First Impressions
There’s no big headline feature this year and I must admit that I prefer the look and the rotating bezel of the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, but the Watch 6 is still shaping up to be an accomplished wearable for Android users.
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Two size optionsThe Watch 6 is available in 40 and 44mm sizes -
Updated internalsFast clock speed and more memory should lead to a speedier experience -
Wear OSGoogle’s Wear OS 4 software with the OneUI overlay on top
Pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is available to pre-order at Samsung.
Introduction
Launching alongside the latest duo of foldables, Samsung’s 2023 smartwatch is the Galaxy Watch 6 and it wants the Apple Watch 8’s best smartwatch crown more than ever.
While it’s the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic that stands out thanks to the returning physical rotating bezel, the standard Watch 6 – upon first impressions garnered at a briefing and hands-on sessions ahead of the launch – is a modest upgrade to a good wearable.
There’s not one headline feature here, instead there’s a selection of improvements across the board and the addition of some features that Apple Watch wearers will already be familiar with.
Design and Screen
- Two sizes, 40 and 44mm
- OLED circular display with capacitive bezel and sapphire crystal coating
- Graphite, silver and gold colours
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 looks very much like the past few wearables from the company. That’s hardly a surprise – these sorts of devices rarely get wholesale visual changes and the Galaxy Watch range is generally good-looking.
There have been a few tweaks this time around. While there are still two sizes (40mm and 44mm) the display is slightly larger thanks to a 30% slimmer bezel. It’s also very slightly lighter, though holding the two models next to each other I couldn’t really notice any difference – neither could I when they were both sitting on my wrist.
Three colours will be available at launch – graphite, silver and gold – although the gold is exclusive to the larger model and the silver to the smaller one. All three colours are fairly subtle and none offer too much personality – although that can of course be added with the variety of customisable straps, which now include a sport fabric variant. Still, the option of a brighter colour or the lovely Mint finish of the Z Flip 5 would have added an extra bit of style.
Both have Samsung’s durable Armour aluminium case and 5ATM, IP68 and MIL-STD-810 ratings for water and dust protection. This is a watch that can be worn whilst swimming and we’ve found previous versions to be very durable, so all signs point to that being the case again.
Samsung has always gone for a design that tries to mimic that of a traditional watch, giving it a very different overall look than the more tech-inspired Apple Watch. The Watch 6 retains the circular OLED display of its predecessor (though upping the size from 1.4 to 1.5-inches) and a slightly higher 480×480 (44mm) or 432×432(40mm) resolution. It’s a sharp, bright and easily readable display – although I will need to spend more time with it in even sunnier conditions to see how well it’ll cope outdoors.
Circling the display is a capacitive bezel that can be used as an alternative method of interacting with the watch. You can roll your finger around the small black bezel to scroll through the multiple homescreens, app lists and the clock face selection screen. It is fairly responsive too, although it does take a little adjustment, especially if you’re used to smartwatches that focus on touchscreen interaction. I much prefer the physical rotating bezel found on the Watch 6 Classic, but the smart haptics that add subtle vibrations as you run your finger across help make it feel nice to use.
Features and Fitness Tracking
- BioActive sensor
- Exynos W930 chipset, 2GB RAM
- Temperature sensor
Samsung has beefed up a few of the internal components powering the Galaxy Watch 6, switching to the newer Exynos W930 chip (Samsung claimed this offers an 18% improvement in the clock speed) and upping the memory from 1.5GB to 2GB. During my brief time with the watch, it felt fast, though I’d expect that from a demo and we’ll need to further test it to see whether these upgrades make a noticeable difference.
Of course, the big pull for many of these wearables is for fitness, wellbeing and sleep tracking. While there aren’t any wholesale changes for the Watch 6, there have been a number of smaller tweaks.
Just like the last few iterations of Apple’s WatchOS, there’s more focus on sleep tracking with your skin temperature tracked overnight, alongside sleep stages, optional sleep coaching, snore detection and a sleep score that uses cute animated animals to showcase the quality of your slumber.
The skin temperate sensor – which was mostly dormant in the Watch 5 – is also now used for menstrual cycle tracking and prediction which is a very welcome addition that has become a little more commonplace in the competition. Personalised heart rate zones have been added too and both high heart rate alerts and the automatic dialling of emergency services when a fall has been detected are also great to see.
The majority of the fitness skill comes from the BioActive sensor – which combines an optical heart sensor, bioelectrical impedance analysis and more to try and give a full view of your movement and health. Our reviewer of the Watch 5 was a big fan of the accurate data given by the BioActive sensor, so with the selection of upgrades here it looks like Samsung could be onto another winner.
