The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is one of the best smartwatches and the best Wear OS watches you can strap on, and while at first glance it didn’t seem all that different from the Galaxy Watch 6, it brought some improvements in a number of key areas welcome improvements.
We know Samsung likes to roll out annual updates to its Galaxy Watch series, and with the Galaxy Watch Ultra turning heads last year, we hope 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 can see it.
When will the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 be released?
Unsurprisingly, Samsung hasn’t yet announced any details about when the Galaxy Watch 8 will launch, so the best way to get an indication of that launch is to look at when previous Galaxy Watches have landed.
If Samsung follows suit for the Galaxy Watch 8, we could be looking at one July 2025 launch.
The Galaxy Watch 7 was officially announced on July 10, 2024 before going on sale weeks later on July 24 alongside the Galaxy Watch Ultra.
There’s no suggestion yet that Samsung will deviate from that approach, but with it being so early in the year and with Samsung Unpacked events coming up, we expect to get a better idea of when that new watch will arrive in the coming months.
How much will the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 cost?
As with the launch date, we’re playing a guessing game on price and need to look at the Galaxy Watch 7’s pricing approach to get an idea of what’s to come.
The Galaxy Watch 7 costs exactly the same as the Galaxy Watch 6, with prices ranging from £289/$299 to £319/$329 for the larger 44mm variant of the Watch 7. Adding LTE connectivity to the mix , an additional £50/$50 will be added to the price.
In smartwatch terms, the Watch 7’s launch prices were 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 honestly fallen in price since launch.
We expect Samsung won’t want to deviate too much from that pricing approach, although this could be guided by what it wants to offer on the Galaxy Watch 8, which we’ll get to next.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
What specifications and features will the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 have?
Until Samsung announces these official details, it’s all about delving into the rumors and speculation to get an idea of what the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 has in store.
The Classic is back
When Samsung launched the Galaxy Watch 7, Samsung decided not to offer a Classic version, leaving out a bezel-dominating model for those who aren’t fans of the more streamlined, minimalist look of the standard Galaxy Watch.
Samsung
It looks like the Classic Galaxy Watch 8 could be a thing, as site Smartprix has spied the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic name listed in the GSMA database next to the model number SM-L505U. That database contains details of serial numbers linked to mobile devices, so this could be a good indication that the classic is coming back.
A square Galaxy Watch
A more radical design change could be on the horizon for the next Galaxy Watch, with reports from March 2024 from Sammobile that Samsung plans to return to its square smartwatch roots.
For those who have forgotten those early Samsung smartwatch days, Samsung launched the Galaxy Gear, Gear 2 and Wear OS packaging Gear Live with squarer cases.
The arrival of the Galaxy Watch Ultra is already a strong indication that Samsung is once again willing to play with its watch designs, so we wouldn’t be surprised at all if a twisty Galaxy Watch 8 is in the offing.
Impressive blood pressure monitoring
Samsung was one of the first to introduce blood pressure monitoring capabilities on its smartwatches, allowing you to measure blood pressure directly from the watch (after being calibrated by a traditional monitor). A patent filed by Samsung and spotted by Wareable suggests that Samsung wants to improve its blood pressure monitoring powers.
The filing outlines the use of a more advanced blood pressure setup that will be able to continuously monitor blood pressure and detect when you have been drinking alcohol, exercising or holding your breath. This can help determine the impact of these and other activities 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 further expand the capabilities of a Samsung smartwatch wrist.
Things we want to see from the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8
So we’ve told you what the rumor mill is currently churning out, but if it were up to us, what would be on our wish list for the Samsung Galaxy 8?
This is what we hope for.
Better battery life
This might be true for the last few Galaxy Watches, but we haven’t really seen the improvement in Galaxy Watch battery life that we would have liked to see. Whether you use it with raise to wake or with the screen always on, the battery life of the Galaxy Watch 7 simply had to be better.
We have now seen, especially from the TicWatches from OnePlus and Mobvoi, that the battery life of WearOS smartwatches does not have to be so disappointing. Improved battery performance would be 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 fine if you like the idea of wearing a very minimalist, lightweight smartwatch. We think it’s time to inject a little more personality into the design procedures.
A thinner design is always welcome, but something that helps the Galaxy Watch 8 stand out from the smartwatch crowd would be welcome too. Bringing back the Classic would be one way to do that, but since we haven’t played with that Watch look in a few years, we’d like to see something a little bolder, like we got with the Galaxy Watch Ultra.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
A GPS boost
One of the biggest differences between the Galaxy Watch 7 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra, aside from the obvious size difference and more rugged construction, was the accurate GPS system included on the Ultra.
Better known as dual-band GPS on other smartwatches and sports watches, this provides improved outdoor tracking when tracking activities that can typically interfere with satellite positioning signal strength.
We hope Samsung has found a way to bring this desirable feature for outdoor enthusiasts to its smaller Watch to improve its sports tracking credentials.
Bring back wireless Powershare
It was disappointing to discover that due to the changes Samsung made to the Galaxy Watch 7’s sensor array, it had to abandon the wireless powershare feature, which was perhaps one of the greatest reasons to own a Galaxy Watch over other smartwatches.
We hope that some work has been done to restore the function and provide owners of Samsung smartphones and watches with an alternative and very convenient way to power their smartwatch.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
Make health features available to everyone
This is probably wishful thinking, but we imagine there have been quite a few non-Samsung smartphone owners who have thought about letting the Galaxy Watch take advantage of the built-in ECG and blood pressure features, only to find that you must use a Samsung smartphone to use them.
It seems unlikely that Samsung will change its position on that support, but if it did, it would increase the appeal of grabbing a Galaxy Watch knowing you can use it to its full potential.
