Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic – a duo of refined Wear OS 4 smartwatches that take some big steps toward personalized health monitoring.
Those who recall the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic likely remember the timeless design and beloved rotating bezel. This year, the Watch 6 Classic brings that same function back, while also hitting some quality benchmarks along the way. Both watches – Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic – run Wear OS 4, which can also be referred to as One UI Watch 5 by Samsung. These are the first wearables to run the new OS this year, setting a streak for Samsung in first-edition smartwatches.
The biggest change comes in the improved health suite, which brings along a focused approach to coaching a healthy lifestyle for individuals. The Watch 6 series makes use of Samsung’s tried-and-true BioActive Sensor to measure heart rate, electrical heart signals, and bioelectrical impedance analysis, as well as a temperature sensor for certain scenarios during sleep.
In One UI Watch 5, Samsung is making use of “Sleep Score Factors,” which break down the quality of your sleep each night so each user gets a detailed look at what exactly is happening when the sun goes down. Additionally, wearers get a Sleep Consistency score and for a little extra fun, will get a designated sleep animal symbol, much like Fitbit does on its devices. Once enough data is gathered, the Galaxy Watch 6 goes into action and offers coaching that carries helpful tips for improving sleep quality. Samsung has gone far enough to create a new Fabric Band for extra comfort while in bed. That band utilizes Samsung’s “one-click” system for easy band replacement.
One of the more exciting features is the integration the Watch 6 offers with Samsung SmartThings during sleep. When it’s time for bed, the Watch 6 will automatically set devices connected to SmartThings to enter a setting appropriate for sleep, such as turning off lights before you open your Fold 5 or Flip 5 to do it.
The Watch 6 and 6 Classic are also going to be able to offer personalized heart rate zones for those who utilize the running suite of exercises offered with One UI Watch. That tailored zone will be different for everyone, so each user can focus on their own capabilities and what progress means for them.
Physically, nothing has been fundamentally changed about the Galaxy Watch design, rather, small details are refined. Of course, the biggest change is the addition of a rotating bezel on the Classic variant, however, the Watch 6 takes design cues from the previous generation as a whole. Compared to the Watch 4 Classic, the brand new Galaxy Watch 6 Classic edition touts a slimmer bezel by 15%, as well as a slimmer bezel throughout the entire lineup. Rather than utilizing Aluminum Armor, Samsung has gone with a Stainless Steel case for the Watch 6 Classic.
Internally, the Watch 6 runs an Exynos W930 chip with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. As for the battery, the Watch 6 series won’t get you the ridiculous benchmark of 80 hours on the Watch 5 Pro, but the 425mAh battery will get you a classically acceptable 40 hours, max. That spec is standard for every watch in the lineup, so users who choose to go for the 40mm Watch 6 will see the same life as the 47mm Watch 6 Classic. Samsung boasts an additional eight hours of usage with eight minutes of fast charging, just to sweeten the deal.
If you were to set the Galaxy Watch 6 beside the Watch 5, and the Watch 6 Classic next to the Watch 4 Classic, you’d see a 16% increase in display size. That Super AMOLED display is protected by sapphire crystal, which is meant to resist scratches more than shock and has proven to be a fine choice for wearables. Samsung notes that the new display is more vibrant, hitting 480 x 480 for the 44mm Watch 6 and 47mm Watch 6 Classic variants, with the 40mm Watch 6 and 43mm Watch 6 Classic seeing 432 x 432. Each display has a peak brightness of 2,000 nits and a new feature allowing for always-on display brightness adjustment, for those extra sunny days.
The Galaxy Watch 6 will come in Graphite, Silver, and Gold, and will cost you around $299 for the smaller 40mm edition. The Galaxy Watch 6 large is set to $329 and will not come in the Gold colorway. As for the large version with rotating bezel, the 43mm Watch 6 Classic will see you back $399 while the biggest 47mm version hits $429.
The Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic will be available starting today, July 26, for pre-order through Samsung’s website or a number of other retailers listed below, beside the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Z Flip 5. General sales open on August 11. Going through Samsung’s website means up to $250 in trade-in credit, so it may be worth checking that out.
Buy the Galaxy Watch 6
Galaxy Watch 5 & 5 Pro specs
- Dimensions:
- (40mm): 38.8mm x 40.4mm x 9.0 mm, 28.7g
- (44mm): 42.8mm x 44.4mm x 9.0 mm, 33.3g
- (Classic 43mm): 42.5mm x 42.5mm x 10.9 mm, 52.0g
- (Classic 47mm): 46.5mm x 46.5mm x 10.9 mm, 59.0g
- Weight:
- (40mm): 28.7g
- (44mm): 33.3g
- (Classic 43mm): 52.0g
- (Classic 47mm): 59.0g
- Materials & colors:
- (40mm): Armor Aluminum case in Graphite or Gold
- (44mm): Armor Aluminum case in Graphite or Silver
- (Classic 43mm): Stainless Steel case in Black or Silver
- (Classic 47mm): Stainless Steel case in Black or Silver
- Durability: 5ATM + IP68 / MIL-STD-810H
- Processor: Exynos W930 Dual-Core 1.4GHz
- Memory & storage: 2GB memory + 16GB storage
- Operating system: Wear OS Powered by Samsung (Wear OS 4)
- Display:
- (40mm): 1.3-inch, 432 x 432 Super AMOLED display w/ sapphire crystal
- (44mm): 1.5-inch, 480 x 480 Super AMOLED display w/ sapphire crystal
- (Classic 43mm): 1.3-inch, 432 x 432 Super AMOLED display w/ sapphire crystal
- (Classic 47mm): 1.5-inch, 480 x 480 Super AMOLED display w/ sapphire crystal
- Battery:
- (40mm): 300 mAh
- (44mm): 425 mAh
- (Classic 43mm): 300 mAh
- (Classic 47mm): 425 mAh
- Sensors:
- Optical Heart Rate
- Electrical Heart Signal
- Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis
- Temperature Sensor
- Accelerometer
- Barometer
- Gyro Sensor
- Geomagnetic Sensor
- Light Sensor
- Connectivity:
- LTE
- Bluetooth 5.3
- Wi-Fi 2.4+5GHz
- NFC
- GPS/Glonass/Beidou/Galileo
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