Samsung switched over to the Wear OS software, as opposed to its in-house Tizen alternative, a few years ago and it remains here. Wear OS 4 – with Samsung’s OneUI 5 Watch overlay on the top is great, combining Google services like Calendar and Gmail with Samsung services like Wallet, Camera Controller and Find My Phone. One new software feature will detect when you’re near a running track and offer to map out a route for your run.
There are numerous new watch faces this time around, varying from info-dense ones to more fun alternatives. The selection is wide, but none of them quite catch my eye as much as they do on the Pixel Watch.
Battery Life
- Small battery upgrades, Samsung claims 40 hours
- Fast charging
There’s been a slight battery size increase with the Watch 6, although I can’t imagine it’ll drastically increase the endurance considering the numbers haven’t grown that much.
The 44mm now has a 425mAh cell, while the smaller 40mm model has a 300mAh cell. As a comparison, the Watch 5 44mm had a 410mAh cell and the 40mm 284mAh.
Our reviewer praised the battery life of the 44mm Watch 5, especially when the always-on display was turned off. He said, “I was able to get through a near 47-hour 20-minute stint before the battery dropped to 5%, requiring a top-up. Given that this test involved multiple tracked workouts, including one 30-minute walk with GPS enabled, that’s a seriously impressive result against the 18-hour battery life of the Apple Watch 7.” If that extra battery size improves performance with the always-on display on then the benefits will be notable.
Pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is available to pre-order at Samsung.
Early Thoughts
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 40mm starts at £289, which is a £20 bump on the £269 starting price of the Watch 5.
Price rises have been commonplace on big tech items in the past year, so a slight rise was always expected even if it’s never welcome. The 44mm starts at £319. There are cellular options too that work even when not connected to a phone, the 40mm version will cost £339, while the 44mm is £369.
There’s no big headline feature this year and I must admit that I prefer the look and the rotating bezel of the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, but the Watch 6 is still shaping up to be an accomplished wearable for Android users. It takes one of the best smartwatches from 2022, adds in a bigger battery, bigger screen and speeds things up a bit.
There might not be enough for those to upgrade from the Watch 5, but if you’re picking up the Z Fold 5 or Z Flip 5 then this looks to be a strong companion.
Pre-orders start today (July 26) with sales beginning August 11.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Specs
First Impressions
There’s no big headline feature this year and I must admit that I prefer the look and the rotating bezel of the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, but the Watch 6 is still shaping up to be an accomplished wearable for Android users.
-
Two size optionsThe Watch 6 is available in 40 and 44mm sizes -
Updated internalsFast clock speed and more memory should lead to a speedier experience -
Wear OSGoogle’s Wear OS 4 software with the OneUI overlay on top
Pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is available to pre-order at Samsung.
Introduction
Launching alongside the latest duo of foldables, Samsung’s 2023 smartwatch is the Galaxy Watch 6 and it wants the Apple Watch 8’s best smartwatch crown more than ever.
While it’s the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic that stands out thanks to the returning physical rotating bezel, the standard Watch 6 – upon first impressions garnered at a briefing and hands-on sessions ahead of the launch – is a modest upgrade to a good wearable.
There’s not one headline feature here, instead there’s a selection of improvements across the board and the addition of some features that Apple Watch wearers will already be familiar with.
Design and Screen
- Two sizes, 40 and 44mm
- OLED circular display with capacitive bezel and sapphire crystal coating
- Graphite, silver and gold colours
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 looks very much like the past few wearables from the company. That’s hardly a surprise – these sorts of devices rarely get wholesale visual changes and the Galaxy Watch range is generally good-looking.
There have been a few tweaks this time around. While there are still two sizes (40mm and 44mm) the display is slightly larger thanks to a 30% slimmer bezel. It’s also very slightly lighter, though holding the two models next to each other I couldn’t really notice any difference – neither could I when they were both sitting on my wrist.
Three colours will be available at launch – graphite, silver and gold – although the gold is exclusive to the larger model and the silver to the smaller one. All three colours are fairly subtle and none offer too much personality – although that can of course be added with the variety of customisable straps, which now include a sport fabric variant. Still, the option of a brighter colour or the lovely Mint finish of the Z Flip 5 would have added an extra bit of style.
Both have Samsung’s durable Armour aluminium case and 5ATM, IP68 and MIL-STD-810 ratings for water and dust protection. This is a watch that can be worn whilst swimming and we’ve found previous versions to be very durable, so all signs point to that being the case again.
