in a world of colorful monsters and accompanied by an enthusiastic voice over, but they’re pretty punishing. Leg day seems to take place every single day, and jogging on the spot is something that I’d expect the devil to assign me if I end up engulfed in the eternal fires of hell. 

Ultimately, whining aside, it’s a sign that Ring Fit Adventure works – and it works well. You squeeze a large plastic ring that feels like it really wants to break, but somehow never does, and strap a Joy-Con to your thigh which monitors your leg movements. You’re then subjected to various challenges and exercises that strain every sinew of your body, and cause my heart to beat so rapidly it feels ready to break free of my chest to find an even lazier individual to crawl inside. 

The rhythm games included are an absolute win, too, although Shakira was right when she said my “hips don’t lie”. These cheerful, lighthearted minigames make you perform various poses in time to popular Nintendo soundtracks such as songs from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Splatoon 2. I’d like to see more, though, as the fun factor really shines here, even if I want to turn into an Inkling-like puddle once each track has ended.

Sadly, the enthusiasm didn't last.

After prematurely tweeting about the positive start to my Ring Fit Adventure fitness transformation – which studies have shown is a huge mistake – I did what the majority of us do: I quickly gave up. And I don’t even blame Nintendo, really. Ring Fit Adventure is a great fitness game – I do wish it had a standalone app, though, that could monitor and track things such as weight loss, calories burned, and ping daily reminders that I should really workout instead of working on my Rocket League skills.

Weight watcher

Sadly, as difficult as it may be, I can't help but blame myself. I blame myself for believing that technology could miraculously stem my desire for a delicious Five Guys’ burger once Friday rolls around, or that our restrictive lifestyle would encourage people to wear a goddamn mask in public spaces so this could all be over sooner. But alas, one of the most elusive and highly-coveted products of 2020 sits shamefully behind my entertainment center. 

As I type this second to last paragraph with one hand, the other reserved for shoveling prawn cocktail crisps into my mouth, I can’t help but feel like I’ve robbed someone else of the chance to share their fitness story with the world. If you’ve been struggling to find Ring Fit Adventure in stock, perhaps Ebay might be a good place to start. You might even find a listing that claims the product is “like new”, which means it’s hardly been used. Just a hunch. 

Then again, perhaps this public admission of guilt is exactly what I need to kick-start my fitness goals. With the right consistency and support from kind strangers on the internet, who says I can’t get myself back to a weight that I’m comfortable with? You know what, screw it, I think I’ll cancel that Ebay listing after all. (Sorry about that.)

• Don't be like me: find the best home gym equipment

In a move which makes for bad reading for Samsung Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Watch Active 2 owners, Samsung is notifying users that it’s removing weight, calorie and caffeine tracking from its Health app. 

Samsung’s Health app has continued to gain new features and capabilities over the years, such as period tracking so users can track their menstrual cycles. However, it seems that the app will soon lose three important features, which will likely irk those who rely on Samsung's platform for their fitness needs.

A notification of the change is expected to roll out to Samsung Health users worldwide after Samsung initially notified German users (via Sammobile). Those who use Samsung’s Health app will have to turn to third-party apps to get a more detailed breakdown of their goals once Samsung Health v6.11 arrives on mobile, and v4.1 on Samsung smartwatches. 

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No explanation

Could the removal of weight, calorie and caffeine tracking put people off Samsung’s suite of fitness-focused wearable devices? Having to use separate apps to achieve the same functionality offered by devices from Samsung's competitors will be a pain for many users, and it may prove to be too inconvenient for some.

Samsung hasn’t explained its reasoning behind the decision to remove these features from its Health app - we’ve reached out to the company for comment, and we'll update this article if and when we get a response.

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The Samsung Galaxy Fit line of cheap fitness trackers isn't exactly one of the company's biggest properties, but they fill a popular niche so it's no wonder that Samsung seems to be working on more of them.

News of this comes from an FCC filing (as spotted by The Verge) from Samsung which seems to show a new fitness band from the company. The filing doesn't tell us much about the band itself, the important news is simply that Samsung has a new tracker coming at all.

• Check out our Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 review
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Samsung is expected to be launching its Galaxy Watch 3 and Galaxy Buds 2 sometime in late July, before the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Fold 2 on August 5, and it's possible in this late-year product swell that we'll also see a new affordable fitness tracker for people who don't want to splash out on a new smartwatch.

Saying that, FCC filings sometimes get filed months in advance of a product launch, and it would be quite a quick turnaround to see the new Samsung fitness tracker get announced in the next few weeks, so we won't get our hopes up.

A Samsung Galaxy Fit successor?

The Samsung Galaxy Fit and Fit E were unveiled in mid-2019 as inexpensive (and in the case of the latter, actively cheap) fitness trackers to compete with the likes of the Fitbit Alta, Huawei Band 3 Pro and Xiaomi Mi Band 4.

It wasn't clear if this would be a recurring line from the company, but the new FCC filing implies the company could put out more such devices.

Perhaps this will be the Samsung Galaxy Fit 2, but seeing as how the company is rumored to be skipping the '2' label and jumping to Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 for its smartwatch, maybe this will be the Galaxy Fit 3 instead.

Either way, we're expecting the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 to be unveiled sometime in July, and perhaps we'll see this fitness tracker shown during the launch too.

• Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 images give you an honest look at the upcoming smartwatch

The original Samsung Galaxy Watch was available in 42mm and 46mm versions, referring to the size of the smartwatch's body, but it seems the smartwatch's successor, the Galaxy Watch 3, might come in smaller versions.

Esteemed leaker Evan Blass recently tweeted out a list of all the different versions of the upcoming smartwatch, referring both to colors and sizes, giving us a full look at the device. 

Take this with a pinch of salt, as with all leaks, since the smartwatch hasn't leaked yet, but the sizes do match with previous leaks.

• These are the best smartwatches
• Check out our Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 review
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According to Blass, the Galaxy Watch 3 will come in 41mm and 45mm versions, with Bluetooth-only or LTE versions for each, and the 41mm model available in silver or bronze/gold and the 45mm version coming in silver, black or in a special titanium shell we've heard about before.

Big and small

There are nine different models in all, giving prospective customers a fair amount of choice with the size, color and connectivity of their smartwatch. It's likely the bigger model will also come with a bigger battery, so may last longer, but that's just speculation.

We wouldn't expect there to be any huge differences between the two models though.

It's intriguing that the titanium model is only available in the larger size, and with no LTE option, but that's probably to reduce the manufacturing costs of having multiple titanium makes.

It's not too clear when we'll see the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 revealed, as conflicting reports point to the release date being July or August, the latter of which would see it alongside the Galaxy Note 20, Galaxy Tab S7 and Galaxy Fold 2. 

Whenever it launches, we'll be sure to bring you everything you need to know, so stay tuned for that.

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Via Pocketnow

Following on from the recent news that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 2 might actually be called the Galaxy Watch 3, we've now received new details on what we can expect from the upcoming wearable, thanks to a report from SamMobile.

It's believed the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 will be unveiled in two display sizes, with a 1.2-inch display on the 41mm version (45 x 46.2 x 11.1mm) joining a slightly larger model (45mm; 41 x 42.5 x 11.3mm) with a 1.4-inch display.

• Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 name seemingly confirmed
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According to the report, both watches will be available in stainless steel and titanium versions, sporting IP68 water resistance, LTE and GPS functionality.

As that report broke, two new images of a product that is expected to be the Galaxy Watch 3 also leaked on a South Korean platform called Naver and they were spotted by XDA Developers.

It's thought these are two versions of the Galaxy Watch 3. It looks like the SM-R840 will have a rotating bezel, while the other device may not have a similar feature and may use a touch rotating bezel like previous smartwatches from Samsung.

Additionally, health-focused users will be pleased to hear that the first leak we've detailed here also says the Galaxy Watch 3 will reportedly feature a "heart rate monitor with 8 pulse-reading photodiodes and support for blood pressure monitoring". 

The report also states that the Galaxy Watch 3's hardware will include an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor. Of course, the same feature was announced for the Galaxy Watch Active 2, but is still unavailable outside of South Korea to this day. 

The rumored Galaxy Watch 3 is expected to launch alongside new Galaxy Buds in July ahead of Samsung's upcoming August 5 Unpacked event. As always, we'll keep you updated on any developments as they occur. 

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Some people were a little surprised that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 2 wasn't unveiled at the Galaxy S20 launch event on February 11; as of writing it's been a long time since the original Galaxy Watch launched, and smartwatch fans were hoping for a new iteration. But the lack of the device isn't just understandable, it was actually expected.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch launched in late 2018, and before that the Samsung Gear S3 came out in late 2016. It's clear, then, that the company employs two-year cycles with its smartwatches, releasing them at the end of the year, away from its Unpacked event and towards the Galaxy Note release.

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That means we could see the Samsung Galaxy Watch 2 release at the end of 2020, right around when we'd also expect to see the Apple Watch 6 release. Since the original Galaxy Watch and the Apple Watch 5 currently sit at #1 and #2 of our list of the best smartwatches as of writing, that could lead to an interesting competition between top-end wearables.

We're not going to say that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 2 will definitely be released in competition with the Apple Watch 6 at the end of 2020, though, because there's a wildcard in the mix.

Samsung Galaxy Watch confusion

The Samsung Gear Sport was released in early 2017, and the Galaxy Watch Active in early 2019, so it seemed there was a similar bi-yearly pattern there... until the Galaxy Watch Active 2 was launched in late 2019, tearing up that schedule and throwing it to the wind.

Therefore we can't really predict what Samsung has planned for the Gear Watch Active 3, or whatever its next sports-centric smartwatch ends up being called. Unless the Watch Active 2 was a wildcard, the release date of the next version could be any time, possibly at the end of 2020, which could cause the Galaxy Watch 2 to have a different release date.

Call us creatures of habit, but tech media can be quite big fans of the regular yearly release schedule when it comes to phones, tablets and wearables, and Samsung's usually pretty good for a recurring pattern. That's why we're still hopeful of a Galaxy Watch 2 release before the end of 2020 (and also because the original is aging slightly now), despite what the Watch Active series has to say about it.

So if you're on the market for a great new smartwatch you might want to wait until the end of the year – although that's a long wait from the February we're writing from, and you'll miss many calls and potentially-tracked steps in the meantime. If you're desperate for something before then, we've got plenty of buying guides charting the best smartwatch, best Wear OS watch, best Android watch, best running watches, best Apple Watches and more to help you find the best wrist-mounted companion for you.

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The Samsung Galaxy Watch remains one of the smartest wearables on the market, even a couple years after its release. Its thoughtful styling make it an absolute pleasure to wear and its wide range of features mean it's still one of the most useful smartwatches on the market. It's so good that it's held the top spot on our best smartwatch list since it came out - and through today.

But as with all these watches it's nice to add some flair and personality to your Samsung Galaxy Watch, and one of the best ways to do so is to pick out a strap that revitalizes its whole look. Perhaps you want to switch straps to match outfits and dress up or down for the occasion - and if that occasion is a workout, maybe a silicone band for exercise while saving a metal strap for nights out.

The good news is that there are plenty of custom options for Samsung watches that allow you to bring out some extra personality in yours, so we've been out hunting for the best bands and straps to make your watch reflect your personality.

The Galaxy Watch comes in two sizes - 46mm and 42mm - so we'll be clear about compatibility with each band. If you want an even smaller watch, we recommend the sportier Galaxy Watch Active 2, which starts at 40mm and has a digital haptic dial instead of a physical one.

These are products that we haven't had in our test labs, but based on our experts' opinion and knowledge of the most reputable brands around, we think these are worth looking at.

Our selections, ranked from cheapest to most expensive, take into account online reviews, brand reputation, product capability and unique features, to help you pick through the maze of choices available to you.

The Kades Soft Silicone Band is one that allows easy removal, which means you can swap it out with different bands depending on your mood, or what you're going to be doing during the day. The silicone band is ideal for heavy workouts, as it's breathable and waterproof.

The pin clasp means that it's easy to put on or remove, as well as keeping the watch nice and secure on your wrist. A massive range of colors and versions for both sizes of Galaxy Watches make this an excellent choice for those looking for a good all-round band on a budget.

It's probably not much of a stretch to say that the MroTech Sport Loop borrows from the really excellent Apple Watch straps which use a similar 'hook and loop' fastening system to make them super-adjustable and simple to put on.

Nice design and a good selection of colors mean this is a great way to pick your style and make your watch stand out. MroTech has straps for both sizes of Galaxy Watch too, and like many of the bands here they will fit a wide range of smartwatches that use the same size fitting.

A sensible price and great design make this a really nice choice for many people.

Look, there's no point pretending we don't still love the Milanese loop strap design. The delicate look combined with its "wear with everything" practicality makes these styles pretty compelling to almost anyone. Perhaps not ideal for intense workouts, but a pretty good all-rounder nonetheless.

And the Goseth is an affordable option too, giving you bags of style without decimating your bank balance. The magnetic clasp is convenient and simple but by its very nature doesn't lend itself to high-stress situations, so perhaps invest in something else if you're always running marathons.

For a modest price the TRUMiRR Stainless Steel strap brings a rather fetching two-color design to the Galaxy Watch. The high-end look makes this an ideal pairing with Samsung's super-fancy smartwatch and should catch some admiring looks from friends.

We also really like the hassle-free clasp, which requires you press buttons on either side of the strap to release it. This should keep your watch securely on your wrist and prevent any accidents - essential when you're dealing with an expensive smartwatch!

It's not the most cost-effective band you can buy and there are loads of third-party silicone straps that are cheaper, but for a lot of people, sticking with Samsung for your Galaxy Watch accessories is essential.

We do however really like the design and color of the Blue version of this strap. While the Black and Natural Grey are both fine in their own way, the blue color makes this strap a little more interesting. The traditional watch-style notched clasp isn't the most funky we've seen, but it will keep the watch on securely.

For some reason the color options are much better for the 20mm straps (which fit the 42mm Samsung Galaxy Watch) than the 22mm ones. Anyone who loves a nice bright color will enjoy the Violet and Pink bands, but we think the audacious Yellow is absolutely banging.

