On Wednesday, Samsung grabbed the limelight with its Galaxy Unpacked event in Paris where it launched a new generation of foldables and wearables.
Among the new releases were the Galaxy Watch7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra, with pre-orders for both now open in Australia.
Behind the headlines, Samsung quietly axed one of its key charging technologies which was available on the previous generation of Galaxy watches.
Both the Galaxy Watch7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra are missing the Wireless PowerShare feature. That feature allowed users to wirelessly charge their Galaxy Watches on the back of their phones.
The charging feature could have likely been sacrificed as a result of the new BioActive sensor array in the watches. The new design of that sensor meant Samsung had to change the shape of the back glass on the watches.
This in turn increased the distance between the internal wireless charging coil of the watch and the wireless charger. The distance has increased to a point where it is no longer possible to charge the watch wirelessly by placing it on the back of your phone.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra (Image: Supplied by Samsung)
The new generation of watches can still be wirelessly charged, even if not on the back of a smartphone. They can charge on a traditional wireless charging pad, but due to the increased distance between the coil and the glass, that charging capability will be slow and generate heat as well. Samsung therefore suggests users only use the wireless charger that it is shipped in the box along with the watch.
Samsung has stressed that the new sensor array features improved accuracy over previous models, allowing you to “assess health-related data points that were not previously supported as well as take more reliable measurements during prolonged or specialised exercises”.
Supporting those sensors in both the Watch7 and Watch Ultra is a significantly faster processor with the Exynos W1000 chip made using Samsung Foundry’s 3nm process and boasting a 30 per cent improved power efficiency.
According to Samsung, the high-performance Cortex-A78 CPU core and four Cortex-A55 CPU cores give the Galaxy Watch7 a 2.7x faster app launch, 3.4x faster single-core performance, and 3.7x multi-core performance compared to its predecessor.
In Australia, the 40mm Galaxy Watch7 is priced at A$549 for the Bluetooth version and A$649 for the LTE variant, while the 44mm Watch7 costs A$599 for the Bluetooth version and A$699 for the LTE variant. The Ultra meanwhile which is only available in an LTE variant and at a single size of 47mm is priced at A$1,299.