Samsung Galaxy Watch6 First Look and Unboxing – Awesomely Sleeker, Slimmer and Bigger Displays

Launched at Samsung’s gala Galaxy Unpacked 2023 event in South Korea alongside the new Galaxy Z Fold5, Galaxy Z Flip5 and Tab S9 series tablets, the new Galaxy Watch6 Classic and Galaxy Watch6 are successors to last year’s Galaxy Watch5 Pro and Watch5 with a slew of upgrades and variants. We managed to get our hands on a Samsung Galaxy Watch6 first look sample for testing at Galaxy Unpacked 2023 and put it through its paces.

Samsung Galaxy Watch6 First Look and Unboxing – Build and Design

The Samsung Galaxy Watch6 series broadly comes in two variants – a more premium and pricier Watch6 Classic series that uses stainless steel and a more mainstream and sportier Watch6 design that uses Armor Aluminum. For the Galaxy Watch6 series in general, Samsung has upgraded the entire line-up with larger, brighter displays, larger batteries along with a better processor under the hood. 

The Galaxy Watch6 series also features robust IP68 dust and water resistance, a 5ATM rating which means that it can be taken for a swim in the pool though it’s not rated for diving as well as a robust MIL-STD-810H rating for drop resistance and temperature extremes.

Larger screens aside, the entire Galaxy Watch6 series uses the same processor, has the same amount of storage and RAM and retains the same high-end biometric sensors as the prior Galaxy Watch5 series which include a GPS, a barometer, a bioelectrical impedance analysis sensor, an electrical heart sensor, infrared temperature sensor, optical heart rate sensor and more to offer superior activity and fitness tracking functionality. 

The higher end Galaxy Watch6 Classic brings about the return of a physical rotating bezel to navigate the menus as well as 43mm and 47mm sizes, your choice of black or silver colourways as well as WiFi only and LTE-enabled variants.

In the case of the Galaxy Watch6, you get 40mm and 44mm sizes, a haptic touch bezel instead of a physical rotating bezel, black colourways for both the 40mm and 44mm versions with an additional silver one exclusive to the 44mm and a gold one for the 40mm design as well as LTE and WiFi only models.

Our Galaxy Watch6 first look sample is the larger model out of the two in its category with a 44mm dial and comes in a signature shade of silver that primarily covers the sides of watch case. The accompanying strap is preinstalled on the watch and is made of a soft silicone done up in a safe, muted off-white light grey. 

Samsung has listened to feedback this time around and the watch straps are a lot easier to remove as all you need to do is to press a recessed button to unclasp the strap from the dial. In keeping with prior Galaxy Watch series watches, you’re able to swap the straps out for third party ones if the bundled strap doesn’t quite appeal to your tastes.

The dial of our Galaxy Watch6  first look features a 1.5-inch round Super AMOLED display which is 0.1-inches larger than its predecessor the Galaxy Watch5 by shaving down the bezels while being slightly sharper at 480 x 480 pixels with a brighter display that has a quoted peak brightness of up to 2,000 nits, almost double that of the older model, for better clarity in outdoors daylight scenarios. 

To protect the watch face, the Galaxy Watch6 44mm is protected by watch-grade sapphire glass while the case itself uses Samsung’s tough Armor Aluminium which has markedly better resistance to nicks and bumps. 

Located on the watch case at the 1 ‘o’clock position is a home button that doubles as an electrical biosensor for ECG measurements while the 4 ‘o’clock position hosts a back button and additional electrical biosensor.

Navigation of the user interface which consists of Wear OS 4 overlaid with Samsung’s own Watch UI 5 is mostly via the touchscreen and by dragging a finger along the edges to engage the haptic rotating dial. The underside features an infrared temperature sensor and an optical heart rate sensor for biometric measures.

Overall build quality is excellent with a clean, elegant look about it though this of course varies depending on what watch face you display on it. The default watch faces look somewhat cartoony though Samsung does offer more conventional looking watch faces that resemble actual timepieces.

Overall comfort when worn is akin to its predecessor and the provided silicone strap and underside are comfortable to wear across the time I’ve tested it since Galaxy Unpacked 2023 though the main display itself and its underside are fingerprint magnets. 

Our Galaxy Watch6 first look sample comes in a neat white box with the watch itself encased in a form-fitted cardboard tray with its straps pre-attached, the usual warranty and quick start guide paperwork as well as a USB-C wireless charger for charging the watch itself. Stay tuned for our full review after we’ve put it through its paces!

Samsung Galaxy Watch6 first look 44mm sample courtesy of Samsung Malaysia. For more details please visit https://www.samsung.com/my/watches/galaxy-watch/galaxy-watch6-44mm-silver-bluetooth-sm-r940nzsaxme/buy/