Samsung's silicone bands are well-suited to exercise and should last a long time, but the traditional strap clasp is a bit frustrating as these designs can be a little uncomfortable for workouts. We'd prefer to see an Apple-style clip, but we can live with Samsung's choice too.

Samsung knows that people may want to swap watch straps regularly, so the Hybrid Sport Strap allows for very quick removal and installation. That's super-handy if you want to use different bands for different outfits or activities.

The combination of both leather and rubber means that the Hybrid Sport is hard-wearing but looks as classy as an all-leather strap does. You get a splash of color, which can either be bright and bold or a bit more conservative - ideal for all tastes.

It's a bit expensive, especially compared to third-party bands, but it does offer some of the nicest design we've seen on a watch strap.

• Samsung Galaxy Watch Active vs Samsung Galaxy Watch

It has been a turbulent time for Samsung watches. The company's first attempts weren’t the best devices at the time, but its latest Galaxy Watch duo prove to be some of the best wearables you can buy.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch is a premium piece of kit that we have ranked as our best smartwatch you can buy right now. 

Launching a little over six months after the launch of the Galaxy Watch, the Galaxy Watch Active landed alongside the Galaxy S10 in March 2019. And mere months later, the smartwatch was superseded by the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2, a virtually identical successor that added a haptic digital dial around the rim - and bumped up the price.

The original Galaxy Watch Active is undeniably a pared-down version of the Galaxy Watch as it’s lacking a few features, but it sports a smaller design and a more affordable price tag that will definitely make it a more attractive option for some.

Does the Galaxy Watch Active live up to the original Galaxy Watch? Read on for our full review to find out.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active price and release date

The launch price for the Galaxy Watch Active is set at $199.99 / £229 / AU$348. It was announced alongside the Galaxy S10 in February 2019 and it hit stores in March of the same year. 

You're likely to find the price a little lower than the above. We've seen it as low as $179 in the US or £179 in the UK. Those in Australia have seen it drop to around AU$310.

This is quite a bit cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy Watch was at launch, as that sat at $329 / £279 / AU$499. The price of that device can also go up to $349 / £299 / AU$549 when you go for the larger 46mm variant.

There’s only one size of the Galaxy Watch Active (that’s 40mm) so you’ll only have to choose your color when picking which variant to buy. It's available from a variety of retailers as well as directly from Samsung.

Design and display

This is another circular smartwatch from Samsung. Unlike on the Galaxy Watch, there's no rotating bezel here in what we believe is an attempt to make a sportier design for the wearable.

If that is the intention, it has worked. It feels a lot lighter on the wrist than the larger device, and it’s noticeably thinner on the wrist without losing the premium look of the Galaxy Watch.

We did miss the rotating bezel as it’s one of the most intuitive ways to navigate around a smartwatch, but after a while we got used to scrolling through menus. If you’re after a smaller smartwatch, opt for this one as it makes sense to drop that feature to offer this slimmer design.

The watch body itself is made of metal and it looks high-end. It’s relatively featureless with the main screen centered in the middle and two buttons at the two and four positions on the right hand edge of the watch.

These buttons aren’t always easy to find when you’re unlocking the watch, and we probably would have preferred these to be a little more pronounced to make them easier to press with a finger. 

There are four color choices for the Galaxy Watch Active: black, silver, blue (technically sea green) and pink. The pink band comes with a rose gold body, while the rest of the watches just come with the same color as the strap.

All of those bands are made of silicone, which we found to be comfortable even when you’re sweating. It’s a similar feel to straps you can buy for the Apple Watch, and Samsung’s version felt secure around our wrist at all times.

In fact, we could wear this for a full day without finding it irritating on the wrist.

It uses 20mm straps, which can be swapped out. That means you can buy other straps directly from Samsung, or you can even choose to get a third-party strap instead, so there are plenty of options.

In the middle of the watch there’s a 1.1-inch 360 x 360 resolution display. If you’ve used a larger smartwatch, you may find this a bit more restrictive than devices like the Apple Watch 4 or the 1.3-inch Galaxy Watch.

It’s still usable though, and we found we were able to navigate around the features of the watch without ever touching the wrong element on the display. The screen proves to be bright, and unlike a lot of fitness trackers and some cheaper smartwatches it’s a full color display, so it looks great when you’re navigating around Tizen’s variety of apps.

Sometimes we did find the watch difficult to read from certain angles, but it’s not anything that would put you off using the watch altogether.

It's also water-resistant to depths of 5 meters (as well as being IP68 rated), meaning you'll be able to wear this when you head into the pool for a dip, and there’s swim tracking included here too to help you make the most of that.

Image Credit: TechRadar

• Our Samsung discount codes can help you save on your next purchase.

Specs and performance

With the Galaxy Watch Active you’ll be getting top-end internals to power your watch. Inside there’s an Exynos 9110 chipset which is a dual-core processor clocked at 1.15GHz.

It’s the same tech that was inside the Galaxy Watch, and is paired with 750MB of RAM.

This setup powers along the watch smoothly, and it’s particularly fast when you compare it to some Wear OS watches that sport the older Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset.

Whatever apps you’ll want to use on the watch will load up as quickly as they will on other smartwatches, and we never found any lag moving around the interface of the watch.

There is 4GB of storage on the watch, but that will get used up quite quickly. After installing the basic software, we found it had 1.5GB of space leftover. 

That’s not a huge amount of space for extra apps and games on your watch. It’s especially difficult to work with if you’re downloading music to your watch. That may mean you have to change up the playlists downloaded to the watch quite often.

You can then listen to that music with Bluetooth headphones, so you can head out to exercise without having to bring your phone along with you.

It’s worth noting that there isn’t an LTE-supported variant of the Galaxy Watch Active, so you won’t be able to get phone calls or internet away from your smartphone. If you do want that, there are LTE-compatible versions of both sizes of the standard Galaxy Watch to choose from. 

Software

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active comes sporting the latest version of Tizen, which a few years ago was one of the more limited smartwatch operating systems. It’s still not as perfected as watchOS (that’s what the Apple Watch uses) or Wear OS (that’s what was previously called Android Wear) but it has matured a lot.

It’s an enjoyable and easy to comprehend experience. Tapping the display or pressing on the top right button will bring up your watch face, and from here you can see your past notifications by scrolling left or widgets if you scroll right.

All notifications that came through to our iPhone while using the Watch Active appeared on our watch, but there’s not much functionality apart from reading what they say. Instead, you’ll just be bringing your phone out to interact with them.

You can customize the widgets you see on the watch and what order they come in. For example, we had a fitness widget on one screen, allowing you to start a quick workout with a few taps.

Other options include a quick menu of different apps, your heart rate, the weather, breathing exercises, and a variety of other widgets.

To see the full plethora of apps you have on your device, you can press the bottom button when you’re on the home screen. This will bring up a circular menu of all the apps you’ve got.

This doesn’t work as well as it does on previous Samsung watches with a rotating bezel as it’s not as smooth to flick through the variety of options. Instead you’ll be using your finger to select each individual app, but that’s still easy enough to do.

Samsung has had an improved amount of third-party app options in the last few years too. For example, Spotify is now a mainstay of the Samsung Galaxy Watch family, so you’ll be able to download playlists and listen to music directly from the watch on the streaming service.

