Samsung Galaxy Watch 2: The story so far

The rumors and speculation are starting to mount that Samsung is prepping its next Galaxy Watch smartwatch.
Samsung switched from Gear to Galaxy back in August last year giving us our first Galaxy Watch. Then the smaller (and cheaper) Galaxy Watch Active followed six months later. Now we could be edging closer to having that Galaxy Watch 2 in our lives to rival what Apple, Fitbit, Garmin and Google is serving up in the smartwatch space.
Read this: Apple Watch Series 5 investigationWe know that the upcoming smartwatch has been given the codename Renaissance, a word that means revival or renewed interest. But what other info do we have to give us an idea of what to expect from the new Samsung smartwatch?
Here’s all the latest chat that’s starting to help us build a picture of how the wearable could look and what features it could be packing.
What do you want to see from a new Galaxy Watch? Let us know in the comments section below.Samsung Galaxy Watch 2: Design and featuresThe first Galaxy Watch adopted the same two model approach as its predecessor the Gear S3. But instead of having a luxury model and sporty option, Samsung decided to merge the looks into one with the Galaxy Watch and break things down into two different size options. So we had 42mm and 46mm versions.Essential reading: Samsung Galaxy Watch faces to downloadIt looks like Samsung has settled on that approach and we expect something similar with the Galaxy Watch 2. That could mean an update to the Watch Active will perhaps come at a later date.
The evidence that multiple models are incoming come courtesy of the usually reliable folks at Sammobile who claim to have the first evidence from sources, offering model numbers that are tied to the new smartwatches. That’s SM-R820 and SM-R830 for the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth versions, and SM-R825 and SM-R835 for the LTE versions. So, it looks like there will be two versions, just like the first Galaxy Watch.
There may well be a Galaxy Watch 5G option, too, with SM-R827 and SM-R837 model numbers speculated to be linked to what could be Samsung’s first 5G-ready smartwatch.While we don’t know what the watches will look like just yet, we do appear to have details on the color options though, with the watches said to come in black, silver and gold and with more colors possibly available closer to launch.
The only other bit of information shared is that it will feature 4GB of internal storage, which would mean it matches what pretty much every Samsung smartwatch has offered in the storage department.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 2: Twisty bezel or digital bezel?This could be a big one. We loved the rotating bezel that Samsung introduced to its smartwatches back with the Gear S2. It offered a clever and an intuitive way to take control of its Tizen operating system, which we fully expect to be running the software show for its next watch.But Samsung did something we didn’t expect when it unveiled the Galaxy Watch Active and that was to do ditch the signature hardware feature. It was there on the Galaxy Watch, so will it be there for the Galaxy Watch 2?
It’s hard to tell at this point whether Samsung has decided to entirely shift its design approach. Some recent filings though could give us an insight into what the tech giant is thinking. Samsung recently filed a series of applications with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) for the trademark Digital Bezel, Samsung Touch Bezel and Touch Wheel.
While it’s highly possible the first two of those trademarks could relate to smartphones, it’s the Wheel one that could have more significance for Samsung’s next gen smartwatch. Will that physical moving bezel be ditched for a digital one? We are intrigued to find out that’s for sure.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 2: Release dateSo when will we see a new Galaxy Watch? There’s no details of that just yet. If we look to the fact that the first Galaxy Watch landed in August 2018, there’s every chance we could be looking at a similar release and launch window for the next one.
That first Galaxy Watch was unveiled alongside Samsung’s Note 9 smartphone. With speculation that the Note 10 is set to land around the same time in 2019, we could well see a new Samsung smartwatch accompanying it.
No doubt there’ll be an Apple Watch Series 5 and maybe even a Google Pixel Watch to go up against whatever Samsung has planned to fight for that place on your wrist.