It sure looks like Samsung doesn’t have a lot of Galaxy S10 secrets left up its sleeve ahead of the new flagship phone family’s formal February 20 announcement, and the same now goes for the company’s next fitness-centric smartwatch.
Unfortunately, SamMobile’s inside sources seem to confirm our biggest fears, claiming that Samsung’s popular rotating bezel navigation element is indeed out of the equation this time around.
The smooth, non-toothed look of the bezel on all those leaked renders already suggested that would be the case, but hardcore fans of the company’s past intuitive smartwatches held out hope the rotating functionality would somehow be retained.
That’s almost certainly not the case, but what’s even weirder is that the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is also tipped to feature a smaller display than 2017’s Gear Sport. While we’re obviously not talking about a massive size reduction, the new 1.1-inch touchscreen with 360 x 360 resolution may prove inconvenient when paired with two physical buttons and a rigid bezel.
Oh, well, at least that rumored downgrade in battery capacity from 300 to 236 mAh makes sense now, although there’s no telling just yet how long the Galaxy Watch Active will be able to last between charges out in the real world.
That’s because a faster Exynos 9110 processor will also be found under the hood. That’s the same dual-core chipset powering the extra-large 1.3-inch display on the Galaxy Watch, by the way.
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Speaking of the Galaxy Watch, the Watch Active is now rumored to match its cousin’s 13 mm thickness, which... is hardly ideal. The Gear Sport, mind you, comes with a sleeker 11.6 mm profile.
As far as connectivity goes, Samsung’s next smartwatch reportedly aims to tick all the standard boxes, Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, and Wi-Fi included, while lacking a 3G or 4G LTE-enabled option.
Just like the Galaxy Watch and Gear Sport, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is purportedly waterproof up to a whopping 50 meters, but MIL-STD-810G certification for resistance to shocks and drops is not guaranteed yet. With Tizen 4.0 unsurprisingly running the software show, this thing aims to bring Bixby Reminders to your wrist for the first time, although it remains unclear how many Samsung users actually care about the company’s proprietary digital assistant.
No word on a price point at the time of this writing, but you can naturally expect to pay less than what Samsung typically charges for the “regular” Galaxy Watch.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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