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To the naked eye, the Galaxy Watch 9 has almost no design changes that distinguish it from its predecessor. If you didn’t know any better, you might assume it was actually only last year Galaxy Watch 8. But don’t be fooled by this lack of design sophistication – Samsung has improved its all-round smartwatch in a series of impressive and meaningful ways.
Unveiled on Wednesday at Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked event in London, the Galaxy Watch 9 is a classic fitness-focused watch designed to have broad appeal, which retails for $380 (starting price), especially when compared to the more feature-packed (and expensive) Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, which also debuted at the event.
A new processor, larger battery, and a host of health metrics and insights breathe new life into this device. It would be very surprising if the Watch 9 didn’t outperform the Watch 8 in performance across the board. I’m impressed by the new Fitness Index, which measures your fitness levels and can create a personalized training plan (for free), and I’m curious to know how it evaluates my current health.
Galaxy Watch 9 design
With a rounded, beveled, boxy face with rounded corners, the Galaxy Watch 9 splits the difference between being square and circle. It’s a spiral, so to speak.
It has a relatively thin profile, which is useful as an accessory that you’re just as likely to wear to the gym as to the office. Not only is this a piece of wearable technology that delivers bold style, but it will move through almost every outfit change without you having to wonder if it looks good on your wrist.
The Galaxy Watch 9 is available in Cream and Graphite, which seems like a sufficient choice for such a simple device. The straps are where you can have some fun with this device.
Silicone sports bands are perfectly fine, but the soft-touch two-tone “fuzzy” bands are more attractive. They’re available in a series of attractive shades, including my personal favorite: baby blue. For comfort, I would probably choose one of the fabric laces, which are soft and breathable. Those come in more interesting colors, including the familiar yellow.
The Galaxy Watch 9 uses Samsung’s proprietary band system, which is easy to switch, and helps the watch sit more smoothly against your skin for improved sensor accuracy. The downside is that you likely won’t be able to bring your old bands into this design if you have an older Samsung smartwatch model (Watch 8 or older).
My personal take on smartwatches is that despite over a decade of innovation, many of them are still uncomfortably bulky. That’s not the case with the Galaxy Watch 9. The 40mm model offered the perfect fit for me, but I was happy to wear the larger 44mm version. I love a watch that’s comfortable enough to sleep in, and I can’t imagine feeling the need to take this watch off except when it needs recharging.
This is consistent with what my colleague, CNET senior writer Vanessa Hand Orellana, found when she reviewed the Watch 8 last year. “I’m usually afraid to wear smart watches while sleeping, but with this watch, I almost forgot I was wearing it,” she said.
Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that Samsung hasn’t overhauled the watch design for this next generation. An “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach has been taken, prioritizing making more meaningful changes that are likely to actually improve people’s experience of using the watch as a tool.
Galaxy Watch 9 battery and processor
It’s under the hood where the Galaxy Watch 9 has seen the upgrades that set it apart from its predecessor. The watch has been redesigned internally to include a larger battery and a more powerful processor.
The Samsung team seems really excited about Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite chip, which is the engine the Watch 9 (and Ultra 2) is built on. The company’s ever-strengthening relationship with the chipmaker has led to more of its processors appearing in Samsung products, and not just the more advanced and expensive ones.
Andrew Lanxon/CNETThe Wear Elite platform speeds everything up, which means that even though the watch doesn’t have new sensors this year, processing your data and real-time feedback should be much faster. This will be especially useful for anyone using the Galaxy Watch 9 to get insights during exercise, as well as AI features like Gemini.
It should also allow for better battery management. This is in addition to the increased actual battery capacity that the new 390 mAh and 445 mAh batteries must provide (in the 40 mm and 44 mm models, respectively). This, according to Samsung, should translate to 30-40 hours of playback time depending on the size of the watch. This is higher than the 325 mAh and 435 mAh batteries in last year’s versions. The company also says the watches use artificial intelligence to learn your usage patterns, which should further improve battery life.
Galaxy Watch 9 features artificial intelligence and fitness
One fun, subtle AI feature you need to know about in the Galaxy Watch 9 is that if you choose a photo of a person as your watch face, the algorithm will insert time details into the empty space around it.
I had fun using photos of my cat (dropped from my iPhone via Apple’s AirDrop and Samsung’s now compatible Quickshare) to test this. Hopefully everyone who plays the demo model next will enjoy seeing its face pop up.
We’ve already been impressed with the Gemini experience on Samsung watches, but a new feature is about to make activation even easier. To activate Gemini on Galaxy Watch 9, all you have to do is raise the watch to your mouth and start speaking — no wake words needed.
This will come in handy if you have multiple Gemini-equipped devices, or even if you’re in close proximity to someone else’s device. It’s meant to eliminate those moments when another device accidentally wakes you up when you’re trying to talk to your watch. It also makes hands-free interactions on a small screen much less complicated.
A slew of new fitness features include vitality insights, a heart health checker, a feature that measures cardio load (how hard you’re exercising) and a “Fitness Index” that provides a picture of your overall health and how it lines up with your goals. I was impressed by how comprehensive this was: it included metrics like body composition, strength, and flexibility. He will then provide suggestions on how to improve the specific metrics that are most important to your training.
If you’re working on a triathlon, for example (not me, but I applaud you if you are), you may need to work on your cardio fitness and endurance. On the other hand, if you plan to climb a mountain, you may need to prioritize building your strength and gaining elevation.
It’s as if Samsung has built a platform that will support people in building their healthy lifestyle, something that can be appreciated no matter where you are in your fitness journey.
Samsung hasn’t yet revealed whether these new health features have a hardware requirement that makes them exclusive to newer models, but if so, that could be another reason to upgrade.
Galaxy Watch 9 pricing and availability
If you’re sold on the Galaxy Watch 9 idea, these are the dates you’ll need to jot down in your diary. The watch will be available for pre-order immediately, and will go on general sale starting August 7.
The 40mm Bluetooth version of the device starts at $380, and the LTE model starts at $430. We’ll be doing more testing on these watches over the coming weeks, so check back for a full review of all the new features and a battery life test.
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