Samsung went again to the drafting board with the Galaxy Watch 6 and returned with a fan-favorite characteristic, the bodily rotating bezel. This 12 months there are two fashions, however just one has the bezel: the aluminum Galaxy Watch 6 and chrome steel, bezel-bearing Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. The watches arrive Aug. 11, introduced alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 5, Z Flip 5 and Tab S9 pill revealed on the Galaxy Unpacked occasion in Seoul on Wednesday. 

Both share the identical sensors as final 12 months’s Galaxy Watch 5, however have a larger battery and bigger screens. While the brand new watches have incremental updates general, the return of the bezel that was final seen on 2021’s Galaxy Watch 4 Classic could also be sufficient to persuade house owners of earlier watches to improve. Samsung’s rugged, open air watch, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, stays within the lineup.

The Galaxy Watch 6 sequence launches at a pivotal time for Android smartwatches, with extra competitors than ever. Google’s Pixel Watch made its debut in 2022 and whereas its battery life wasn’t good, its slick design paired with Fitbit’s health monitoring finesse helped it set the usual. Then there’s the Ticwatch Pro 5, which doubles down on battery life and beats out the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic on value at $350. Like all Galaxy Watches because the sequence 4, the Galaxy Watch 6 is Android-only. 

Watch this: Samsung Unveils Galaxy Watch 6 Series at Unpacked in Seoul

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The bezel is again!

After listening to followers sad on the rotating bezel’s absence on the Galaxy Watch 5, Samsung introduced it again on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. The bezel is a bodily navigation ring across the display screen. You use it with the touchscreen to change between menus and alter settings. Or, when you’re like me, you additionally take pleasure in listening to and feeling a satisfying click on as you utilize it as a fidget spinner. 

The rotating bezel is a flagship design characteristic that is synonymous with the Galaxy Watch line since its inception and one thing that units it aside from different smartwatches. Last 12 months’s Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro eliminated the bezel altogether, changing it with a contact bezel that responded to your finger shifting across the fringe of the watch. And we weren’t joyful.

Its return on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic does not carry any new performance. I’m glad to see it again regardless. It is barely thinner than the bezel on the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.

Both sizes of the Galaxy Watch 6 will get barely bigger and better decision screens than the Galaxy Watch 5. The smaller 40mm Watch 6 and 43mm Classic have 1.3-inch shows, whereas the 44mm Watch 6 and 47mm Classic have 1.5-inch shows.

With a most brightness of two,000 nits, the screens are twice as vibrant as final 12 months’s fashions. Samsung has added an always-on brightness adjustment that ought to aid you be capable of see the display screen higher in daylight. That was certainly one of my large complaints from reviewing the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. They additionally each get Samsung’s personal Exynos W930 processor, an improve from the Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 4, which used the identical Exynos W920 chip.

Galaxy Watch 6 value: Just a little greater than final 12 months

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 6 begins at $300 (£289, AU$549) for the smaller 40mm dimension and $330 (£319, AU$599) for the bigger 44mm dimension, $20 greater than the preliminary base value for the Galaxy Watch 5. The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic begins at $400 (£369, AU$699) for the small and $430 (£399, AU$749) for the massive. There are additionally 4G LTE variants of every watch. Samsung presents trade-in reductions as much as $250 via its trade-in program and preorders via Samsung direct will get a material band with both watch. 

Battery life: Ever so barely larger

Samsung claims all Galaxy Watch 6 variations ought to final the identical: 40 hours with the always-on show off and 30 hours with it on, whatever the dimension you select. Both the common Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic variations have the identical battery, with the massive dimension at 425 mAh and the small at 300 mAh. This is marginally larger than the capability quoted on the Galaxy 5 sequence. In principle, the bigger capability ought to web barely longer battery life, however the actual proof is in testing.

In my Galaxy Watch 5 assessment, I famous the smaller 40mm watch lasted 24 hours with the always-on show turned off — I wasn’t in a position to check the 44mm model. The Watch 5 Pro is staying within the Galaxy Watch lineup and nonetheless has the biggest battery general at 590 mAh. I discovered it lasted two-and-a-half days with reasonable use and it is nonetheless the one to get when you want the longest-lasting watch.

Both new watches share the identical sensor configuration because the Watch 5 sequence. That consists of coronary heart fee, pores and skin temperature and bioimpedance (physique composition) sensors. They run WearOS 4, the working system co-designed with Samsung and Google, alongside Samsung’s One UI 5 Watch that powers extra in-depth sleep insights, personalised coronary heart fee zones throughout exercises and an SOS replace to ship your location to emergency companies. It’s value noting the One UI 5 Watch replace will come to the Galaxy Watch 5 and 4 later this 12 months and is presently accessible in beta for these units.

When paired with a Z Fold 5 or Z Flip 5 utilizing Flex mode, the Galaxy Watch 6 gives you a notification to launch the digicam app so you may management picture and video recording to take selfies or group pictures. It will even provide you with zoom and digicam angle controls from the wrist.

What else is new on the Galaxy Watch 6?

• Irregular coronary heart fee notifications.
• A brand new observe run exercise kind and the choice to create customized exercises.
• Smart Things Find locates your cellphone from the watch even when it isn’t linked, utilizing GPS to find out its final location.
• Business customers can arrange a watch independently, with out a cellphone.
• Moving to a new cellphone not requires you to reset the watch and begin from scratch.
• Physical watch buttons are constructed from recycled plastic.
• New watch bands: material, a redesigned Milanese loop and excessive sports activities band, plus a hybrid eco band constructed from industrial corn.