Although the amount of third-party apps isn’t huge, there are options like Uber, Map My Run, Flipboard and others.

Will the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active work with your phone though? It’s likely it will, if your phone’s not particularly old. It will work with all Android devices that come with Android 5 software or higher and sport at least 1.5GB of RAM.

If you’ve got an iPhone, you’ll need an iPhone 5 or above. You’ll have to have iOS 9 or higher software as well. 

Image credit: TechRadar

Fitness

The Galaxy Watch Active comes with a heart rate monitor like your average smartwatch, but it's also capable of measuring your stress levels.

It notices when your heart rate peaks, and from there it will tell you to take some time to monitor your stress, and even recommend breathing exercises for you to undertake.

We’ve used a variety of breathing exercises, and we found them to be useful. These aren’t as relaxing or as comprehensive as paid for services such as Headspace, though.

This isn't a groundbreaking feature, as we've seen it on other products before, but it's a helpful addition for those who want to monitor their overall health away from just fitness.

The watch also comes with a blood pressure monitor, which we weren't able to try out during our hands-on time. It's capable of monitoring your blood pressure through a service called  My BP Lab, but we haven’t been able to get this running during our review.

We’ll be sure to update with this in the near future when we can get it running. 

Everything else is pretty much covered with this watch, as it comes with a GPS tracker that we found to connect easily and quickly. It remained connected during our entire workouts as well, which was useful.

There are auto-tracking modes for 39 different activities – which include the big hitters like running and cycling – as well as support for third-party apps like Strava. We found it easiest to manually start workouts within the widget we had set up.

After your workout, all of your stats will be provided to look through on the watch’s display and in the Android or iOS app once you’ve synced your device.

The watch is also capable of sleep tracking too. It'll give you stats such as duration and REM. We found the tracker to work well for this, and it'll automatically begin tracking when you fall asleep.

Battery life 

Samsung expects you to get over 45 hours - a very strangely specific number - out of a single charge of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active, and the good news is that is quite reflective of the performance we saw.

You may get a little bit less if you’re constantly fiddling with features on the watch, but in an average two-day stint we found it would last long enough. Taking the watch off charge at 7AM on Monday meant we were able to get through until 11PM on Wednesday evening before placing it on a charger.

You could probably get this to last a full 72 hours with limited usage too, but you should expect two days to be the average amount of time it will last.

There’s a low battery mode that you can activate at any time but it will prompt you to turn it on when your watch hits the 20% mar. You can then expect it to last for quite a while in this mode.

There’s a small wireless charging pad in the box, which you can use to recharge the watch. We found it took around two hours to go from zero to 100%.

The watch will also work with other Qi wireless chargers, including phones that include the power share feature. That means your Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus will be able to charge up the watch and we found this feature to work well.

Other Qi wireless chargers were also capable of charging it up, but it didn’t work with all devices we expected it to. For example, the Huawei P30 Pro comes with a powershare feature but we couldn’t get it to work for the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active even though it did for other devices such as an iPhone XR and Samsung Galaxy Buds.

This is seemingly just a weird quirk, and when we did find it to work on the S10 Plus we found it to be slightly slower than the charging pad included in the box. The watch took 39 minutes to charge up 25%, so you should expect it to take over two hours to go from 0% to full.

Image credit: TechRadar

You’ll lose some key features by opting for the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active over the Samsung Galaxy Watch, but that doesn’t mean the former is a bad device.

In fact, Samsung has done it again here, as the company has managed to make a premium-feel device that is in a smaller package but doesn’t lose all of the key features people expect from a smartwatch.

Who’s this for?

If you’re looking for an affordable alternative to a lot of the top-end watches, the Galaxy Watch Active is a great option. Especially as it begins to get included in sales, this is definitely for anyone looking for a more affordable smartwatch.

It isn’t cheap enough to make it into our best cheap smartwatch list, but it’s still cheaper than a lot of the other high-end watches that offer these same features.

This is also for those who want a smaller smartwatch than a lot of the rest of the competition but don’t want to lose out on features.

Should you buy it? 

This is the smartwatch for you if the top entries on your shopping list are that your watch looks great on your wrist and is comfortable to wear when working out. It’s not the smallest device on the market, but for a full color display and a metal design this is notably light and beautifully crafted.

The battery life isn’t much to write home about, but it’s good enough to get you through a couple of days and the wireless charging means it’s easy to recharge it.

If you want to be able to use your watch away from your phone this isn’t for you as there’s no LTE version available. But if you just want the odd few features such as location tracking and offline music, this will have you covered.

This smartwatch may have the name Active - and it is great for fitness-focused potential buyers - but it’s more than just a running watch. It seamlessly combines the design those who want a premium watch want with a comfortable workout device, and there’s all the benefits of Tizen thrown in for good measure too.

First reviewed: April 2019

The competition

Don't think Samsung's Galaxy Watch Active is for you? Why not try some of the devices below...

Samsung Galaxy Watch

If you’re after an even more premium Tizen experience, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch is set to cost you more but it comes with a rotating bezel and a few added extras that you may find worthwhile, such as optional LTE support.

Opting for the largest version - that’s 46mm - will mean you’ll get four day battery life and a large 1.3-inch screen to spot everything on. Just be warned, the price is higher.

•  Read our Samsung Galaxy Watch review

Apple Watch 4

You’ll only be able to use this if you own an iPhone, but the Apple Watch 4 is one of the best smartwatches right now and it’s a great choice if you’re looking for a top-end piece of kit that looks attractive on your wrist and can track fitness stats.

It’s quite a bit more expensive than the Galaxy Watch Active, but the software is slightly more refined and it offers a strong experience when paired with your iPhone.

• Read our Apple Watch 4 review

Fossil Sport 

Wear OS now works with both Android and iPhone devices, so the Fossil Sport will work with either and it offers another experience that’s great for those who want to get… well, active.

As with the Galaxy Watch Active this isn’t an especially expensive smartwatch and if you’re looking for a capable yet affordable Wear OS device this is a good option.

• Read our Fossil Sport review

Image credit: TechRadar

Samsung looks like it's readying its next smartwatch for launch in August, but it could be that the company announces it just before the expected August 7 date, if a leaked press shot is to be believed.

According to an image provided by famed leaker Evan Blass, the watch may instead to be unveiled on August 5, according to the date on the device.

Often Samsung includes the launch day as the date on screen in its press materials, so this may suggest we'll hear about the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 ahead of the Note 10 launch on August 7.

• Our full Samsung's Galaxy Watch Active review
• Every Samsung smartwatch out right now
• We tried out the Samsung Galaxy Fit too

A separate report from SamMobile has also offered up a variety of specs about the upcoming smartwatch, including the fact we're likely to see two different sizes; 44mm or 40mm.

The larger watch will come with a 1.4-inch display, while the smaller has a 1.2-inch screen. Both of them are Super AMOLED displays with a resolution of 360 x 360.

The leak also suggests the upcoming watch will come with a Touch Bezel, rather than a physical rotating one.

Samsung dropped the rotating bezel from the Galaxy Watch Active to save on space, but it was a unique feature that many felt were missing from the smartwatch. This time, it looks like Samsung will allow you to interact with the watch by running your finger around the edge of the screen to cycle through menus.

