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Samsung Galaxy Watch8: One minute review
Every time I try a big-name smartwatch these days, I’m slightly disappointed. Not because they’re bad devices (they’re certainly not) but because all too often, they tend to be very similar to their predecessors with very incremental, minor changes, such as a new software feature or slightly brighter screen, which isn’t the most exciting thing to write about.
However, not so this year. Samsung has decided to buck the trend with a comprehensive redesign, extending from its hardware to its software. The watch itself is thinner with a brighter screen and bigger battery (although battery life is still allegedly the same), keeping the round display but adopting a Watch Ultra-style metal cushion in an attempt to give Samsung watches a distinctive brand identity
In the software stakes, there are several useful updates that change how you use the watch day-to-day. A Now Bar widget allows you to quickly access the task you’re currently running in the background (such as a timer or workout) from the watch face screen, while at-a-glance views are more useful thanks to a nifty redesign. On-device Gemini has also been added out of the box, allowing you to complete complex multi-step tasks with a simple audio request, such as “find the best gym nearby and ask Julie if she wants to join it”.
There’s also a running coach, which analyses your form and performance during a 12-minute test run and assigns you one of 160 running performance plans, switching you from plan to plan if you repeatedly exceed its expectations (or don’t perform as expected). A new antioxidant index measures the level of carotenoids, a beneficial antioxidant, using your thumb as another metric to indicate general health. Sleep apnea detection has also landed, just like this year’s crop of the best Apple Watches.
This is all in addition to the other features present on other watches: heart rate, advanced sleep algorithms, body composition, third-party apps, social features, music control, 32GB storage and more. Samsung’s eighth iteration of its Galaxy Watch series is the most comprehensive change I’ve seen from the company in years, sporting plenty of genuinely useful improvements.
Having lived with the watch for a week, it performs up to expectations: it’s fast, accurate and looks great, although I didn’t use the on-watch AI for anything much more sophisticated than the usual Assistant functionalities, preferring the larger format of my phone’s screen for anything more detailed. The wellness metrics were comparable to a top Garmin watch too, and surprisingly, I preferred the slimmer Watch8 to the bulkier Watch8 Classic.
Samsung Galaxy Watch8: Specifications
|
Component |
Samsung Galaxy Watch8 (40mm) |
Samsung Galaxy Watch8 (44mm) |
|
Price |
From $349.99 / £319 / AU$649 |
From $399.99 / £349 / AU$699 |
|
Dimensions |
42.7 x 40.4 x 8.6mm |
46.0 x 43.7 x 8.6mm |
|
Weight |
30g |
34g |
|
Case/Bezel |
Armor Aluminum |
Armor Aluminum |
|
Display |
1.3-in super AMOLED |
1.5-in super AMOLED |
|
GPS |
GPS, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo |
GPS, Glonass, Beidou, Galileo |
|
Battery Life |
Up to 30 hours |
Up to 40 hours |
|
Connection |
Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3 |
Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3 |
|
Water Resistance |
5ATM |
5 ATM |
Samsung Galaxy Watch8: Price and availability
- 40mm Bluetooth model starts at $349.99 / £319 / AU$649
- 44mm model starts at $399.99 / £349 / AU$699
- Available to pre-order July 9
The Samsung Galaxy Watch8 series is available to pre-order now. Prices start at $349.99 in the US, £319 in the UK for the 40mm Bluetooth model, rising to £369 for the LTE-enabled version, and AU$649 in Australia, rising to AU$749 for the LTE model. The 44mm Bluetooth-only version starts at $399 in the US, £349 in the UK and AU$699 in Australia.
This is a slight price rise from the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, which started from $299.99 / £289 / AU$549 when it was released last year.
Samsung Galaxy Watch8: Design
- Slimmer new cushion shape
- 3000-nit brightness
- Software revamp
Let’s talk about some of the new changes. First and foremost, the display is still perfectly round, but the casing no longer hugs that shape to create a cylinder. Instead, it’s a squarish cushion designed to emulate the shape of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra. Samsung representatives have mentioned that it’s an instantly recognizable brand identity, in the same way you see a ‘squircle’ watch with a digital crown and immediately understand it as an Apple Watch.
The most surprising thing about the redesign is that where the Ultra looks awkward and boxy at times, the Galaxy Watch8 looks good. This is partially down to the watch being 11% thinner than its predecessor, and a whole lot thinner than the Ultra or the other new kid on the block, the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, as you can see above. It’s a lovely minimalist design, and I like it a lot. The display is brighter now, capable of up to 3,000 nits, and the battery is 8% larger to accommodate.
There’s also less case movement on-wrist now, thanks to the Dynamic Lug system ported over from the Galaxy Watch Ultra. Getting the straps on and off using this system was a bit more fiddly than anticipated, especially if you have short nails like mine, but it’s hard to deny the watch was an incredibly snug and comfortable fit, even during runs.
