Whereas rivals launch predictable updates to their smartwatches, Samsung is not afraid to shock us (for higher or worse) with design and have adjustments every year. And with the Galaxy Watch 8 Traditional particularly, introduced at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event, my favourite characteristic has made a welcome reappearance: the bodily rotating bezel, a contact of romantic class that made me fall in love with Galaxy Watches within the first place. The Galaxy Watch 8 additionally has a brand new look and thinner body, whereas the Galaxy Watch Extremely retains the identical practical, squared-off body as earlier than with a brand new Titanium blue colour that can enchantment to individuals who desire a extra rugged timepiece.
Nevertheless it’s not simply aesthetics which have modified on this yr’s revisions. The corporate can also be stepping issues up in the case of well being instruments, together with a number of options I’ve by no means seen on a smartwatch, like noninvasive pores and skin evaluation and AI-powered teaching for sleep and working. The Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Traditional even have a wiser voice assistant and are the primary smartwatches with Google’s Gemini AI baked proper inside, able to deal with complicated duties.
Watch this: The Rotating Bezel is Again! A Have a look at Samsung’s New Galaxy Watch 8 and Traditional
Pricing and availability
The Galaxy Watch 8 begins at $350 for the 40mm mannequin and $380 for the 44mm one. The LTE variations are $50 extra: $400 for the 40mm mannequin and $430 for the 44mm watch.
The Galaxy Watch 8 Traditional, with its rotating bezel and bodily crown, is available in a single 46mm measurement and prices $500, or $550 for the LTE mannequin.
The Titanium Blue model of the Galaxy Watch Extremely is $650, the identical value as the unique 2024 mannequin. This model will get the identical inner upgrades because the Watch 8 lineup, together with a 64GB storage bump.
All fashions can be found for preorder now with transport beginning July 25. For those who reserve early from Samsung you will get $50 in Samsung credit; your wireless carrier may also have deals on the watches and Samsung’s just-announced telephones.
The 40mm model of the Galaxy Watch 8 has a brand new design with a round display screen and squircle body.
Well being and health options
Samsung continues to broaden the Galaxy Watch’s role as a health and wellness tool, constructing on current options like ECG, SpO₂ (shorthand for peripheral capillary oxygen saturation), sleep monitoring and its AGEs Index, which displays your metabolic getting old course of. The headliner is a brand new Antioxidant Index, which measures carotene (one kind of antioxidant) ranges in your pores and skin with a easy five-second press of your thumb on the sensor (no needle wanted). Since antioxidants assist clear toxins from the physique, figuring out your ranges can supply actionable steps for enhancing your well being. The watch will price your ranges on a scale from low to excessive after which supply generic suggestions on the Samsung Well being app on how one can enhance your ranges in the event that they’re on the decrease aspect.
It is necessary to notice that this metric is not clinically verified and is not meant to exchange a medical-grade take a look at. It is designed to supply a baseline studying that will assist you to make real-time life-style changes, however it will not present the detailed or exact outcomes you’d get from a standard blood take a look at.
The Antioxidant Index on the brand new Galaxy Watches.
There’s additionally a brand new metric referred to as Vascular Load, which measures pressure in your coronary heart throughout sleep. These readings are translated right into a low-to-high scale that will help you perceive how behaviors (like sodium or alcohol consumption) could also be contributing to long-term coronary heart illness danger.
Sleep monitoring will get a critical improve, too. A brand new Bedtime Steering instrument makes use of a three-day evaluation of your circadian rhythm and sleep stress (aka sleep debt) to suggest a super bedtime window. It elements in coronary heart price, HRV, pores and skin temperature, and even environmental cues like room temperature or brightness (in case you’ve received related SmartThings units). The purpose: Enhance your sleep high quality, restoration and power all through the day.
The brand new Working Coach provides you a customized coaching plan to assist meet your targets.
The teaching is not only for sleep; the brand new Galaxy Watches are additionally debuting a Working Coach characteristic. It begins with a 12-minute working evaluation that scores your health from stage 0 (newbie) to stage 10 (marathon-ready). From there, it builds a customized four-to-six-week coaching plan tailor-made to your distance or efficiency targets.