The full picture

Diving inside the watch, and it's likely to feature the same chipset we saw on the Galaxy Watch Active, the Exynos 9110. We found that to work well during our full review, and rumors suggest it'll be paired with 4GB of storage.

If you opt for the Bluetooth model you'll get 768MB of RAM, while those going for the LTE edition will get 1.5GB of RAM. 

That also seems to confirm there will be an LTE version of this watch. The original Samsung Galaxy Watch Active was only available in a Bluetooth variant, so this will make it easier to use the watch while out exercising, away from your phone.

We don't currently know if just one size will be available in LTE, but considering the original Galaxy Watch was available in both sizes with the technology onboard we'd assume Samsung will do the same here.

This leak doesn't come with any images of the upcoming watch, but it does give us a clearer idea of the color options on offer. Stainless steel and aluminium will be two separate material finishes for the watches, and every version will be available in Black and Silver.

Samsung will only offer the LTE version in stainless steel, and the gold color will be restricted to this material as well. Those looking for a Pink Gold option will have to stick to aluminium.

When it comes to battery, we don't know what Samsung will be estimating but the larger watch will come with a 340mAh cell while the smaller will come with a 247mAh.

It'll also come with Bluetooth 5 technology onboard, which should allow for a more stable connection when you're moving around and it's slightly more power efficient than the previous tech too.

We don't exactly when to expect Samsung to announce the Galaxy Watch Active 2, but it's likely to land on August 7 or, if this leak is correct, it may be we see it even before then.

• Everything else we know about Samsung's Galaxy Watch Active 2

Via GSMArena

The Samsung Galaxy Watch is nearing its first birthday, and we may see a next-gen version of the device launch in the near future to celebrate.

The invite for the company's big Galaxy Note 10 launch on August 7 includes a hint that we'll be seeing more than just the phone, and there's a good chance we may see a new smartwatch from the company.

In an accompanying email to the invite, Samsung said it "will unveil new devices designed to take the Galaxy ecosystem’s connectivity to the next level." Take note of the word "devices", which seems an intentional hint that it won't all be about the Note 10.

• Check out our original Samsung Galaxy Watch review
• Or there's the Galaxy Watch Active instead
• Why not try our best smartwatch list?

Although that's not confirmation of a new smartwatch, it would make sense for Samsung to unveil a new Tizen-sporting device alongside its next-gen Note phone.

The original Galaxy Watch was unveiled alongside the Galaxy Note 9 in August 2018, while the Gear Sport was introduced alongside the Note 8 a year earlier in August 2017. The Gear S3 was launched a little later in the year before that during November 2016. So this seems a likely venue.

Recent Samsung wearable devices have also been unveiled alongside phones, including the Galaxy Watch Active, Galaxy Fit and Galaxy Fit E, which were all revealed at the company's Galaxy S10 event.

We've also seen leaks of the Galaxy Watch Active 2, so that may alternatively make an appearance, or these "devices" may be totally unrelated to the company's wearables.

We could instead (or as well) see new tablets, DeX products or accessories launched alongside the Note 10, but if you're looking to buy the Galaxy Watch you may find it worth waiting until August 7 to see if there's a better device in the works.

• Everything about Samsung's latest fitness trackers

Via T3

Samsung's Galaxy Watch was updated to One UI - a new software that was first introduced on the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active - earlier this year, but one variant was curiously missing.

Until now, the most expensive and high-end Samsung Galaxy Watch - the LTE edition - has been lacking the new software, but it's now rolling out, so if you own one you can expect a hefty update in the coming days.

You'll find the new software is called either R805FXXU1ESE6 or R805USQU1BSE3 depending on where you live, and it will bring with it a variety of new features. The upgrade was previously included on the Samsung Gear Sport and Gear S3 too.

• Our list of the very best smartwatches
• Try our list of Samsung watches
• Why not read the full Samsung Galaxy Watch review?

New features in the update include a few new animations and visual changes to the software to bring it more in line with the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active, and the company's overall cleaner One UI design ethos.

One of the most interesting new features is just the fact that you'll now be able to tap the screen to wake up the watch. This can be turned off in the Settings, but it may mean interacting with your watch is easier than before.

The Settings menu is now easier to navigate after some changes, and you'll find more options under the Quick panel, allowing you to have more settings you can change with just a few swipes.

There are also a variety of new watch faces included if you want to update the look of your watch's screen, plus there are a few changes to Samsung Health, including a new outdoor swimming mode.

If you're finding the battery life isn't good enough on your Galaxy Watch, there's a new battery optimization feature that should help keep your device running longer than it did before the update too.

• Our full Samsung Galaxy Watch Active review

Via Phone Arena

Smartwatches might still not be as essential as smartphones, but the market is growing, and it’s not just the Apple Watch that’s benefiting.

According to Counterpoint’s Q1 2019 global smartwatch shipment data, overall smartwatch shipments have grown 48% year-on-year. Apple, as you might expect, continues to be number one, with a 35.8% market share.

But that’s only up a tiny bit from its 35.5% share this time last year, while some other companies – most notably Samsung – have seen a much bigger growth in share.

• There might soon be a Google Pixel Watch
• See what we think of the Apple Watch 4
• Read our full Fitbit Versa review

Samsung’s smartwatch market share currently stands at 11.1%, up from just 7.2% the previous year, and elevating it from third to second place. With impressive wearables like the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active and Samsung Galaxy Watch – the latter of which sits at first place on our best smartwatch ranking – it’s no wonder Samsung is doing well.

Fitbit and Huawei have also seen substantial gains this year, though they still lag well behind Apple and even Samsung watches overall, with 5.5% and 2.8% market shares respectively.

Most other brands meanwhile – including Garmin and Fossil – have seen a drop in their market share, but with overall smartwatch shipments up by so much that doesn’t necessarily mean that their sales have dropped.

The upshot of all this being that the smartwatch market looks to be in a fairly healthy place overall, and while one in three people still want an Apple Watch, this could soon turn into a much more even race.

• More into fitness trackers? These are the best

Via Fast Company

Samsung has now launched the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active, the second wearable in what's now become a range. This is offered as an alternative to the standard Samsung Galaxy Watch and we've given both of them four-star reviews. But there are lots more differences than just an adjective added to the Active's name.

That said, the two wearables also have plenty in common, and the decision you make isn't as simple as opting for the Galaxy Watch Active if you want a sporty wearable and the Galaxy Watch if you don't.

With that in mind we've compared these two watches, highlighting all the key differences along with what's the same, so you can make an educated choice as to which to buy.

Design

The Samsung Galaxy Watch comes in both 46mm and 42mm sizes, with 22mm straps used for the larger model and 20mm for the smaller. While it comes with a silicone strap, you can swap that out for any standard pin-based watch strap.

The body of the watch is metal, but it's a substantially-sized thing at either 41.9 x 45.7 x 12.7mm or 46 x 49 x 13mm (depending on whether you go for the small or large option). It's also a hefty thing at either 49g or 63g (depending on what size you choose) without a strap, but it undeniably looks high-end.

Everything is a little simpler for the newer Galaxy Watch Active, as you can only get it in a 40mm size. The actual dimensions are 39.5 x 39.5 x 10.5mm, so it's a little smaller than even the smallest variant of the standard Galaxy Watch.

