The Galaxy Watch took over from the Gear line of smartwatches back in 2018 and despite a pair of fitness-focused entries since its arrival, we’re yet to see Samsung release a true successor.
Samsung’s Tizen-powered watches have served as an excellent alternative to the Apple Watch for Android users (not just Samsung Galaxy users) and offer a slicker, more responsive user experience than the swathes of WearOS-powered wearables currently on the market.
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Despite the company announcing both the Galaxy Watch Active and Galaxy Watch Active 2 in 2019, neither ever really felt like true follow-ups to the first of the Galaxy Watch line. Now, it seems, such a wearable is waiting in the wings.
What happened to the Galaxy Watch 2?
Firstly, the name, which early reports suggest will be the ‘Samsung Galaxy Watch 3’, not ‘Galaxy Watch 2’.
The theory is that, with the Galaxy Watch Active 2 already on the market, Samsung has chosen to jump straight to ‘3’ for its next mainline wearable (if only it could have done the same with the Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite too).
When will the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 be released?
According to Samsung news site Sammobile, we could see the new Galaxy Watch announced alongside the company’s new Galaxy Buds at an event in July.
That’s a month before the rumoured launch of the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Fold 2, which makes sense – it allows Samsung to shine a light on the accessories without getting lost in the excitement of two new high-end smartphones.
There’s no specific date for the launch event yet, but the site suggests that while the Galaxy Watch 3 could be announced in July, it won’t go on sale until August.
What features will the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 offer?
Existence of a new watch first emerged back at the start of the year, when Galaxy Club unearthed the model number ‘SM-R840’. Considering the first Galaxy Watch used the model numbers SM-R800 and SM-R810 (for its two discreet sizes), while SM-R500 and SM-R825/SM-R835 relate to the Watch Active and Active 2 respectively, this new numbering seems to fit the mould.
This find has since seemingly been confirmed by Samsung itself, who accidentally set live support pages on its Korean website referencing both SM-R840 and SM-R850.
Indian-based tech site MySmartPrice also discovered both FCC and NBTC certification entries that used the same model numbers and, in one case, even mentioned the LTE cellular SKU of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 by name. It sports model number SM-R855F and 41mm sizing (expected to be accompanied by a larger 45mm version).
Other expected specifications found from earlier leaks include Corning Gorilla Glass XD protecting the watch’s circular display, up to 5ATM water-resistance, along with MIL-STD 810G protection. 5W wireless charging is also said to be part of the equation.
