At the Unpacked event in Brooklyn, Samsung introduced the Galaxy Watch — which you will notice does not have the “Gear” branding this time around. The Galaxy Watch comes in two sizes: 46mm at a starting price of $349.99 and 42mm at a starting price of $329.99. And it is available in rose gold, silver, and midnight black color options.
Photo: Samsung
In terms of design, the Galaxy Watch looks similar to its predecessor known as the Gear S3 Classic. There are slight differences between the Galaxy Watch and the Gear S3. For example, the 46mm Galaxy Watch is slightly thicker than the Gear S3 even though the two devices have the same height and width. The screen resolution of the 42mm and the 46mm Galaxy Watch both remain the same at 360 x 360.
The glass has been upgraded to Corning Gorilla Glass DX+ glass for the Galaxy Watch from Corning’s Gorilla Glass SR+ on the Gear S3. And the Galaxy Watch was upgraded to 5 ATM submersion with IP68 and MIL-STD-810G certifications from the simpler IP68 rating on the Gear S3.
One of the cons of the Galaxy Watch is the removal of the magnetic secure transaction (MST) support. The Gear S3 has both NFC and MST support for Samsung Pay. Fortunately, support for Bluetooth 4.2 and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi carried over.
The 46mm Galaxy Watch will use a 22mm strap with the following colors: Onyx Black, Deep Ocean Blue, and Basalt Grey. And the 42mm Galaxy Watch will use a 20mm strap with the following colors: Onyx Black, Lunar Grey, Terracotta Red, Lime Yellow, Cosmo Purple, Pink Beige, Cloud Grey, and Natural Brown.
Inside of the Galaxy Watch is a dual-core Exynos 9110 processor (1.15GHz) and it runs on the Tizen Wearable OS 4.0. In terms of memory, it has 1.5GB RAM and 4GB internal memory. And the connectivity hardware supports 4G/LTE. Later in 2018, Samsung is releasing an LTE model of the Galaxy Watch — which would be able to run independently without having to be connected to a Samsung smartphone.
The Galaxy Watch has a new stress management tracker and it can track your heart rate. And it provides breathing exercises to make it easier to stay focused. Plus it has advanced sleep tracking monitors for all levels of sleep including REM cycles.
In terms of advanced fitness tracking, the Galaxy Watch automatically tracks six exercises such as walking, running, cycling, elliptical, training, and rowing. And it also features 21 new indoor exercises from 39 activities. To help balance nutrition, the Galaxy Watch helps users track food and water intake. “Input your meals and get personalized alerts from Samsung Health, or, use Bixby on your Galaxy device to automatically count calories, and get a personalized summary on your Galaxy Watch,” said Samsung in the announcement.
The Galaxy Watch has an improved battery life as the device can be used for several days on a single charge. Specifically, it supports up to 80+ hours with typical usage and up to 168 hours with low usage for the 46mm model and 45+ hours with typical usage and up to 120 hours with low usage for the 42mm model.
The 42mm and 46mm options will be available starting August 24th. Customers who order the Galaxy Watch before September 8th will receive a free Samsung watch band.