The UI has also received an upgrade. A Now Bar, similar to those on the best Samsung phones, pops up on the watch face when a task is running in the background such as Timer or Workout. It’s a satisfyingly slender widget showcasing a piece of information, like the time remaining, which you can tap to balloon it to full-screen. At-a-glance app views and collections have also received a revamp, emphasizing usability. I loved all of these changes, especially the Now Bar; it’s such a simple concept executed wonderfully.
Samsung Galaxy Watch8: Features
- Gemini on wrist
- Advanced new health features
- Running Coach with 160 plans
First and foremost, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is the first watch with Google Gemini on-wrist out of the box. It’s finally here, and as you might expect, it’s very handy when it comes to performing simple tasks. My demonstration involved simple requests, such as starting a 20-minute running workout, but also more complex examples – such as the aforementioned “find the best gym near me and text Julie” prompt.
It has the potential to be transformative in the way we interact with smartwatches going forward, but I’ll be honest, I rarely used it beyond simple assistant features. In its most useful instance during my week of everyday wear, I asked Gemini to show me directions to the nearest supermarket on my watch, at which point it promptly called up Google maps. That I found very cool indeed: it’s likely to change how we use our smartwatches in small ways.
Another new feature I can’t wait to get stuck into is the new Running Coach. After inputting your goals and completing a 12-minute test run, you’ll be assigned one of 160 different running plans, ranging from a first 5K to a complete marathon. If your performance looks like you’ll outperform your goal at any point, Samsung Health will switch you to another running plan that more closely matches your capabilities.
Other new health features include the Antioxidant Index, which detects the level of a single antioxidant, carotenoids, in your blood to give you an indication of whether you’ve eaten enough fruit and vegetables to support a healthy diet using your thumb. I got to try this: sadly, my carotenoid levels were not up to scratch, though I don’t have any way of verifying the reading.
Otherwise, the watch is still packing all its existing health and fitness credentials and plenty of robust hardware and software features. Hardware features such as the camera viewfinder and body composition sensor are all present and correct, as are Samsung’s app drawer and the litany of third-party apps the watch, which uses Samsung’s One UI Watch 6 skin of Wear OS, is capable of accommodating.
Samsung Galaxy Watch8: Performance
- Battery life performed as described, albeit sluggish charging
- Excellent running metrics
- Gemini on-wrist is a fun addition
I wore this watch pretty much constantly until the battery was completely drained, sleeping and exercising in it, and I can confirm after several short workout sessions (one 25-minute run, and a few automatically-detected walks), the battery gave up after around 25 hours with the always-on display on. That’s as described by Samsung, and longer than your average Apple Watch, but still far shorter than most of the best running watches.
When it comes to its workout performance, I was impressed. I tested the Watch8 against the Garmin Venu X1, and its metrics fell comfortably within the margin of error to suggest sufficient accuracy for both watches. It really is a great running watch; it fits flush on the wrist, doesn’t move around, remains super comfortable, and shows consistently useful information.
Even after my run finished, Samsung Health highlighted issues it thought I could improve upon, and recommended me specific drills as an action plan to address them. That, in particular, is a wonderful addition to Samsung Health, and it’s great to see some actionable insights rather than the watch simply throwing more stats without context into the mix.
I found sleep tracking with the Watch8 to be accurate, at least as far as sleep duration goes, and its slim profile ensured comfort overnight. During my testing, I woke up in the middle of the night with a cough, and Samsung correctly identified my time spent awake. Samsung’s Sleep Animal feature, gleaned from historic data from the Samsung Galaxy Ring and Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, offered me the light-sleeping Nervous Penguin profile.
The much-hyped on-watch Gemini feature was fine, though I certainly feel like I’m becoming numb to AI notification summaries and simple voice-command tasks these days, even if this is the first on-watch representation of Google’s Gemini AI Assistant. In fact, this has come to the Samsung Galaxy Watch series even before the Google Pixel Watch. Perhaps we’ll all have to reorient the way we feel about AI when we’re wearing it on our bodies, and it’s nice at least to have the option to ask Gemini to start a workout instead of swiping through tiles, and you can do some cool things with notifications.
One notable gripe I had with the watch, hand-in-hand with the lackluster battery, was the disappointing charge time. Using the Watch8’s proprietary charger, I started charging the watch from 0% at 08:18am. It took until 10:12am to completely fill the gauge, almost two hours.
Samsung Galaxy Watch8: Should I buy?
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Also consider
How I tested
I wore the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 for a week, draining the battery down completely and charging back up to full. I slept with it on, paired it with a Samsung phone, and tried all the features such as antioxidant index and on-wrist Gemini. I completed multiple GPS workouts, comparing the results to a top Garmin watch for accuracy.
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