14 DAY TRIAL // August 5 is going to be a big day for Samsung, as the South Korean company will take the wraps off several new-generation devices, including not only the Galaxy Note20 that everybody is waiting for but also the all-new Galaxy Watch 3.
A rival to the Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 will be the company’s latest and greatest wearable device that’s supposed to refresh its push in the marketing business.
And as a result, the Galaxy Watch 3 will introduce a series of upgrades that Samsung hopes would convince more people to pay the price and purchase this new device. But while Samsung has tried to remain tight-lipped on everything related to this new smartwatch, some tidbits still reached the web through unofficial channels. And here’s everything we know so far.
Design
As far as the design is concerned, the Galaxy Watch will still use a circular display, just like its predecessor, so no change here. This means the Galaxy Watch will feel more like a traditional watch, which is something that makes the device overall feel more natural on the wrist.
The device will be available in two versions:
- 1.2-inch display (41mm)
- 1.4-inch display (45mm)
Both models, however, will come Samsung’s signature rotating bezel, a bezel that has temporarily been removed from the company’s watches, but which is now coming back on this new model.
The rotating bezel provides great feedback when used for browsing through menus, albeit in my time with Samsung’s previous smartwatches that came with such a feature, I found myself rarely using the whole thing. And it’s because swiping up and down in the menus somehow feels more natural, so instead of using the rotating bezel for browsing, you could very stick with the touch input.
The Galaxy Watch 3 will come with two side buttons and pressing both of them at the same time will allow users to take a screenshot of the screen.
As far as the UI is concerned, this is 100 percent Tizen. Those who have used a Galaxy Watch before will find the new-generation model rather familiar, which is actually a good thing because it’s easier to use it.
Hardware
When it comes to hardware, the Galaxy Watch 3 won’t come with massive improvements, but these aren’t even required in the first place. And this is because the previous Galaxy watches already came with pretty good specs too.
In addition to the improved displays with the sizes mentioned above, the Galaxy Watch 3 is expected to come with 1GB RAM and 8GB of storage. The latter should be enough for those who want to take the device out for a run and listen to music at the same time.
A GPS sensor will obviously be offered, and so will be an upgraded heart rate monitoring sensor whose purpose will also be to power a new ECG feature.
Gorilla Glass DX will make sure the screen is protected no matter what.
Features
The feature lineup is expected to receive some additions too, including the ECG support that I told you about earlier. This is likely to work similarly to the one on the Apple Watch.
Furthermore, given the Galaxy Watch 3 will come with an IP68 rating, there’s a good chance that Samsung will focus a bit more on activities like swimming. Better support for swimming is thus likely, so expect owners to be able to count laps, track burned calories, and even monitor the heart rate.
As a matter of fact, heart rate monitoring while swimming is something that’s not as easily achievable as you’d be tempted to believe, and it’s all because of the water that could get between the sensor and your skin. Apple Watch can track your heart rate while swimming, but Apple itself warns that accuracy might be impacted. Some Garmin watches don’t support heart rate while swimming at all for the very same reason.
The Galaxy Watch 3 will also come with a fall detection feature, again similarly to the one on the Apple Watch, but also with new gestures. For instance, answering a call will be possible by clenching and unclenching the wrist, while simply rotating the wrist will reject it.
These gestures will allow controlling features such a call without physical input, which given the health crisis, is something that certainly comes in handy.
The new watch is projected to be announced on August 5, with sales to start later the same month. I’m being told that August 21 could be the date when the first devices ship to buyers, but for now, no confirmation in this regard seems to exist.