Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: The countdown to Unpacked is on

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 is expected to arrive in less than a day. Reports weren’t coming as quickly as they would be for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5, but we’ve got all the information we’re going to get ahead of Samsung’s big Unpacked event now. 

Fortunately, there are enough rumors – paired with our experience covering Samsung’s smartwatches in the past — to give us a rough idea of what we can expect from Samsung when it debuts its successors to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. 

Here, at a glance, is everything we know about the upcoming wearables, including all the leaks and rumors we’ve seen so far, and whether they are likely to merit inclusion on our best smartwatches list. 

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: Cut to the chase

•  What is it? Samsung’s 2023 generation of smartwatches 
•  When is it out? July 26
•  How much will it cost? Unknown, but it’ll probably see a small price increase from the Galaxy Watch 5 and 5 Pro. 

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: Price and release date

Samsung typically reveals the newest iterations of Galaxy Watches at the company’s Unpacked events, usually held in February and August. However, thanks to a leaked press release that has since been deleted, we now know that the summer Samsung Unpacked 2023 has been confirmed for Wednesday, July 26. Check out our guide on how to watch Samsung Unpacked here.

The leaked press release mentions Samsung’s “next generation of foldables”, likely the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5, but makes no mention of the watch. Nonetheless, the Unpacked event seems like the most likely place to reveal the Watch 6 range. Samsung’s teasing the event already with celebrity silhouettes to be revealed during the livestream – and what’s that on this mystery person’s wrist?

The watches are usually part of a whole slate of high-profile reveals, and this year is set to be no different – at Unpacked July 2023 we’re expecting to see the Galaxy Tab S9 alongside the watches and foldable phones. 

As for pricing, there have been no rumors suggesting anything about the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 yet. The previous models can be instructive in this area. Samsung priced the Galaxy Watch 5 at $279 / £299 / AU$499 and the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro at $499 / £429 / AU$799. Samsung raised the price of the S23 relative to the S23 in select regions, with the UK seeing rises of £80 for the base S23 and £100 for the S23 Plus, though prices remained the same for the US.  

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: Will there be Pro or Classic models?

Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy Watch 6 with the same original and Classic models as Samsung’s fourth-generation Galaxy Watch series. The fifth-gen Galaxy Watch series was comprised of the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro, but there’s no inkling of any Pro models this year. 

The company could continue the lineup it started with the previous iteration, but there has been no consistency from year to year. 

Tipster Ice Universe says that Samsung will be slimming down the bezel on the Watch 6 and bringing back the rotating crown that featured on the Watch 4 Classic with that. The Watch 6 has fewer rumors on what it’ll have, other than a slightly larger battery. 

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: News and leaks

With the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 not too far off, Tottenham Hotspur soccer star Son Heung-min has been spotted with the Classic version of the watch on his wrist –a snap that may well have been coordinated by Samsung’s marketing team.

Early rumors suggested Samsung would launch two watches, the Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Pro, with the latter is gaining the rotating bezel Samsung left behind with the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. While we don’t have any reports of pricing, Samsung could raise the price  of the Galaxy Watch in parts of Europe, judging by the S23 price rises.

More recent leaks suggest the names will be the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and the more expensive Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, with the returning bezel. Promotional images of both models have now leaked out – we’ve included a selection of them below.

 There is one additional report claiming that Samsung will be bringing a new Exynos W980 processor to the Watch 6 series. This is an update over the W920 that the previous two generations are equipped with – it’s expected to come with a 10% power increase and boosted battery life as a result of the chipset’s improved efficiency.  

That battery life is absolutely key, as it’ll be instrumental during GPS-tracking activity such as runs, rides and swims, which tends to eat battery life more quickly. This is the first time the Watch 6 Pro is entering an arena fighting for space against not just the best Garmin watches, but the Apple Watch Ultra too, and it’ll need all the help it can get. 

Samsung’s operating system for these watches will be WearOS 4, wrapped in Samsung’s One UI Watch 5 skin. It’s also coming to older watches, bringing them new goodies such as an expanded on-watch Samsung wallet, Whatsapp independent of your phone, and Thermo check, which measures the temperatures of your surroundings. Everyone loves free stuff.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: What we want to see

 A Galaxy Watch 6 Ultra 

Apple may have launched its Apple Watch Ultra model first, but Samsung has debuted Ultra models for phones, tablets, and even its laptops. The company’s hardware prowess is one of the best in the business, and it would be great to see it create something as insanely specced out as the Apple Watch 9 Ultra (and it would fit well on our best smartwatch list to boot). 

 Improved Software  

Samsung’s OneUI Watch, based off of Google’s Wear OS 3, is pretty good on its own, However, there’s been a lack of third-party apps like Starbucks and Delta. Samsung has been pretty good at securing brand partnerships for its tablets, see Lumafusion and the Galaxy Tab S8. It would be great if the company used its brand cachet to lure more and more popular apps to the Galaxy Watch 6 and (tentative) 6 Pro/Classic this August.