It's also a whole lot lighter at just 25g without a strap, despite also being made of metal, and that light weight makes it ideal for working out in. Speaking of the strap, you'll get a 20mm silicone one, and as with the standard Galaxy Watch this can be swapped out for other bands of that size.

Other differences include the presence of a rotatable bezel on the standard Galaxy Watch, which can be used for navigating the wearable's screens.

It's a handy feature and arguably would be even more useful on the Watch Active, since its compact screen can make the watch a bit cramped to interact with, but it's not offered here, perhaps to ensure a smaller build.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active does come in a slightly wider range of colors though, with black, silver, rose gold and green shades offered, while the Samsung Galaxy Watch just comes in silver, midnight black and rose gold.

Display

The Samsung Galaxy Watch has either a 1.3-inch or 1.2-inch 360 x 360 circular Super AMOLED screen that comes in at around 278 pixels per inch. The screen size is matched to the body size - so the 46mm watch has a 1.3-inch display, while the 42mm one has a 1.2-inch screen.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active meanwhile comes in just one size - a 1.1-inch screen, but it's still 360 x 360, so has a marginally higher pixel density, and as with the standard Galaxy Watch it's Super AMOLED.

Of course, while the Active might be a little sharper, it's also a bit more cramped - if you have big digits you might get on better with the larger screen on the Samsung Galaxy Watch. We didn't find the small screen too much of an issue in our review though, and we found both displays to be bright and colorful.

One additional thing to note though is that while the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active's screen uses Gorilla Glass, the standard Galaxy Watch uses Gorilla Glass DX+, which should make it a little more resistant to scratches.

Fitness

While the standard Galaxy Watch isn't quite as focused on fitness as the Galaxy Watch Active, nor is it lacking in that area, as it has a heart rate monitor, GPS, an altimeter, a barometer, and it's waterproof, so you could wear it in the pool if you so desired.

It can track 39 different exercises, with six of them auto-tracked, and it can also track your sleep, measure your stress and vibrate on your wrist to remind you to move more.

It also comes with a stress monitoring feature that uses the heart rate tracker to give you a clear picture of your stress levels throughout the day. When it thinks you're experiencing stress it will offer you breathing exercises and mindfulness sessions to help calm you.

These worked well in our tests, though aren't a rival for paid meditation apps like Headspace and Simple Habit.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active offers all this and adds a blood pressure monitor to the mix. We haven't been able to test this yet so can't say whether it's any good, but that and the more lightweight design are the only real things this watch does to earn its 'Active' moniker above and beyond what the Galaxy Watch offers.

Battery and features

The Samsung Galaxy Watch is a wearable that just keeps on going, with battery life of around four days in our tests. At least, for the larger model with its 472mAh battery. The smaller model has just a 270mAh battery, and despite its smaller screen it's only rated for around three days between charges.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active meanwhile has a 230mAh battery, so it's smaller than even the smallest Galaxy Watch one. In our tests we found it would last just around two days between charges, which actually is pretty standard for smartwatches, but a lot worse than the standard Galaxy Watch.

As for features, highlights of the Galaxy Watch include NFC, which lets you make use of Samsung Pay for contactless payments. It also optionally comes with LTE, meaning you can get calls and texts on the watch without it being connected to your phone.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active meanwhile also has NFC but doesn't have LTE, so if you want to stay in touch with the rest of your world you'll have to keep your phone with you.

OS and power

Both the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active and Galaxy Watch run Tizen, which is a rarity on smartwatches, but it's an operating system that we like a lot. It also has access to over 60,000 watch faces and a variety of apps.

As for power, both watches have a 1.15GHz dual-core Exynos 9110 chipset and 4GB of storage. RAM is similar but not identical - the Galaxy Watch comes with either 768MB or - if you opt for the LTE model - 1.5GB, while the Galaxy Watch Active comes with 750MB.

So there's not much to choose here other than there being a little more RAM in the standard Galaxy Watch. In practice we found performance on both watches was generally smooth.

Price

The Galaxy Watch Active costs £229 / $199.99 / AU$348, which is a mid-range smartwatch price.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch launched at $329 / £279 / AU$499 for the 42mm model and $349 / £299 / AU$549 for the 46mm version. 

If you want LTE it costs $379 / AU$599 (around £290) for the 42mm model or $399 / AU$649 (roughly £305) for the 46mm one. Though you can often now find it for a bit less than those prices.

Takeaway

The Galaxy Watch Active is a smaller, cheaper alternative to the Samsung Galaxy Watch. It looks just as stylish, performs similarly well and has most of the same features. It also adds blood pressure monitoring to the mix.

Yet it doesn't do much to justify the 'Active' name, and it lacks the rotating bezel and optional LTE of the standard Samsung Galaxy Watch. It also has worse battery life in our tests.

So unless you really want blood pressure monitoring the Samsung Galaxy Watch is arguably the better device overall, but it's priced at a premium, so if you're on a budget or have dainty wrists then the Galaxy Watch Active is the better choice.

As we noted at the top, we awarded both wearables four stars, so you can't really go wrong with either.

• Check out our list of the best Samsung watches

There's a trend in smartwatches at the moment to try and make them continue to keep telling the time even when the smart element has run out of battery.

You've got the TicWatch Pro that sports two different displays and the newly-launched the LG Watch W7 (pictured above) that has mechanical hands to keep telling the time after the screen has died. 

Now a patent suggests Samsung may be working on a similar concept to LG's watch, but with a key difference.

According to the patent filed with USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) and spotted by LetsGoDigital,  the company is experimenting with a tech that would allow for a touchscreen smartwatch that also sports mechanical hands.

It sounds similar to the LG Watch W7, but instead of having the hands on top of the display the mechanical elements would all sit underneath the screen.

The patent shows a transparent touchscreen display that sits on top that would allow you to use the normal features of a smartwatch without the hands getting in the way. The patent doesn't make it clear whether this watch would be running Tizen, Wear OS or a different operating system.

A novel idea

When the battery has run out on the display, the document suggests the analogue hands would appear and be able to keep displaying the time. There's a physical crown that's used for setting the time, and you can also pull it to set an alarm on the watch too.

The watch would sport two batteries, which we believe means one will be for the more power intensive actions of a smartwatch, while the other would activate to keep the watch ticking over in analogue mode.

A little strangely, the patent also suggests the watch would be able to have a digital camera inside the watch case, which would be able to take quick pictures from your wrist.

This is all just a patented tech at the moment, so there's no guarantee we're set to see this on an upcoming smartwatch from the company. Samsung only released the Galaxy Watch back in August, so even if the tech is going to be on a future watch, we can be quite certain we won't hear about it officially until 2019.

• Looking for a powerful hybrid? Here are our favorites

Apple has just revealed its new Watch Series 4 alongside a trio of iPhones at a media event in California. The new smartwatch features a larger display, updated operating system and a suite of advanced health features. 

The new Apple Watch launches just weeks after Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Watch, which we recently named as TechRadar’s best smartwatch in the world. 

With Google opting to remain on the sidelines for a while longer, derailing our hopes of a Pixel Watch launching imminently, the battle for smartwatch supremacy returns to a two horse race. 

