Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 tipped to upgrade to faster Exynos W980 chip

Ben Schoon | Apr 21 2023 - 6:57 am PT

Smartwatches for Android spent years stuck on inadequate chips, but things are finally turning around following the arrival of Wear OS 3. Now, with its upcoming Galaxy Watch 6, Samsung is apparently set to debut a new Exynos W980 chipset.

The Galaxy Watch 4 made its debut in 2021 with the Exynos W920, which, at the time, was one of the most powerful and efficient chips in a Wear OS watch. In the time since, there hasn’t been much to really challenge Samsung’s effort. The promising Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear W5 series looks phenomenal, but no Wear OS hardware has made it to market with those new chips, despite teasers that are nearing a year old.

Now, Samsung is apparently planning to one-up itself, with an upgraded chip in the Galaxy Watch 6.

SamMobile reports that Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic will be powered by the Exynos W980 chipset. While we don’t know everything about this new chip just yet, it’s apparently claimed to be around 10% faster than the W920 and expected to be built on a 5nm process.

Whether or not that difference will be felt, it’s good to see Samsung actually pushing forward in this arena. At the moment, nearly all Wear OS smartwatches are launching on outdated chips. Just this week, Citizen finally set a release date for its first Wear OS 3 watch, which is still using the Snapdragon Wear 4100+. Google’s Pixel Watch, while a solid performer, is also stuck on Samsung’s Exynos 9110 chip, which was used in the original Galaxy Watch several years ago. Hopefully, a push on Samsung’s part will inspire other brands to pick up the pace.

The Galaxy Watch 6 series is expected to arrive later this year alongside Samsung’s new foldables with an improved screen, the return of the rotating bezel, and more. Ice Universe also this week mentioned that Galaxy Watch 6 Classic’s rotating bezel will be thinner than on previous models.