It’s Samsung Unpacked season again, and this time around we’re getting a ton of new stuff other than slim smartphones—in additon to the new Galaxy Z Fold7 and Flip7 series, Samsung also showed off its latest Wear OS smartwatches under the Galaxy Watch8 series. Composed of two models (or three, depending on how you look at it), the new wearables bring something a bit new to the table this time, albeit for a hefty sum.
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First is the “standard” model, the Samsung Galaxy Watch8. It’s available in two different sizes at 40mm and 44mm, but the real kicker here is the new design—Samsung has now ditched the “simpler” rounded look on its earlier watches, and has brought over the “squircle” look that we saw with the Galaxy Watch Ultra, all the while slimming it down. Both models come with Super AMOLED displays, and are equipped with Sapphire Crystal Glass for their touch displays as well.
Unlike other Wear OS watches though, you’re not going to find any Snapdragon tech inside here, as Samsung has equipped the Galaxy Watch8 models with its own Exynos W1000 processor, alongside 2GB of RAM and 32GB of built-in storage for apps and media. There are are also slight differences in terms of battery capacity, with the smaller 40mm Watch8 packing a 325mAh cell, which is slightly outsized by the 435mAh battery inside its 44mm brethren.
In addition to the “vanilla” Galaxy Watch8, Samsung has also brought back its “Classic” line with the aptly-named Watch8 Classic, which comes with a slightly more beefed-up design, almost matching that of the Watch Ultra. It also adopts the new rounded square design, while adding a rotating bezel that’s since become a hallmark design trait of the more premium watch line. It’s also a bit bigger at 46mm, although it keeps the Super AMOLED panel and Sapphire Crystal display.
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While the Watch8 Classic also runs on the Exynos W1000 with 2GB of RAM, it comes with a bit more storage at 64GB, as well as a larger battery at 445mAH. All the new models though come with one UI Watch 8 layered on Google Wear OS, along with Google’s Gemini for wearables.
All models also come with a BioActive Sensor, which integrates an optical bio-signal sensor, an electrical heart signal sensor, and a bioelectrical impedance analysis sensor. Additionally, you’re also getting a temperature sensor, an accelerometer, a barometer, a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and a light sensor. Pricing starts at £319 for the Galaxy Watch8, while the Watch8 Classic begins at $443. Samsung also introduced a new Blue colour model for the Galaxy Watch Ultra during its launch event.
