Earlier today, Samsung announced two new Galaxy Watch devices, the Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. While they look similar to the previous Galaxy Watch 5, the new Watch 6 line sports plenty of upgrades and new features over Samsung’s other wearable devices, including better specs, a more compact design, and new fitness tracking options.
Design
The most notable change is a larger screen. The Galaxy Watch 6 comes in two sizes, one with a 40mm face and 1.3-inch screen, or a 44mm face with a 1.5-inch screen. The Watch 6 Classic comes in larger sizes, starting with a 43mm option with a 1.3-inch screen, or a 47mm face with a 1.5-inch screen. That equates to roughly 20% larger screen space compared to the Galaxy Watch 5 line.
Image: Samsung
Despite the larger screens, the bezels on both Galaxy Watch 6 devices are smaller than their predecessors. The Galaxy Watch 6 uses a digital bezel that’s 30% slimmer, while the Watch 6 Classic’s physical rotating bezel is 15% thinner. Both devices also feature new “one-click” bands that are easier to swap out. That should make it easier to change to a workout-friendly band while you’re at the gym, and then back to a more stylish design with less hassle.
Specs
As for the hardware in the watches, both run on the 1.4GHz Exynos w930 Dual-Core processor, which is a step above the Watch 5's W920 chips, and feature 2GB RAM plus 16GB of onboard storage for apps and other data. All models feature about 30 hours of battery life with the always-on display enabled, or up to 40 hours when disabled. They also feature a host of sensors that track temperature, motion, light, air pressure, and more.
On the software side, the Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic both ship with Watch OS 4, and support Android devices running Android 10 or higher. The also support wireless connections via Bluetooth 5.3, 2.4GHz and 5GHz wifi, and satellite GPS.
New features
The Galaxy Watch 6 line’s hardware enables a bunch of new features, including new fitness and health tracking functions. This includes upgraded sleep tracking that analyses your total sleep quality and consistency. Many criticized the Watch 5's lackluster and inconsistent sleep-tracking capabilities, so hopefully the Watch 6 will fix those shortcomings. There’s also a suite of new workout features, like the “Personalized Heart Rate” Zone that helps you find optimal running intensity based on your fitness goals.
Along with those features, the new wearables can now detect and notify you of irregular heart rhythms, monitor your safety with fall detection that will automatically alert emergency contacts, and track skin temperature or even measure surface temperature at a distance using infrared light through the new Thermo Check app.
Availability
The Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic will launch on Aug. 11, but you can preorder both devices now. The Galaxy Watch 6 starts at $300 for the 40mm model and $330 for the 44mm model at Samsung and Best Buy.
The Galaxy Watch6 Classic starts at $400 for the 43mm model and $430 for the 47mm model. It’s also available at Samsung and Best Buy.
You can also get special preorder bonuses depending on where you buy. Preordering at Samsung gets you a free fabric one-click band, plus you can get up to $250 of trade-in credit when you send in your old smartwatch. Best Buy is also including a free fabric one-click band, plus a $50 gift card when you preorder.
