Hot on the heels of the Galaxy Watch Active released earlier this year is its immediate successor the Galaxy Watch Active 2 that considerably classes up the definition of a smartwatch.

The Galaxy Watch Active 2 comes in two different sizes and two different styles. You have a 44mm and 40mm diameter curve Super AMOLED display and your choice of either a stainless steel clasp with leather straps or aluminium with Fluoroelastomer – a rubbery hypoallergenic material – straps to wear at your whim. 

What this translates to is a 1.4-inch rounded display for the 44mm model and a 1.2-inch display for the 40mm model with both running their own Tizen OS on an Exynos 9110 1.15GHz dual-core processor paired with 768MB RAM and 4GB of onboard storage. Connectivity options consists of WiFi B/g/n, NFC and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity.

Both sizes have IP68 water resistance and are tough enough to continue ticking in up to 50 metres deep of water.

What improvements are there to the Galaxy Watch Active 2?

Unlike previous outings like the Gear S3 Frontier that had a physical rotating bezel, the Galaxy Watch Active 2 classes things up with a digital rotating bezel so all you have to do is to trace your finger around the edge of the watch clockwise or anticlockwise to navigate the menu. 

The Watch Active 2’s heart rate monitor has been upgraded as well to be faster with more accuracy with 8 LEDs and has beefed up the Running Coach function that helps you to set and achieve running goals. On top of the usual fitness excursions, it can track 39 different workouts including swimming, cycling and dynamic workouts too.

The watch is also able to help track stress levels in real time, offer breathing exercises and help you track sleep quality too. Other bonuses include the ability to view YouTube straight off the watch; handy if you need to discreetly catch a video.

There’s no word on a local Malaysia launch as yet or local pricing but at Samsung Unpacked, it was priced at US$280 for the 40mm model and US$300 for the 44mm variant. For more details stay tuned to www.samsung.com/my