Like clockwork — sorry, sorry, I’m sorry — Samsung’s returned yet again to its Unpacked stage with a slate of new gadgets ready to beg for your wallet. Alongside a crop of three new foldables, both the standard Galaxy Watch series and the Galaxy Watch Active are getting new hardware, and while not a massive leap over last generation, it’s sounding like a pretty promising package.
Let’s get this out of the way from the jump: neither the Galaxy Watch 9 nor the Galaxy Watch Active 2 feature new designs (though both have their own respective minute changes, like a slimmer chassis on the Ultra). That makes sense, considering the Watch 8 received an Active-inspired redesign last year, but if you were hoping Samsung would ditch its current squircle obsession, you’ll need to look elsewhere. Aside from a revised (either new or upgraded) collection of bands — including Marine, PeakForm, and Trail, each sold separately — you’ve seen these watches before.
Both smartwatches make the jump to Snapdragon Wear Elite, leaving behind Exynos for the time being. It’s not entirely clear how this change will impact daily performance or battery life, but it’s not necessarily bad news. The Watch Ultra 2 has a slightly larger 1.52-inch display with an incredible 5,000 nits of max brightness, while the Watch 9 remains unchanged between both sizes. All three models are also getting larger batteries — 800mAh on the Ultra 2, 390mAh and 445mAh on the 40mm and 44mm Watch 9 sizes, respectively — though only the first two present any noticeable improvement compared to their predecessors.
