The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is likely to land later this year – probably alongside a Galaxy Watch 7 Pro or a Galaxy Watch 7 Classic – and these wearables could be the best smartwatches of the year.
Certainly, they’re the most likely to worry Apple and its upcoming Apple Watch 10, as they’re sure to be similarly premium and similarly packed with health and fitness features.
We haven’t heard much about the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 line yet, but you’ll find all the credible leaks and rumors that we have heard below, along with an educated guess at when these watches will be released, and then a wish list of what we most want from them.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The next Samsung smartwatch
- When is it out? Probably July
- How much will it cost? Likely at least $299.99 / £289 / AU$549
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: expected release date and price
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 was announced in late July last year, and shipped in mid-August, while the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 was announced in mid-August the year before, and shipped in late August, as did the Galaxy Watch 4 the year before that.
So based on past form the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 will almost certainly ship in August, and it will probably either be announced on July 10, if the rumors are to be believed – at the same event as the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6.
There’s no word yet on what the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 might cost, but the Galaxy Watch 6 starts at $299.99 / £289 / AU$549. So we’d expect the Galaxy Watch 7 will cost at least that much, with prices rising for larger sizes or LTE.
We’ll probably see a Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 Pro or Watch 7 Classic too, and that will likely cost at least as much as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, meaning upwards of $399.99 / £369 / AU$699.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: news and leaks
There aren’t many Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 leaks yet, but according to the South Korean site New Daily, this wearable will be equipped with a new 3nm (nanometer) chipset.
Smaller numbers are better here, and for reference, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 uses a 5nm chipset. Interestingly, even the Samsung Galaxy S24 line only uses 4nm chipsets, so in a sense that would mean the Galaxy Watch 7 could leapfrog Samsung’s top phones.
That’s not to say it will be more powerful, since the chipsets used in wearables are by their very nature not as powerful as smartphone chipsets, but it could make for a significant upgrade in power compared to the Galaxy Watch 6 as well as potentially being more power efficient, thereby leading to better battery life.
Beyond that, PCMag reports that it was told by Samsung that new Pro and Classic models will be released in alternating years. So in other words, since we got a Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic model last year, we’ll probably see a Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 Pro this year, alongside the standard version. We’re also likely to get a cheaper version based on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4.
The Pro model will likely lack the rotating bezel of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic but may be a better fit for outdoor enthusiasts, with a potentially bigger battery, a rugged build, and outdoor-focused features. The cheaper model has been referred to as the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE and Watch 4 (2024), so if this prediction does come true, it’ll be interesting to see what naming convention it goes with.
We’ve also seen the watch show up at regulators in the US, a sure sign that a device exists and that a launch is probably coming soon.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7: what we want to see
While we don’t yet know much about the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, we do know what we want from it, including the following things.
1. Better battery life
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic don’t have bad battery life by any means, but neither model reliably lasts much beyond a day, so they still require fairly frequent charging. That’s all the more frustrating given that sleep tracking is a major feature of them – so they’re devices you’ll ideally want to wear 24/7.
So for the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, we want to see a boost to battery life. That might be tricky since space for a larger battery is limited, but Samsung could improve the efficiency of the device, especially if it has a new chipset as has been rumored.
2. No need for a Samsung phone
Technically you can use a Galaxy Watch with just about any Android phone, but some of the features require a Samsung phone.
These include the ECG and blood pressure monitoring, so you miss out on some of the more advanced health features of the wearable.
That makes these wearables far less appealing if you don’t have a Samsung phone, and means you might feel locked into Samsung’s ecosystem once you’ve purchased one (as is presumably the idea). It’s not a very consumer friendly approach though, so we’d like for every feature of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 to be supported by every recent Android phone.
3. A rotating bezel on at least one model
One of our favourite Galaxy Watch features is the rotating bezel that you get on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. It feels much nicer to use than a digital bezel, and it looks good too.
But the Galaxy Watch 5 line didn’t include a model with a rotating bezel, so there’s a chance the Galaxy Watch 7 line won’t either – especially as one rumor suggests Samsung will launch a Pro rather than a Classic model this year.
We hope then that whatever Galaxy Watch 7 models there are, at least one of them does have a rotating bezel.
4. Both Pro and Classic options
On a similar note, we’d like to see both a Galaxy Watch 7 Classic and a Galaxy Watch 7 Pro. That way not only is a rotating bezel all but guaranteed, there’s also a more outdoorsy option in the Pro for those who value that over the classy yet chunky stylings of the Classic model.
The Pro and Classic lines appeal to different people and different use cases, so getting a new version of both would be desirable.
5. More storage
With the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, you get just 16GB of storage, while rival devices like the Google Pixel Watch 2 come with double that at 32GB, and the Apple Watch 9 comes with 64GB.
Now, smartwatches don’t need as much storage as smartphones, but having more does mean you can install more apps, watch faces, and music on them. Samsung is a long way behind its main rivals here, so we’d like to see at least 32GB of storage in the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7.
+ There are no comments
Add yours