With so many rumours surrounding the Galaxy Watch 4, it can be tough to keep track of exactly what Samsung has in store for its next smartwatch – or smartwatches. Here’s everything we know about the Galaxy Watch 4 so far.
We’ve heard word of a Galaxy Watch 4, a Galaxy Watch 4 Classic and a Galaxy Watch Active 4 for a while now, and now it seems as though two of those watches may be the same device.
According to recent reports, the Galaxy Watch Active 4 will be unveiled as the Galaxy Watch 4. That leaves the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic to take the place of the more traditional-looking smartwatch.
Read on to discover everything we know about the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic so far, including what the smartwatches will look like, what features they’ll have, when we expect them to launch and how much they might cost.
Design
Both the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch Classic made an early appearance on Amazon Canada on July 14, giving us a decent idea of what both watches might look like. While both are gone now, GSMArena caught the listings before they were taken down.
The Galaxy Watch 4 looks similar to the Galaxy Watch Active 2, while the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic features a larger body with a rotating bezel that is absent on the Watch 4.
This matches a leak we saw previously from Android Headlines which showed off the rotating bezel that has controlled the UI on previous Galaxy watches on the Classic. Android Headlines also hinted at three colours: white, grey and black, with cases available in silver and black, while a report by Giznext has hinted at black, silver, green and gold shades for the Galaxy Watch 4.
However, the Android Headlines report also mentions a 44mm Classic which wasn’t mentioned in the Amazon Canada leak.
According to the Amazon Canada listings, the Galaxy Watch 4 will be made of aluminium and come in 40mm and 44mm sizes, while the Classic will be available in 42mm and 46mm sizes and feature a stainless steel body.
The smaller versions of each watch will have 1.19-inch displays and the larger models 1.36-inch ones. According to the Android Headlines report, the Classic’s screen will be protected by Gorilla Glass DX, while the Watch 4 will include the softer Gorilla Glass DX+.
The Galaxy Watch 4 also made a recent appearance in a video posted on Samsung’s official YouTube channel.
The video, titled ‘Voices of Galaxy’ (and spotted by SamMobile) offers a glimpse of what looks to be the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic with a silver rotating bezel and flat side buttons. The watch also includes a leather strap, suggesting Samsung might sell those alongside the silicone options we’ve seen in other leaks.
Features
According to a report by SamMobile, the Galaxy Watch 4 will pack a brand new Exynos chip that could offer a substantial boost in performance.
The Exynos W920 is expected to power both the Galaxy Watch 4 and the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, offering better performance than the Exynos 9110 found in the Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Watch Active, Galaxy Watch Active 2 and Galaxy Watch 3.
This includes 1.25x faster processing and 8.8x smoothing graphics. The watch will also come with 1.5GB of RAM – 0.5GB more than the 1GB found on the Galaxy Watch 3.
According to the Amazon Canada leak, both watches will also reportedly take advantage of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS and possible LTE – though the latter isn’t mentioned in the listing. Both watches also include a list of health features, including Body Composition Analysis, Advanced Sleep, V02 Max, Blood Oxygen Monitoring and Heart Rate Monitoring.
After a good amount of speculation, Samsung finally announced the existence of One UI at MWC 2021 – the new operating system that will debut on the Galaxy Watch 4. Made in partnership with Google, One UI will move over to using the Google Play Store as opposed to the Galaxy Store for downloading watch apps – giving users a wider variety of choice thanks to the larger Wear OS app library.
Samsung also touted some of the benefits that One UI will bring to the table. Most notably, apps will now load up to 30% faster than before, and if an Android app you’ve downloaded to your phone also has a One UI counterpart, then that will be automatically downloaded to your watch as well.
By condensing the size of the internal cores, the Galaxy Watch 4 will feature a better optimised battery, one will allow for continuous heart rate monitoring throughout the day. This is a huge improvement as it’ll provide users with more accurate health and heart rate data.
One UI will also open up the ability for developers to easily make their own watch faces, which should allow for increased collaboration with fashion brands and more options for users.
Release date
The Amazon Canada leak quoted a release date of August 27 2021.
This matches up with predictions that two Galaxy watches will be unveiled at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event expected to take place earlier that month on August 11.
Price
The Amazon Canada leak also included pricing information. If the listings are correct, the 40mm Galaxy Watch 4 will cost CAD $310 (around £178) and the 44mm model will cost CAD $347 (around £199).
Meanwhile, the 42mm Galaxy Watch 4 Classic will cost CAD $428 (around £246), while the 46mm version will cost CAD $464 (around £267).
If this is accurate, both watches could be more affordable than the £399 Galaxy Watch 3 was at launch.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.