On the wearable front, Samsung has launched two versions of their next generation smartwatch dubbed the Galaxy Watch4 and the Galaxy Watch4 Classic. 

The Galaxy Watch4’s design harkens to recent designs like the Galaxy Watch3 and lacks a rotating bezel while the Galaxy Watch4 Classic is slightly larger and integrates a rotating bezel to navigate the interface akin to the Gear S3 Frontier.

Rotating bezel aside, the Galaxy Watch4 and Watch4 Classic each comes in two different sizes for a total of four watches, with two subvariants of each type..

The Galaxy Watch4 Classic (right)  has a rotating bezel and is slightly larger while the Galaxy Watch4 (left) has a more streamlined design without the rotating bezel.

The Galaxy Watch4 primarily uses an aluminium chassis and has a larger 44mm version with a 1.36-inch 450 x 450 pixel Super AMOLED display and a smaller 40mm design with a 1.19-inch 396 x 396 Super AMOLED display.

The Galaxy Watch4 Classic uses sturdier, posher looking stainless steel and is slightly larger by 2mm to accommodate the rotating bezel with the 46mm version having a 1.36-inch 450 x 450 pixel Super AMOLED display while the smaller 42mm one has a 1.19-inch 396 x 396 Super AMOLED display.

Regardless of material, both the Galaxy Watch4 and Galaxy Watch4 Classic will have Gorilla Glass DX sheathing their displays for added protection, feature a robust IP68 dust and water resistance and have been rated for MIL-STD-810G levels of durability testing which makes them wonderfully durable for daily wear indeed. 

What firmware does the Galaxy Watch4 series use?

Both the Galaxy Watch4 and the Galaxy Watch4 Classic ditch Samsung’s own Tizen firmware that has powered their own prior offerings thus far and instead uses Google’s Wear OS overlaid with their One UI Watch and a host of other refinements that offer seamless integration with other Samsung phones and their Galaxy Buds2 Pro wireless earbuds. 

Both the Galaxy Watch4 and the Galaxy Watch4 Classic run the same hardware under the hood with a new Exynos W920 mobile CPU built on a 5nm process, 1.5GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage with both WiFi only and LTE eSIM enabled variants available depending on region.

Battery life for all versions of the Galaxy Watch4 revolve around a 247mAh battery that’s rated for 40 hours of use with a 30 minute charge getting you 10 hours of use and a full 2 hours to fully charge it.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch4 Classic new features

On top of getting about via the touchscreen and the rotating bezel in the case of the Galaxy Watch4 Classic, Samsung’s latest smartwatches support several unique gesture controls.

If you move your wrist up and down twice, you’re able to take calls from a paired phone. If you rotate your wrist back and forth twice, you can reject a call or dismiss notifications. Samsung has also left a customisable ‘knock knock’ gesture that lets you assign a command to it as needed.

Of note with the new smartwatches is the integration of a new, more compact BioActive sensor that integrates an Optical Heart Rate (PPG), Electrical Heart Sensor (ECG) and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Sensor (BIA) into one chipset for enhanced health and fitness tracking functionality. This is on top of the usual heart rate, blood oxygen and sleep tracking.

With the new BioActive sensor, the Galaxy Watch4 series is able to offer a Body Composition Analysis Tool on demand that shows percentages of body fat, fat mass, skeletal muscle, BMI and body water all in one chart to really drill down on where to improve on your fitness journey. This is on top of the usual fitness and sleep tracking too.

The Galaxy Watch4 has also been designed to have a unified theme and similar home screen when paired with a Galaxy series phone.

Samsung Galaxy Watch4 and Watch4 Classic price

At launch, Samsung announced that the Galaxy Watch4 40mm Bluetooth only version will cost US$249.99 (about RM$1,054) and up.

The Galaxy Watch 4 Classic 42mm Bluetooth only version will cost US$349.99 (about RM$1,476). Both the Galaxy Watch4 and Watch4 Classic will come in your choice of Black and Silver though the Galaxy Watch4 has more colour options with a 44mm version in Green and a 40mm Pink Gold version. Both watches will be available from 27th August in selected markets. 

Also available are a variety of optional straps made from different materials and designs that offer a  different looks in tandem with swappable watch faces.

If they’re following the usual playbook, Samsung will likely release the Galaxy Watch4 series in Malaysia in the near future. As a pleasant surprise, Samsung Malaysia has confirmed that LTE enabled Galaxy Watch4 variants will be available in Malaysia which marks the first time the brand has done so.

As yet, Galaxy Watch 4 prices have not been announced yet in Malaysia nor a local launch date. In the meantime stay tuned to Samsung Malaysia’s official page at www.samsung.com/my  You can also tune into their Galaxy Watch 4 series page at https://www.samsung.com/my/watches/galaxy-watch/galaxy-watch4-black-bluetooth-sm-r870nzkaxme/