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Everything we've heard so far about the Galaxy Watch, the rumored Samsung smartwatch said to be coming next month
Everything we've heard so far about the Galaxy Watch, the rumored Samsung smartwatch said to be coming next month
Avery HartmansJul 19, 2018, 22:46 IST
Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
In just a few weeks, Samsung will reportedly introduce the Galaxy Watch, its latest entry into the smartwatch game.
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Samsung isn't new to the world of smartwatches - its first watch, the Galaxy Gear, came out in 2013. Since then, Samsung has added the Gear S2, Gear S3, and Gear Sport to its lineup, along with a slew of fitness trackers.
But this year is slightly different for a few reasons.
For one, Samsung will reportedly ditch "Gear" from the name and simply call it the Galaxy Watch.
For another, Samsung has recently gone out of its way to taunt Apple, creating several ads that pit the two companies against each other. While that battle has mostly been confined to the realm of premium smartphones, it seems as though Samsung is now targeting Apple in other areas too - the rumored Bixby smart speaker, which would compete with Apple's HomePod, and now, a smartwatch to compete with the Apple Watch.
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In fact, all signs point to the Galaxy Watch having many similar features to the Apple Watch - cellular connectivity, similar color options, and a built-in smart assistant.
Here's everything we've heard so far about the Samsung Galaxy Watch:
Past versions of Samsung's smartwatch have been under Samsung's "Gear" branding. But this year, Samsung is renaming it the Galaxy Watch.
Since introducing its line of smartwatches in 2013, Samsung has stuck with the Gear branding — the Gear S2, Gear S3, and Gear Sport.
But following an FCC patent filing, the new watch is expected to be called the Galaxy Watch, which is likely meant to put it more in line with Samsung's popular line of Galaxy smartphones.
The Galaxy Watch will have a 1.2-inch display, which is about the same size as the Samsung Gear Sport.
According to Droid Life, the Galaxy Watch case will measure 51.2mm by 43.4mm, while the display will be 30.2mm, or about 1.2 inches.
Samsung's most recent smartwatch, the Gear Sport, also has a 1.2-inch display.
Past Samsung watches have usually come in two colors, but the Galaxy Watch will come in three.
The Galaxy Watch will come in silver, gold, and black, according to a report from SamMobile.
That's one more color than past Samsung watches. The Gear S3 comes in two options — the black Gear S3 Frontier and the silver Gear S3 Classic — while the newer Gear Sport comes in black and blue.
Adding a third color would put the Galaxy Watch more in line with the Apple Watch, which also comes in black (or "space gray"), silver, and gold.
The Galaxy Watch will run Samsung's smartwatch operating system, Tizen OS.
Although recent reports hinted that Samsung might be abandoning its smartwatch operating system in favor of Google's Wear OS, that's likely not the case.
According to reports from both ZDNet and SamMobile, Samsung will be keeping its Tizen operating system for the new Galaxy Watch. That means the new Galaxy Watch will likely have many of the same features as the Gear Sport and the Gear S3, like notifications, Samsung Pay, music, and alarms.
Samsung's smart assistant, Bixby, will be built into the Galaxy Watch.
According to The Verge, Samsung's latest smartwatch operating system, Tizen 4.0, will likely add support for Samsung's smart assistant, Bixby.
Bixby has had something of a fraught history. When the feature launched on the Galaxy S8 in 2017, it wasn't quite finished yet, and anyone who bought the phone with initially saddled with a smart assistant that couldn't perform many of the features Samsung had promised.
Since then, Bixby seems to have shaped up, but still isn't on par with smart assistants like Google Assistant and Alexa.
The Galaxy Watch will have better battery life than the Gear S3.
The Galaxy Watch will likely get a few hours of extra battery life, thanks to a larger battery.
According to leaker Ice Universe — which we saw on 9to5 Google — the new watch will have a 470mAh battery. Compared to the 380mAh battery in the Gear S3, the Galaxy Watch's larger battery should give it about two full days of battery life, according to 9to5 Google.
The Galaxy Watch will have LTE support, and it will work with any carrier.
Like the Apple Watch Series 3, the Galaxy Watch will reportedly have cell service, according to FCC patent filings found by Droid Life.
Droid Life also noticed that the Galaxy Watch will also work with AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon, so either Samsung plans to sell the watch through all four carriers, or plans to sell it unlocked.
The Galaxy Watch will be announced at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, and will likely be released on August 24.
The good news is that we won't have to wait long for the Galaxy Watch.
According to ZDNet, Samsung is planning to announce the watch alongside the Galaxy Note 9 at its Samsung Unpacked on August 9. The Galaxy Watch will reportedly become available on August 24.
