Wear OS Weekly
My weekly column focuses on the state of Wear OS, from new developments and updates to the latest apps and features we want to highlight.
It looks like Samsung is all but guaranteed to bring back the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic. And while it’s the right move to resurrect its signature design, this alternating system leaves a gap year for Samsung fans who care, first and foremost, about battery life.
Or, to put it more bluntly, thinking about the inevitable Classic only makes me wistful for the dead Pro lineup, and I wish the two could be merged.
This week, a Galaxy Watch 8 leak indicated it’ll ship in its usual two case sizes, with the larger model hitting 435mAh capacity — just 10mAh more than the Watch 7 44mm. This same leak indicated there’ll likely be two Watch 8 Classic models; we didn’t see any battery data, but the Watch 6 Classic and 4 Classic both matched their cheaper counterparts.
A second leak indicated Samsung is working on all-solid-state batteries, but it won’t add one to a Galaxy Watch until “late 2027.” While OnePlus used silicon-carbon tech in the OnePlus Watch 3 to make it last five days, we can probably expect the usual 40-ish hours of battery life Samsung always offers.
Samsung will keep the Galaxy Watch 8 skinny and affordable, as it should. But if we’re never going to see a Pro again — and with the Ultra too pricey for some — I’d like to see the Classic take after the Pro and bridge the battery gap, unlikely as that may seem.
I didn’t know what I had with the Pro until it was gone
I reviewed the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, Watch 6 Classic, and Watch Ultra the last three summers. Samsung’s experimentation with new designs kept things so fresh that it gave me whiplash; I never knew what Samsung would prioritize in a given year.
I only started reviewing smartwatches regularly in 2022. After a few skinny, plastic running watches with weeks-long battery life, the 2022 Watch 5 Pro was my first Wear OS watch (or traditional smartwatch, period). I was a relative newbie, in other words, and my complaints against it feel mostly off-base now.
I said the Pro “gave a whole new meaning to the word heavy.” With later context, it’s still not what I’d call light, but most flagship watches are trending bulkier by about half an ounce. And it earns the weight, thanks to the battery. I was being way too dramatic.
I complained that the Pro was uncomfortable for sleep tracking, not realizing yet that I hated wearing any smartwatch to bed. I stand by my complaint about the terrible default D-Buckle Sport band, though.
I argued that there “wasn’t enough difference” in performance between the Pro and Watch 5, but that’s been the norm on much pricier Ultra watches because there aren’t enough smartwatch chips for there to be any differentiation.
I don’t want to keep wearing the Watch 5 Pro now: the chip is a couple of generations behind, with less RAM and a dimmer, thicker-bordered display than I’m used to these days. However, I do think that the Pro’s design didn’t deserve to be a one-off, and I’d be much kinder to a new version today.
My wrist has been trained for heavier watches like the Galaxy Watch Ultra or Apple Watch Ultra 2, but growing accustomed to something doesn’t mean I prefer it. Once I tried the three-day OnePlus Watch 2R last year, it reminded me that you don’t need a massive watch for it to be long-lasting.
Man, would I love a Galaxy Watch 8 Pro with a battery to write home about, paired with three generations of upgrades. But since that may not happen, let’s talk about the rumored Classic.
The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic can be more than a pretty face
If Samsung sticks to the same look as the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic and Watch 6 Classic, I’m sure a Watch 8 Classic will remain popular with long-time fans. Samsung is oddly stubborn about adding a crown to its watches, so the Classic is our one chance to get more precise non-touch controls when navigating through tiles. And it looks great, especially the lighter case colors.
I simply wish that the Classic offered something more than a facelift. It’s already quite heavy and thick thanks to the rotating bezel; to have it weigh about as much as any Ultra watch but last half as long is hard to accept, especially in an era where OnePlus has shown it’s possible to stretch a Wear OS watch’s battery to the limits.
Consider the report last year that a Samsung exec was “angry” about “design plagiarism” because the Galaxy Watch Ultra looked too much like an Apple Watch Ultra. I think some of this was overblown by the media; both Ultras look very different in person. But it’s fair to question whether Samsung might go back to the drawing board with a new design or scrap the Ultra.
I suspect the Galaxy Watch Ultra lineup isn’t going anywhere, even if it’s redesigned. But it leaves the Classic in an awkward position because Samsung now wants to treat extra battery life as a $650 perk, even as $300–400 rivals lap it.
In an ideal world, Samsung would alternate between the Classic in odd years and both the Pro and Ultra in even years, so extra battery life is a mid-range perk in a more comfortable package while the Ultra adds other bells and whistles.
But since that’s not going to happen, I’ll settle for another unlikely alternative: a Watch 8 Classic that splits the difference and offers a slight battery boost. Even one more day would be appreciated!
So, until more leaks come in that dash my hopes, I’ll cross my fingers that the Watch 8 Classic brings back a little bit of the Watch 5 Pro’s legacy.