The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is one of the best smartwatches and best Wear OS watches you can strap on, and while at first glance didn’t appear all that different from the Galaxy Watch 6, did bring some welcome improvements in some key areas.
We know that Samsung likes to roll out annual updates of its Galaxy Watch series and with the Galaxy Watch Ultra stealing a lot of the attention last year, we’re hoping there’ll be plenty of reasons to be excited about the Galaxy Watch 8.
Here’s what we know so far about Samsung’s next smartwatch and when we might see it.
When will the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 be released?
Unsurprisingly, Samsung hasn’t yet divulged any details on when the Galaxy Watch 8 will appear, so the best way to get an indication of that launch is to look at when previous Galaxy Watches landed
If Samsung follows suit for the Galaxy Watch 8, we could be looking at a July 2025 launch.
The Galaxy Watch 7 was officially announced on July 10th 2024 before going on sale weeks later on the 24th July alongside the Galaxy Watch Ultra.
There’s been no suggestion as yet that Samsung will shift from that approach, but as it’s so early in the year and there are impending Samsung Unpacked events, we expect to get a better idea of when that new watch is coming in the coming months.
How much will the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 cost?
Like a launch date, we’re very much playing a guessing game on price and should look to the Galaxy Watch 7 pricing approach to get a sense of what might be coming.
The Galaxy Watch 7 costs exactly the same as the Galaxy Watch 6 with pricing ranging from £289/$299 to £319/$329 for the larger 44mm variant of the Watch 7. Adding LTE connectivity into the mix put an extra £50/$50 onto the price.
In smartwatch terms, the Watch 7 launch pricing was very competitive making it one of the best-value smartwatches in that high-end smartwatch category. In Wear OS smartwatch terms, it was cheaper than the Pixel Watch 3 and Mobvoi’s TicWatch Pro 5, which has in fairness dropped in price since its launch.
We anticipate Samsung won’t look to deviate too much from that pricing approach, though it may be guided by what it chooses to offer on the Galaxy Watch 8, which we’ll get into next.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
What specs and features will the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 have?
Until Samsung dishes those official details out, it’s about digging into some of the rumour-mongering and speculation to get a sense of what the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 will be packing.
The Classic is back
When Samsung launched the Galaxy Watch 7, Samsung decided not to offer a Classic version and leave out a more bezel-dominating model for those who aren’t fans of the more streamlined, minimalist look of the standard Galaxy Watch.
Samsung
It seems the Classic Galaxy Watch 8 could be a thing as site Smartprix has spied the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic name mentioned in the GSMA database alongside the model number SM-L505U. That database holds details of serial numbers tied to mobile devices so could be a good indicator that the classic is coming back.
A square Galaxy Watch
A more radical design change could on the horizon for the next Galaxy Watch, with reports back in March 2024 from Sammobile that Samsung is planning to go back to its square smartwatch roots.
For those that have forgotten those early Samsung smartwatch days, Samsung launched the Galaxy Gear, Gear 2 and Wear OS-packing Gear Live with squarer cases.
The arrival of the Galaxy Watch Ultra is already a strong indication that Samsung is willing once again to play around with its watch designs, so we wouldn’t be at all surprised if a squircle Galaxy Watch 8 was in the offing.
Impressive blood pressure monitoring
Samsung was one of the first to introduce blood pressure monitoring capabilities to its smartwatches, letting you take blood pressure readings directly from the watch (once calibrated by a traditional monitor). A patent filed by Samsung and spotted by Wareable suggests Samsung is looking to enhance those blood pressure monitoring powers.
The filing outlines using a more advanced blood pressure setup that will be able to continuously monitor blood pressure and detect when you’ve been drinking alcohol, exercising or holding your breath. This could help to determine the impact of those activities and others on changes in your blood pressure.
Hannah Cowton-Barnes / Foundry
Samsung has already shown it can innovate on this front, but with others like Huawei already offering similar continuous blood pressure functionality, this could push what’s possible from the wrist from a Samsung smartwatch even further.
Things we want to see from the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8
So, we’ve told you what the rumour mill is throwing up right now, but if it was up to us, what would be on our wish list for the Samsung Galaxy 8?
Here’s what we’re hoping for.
Better battery life
This could be true of the last few Galaxy Watches, but we’ve not really seen the improvement in battery life on the Galaxy Watch that we’d like to have seen. Whether using it with raise to wake or the screen set to always-on, the battery life on the Galaxy Watch 7 just needed to be better.
We’ve now seen from OnePlus and Mobvoi’s TicWatches particularly that WearOS smartwatch battery life shouldn’t have to be this underwhelming. Improved battery performance would feature high on our list of things we want to see from the Galaxy Watch 8.
A more inventive design
Samsung has largely played it safe with the design of the last few Galaxy Watches, which is perfectly fine if you like the idea of wearing a very minimalist, lightweight smartwatch. We just think it’s time to inject a bit more personality into design proceedings.
A thinner design is always welcomed, but something that helps the Galaxy Watch 8 stand out from the smartwatch crowd would also be welcomed. Bringing back the Classic would be one way to do that, but having not toyed with that Watch look for a few years now, we’d like to see something a bit bolder like we got with the Galaxy Watch Ultra.
A GPS boost
One of the biggest differences between the Galaxy Watch 7 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra beyond the obvious size difference and more rugged build was the precision GPS system included on the Ultra.
This is more commonly known as dual-band GPS on other smartwatches and sports watches and offers improved outdoor tracking when tracking activities that can typically hamper satellite positioning signal strength.
We’re hoping that Samsung has found a way to bring this desirable feature for outdoor lovers to its smaller Watch to boost its sports tracking credentials.
Bring back Wireless Powershare
It was disappointing to discover that due to the changes Samsung made to the sensor array on the Galaxy Watch 7, it had to ditch its wireless powershare feature, which was arguably one of the nicest reasons to own a Galaxy Watch over other smartwatches.
Here’s hoping some work has been done to reinstate the feature and give Samsung smartphone and Watch owners an alternative and very convenient way to power up their smartwatch.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Make health features available for all
This is probably wishful thinking, but we imagine there have been a fair few non-Samsung smartphone owners that have weighed up getting the Galaxy Watch to make use of the onboard ECG and blood pressure features only to discover you have to use a Samsung smartphone to use them.
It feels unlikely that Samsung will alter its stance on that support, though if it did, it would widen the appeal of grabbing a Galaxy Watch if you know you can use it to its fullest capability.