To help you decide if your next wearable should come from Apple or Samsung, here’s how the new Watch Series 4 measures up against the Galaxy Watch.

Design and display

Samsung and Apple take two markedly different approaches to smartwatch design with the respective wearables. The Samsung Galaxy Watch has a circular touch screen display with a rotating bezel for scrolling through the operating system; size options for the Samsung are 42mm and 46mm, referring to the diameter of the case. 

The Apple Watch, meanwhile, has a more rectangular design and a touch screen to match. It does not have a rotating bezel, but instead employs the rotating Digital Crown to aid with navigation through its watchOS interface. New for the Watch Series 4 is a crown with haptic feedback, clicking subtly beneath your fingertips as you scroll through lists. 

Apple continues to offer two sizes of Watch for 2018, but where all previous generations included cases of 38mm and 42mm, the Series 4 stretches this slightly to 40mm and 44mm. This growth is down to the new wearable having a larger display, which is 30% larger than the Series 3 and accommodates more complex faces showing the wearer more information at once. 

These size options make the Apple Watch 4 the slimmer of the two and more suited to those with smaller wrists - or just consumers who prefer a more compact timepiece. Meanwhile, the Samsung is more suited to those who want a larger smartwatch. 

As for color options, Samsung sells the 42mm Galaxy Watch in black and rose gold, while the larger 46mm is only offered in silver. 

Things are a little more complicated with the Apple Watch Series 4. The GPS model, which has Wi-Fi but no LTE, comes only with an aluminium case, while the GPS + Cellular model can be bought in stainless steel or aluminium. 

All models are offered in silver, grey or gold. On top of this, there is the Nike+ version in silver and space gray aluminium, and the Hermes collection in polished stainless steel with a range of luxury leather straps. 

The AMOLED display of the Samsung Galaxy Watch measures 1.2 inches across on the 42mm model and 1.3 inches on the 46mm, and both have a resolution of 360 x 360. 

The Series 4 Apple Watch has a resolution of 368 x 448 on the 44mm model, and 324 x 394 on the 40mm version. 

The Apple Watch’s square-sided display is better for reading text and interacting with most apps than the round screen of the Samsung, which tends to cut off the corners as you scroll. But then the Samsung feels more watch-like, with its digital faces resembling actual watches instead of the mini-computer-on-your-wrist look of the Apple Watch.

Fitness and features

Both Samsung and Apple have included heart rate monitors on these smartwatches, and accelerometers mean they can track your daily steps and exercise, too. The Galaxy Watch uses its heart rate monitor to keep an eye on your stress levels, giving you a nudge to chill for a minute and breathe if it sees a spike which can’t be attributed to exercise. 

The Galaxy Watch’s included fitness app automatically recognises and tracks six different exercise activities, but if you jump into the app and set things up yourself, it can log forty different sports and exercises, like running, cycling, weight-lifting, yoga and much more. Water resistance to 5 ATM means the Galaxy Watch can track your swimming too - a stat matched by the Apple Watch Series 4. 

Meanwhile, new for the Apple Watch Series 4 is the ability to take an electrocardiogram (ECG), a medical test used to check your heart’s rhythm and electrical activity. This marks the first time than an over-the-counter device can do this, and it has earned certification from the US Food and Drug Administration. 

The ECG (also known as an EKG) is taken by opening an app and placing the index finger of your hand not wearing the watch onto its Digital Crown. The Watch Series 4 then records your heart rhythm classification and saves the data, ready to be presented to your doctor as a PDF on your iPhone. 

Also new for the Series 4 (and unique among today’s smartwatches) is the ability to alert you to an abnormal heartbeat which may be a sign of Atrial Fibrillation (AFib). 

However, both of these new heart monitoring features will be US-only when they launch later in 2018. It is hoped that Apple will gain certification in other countries, including the UK and Europe, soon. 

What is available at launch, is a feature where the Watch Series 4 detects when you fall over, and can be set to automatically call the emergency services. 

OS and power

A key difference between the smartwatches of Samsung and Apple is that only the former works with both Android and iOS, whereas the Apple Watch works exclusively with iPhones, leaving Android owners out in the cold. 

That said, the Galaxy Watch’s support of iOS is limited compared to how it works with Android and specifically Samsung smartphones. 

As ever, the Galaxy Watch runs Samsung’s own Tizen operating system, while the Watch 4 comes with Apple’s watchOS 5. For us, Apple’s software has a narrow lead over Samsung’s, with more apps being produced by a larger network of developers. We’re also fans of the Watch’s Taptic Engine, which alerts you to notifications with a firm tap to the wrist, rather than a mere vibration. 

Inside, the Apple Watch 4 is powered by the company’s own S4 system on a chip, which boasts a 64-bit dual-core processor, while the Galaxy Watch runs on the Exynos 9110 dual-core 1.15GHz chipset. 

As for RAM, the smaller 42mm Galaxy Watch has 768MB and the 46mm model is packed with 1.5GB. Apple isn’t one to immediately reveal the RAM of its watches, so we’ll have to wait until the Watch 4 goes on sale to find out the exact figure. 

It’ll be a similar story with battery capacity. We know the Samsung Galaxy Watch has a 472mAh cell, far larger than the 279mAh battery of the year-old Apple Watch Series 3, but the Watch 4’s bigger screen and body should mean a small increase here. 

Apple is yet to reveal the exact size of the battery, but says the Series 4 can achieve the same 18 hours of battery as the Series 3, which is considerably less than Samsung’s claims of up to four days on the 42mm Galaxy Watch and up to seven days for the 46mm model. However, our testing found the larger model lasted around four days. 

Storage for the Galaxy Watch is 4GB, while the Apple Watch Series 4 has 16GB.

Price

The Samsung Galaxy Watch is priced at £279 / $329 for the 42mm model, and the larger 46mm version costs £299 / $349. 

On the other hand (or wrist), the pricier Apple Watch 4 costs from £399 / $399 / AU$599 for the 40mm model with a rubber sports strap and GPS. Up the case size to 44mm and the price jumps to £429 / $429, while the LTE versions of each size starts at £499 / $499 / AU$749 and £529 / $529 respectively.

As ever, Apple offers a large range of Watch models, with prices heading to £1,000 / $1,000 for Hermes examples, and reaching £1,499 / $1,499 for the flagship. All that said, the basic functionality of each Apple Watch 4 is identical regardless of what you pay (LTE inclusion notwithstanding).

Takeaway

The winner ultimately comes down to which smartphone camp you currently sit in - iOS or Android - and what you value most from your smartwatch.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch has a far superior battery life, meaning nightly sleep tracking and less bothersome recharging, while the Apple Watch is available in more variants to help match your personal style, and Apple’s work with ECG and health monitoring sets it apart.

The Watch 4 is also more likely to suit slimmer wrists, or will be preferred by those who are put off by the Galaxy Watch’s bulkier design. Although, having said that, larger timepieces are all the range in the traditional watch industry, so being chunkier doesn’t mean the Samsung won’t have its fair share of adoring fans.

As for which is best - and if Apple can regain the top step from Samsung - we’ll have to reserve judgement until we get hold of the Apple Watch Series 4 for ourselves.

