But aside from resurrecting old fan-favorite features, the new Galaxy Watch 8 Classic also has a new design that follows the Galaxy Watch Ultra aesthetics with a squircle case and circular display. Other than that, Galaxy Watch 6 Classic users should feel right at home with Samsung’s new premium smartwatch, which now costs $50 more across the board.
But should they upgrade? Surely, two years’ worth of improvements hint that the new Galaxy Watch 8 Classic should be an insta-buy for seasoned Galaxy Watch fans, right? Not so fast!
Design & Sizes
Squircles and… circles
The new Galaxy Watch 8 Classic marks the return of one of the best hardware components ever fitted on a modern wearable: Samsung’s superb rotating hardware bezel. Objectively, it’s a great solution to the always-present problem of marrying a classic watch design with a modern digital interface, and Samsung nailed it with the rotating bezel, which debuted a decade ago.
It lets you interact with the interface more easily as it doesn’t require you to touch the screen but relies on old-school hardware inputs. Great when running or diving, when precise touchscreen interactions are challenging, to say the least.
Materials have not changed, though. The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic and the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic rely on stainless-steel for the case and scratch-resistant sapphire to protect the screen. By the way, the screen can now get up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness, up from the already impressive 2,000 nits on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. Nice!
A major difference here are the sizes and the versions. While the older Galaxy Watch 6 Classic was available in both a 43mm and a 47mm size, the new one comes in a single 46mm size, which makes it decidedly a slightly more masculine wearable.
Bands
Another major change
Enter the Dynamic Lug System, which is completely incompatible with any previous watch band for any Galaxy Watch prior. The new one reportedly allows for even faster band switching on the fly, but let’s be honest, how often do you change bands that a couple of seconds extra would make such a major difference?
Wave goodbye to your band collections accrued over the years, and prepare to buy new ones.
The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic is available with four distinct band categories: Hybrid (vegan leather), Athleisure, Fabric, and Sport.
Software & Features
Wear OS 6 and One UI Watch 8 incoming
The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic and the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic both run Google’s Wear OS with Samsung’s One UI Watch interface running on top.
The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic comes with two new exclusive features, called Vascular Load and Antioxidant Index. The former aims to gauge the vascular load on your circulatory system while you’re asleep and provide you with ways to improve it. It tracks your sleep habits, exercise load, and stress levels to determine your vascular load. The other new feature uses sensor data to determine the levels of antioxidants accumulated in your skin. It also gives you recommendations on how to lower your antioxidants.
Both of these new features aren’t coming to any older models.
Other improvements include a new Bedtime Guidance feature that will use Galaxy AI to determine the best times to hit the hay at night, based on your heart rate variability, heart rate, and previous sleep data.
Another new activity-based feature called Running Coach will provide guidance and motivation to runners, give motivational messages, insights, and real-time feedback.
Battery and Charging
A slightly larger battery in tow, but it’s the chip that matters
Thanks to the change in design, Samsung has fit a slightly larger battery on the new watch, a 445mAh one.
The marginal bump over the 425mAh battery on the 47mm Galaxy Watch 6 Classic probably wouldn’t have as large of an impact as the evolution of the chipset beating inside. The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic boasts the Exynos W1000 3nm chip, which is generally more efficient than the 5nm Exynos W930 found on the older watch.
Indeed, Samsung says the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic should last around 30 hours with the always-on screen enabled and up to 40 hours with the feature disabled. That’s mostly similar to the official Galaxy Watch 6 Classic battery figures, mind you.
Models and Prices
The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic will apparently be available in a single 46 mm size.
The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, on the other hand, was available in two sizes: a 43 mm and a 46 mm one.
Either wearable is available with either Bluetooth-only or a with cellular connectivity. Of course, the cellular version will be much more independent than the standard Wi-Fi one, which requires the paired phone to be nearby at all times for normal operation.
With the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, prices are up: the Bluetooth-only model will cost you $450 and the cellular one $550.
The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic 43mm version with Bluetooth cost $400, while the cellular version had a $450 price tag. The 47mm version was $430 for the base and $480 for the cellular version.
Specs
Here’s how the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic vs Galaxy Watch 6 Classic specs compare:
| Galaxy Watch 8 Classic | Galaxy Watch 6 Classic |
|---|---|
| Models 46mm Bluetooth-only and cellular versions |
Models 43mm 47mm Bluetooth-only and cellular versions |
| Processor Exynos W1000 chip, 3nm |
Processor Exynos W930 chip, 5nm |
| Software Wear OS 6 OneUI Watch 8 |
Software WearOS 5 OneUI Watch 7 |
| Battery 445 mAh 10W wireless charging Magnetic charger, 50% in 30 mins |
Battery 300 mAh (43mm) 425 mAh (47 mm) 10W wireless charging Magnetic charger, 50% in 30 mins |
| Sensors HR, blood oxygen, altimeter, ECG, AGEs, BMI |
Sensors HR, blood oxygen, altimeter, ECG |
| Key features Gemini support New design language Hardware rotating bezel Vascular Load Antioxidant Index |
Key features New quick-release mechanism Hardware rotating bezel |
Summary
The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic thankfully marks the return of one of the most awesome Galaxy wearable ranges, which is arguably the best one, even when devices like the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro and the Galaxy Watch Ultra exist. The Watch Classic is a legendary smartwatch lineup that Samsung should never shrug off again.
The core formula appears to be unchanged, but many key areas seem to be improved. For one, we get a fresher new design that keeps all the essential elements in check, the rotating bezel included, adds a new button, and gives us a super-premium and durable design that carries on with the traditions of the range.
We also get a more efficient new chip and a slightly bigger battery, as well as the super-powerful Gemini assistant straight on the wrist. A few intriguing new health metrics have also found their way here, but the rumored blood glucose monitoring is missing.
Still, a slight price hike could potentially stave off some excitement and hinder some consumers from upgrading.
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