Much like Apple’s new Exercise Buddy, Samsung’s Working Coach affords real-time, contextual suggestions whilst you’re working, like declaring a significant milestone. However in contrast to Apple’s model, Samsung’s instrument goes a step additional by truly adapting your future coaching plans primarily based in your progress.
Design
The 2 new Galaxy Watches take a web page out of the Galaxy Watch Extremely’s playbook ditching the standard round watch face for a “cushion” design that has a spherical display screen set inside a “squircle” body (sq. with rounded edges). As somebody who thought the Extremely appeared too huge and masculine for my wrist, I am nonetheless not completely bought on the design shift. However I am a sucker for that rotating bezel on the Traditional (the Extremely’s is static), so I can not assist however love the look, even when it does not really feel prefer it was made for me.
The Galaxy Watch 8 Traditional brings again the rotating bezel in two colour choices: white or black.
The Traditional additionally adopts the customizable quick-action button of the Extremely that additionally doubles as a crown wedges between the 2 navigation buttons.
Regardless of my desire for the sleeker, edgeless round design of previous Galaxy Watches, there could also be some advantages to the brand new design, together with a slimmer kind issue. In accordance with Samsung, the Galaxy Watch 8 is 11% slimmer and lighter than its predecessor. When attempting it on, I used to be blown away by how gentle it felt on my wrist with out the standard stomach bump bulge of the physique.
Pair that with a brand new band system, which reduces the hole between the watch and your wrist and you’ve got a noticeably extra snug match. Because of the tighter sensor-to-skin contact, it is also extra correct at capturing coronary heart price information. That is nonetheless topic to testing, but when it holds up, it might be a justified design trade-off.
Width comparability between the Galaxy Watch 8, Galaxy Watch 8 Traditional and Galaxy Watch Extremely. Each the Extremely and the Traditional have the crown that doubles as an motion button.
The Galaxy Watch 8 is available in silver and graphite with an aluminum body, whereas the Traditional opts for a stainless-steel end in simply silver. Dimension-wise, the common Watch 8 is available in 40mm and 44mm choices, whereas the Traditional is simply obtainable in 46mm, which appears fairly massive on my 6-inch (15cm) wrist and positively leans extra masculine. I can not assist however miss the times when Samsung provided extra female choices like rose gold and even simply plain gold, although it has been some time since these have been a part of the lineup.
The brand new Galaxy Watches are the primary smartwatches to debut Google’s Gemini AI assistant out of the field.
Gemini on the watch
The brand new One UI 8 software program brings a refreshed consumer expertise that’s simpler to navigate. Notifications are separated by app and prompt entry to your six most-used apps. The Watches additionally takes a web page from the Galaxy telephone with a brand new “Now bar” on the backside of the display screen for fast entry to energetic apps like timers or media controls.
However an important software program replace is the addition of Gemini AI. The brand new Galaxy Watches are the primary with Google’s AI assistant built-in, bringing extra complicated instructions and contextual understanding to your wrist. You’ll be able to ask it to examine your most up-to-date working tempo, begin a five-mile run and launch your exercise playlist concurrently, set a timer to boil pasta primarily based on a recipe in your notes, regulate the font measurement on the watch, or have it draft a textual content letting a good friend know you are working late.
Since Gemini requires an web connection to work, you will must have your telephone paired close by or use an LTE model of the watch.
Battery and storage
Let’s set expectations: Simply because the Galaxy Watch 8 appears just like the Extremely doesn’t suggest it matches the Extremely’s three-day battery life. However there’s nonetheless excellent news to share.
Samsung says the Watch 8 has an 8% bigger battery than the Watch 7: 325 mAh vs. 300 mAh (for the 40mm), and 435 mAh vs. 425 mAh (for the 44mm). The Traditional tops out at 445 mAh, which remains to be properly beneath the Extremely’s 590 mAh battery. How a lot that interprets into real-world use stays to be seen, however any increase is welcome, particularly paired with the effectivity positive aspects from the brand new Wear OS 6 replace.
Storage additionally doubles throughout the board, with 64GB now customary (up from 32GB), together with a brand new Titanium Blue model of the Extremely.
That is only a first look primarily based on hands-on time. We’ll discover out if these options stay as much as the hype when put to the take a look at in our full assessment, coming quickly.
