At the Galaxy Unpacked event in Paris on Wednesday, Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy Watch7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra.
While the Galaxy Watch6 and Watch7 both have a 1.3-inch (432 x 432 pixels) or 1.5-inch (480 x 480 pixels) circular Super AMOLED screens with a peak brightness of up to 2,000 nits, the Watch7 has a significantly faster processor with its Exynos W1000 chip made using Samsung Foundry’s 3nm process and which boasts of 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.
The Watch7, available in 40mm and 44mm sizes, features an enhanced BioActive Sensor that according to the company offers 30 per cent better heart rate tracking accuracy.
The Galaxy Watch7 also has an all-new glycation end products (AGEs) index that reflects the overall biological ageing process and indicates the user’s metabolic health.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 is the first smartwatch to launch with Wear OS 5, Google’s latest wearable software. While the Galaxy Watch7 is loaded with Samsung apps, users can also download additional third-party apps from the Google Play Store.
The Watch7 has a new enhanced sleep AI algorithm that generates indicators including sleep latency, time in bed and nighttime movement, among others. The Galaxy Watch 7 also has FDA-approved Sleep Apnea detection, making it the only smartwatch company to have such a feature.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra meanwhile is the more rugged version compared to the Galaxy Watch7. The Ultra has a titanium body and a 10ATM waterproof rating, so you can dive up to 100 meters with it. It operates at a range of altitudes from 500 meters below sea level to 9,000 meters above it.
The Ultra has a 1.5-inch AMOLED screen that reaches a maximum of 3,000 nits. It has three buttons on the case, including an all-new Quick button. Press it to start or pause workouts, log intervals during a workout, or hold it for five seconds to activate an 85-decibel siren in case of an emergency.
Samsung says that the Ultra also has the longest battery life within the Galaxy Watch line-up, offering up to 100 hours in Power Saving and 48 hours in Exercise Power Saving modes.
Like the Watch7, the Ultra too receives the Wear OS5 and uses the advanced Exynos W1000 chip.
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.
Pre-orders for the new watches are open from Samsung’s website as well as retailers including JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys, as well as telcos such as Telstra and Optus, among others.