Samsung Announces New Galaxy 8 Smartwatches, With a ‘Squircle’-Case Redesign

Tablets aren’t a competitive category. There are just iPads, and other tablets, none of which sell particularly well. You would think the same is true of smartwatches, but though the Apple Watch remains dominant, there’s a lot more diversity and competition in that space. And of all the companies to take a shot at the king, Samsung has got the closest.Their Galaxy Watch lineup are the best and best-selling smart watches that Apple doesn’t make, and with the new Galaxy Watch 8 lineup, they’ve only become more competitive.The lineup has three new versions: the Galaxy Watch 8, the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, and the Galaxy Watch Ultra, with prices starting at $349, $499, and $649, respectively. That sees a pretty noticebly price-jump for the Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic, but the Ultra stays as it was. That applies beyond the price though. Its new additions are a new blue color — matching that of the new Galaxy folding phones — and a jump in storage, from 32GB to 64GB. Otherwise, this is the same watch as before.Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 & and Watch 8 Classic. Courtesy of SamsungThe Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic are where the bigger changes have happened, with the most notable being the shape. Gone is the classic circular body, and in its place is a new ‘squirkle’ chassis. The screen is still circular, though, and the change means that the watches now have a marginally bigger battery, are 11 percent thinner, and use a new “Dynamic Lug” strap system, which makes the watch sit closer to the skin. That will make them more comfortable and should provide more accurate biometric readings.Otherwise, the build quality and core specs remain basically unchanged, albeit with a brighter screen now capable of 3,000 nits peak brightness, and the Classic now gets the shortcut button of the Ultra. The main difference between the two is that the Watch 8 is available in 40mm or 44mm sizes, with Bluetooth and LTE versions of each, whereas the Classic only comes in the 46mm size, and keeps the physical rotating bezel of previous generations. This is the best interface of any smartwatch, and more companies should use it.The other changes are to the software experience. These are the first watches to use Google’s new Wear OS 6 software, and the first to come with Google’s Gemini AI assistant available on watch. You can use it without carrying a phone, but the watch will need data or to be connected to a Wi-Fi network.In other features: the new Watch 8 line can give you an antioxidant index, by measuring the carotenoids in your blood when you place your thumb on the underside of the watch. To non-physicians: this will tell you if you’re eating enough fruit and vegetables for its standard, and it will probably tell you that you’re under. Without a lab and extensive testing, there’s no way for someone to test the reliability of measures like this, so I wouldn’t give it too much heed. The same is true for ‘vascular load during sleep,’ which these watches can measure. Theoretically, they let you know if you were experiencing physical stress during sleep, but again, this is practically impossible to verify, and of questionable practical value. Samsung Galaxy Watch 8. Courtesy of SamsungThe best new feature is the running coach. You put the watch on, run for 12 minutes, and it will put you into one of ten running tiers, which you can then move through. I’m curious how individuated that coaching will be, and how good its recommendations are, but it’s a great idea. Wearables need to embrace that people want to use their data to improve their lives, so more companies should focus on this sort of data-based coaching, rather than just adding chatbots to everything.Overall, it’s a technically minor but visually significant change, and, if nothing else, they keep Apple on their toes, to keep making the Apple Watch better. The Galaxy Watch 8 line is available for pre-order and will release on July 25th.

Samsung Announces New Galaxy 8 Smartwatches, With a ‘Squircle’-Case Redesign

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