GoKawiilTL;DR Samsung is formally launching its latest smartwatches, the 40mm and 44mm Galaxy Watch 9, and 47mm Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.
This generation, Samsung moves to a Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear Elite chip for up to 32% better performance.
The Watch Ultra 2 sets some new bests for Samsung’s wearables, including an 800mAh battery and 5,000 nits max screen brightness.
Samsung’s latest hardware is finally official, and alongside the new foldables led by the extra-wide Galaxy Z Fold 8, we’re also meeting the very latest entries in Samsung’s growing smartwatch lineup with the launch of the Galaxy Watch 9 and the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.
While last year brought us the Galaxy Watch 8 alongside the Watch 8 Classic and only a slightly refreshed Watch Ultra, this year Samsung’s skipping the Classic entirely and actually giving us a proper Ultra sequel. Let’s take a look at all this new hardware, and exactly what you should expect from it!
Samsung Galaxy Watch 9
Zac Kew-Denniss / Android Authority
With the Galaxy Watch 8, Samsung embraced a new design, adopting the Watch Ultra’s “squircle” build across its lineup. This year with the Galaxy Watch 9, Samsung’s continuing in this same direction, while delivering a whole lot of refinement in the process. And while there’s absolutely a big software component to this generation’s upgrades, including the Wear OS 7-based One UI 9 Watch, as well as a whole bunch of new AI-powered health features, it all starts with the hardware.
Compared to last time around, the new Galaxy Watch 9 sticks with an aluminum body, but now one that’s 25% lighter than the Watch 8’s. That gives Samsung a little more breathing room for other hardware upgrades, like moving to larger batteries — for the 40mm model in particular, the gains are pronounced, growing 20% from 325mAh to 390mAh.
Zac Kew-Denniss / Android Authority
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