Two days before Samsung's
Galaxy Unpacked in London, the full picture on both new Galaxy watches arrived courtesy of
leaker Evan Blass. Official-looking promo images, confirmed specs, colors — the July 22 event is now a formality rather than a reveal.
Summary
- Galaxy Watch 9: Same dual-button layout as Watch 8, Snapdragon Wear Elite chip replacing Exynos W1000, four colors (White, Graphite, Green, Black), 390mAh (40mm) and 445mAh (44mm) batteries. Expected around €299/€329.
- Galaxy Watch Ultra 2: 47mm titanium case, 12% thinner than its predecessor, 1.5-inch OLED at 480×480 with 5,000 nits peak, 10ATM + IP69K, 800mAh battery, ~€749 expected.
- Snapdragon Wear Elite on both: A chip generation upgrade that should meaningfully improve performance and AI processing on both devices.
- Health: Vitals watch face, running coach, improved sleep apnea detection: The wellness stack continues to expand on the Watch 9.
- Watch Ultra 2 battery up 36% from Ultra (2025): From 590mAh to 800mAh — the biggest single upgrade on the Ultra line.
Galaxy Watch 9: Refinement Over Revolution
The Watch 9 isn't trying to reinvent anything. Same round design, same dual-button layout — the changes are inside and in the health software. The Snapdragon Wear Elite chip is the biggest functional upgrade. Samsung has been using Exynos watch silicon since the Galaxy Watch 4. Moving to Qualcomm brings better power efficiency, faster on-device AI processing, and a hardware platform that the broader Wear OS ecosystem is increasingly standardizing around.
Battery sizes — 390mAh on the 40mm, 445mAh on the 44mm — are modest but consistent with the wearable category's constraints. The four color options: White, Graphite, Green, and Black.
Health Features Continue to Expand
The new Vitals watch face keeps key health metrics visible at a glance and triggers alerts if something looks out of range. A running coach tracks personal goal progress. Improved sleep apnea detection builds on the FDA-cleared feature Samsung introduced on the Watch 7. Sleep and energy scores get refinements. None of these are dramatic individual upgrades — collectively they represent Samsung pushing further into the health platform space where it has a genuine head start on Apple Watch.
Galaxy Watch Ultra 2: The Battery Upgrade Changes the Proposition
The original Galaxy Watch Ultra was a strong product with one persistent criticism: battery life didn't match the adventure-ready positioning. An 800mAh cell — up 36% from the 590mAh in last year's model — directly addresses that. A watch rated at 10ATM and IP69K with a titanium case and 5,000-nit display should also last through the activities it's marketed for.
The 12% thinner case is the design story. The Watch Ultra's squarish case was distinctive but chunky. Shaving 12% off that profile makes it considerably more wearable for daily use rather than just outdoor adventures.