A new Samsung Galaxy Watch is due to be released later this year, although we do not know if it will be the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 or a next generation Galaxy Watch Active. However, we have some recent leaks that allow us to know the basic features of the smartwatch.
According to a tweet from IceUniverse, which provides a good amount of leaks from Samsung, the next Galaxy Watch will replace Tizen with Android. This means that Galaxy Watches may be moving from Samsung’s exclusive wearable operating system to the Google Wear operating system.
Wear OS (formerly Android Wear) is popular with smaller smartwatch manufacturers such as Fossil, Huawei and TicWatch. But, historically, devices running on Wear OS lacked powerful processors and advanced fitness tracking features offered by Apple with watchOS and Samsung with Tizen OS.
That said, Samsung may be working with Google to make Wear OS more efficient. If that is the case, the next Samsung Galaxy Watch would be the most relevant Wear OS smartwatch ever released. In addition, it would make the Galaxy Watch more attractive to Pixel smartphone users, who are still waiting for a Google Pixel Watch.
How many new Galaxy watches are on the way?
Another leak from SamMobile, a trusted source in all things at Samsung, suggests that at least two new Galaxy watches should be launched this year. GalaxyClub discovered products under development labeled SM-R86x and SM-R87x, which correspond to the labels used for last year’s Samsung Galaxy Watch 3.
While these codes may imply two different smartwatch models, they probably refer to two different sizes for the same smartwatch, which is standard for Samsung wearables. The Galaxy Watch 3 came in 41 mm and 45 mm variants, for example. We also expect the line to offer LTE models.
Samsung’s next smartwatch (or smartwatches) will likely be launched alongside the new Galaxy smartphones at the next Unpacked event, although it is still too far to know which phones or when the event will take place. It is rumored that the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 will be the highlights of the event, possibly replacing the Note series.