Samsung launches a squircle-shaped Galaxy Watch 8, Galaxy Watch 8 Classic

Samsung has officially announced its latest smartwatches, the Galaxy Watch 8 series, and it’s all about refinement. The new lineup borrows heavily from the design language of the Ultra and introduces a handful of key software upgrades along the way. Think thinner cases, brighter screens, and more storage across the board, plus the usual laundry list of health upgrades, some welcome design tweaks, and yes, Gemini AI. The series includes the standard Galaxy Watch 8 and the returning Watch 8 Classic, complete with its fan-favorite rotating bezel.

Love it or hate it, the squircle-shaped cushion case from the Galaxy Watch Ultra is now standard across the entire Watch 8 lineup, giving all three Samsung smartwatches a more cohesive design. The 8 series watches are sleeker than ever, as the standard Watch 8 is 11% thinner than its predecessor.  Each also boasts a brighter display, with peak brightness jumping from 2,000 to 3,000 nits. Shoppers can still grab a base model in 40mm or 44mm sizes, with Silver and Graphite colorways.

The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic returns in White and Black, but this time it’s limited to a single case size. Most importantly, though, the rotating bezel makes its welcome return on the Classic, along with the Quick Button previously reserved for the Ultra.

Both models also feature a new Dynamic Lug System for swapping bands, which, according to Samsung, should afford the watches 11% more accurate heart rate tracking. Unfortunately, it also means older Galaxy Watch straps won’t work on the new devices. Instead, you’ll need to pick from Samsung’s new range of athleisure, fabric, hybrid, and sport bands.

Samsung’s software experience centers on One UI 8 Watch based on Wear OS 6, which brings a refreshed interface and a few genuinely useful tweaks. The standout addition is the new “Now Bar,” which makes multitasking faster and turns the watch face into a more functional control center. The redesign also introduces a Featured apps folder for quicker access to your most-used tools, and new multi-info tiles that let you stack widgets, finally cutting down on excessive side swiping.

There’s also plenty happening on the tracking front this year. Sleep coaching gets an update, including tailored recommendations for bedtime, and sleep-based heart monitoring, which kicks in after you log three nights of baseline data, is now available. Samsung has also introduced a new “antioxidant index,” which is designed to help users make healthier food choices.

For athletes, new running coach features are smarter and still free inside the Samsung Health app, highlighting that Samsung has punted the subscription trend yet again (for now, at least). Running coach details include personalized guidance for training, improvement tracking, and real-time feedback. Then there’s Gemini, Google’s AI assistant, which Samsung says is “built-in” to the Watch 8. Whether that means true on-watch intelligence or just tighter phone integration isn’t clear yet.

Under the hood, Samsung has bumped up battery capacity across the board by about 8%. The Galaxy Watch 8 comes with 325mAh (40mm) and 435mAh (44mm) batteries, while the Watch 8 Classic gets a 445mAh cell. The pricier model also received an upgrade in storage, and now boasts 64GB, allowing more room for apps and data. The base model remains with the same 32GB offered in last year’s models.

Specs

At a glance, the two devices offer nearly identical experiences. Dig into the full specs of each model below.

The Galaxy Watch 8 series doesn’t rewrite the playbook, but it delivers some solid, incremental upgrades over the Watch 7 series. The devices pack double the storage, a noticeably thinner chassis, and brighter displays across the board. They also shift to a unified squircle design with a new band system that adds a sleek hardware touch (albeit at the cost of backward compatibility). Internally, the 8 series features ambitious health tracking additions, including sleep-based heart monitoring and an eyebrow-raising “antioxidant index.”

The addition of Gemini AI also marks a philosophical shift toward smarter, more proactive wearables, though we’ll need more clarity on how deeply it’s integrated. Altogether, the Watch 8 is less about reinvention and more about refining the formula that made the Watch 7 a solid all-rounder. If you’re not sold on the squircle design, sticking with the Watch 7 Classic might be the smarter move.

• Galaxy Watch 8 40mm (Wi-Fi): $349.99
• Galaxy Watch 8 44mm (Wi-Fi): $379.99
• Galaxy Watch 8 40mm (LTE): $399.99
• Galaxy Watch 8 44mm (LTE): $429.99
• Galaxy Watch 8 Classic (Wi-Fi): $499.99
• Galaxy Watch 8 Classic (LTE): $549.99

The Galaxy Watch 8 starts at $349.99 for a Wi-Fi-only 40mm model, while the Watch 8 Classic begins at $499.99. LTE versions are available for each model at an additional $50 cost. Preorders for the entire Galaxy Watch 8 lineup are available now. The devices launched alongside the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, which is also available now for preorder, priced at $649.99. Notably, the Ultra did not get a spec bump besides added storage or a redesign beyond a new Titanium Blue color.