Samsung has always gone for a design that tries to mimic that of a traditional watch, giving it a very different overall look than the more tech-inspired Apple Watch. The Watch 6 retains the circular OLED display of its predecessor (though upping the size from 1.4 to 1.5-inches) and a slightly higher 480×480 (44mm) or 432×432(40mm) resolution. It’s a sharp, bright and easily readable display – although I will need to spend more time with it in even sunnier conditions to see how well it’ll cope outdoors.
Circling the display is a capacitive bezel that can be used as an alternative method of interacting with the watch. You can roll your finger around the small black bezel to scroll through the multiple homescreens, app lists and the clock face selection screen. It is fairly responsive too, although it does take a little adjustment, especially if you’re used to smartwatches that focus on touchscreen interaction. I much prefer the physical rotating bezel found on the Watch 6 Classic, but the smart haptics that add subtle vibrations as you run your finger across help make it feel nice to use.
Features and Fitness Tracking
- BioActive sensor
- Exynos W930 chipset, 2GB RAM
- Temperature sensor
Samsung has beefed up a few of the internal components powering the Galaxy Watch 6, switching to the newer Exynos W930 chip (Samsung claimed this offers an 18% improvement in the clock speed) and upping the memory from 1.5GB to 2GB. During my brief time with the watch, it felt fast, though I’d expect that from a demo and we’ll need to further test it to see whether these upgrades make a noticeable difference.
Of course, the big pull for many of these wearables is for fitness, wellbeing and sleep tracking. While there aren’t any wholesale changes for the Watch 6, there have been a number of smaller tweaks.
Just like the last few iterations of Apple’s WatchOS, there’s more focus on sleep tracking with your skin temperature tracked overnight, alongside sleep stages, optional sleep coaching, snore detection and a sleep score that uses cute animated animals to showcase the quality of your slumber.
The skin temperate sensor – which was mostly dormant in the Watch 5 – is also now used for menstrual cycle tracking and prediction which is a very welcome addition that has become a little more commonplace in the competition. Personalised heart rate zones have been added too and both high heart rate alerts and the automatic dialling of emergency services when a fall has been detected are also great to see.
The majority of the fitness skill comes from the BioActive sensor – which combines an optical heart sensor, bioelectrical impedance analysis and more to try and give a full view of your movement and health. Our reviewer of the Watch 5 was a big fan of the accurate data given by the BioActive sensor, so with the selection of upgrades here it looks like Samsung could be onto another winner.
Samsung switched over to the Wear OS software, as opposed to its in-house Tizen alternative, a few years ago and it remains here. Wear OS 4 – with Samsung’s OneUI 5 Watch overlay on the top is great, combining Google services like Calendar and Gmail with Samsung services like Wallet, Camera Controller and Find My Phone. One new software feature will detect when you’re near a running track and offer to map out a route for your run.
There are numerous new watch faces this time around, varying from info-dense ones to more fun alternatives. The selection is wide, but none of them quite catch my eye as much as they do on the Pixel Watch.
Battery Life
- Small battery upgrades, Samsung claims 40 hours
- Fast charging
There’s been a slight battery size increase with the Watch 6, although I can’t imagine it’ll drastically increase the endurance considering the numbers haven’t grown that much.
The 44mm now has a 425mAh cell, while the smaller 40mm model has a 300mAh cell. As a comparison, the Watch 5 44mm had a 410mAh cell and the 40mm 284mAh.
Our reviewer praised the battery life of the 44mm Watch 5, especially when the always-on display was turned off. He said, “I was able to get through a near 47-hour 20-minute stint before the battery dropped to 5%, requiring a top-up. Given that this test involved multiple tracked workouts, including one 30-minute walk with GPS enabled, that’s a seriously impressive result against the 18-hour battery life of the Apple Watch 7.” If that extra battery size improves performance with the always-on display on then the benefits will be notable.
Pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is available to pre-order at Samsung.
Early Thoughts
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 40mm starts at £289, which is a £20 bump on the £269 starting price of the Watch 5.
Price rises have been commonplace on big tech items in the past year, so a slight rise was always expected even if it’s never welcome. The 44mm starts at £319. There are cellular options too that work even when not connected to a phone, the 40mm version will cost £339, while the 44mm is £369.
There’s no big headline feature this year and I must admit that I prefer the look and the rotating bezel of the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, but the Watch 6 is still shaping up to be an accomplished wearable for Android users. It takes one of the best smartwatches from 2022, adds in a bigger battery, bigger screen and speeds things up a bit.
There might not be enough for those to upgrade from the Watch 5, but if you’re picking up the Z Fold 5 or Z Flip 5 then this looks to be a strong companion.
Pre-orders start today (July 26) with sales beginning August 11.
