(Pocket-lint) – Samsung is expected to announce new smartwatches before the year is out and rumours have been in full swing, giving us an indication as to what we can expect from the successors to the Galaxy Watch Active 2 and Galaxy Watch 3. 

We’ve covered off everything we have heard about the Galaxy Watch 4 – the Galaxy Watch Active 2’s successor – in a separate feature, but here we are looking at the more classic model and the Watch 3’s successor, which is expected to be called Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.

Release date and price

• 11 August 2021 announcement
• 27 August 2021 availability
• From €470?

The original Samsung Galaxy Watch arrived in August 2018, followed by the Galaxy Watch 3 in 2020, with Samsung skipping over the Watch 2 name. In between these two devices, Samsung released the Galaxy Watch Active in March 2019, followed by the Galaxy Watch Active 2 in August 2019.

It’s thought Samsung will simply call the next generation sportier model the Galaxy Watch 4 this year, skipping over the Galaxy Watch Active 3 and dropping the Active name completely. The Galaxy Watch 4 Classic – thought to be the successor to the Galaxy Watch 3 – is said to launch alongside the Galaxy Watch 4, which will be the first time the two smartwatch lines launch together.

Rumour has it Samsung will hold its next Galaxy Unpacked event on 11 August 2021. This is currently unconfirmed, but most leaks now suggest it to be the date, even though 3 August had also been mentioned previously. An on sale date of 27 August has also appeared in rumours.

In terms of price, the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic will reportedly start between at €470 and €500, which roughly converts to £400 to £430 in the UK and between $560 and $590 in the US.

Design

• Rotating bezel
• Three sizes – 42, 44, 46mm
• Two colours – Silver, Black

There have been several leaks surrounding the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, including what appear to be official press images, and a video showing the smartwatch off from all angles, leaving very little left to the imagination.

The Watch 4 Classic shares a similar design DNA to the Galaxy Watch 3, including the rotating bezel that fans have come to know and love – though it does appear to be slimmer on the new model.

There seem to be two case colour options – silver and black – with the silver model coming with a white or grey silicone strap and buckle fastening and the black model coming with a black strap. Three case sizes have been claimed for the Watch 4 Classic, with 42mm, 44mm and 46mm options.

The casing on the Watch 4 Classic has a square edge and it looks like the function buttons on the right of the case are larger and wider than the Galaxy Watch 3. 

Other design details are said to include water resistance, MIL-STD 810G durability and Gorilla Glass 4 for display protection.

Hardware and features

• 5nm chip
• Heart rate monitoring, built-in GPS
• Blood glucose monitoring?

There haven’t been a huge number of rumours relating to the hardware and specifications inside the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 as yet, though a heart rate monitor is expected, along with standard features for Samsung smartwatches, such as built-in GPS.

For now, it is not known what chipset will be under the hood of the Galaxy Watch 4 – though a rumour did suggest we might see a 5nm chip – nor what the battery capacity will be like. Given the Galaxy Watch 3 delivered good things in these departments, we have high expectations for its successor, especially in terms of battery life.

In terms of other sensors, there has been some talk of non-invasive blood glucose monitoring on the Watch 4 Classic. This would make it the first smartwatch to do so, and represent a big landmark for the industry.

It comes after a report from CNET regarding Samsung’s Advanced Institute of Technology, which has developed a technique called “Raman spectroscopy” that leverages lasers to track glucose levels with enough accuracy to help users avoid pricking their fingers. 

As we say, such a move would be a true gamechanger in the space, but we’re not necessarily sold on it debuting this year, despite progress certainly suggesting the fabled, non-invasive tracking is closer than ever.

Software and features

• One UI Watch

We know Samsung’s next smartwatches will run on the new One UI Watch platform that was designed as a unified interface by Google and Samsung, combining the best of Wear OS and Tizen OS in one.

The platform was first announced by Google at Google I/O in May, though Samsung offered some more details on what we could expect during a virtual event at the end of June by previewing the software on stage.

You can read more about the One UI Watch platform in our separate story, but some of the things users can expect is better native support for Google apps, wider eSIM support, seamless interaction with the Google Play Store, parity between the settings menu on your watch and your phone and more exciting watch faces too. 

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 rumours: What’s happened so far?

Here is everything we have heard so far about the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.

6 July 2021: Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic revealed from every angle

Evan Blass posted several short videos to his Twitter channel, revealing the Galaxy Watch 4 from every angle.

5 July 2021: Samsung Galaxy 4 prices leak

A wide range of prices for the two expected Samsung smartwatches surfaced in a report, indicating that the Classic model won’t come cheap.

5 July 2021: Samsung officially confirms date of Galaxy Unpacked 2021

Samsung confirmed the date for its Galaxy Unpacked event to a Korean news outlet, with claims saying it will take place on 11 August.

1 July 2021: Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic leaked images surface

What appears to be official press images have leaked, giving us a very clear look at the design, name and UI of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Classic.

30 June 2021: Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2021 could take place on 11 August

Some renders of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 had 11 August as a date on the display, suggesting Unpacked could take place then.

28 June 2021: Samsung officially teases next Galaxy Watch, launching “this summer”

Samsung held a virtual MWC event at the end of June, where it not only revealed more details surrounding its One UI Watch platform that it has created in partnership with Google, but it also officially teased its next Galaxy Watches.

11 June 2021: Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 with WearOS could be revealed on 28 June

Samsung has a virtual event called “Galaxy Ecosystem/New Watch Experience/Mobile Security” scheduled for Monday 28 June, starting at 19:15 CEST. Following the announcement of the new WearOS, this event could see a new watch appear, but nothing is confirmed as yet.

18 May 2021: Google redesigns Wear OS with Samsung and Fitbit

Google announced redesigned Wear OS in collaboration with Samsung and Fitbit.

6 March 2021: Q2 release date suggested by leaker

Renowned leaker Ice Universe delivers a succinct hint via Twitter at when the next Samsung wearables will launch, indicating that both the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch Active 4 will launch in Q2 2021.

19 February 2021: Leaker hints at Wear OS replacing Tizen

The oft-rumoured switch from Tizen to Wear OS is suggested by reliable tipster Ice Universe via Twitter, suggesting that Samsung’s new watch will drop its own OS for “Android”.

19 February 2021: Model names for two smartwatches appear

As reported by Galaxy Club, Samsung is developing two watches for release in 2021 – with the model numbers being SM-R86x and SM-R87x.

25 January 2021: Blood glucose monitoring may debut

Korean outlet ET News suggests that Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 4 will be the first to feature non-invasive blood glucose tracking.

Writing by Britta O’Boyle. Originally published on 6 July 2021.

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