Samsung’s 2023 product lineup has turned out pretty impressive so far, but the more promising devices are scheduled for the latter half of the year. Among them is the Galaxy Watch 6 series. Now, the Galaxy Watch 5 lineup isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it also wasn’t really an appealing upgrade over the Galaxy Watch 4 portfolio.
The overall design, however, is still the signature Samsung smartwatch affair. The dial is round with an understated metallic luster and black paint job, but more color options will likely be on the table. The button placement is also familiar, but it’s unclear if Samsung has also moved things around with the biosensor assembly.
As per SamMobile, Samsung has started commercial sampling of its microLED display panels for smartwatches. The report comes following supply chain rumors that Apple was planning a microLED display upgrade for the Apple Watch. Ice Universe claims the screen size has also been upped to 1.47 inches, and that the resolution has increased accordingly.
The new chip is rumored to bring a 10% boost in performance generation over generation. It is also said to be based on the newer 5nm fabrication node, which means more firepower under the hood and improved battery efficiency — something modern-day smartwatches direly need. For the Galaxy Watch 6’s larger 44mm variant, Samsung is going with a 425mAh battery, slightly bigger than the 410mAh battery pack inside the Galaxy Watch 5. There is no word if a similar battery capacity boost is also in the pipeline for the pricier Classic model, but it would definitely be an engineering challenge to fit a larger battery while also accommodating a rotating physical bezel.
Google is also shipping a new watch face editor as part of Wear OS 4 that offers a deeper scope of customization to users. Samsung has already released a new version of Watch Face Studio where you can create a watch face without any coding experience whatsoever. On its own end, Samsung has already announced a new One UI 5 for Watch tricks like improved sleep tracking, Personalized Heart Rate Zones, and fall detection SOS alerts. The Galaxy Watch 6 will hit the shelves running this new experience atop Wear OS 4’s foundations.
What we want to see in the Galaxy Watch 6 Bring back the rotating bezel There is no dearth of smartwatches out there, both below and above the price tag that Samsung commands. The same goes for the capabilities related to tracking and sensing, where Apple appears to be a step ahead of Samsung. But one area where Samsung has remained untouched is the excellent physical rotating bezel that offered an extremely convenient and intuitive way of interacting with the UI.