Samsung just unveiled its brand new smartwatch - the Galaxy Watch - alongside the Galaxy Note 9, but how does it compare to our favorite smartwatch right now?

The Apple Watch 3 is almost a year old now, but it's still one of our favorite devices for your wrist. If you're wondering about plumping for the new smartwatch from Samsung or the latest Apple Watch, you're in the right place. 

Below we're going to break down the specs, design, price and more that we know about both watches so far.

• Our hands on Samsung Galaxy Watch review

Design and display

Let's kick off with the design of the new Samsung Galaxy Watch. There are two different versions for you to choose from, with 46mm and 42mm options on offer.

Each has a rotating bezel for you to interact with the watch, which is something the Apple Watch doesn't offer. It's worth noting the Galaxy Watch is round too, unlike the Apple Watch 3 with its square design.

The larger of the two watches only comes in silver, while the 42mm comes in rose gold and black. You have a selection of different straps for each model, which you can read all about here.

The Apple Watch 3 comes in two sizes too, but the first version is smaller than the Galaxy Watch. You have the choice of 38mm or 42mm, which may suit those looking for a sleeker device.

With the Apple Watch you've got the choice of different materials including aluminum, stainless steel and ceramic, plus you've got a huge choice of colors to wade through before you can find your perfect watch.

The display on the larger Samsung Galaxy Watch is a 1.3-inch AMOLED, while the smaller has a 1.2-inch screen. Both have a resolution of 360 x 360, which should look pretty sharp on your wrist.

The 1.65-inch display on the larger Apple Watch 3 has always felt like the most comfortable and easy to read size, while the display on the 38mm one is a little bit smaller to account for that slightly more compact design.

The Apple Watch does have that slightly larger display, but both watches offer enough room to interact with the apps you want to play around with as well as reading your notifications.

Fitness and features

Samsung's fitness features are all here with tracking for lots of different sports including yoga, cycling and much more. There's a wrist-based heart rate monitor, GPS built-in and it's designed to go in the pool to track your swimming too, with 5 ATM water resistance.

New features include a stress management tool that tracks your heart rate and gives you reminders to breath when your stress level is higher than expected, plus it's now better at automatically tracking workouts when you start them too - able to recognize six different activities.

This is a similar level of spec to what you can do with the Apple Watch 3, although that device doesn't have that stress monitoring feature. 

OS and power

You'll be able to use the Samsung Galaxy Watch with both iPhone and Android devices, while the Apple Watch only works with iPhones. That's something that may make your mind up for you if you're an Android phone user.

The Galaxy Watch comes running the latest version of Tizen software, while the Apple Watch 3 has the slightly more accomplished watchOS 4 software on board. 

Tizen is improving with time with lots of app developers contributing to the platform, but at this time watchOS is a touch more useful and includes more apps.

Inside the Apple Watch 3 is the latest Apple S3 chipset, while the Galaxy Watch is powered by the Exynos 9110 dual-core 1.15GHz chipset.

The Watch 3 and the 42mm Galaxy Watch have 768MB of RAM, but the 46mm Samsung device comes with a whole 1.5GB. We've yet to use the Exynos in a smartwatch, so we don't currently know how powerful it will be but we'd obviously expect the version with more RAM to be a touch speedier.

For battery, the Apple Watch 3 has a 279mAh cell that we find lasts around a day on average. The larger Samsung Galaxy Watch has a 472mAh cell inside, which is huge for a smartwatch. Samsung believes this can last seven days from a single charge.

If that's true, that'll be a gamechanger in the smartwatch space as many fully-fledged devices like this only last a day or two from one charge. The smaller Galaxy Watch only has a 270mAh cell, so it's more likely to last around two days or so.

Price

We don't currently have any pricing details for the Samsung Galaxy Watch. The larger LTE version of the watch is sure to cost more than the Bluetooth only variant, but we don't currently know what that price difference will be.

As for the Apple Watch 3, the price starts at £329 / $329 / AU$459 but if you want the LTE version of the watch you'll have to spend a bit extra at £399 / $399 / AU$559. It's also worth noting that price will likely drop soon if the company announces the Apple Watch 4 in September, as it's possible it might do.

Takeaway

Which one of these watches you buy may ultimately come down to the price and the type of phone you own, but the Samsung Galaxy Watch looks like it could be a suitable alternative to the Apple Watch 3. 

Bear in mind though, the Apple Watch 4 may be just around the corner and could offer some brand new features neither of these watches have.

We won't know until our full review, but the Samsung Galaxy Watch looks to have all the top-end features you'd want and may even have phenomenal battery life as well. 

We're skeptical the Galaxy Watch will be able to run for seven days in full smartwatch mode, but if it can we'll be very impressed and it may topple the Apple Watch 3 as our favorite device - as long as it packs some other genuine improvements.

• Samsung Galaxy Watch release date, price, news and features

Update: We've now seen the Samsung Galaxy Watch, and you can read all about it here. It looks like we were right and we're excited to get our first look at the watch very soon.

Want to see the Samsung Galaxy Watch out in the wild a few moments before it's announced on stage? TechRadar just spotted it on someone's wrist at the official Galaxy Note 9 launch event in New York.

While waiting to enter the venue to hear all about the Galaxy Note 9 - and now we think the Galaxy Watch too - we spotted the device you can see below on someone's wrist.

It doesn't look like any previous Samsung smartwatch devices, and we're quite certain it's the Galaxy Watch as it looks remarkably similar to a leaked listing that appeared on Samsung's own website last month.

That leak provided the rose gold shade, but this time it looks like it's the gold color. A gold version has previously been rumored and is a new addition that we haven't seen on any other Samsung watches.

It looks to have the same thick bezel around the display as on the leaked listing, but we don't know much else about the watch from this image.

The person wearing the watch was standing next to a Samsung employee, so it may be this is someone who will be toting the watch on stage at the launch event.

Although this doesn't give us the clearest look yet at the next watch from Samsung, it does give us more hope we're about to hear all about it on stage at the Galaxy Note 9 launch.

• Samsung Galaxy Watch livestream: what it live

Rumors have been swirling ahead of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 9 launch about a wireless charging pad known as the Duo, and now Amazon has all but confirmed this unreleased product.

As the name should imply, the Samsung Wireless Charger Duo is capable of charging two devices simultaneously, whether that’s the upcoming Note 9 and Galaxy Watch, or a pair of older mobile devices like the wireless charging-capable Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S9.

In a press preview event attended by Gizmodo, Amazon put a device on display that looks identical to the current leaked image of the Duo, although it was labelled here as the Samsung Qi Pad (2018) and its associated QR code linked to Samsung’s standard single charging pad.

What appears to be the Samsung Duo has a single USB-C connection and twin indicator lights to show each device’s charging status. 

One half of the unit retains the same angular disc design of the original Samsung Qi Pad, which presumably was intended to be displayed here instead of the Duo.

Gizmodo found the device to have an input rating of 12V and 2.1A but, apart from that, there were few details on show. If you’re keen to check out more images, head over to Sam Rutherford’s article on Gizmodo.

We expect all will be revealed when the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is revealed on August 9, so stay tuned for all the juicy Galaxy news.

• There's even more evidence the Samsung Galaxy Watch launch is happening soon