Samsung Galaxy Watch 8: Leaks, AI tools, and likely upgrades

The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is on schedule to arrive in just a few months, and thanks to official feature info from Google and Samsung — plus some unofficial leaks — we already have an idea of what to expect.

While the Galaxy Watch 7 tops our list of the best Android watches, it was quite similar to the Galaxy Watch 6 in design, display, and battery life. But instead of another "Ultra" watch this year, several leaks suggest Samsung will stick to its biannual schedule and bring back the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic.

We heard one rumor in early 2024 that Samsung would try a squircle design for the Galaxy Watch 8, but we suspect Samsung will stick with a circular design. That said, we hope to see some kind of design upgrade this year.

There's still plenty we don't know about the Galaxy Watch 8. Here's what we do know, as well as what we want Samsung to upgrade or change with this generation!

Galaxy Watch 8 models and leaks

Late last year, several Samsung model numbers leaked, including one (SM-L505U) expected to be the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic. After the 4 Classic and 6 Classic, it seems likely that the Korean brand will stick with an alternating schedule.

More recently, a leaker spotted firmware testing for six Galaxy Watch 8 models: two case sizes of Watch 8 and one size of Watch 8 Classic, each with either Wi-Fi or LTE.

Two case sizes are the norm for most Galaxy Watches — we expect a Galaxy Watch 8 40mm and 44mm — but previous Classics came in two sizes, too. We're curious if Samsung canceled the smaller Classic model, making the Watch 8 Classic more like the one-size Galaxy Watch Ultra.

A connected report showed that Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic batteries had received certification in South Korea, associated with the same model numbers. The larger battery will have a 435mAh capacity, which is 10mAh larger than the Watch 7 44mm battery. This suggests the Watch 8 family will only have an incremental battery upgrade, with the same 40-hour estimate as the last few generations.

Aside from these credible rumors, a March 2024 report from SamMobile claimed that Samsung executives wanted to switch from its long-running circular Galaxy Watch design for a squircle design, one it hadn't used since the Samsung Gear S in 2014 (see above).

"The idea is enthusiastically being considered internally," the report claimed.

However, a later summer 2024 report claimed that a Samsung exec was "angry" about "design plagiarism" because of complaints that the Galaxy Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Ultra looked too similar.

Even though Samsung did a squircle watch before Apple, that was over a decade ago, and it seems unlikely that Samsung will redesign the Galaxy Watch 8 in a way that invites more complaints about "copying" Apple. In other words, expect the Watch 8 to look the same as the last four generations of Galaxy Watches.

Galaxy Watch 8: Expected specs and features

Like recent Galaxy Watches, the Galaxy Watch 8 will likely have 1.3- and 1.5-inch AMOLED displays, 2GB of RAM, at least 32GB of storage, dual-band GPS, IP68 dust and water resistance, and a MIL-STD-810H rating for shock protection.

The last two Galaxy Watches had new Exynos processors, but Samsung often uses the same chip for several years of watches. We believe the Galaxy Watch 8 will bring back the Exynos W1000, its 3nm chip with five Arm Cortex cores. But it's possible Samsung will upgrade again to keep pace with the new Snapdragon W5 chip and offer a better AI assistant.

We know that Google is planning a straightforward Assistant-to-Gemini upgrade soon. Gemini on Wear OS may come out before the Watch 8 launch, but it's also fair to guess that Wear OS 6 will bring new AI-focused tricks that'll come to both the Galaxy Watch 8 and Pixel Watch 4.

At Galaxy Unpacked 2025, Samsung revealed its upcoming Samsung Health upgrades.

First, they will add a new metric called "vascular load" that's very similar to Fitbit Cardio Load or Apple's Training Load. It monitors how your "daily activities impact your cardiovascular system," to help you "reduce strain on your heart and maintain long-term heart health."

Next, the Samsung Health app will have a "personal health coach" that gives you tips to hit your sleep, weight loss, exercise, or overall health goals. This will include "AI tools" that'll let Samsung Health users "ask questions, get real-time insights, and receive personalized coaching as if you would from your own personal health assistant."

Samsung Health will even let people who log their meals track their "antioxidant index" and offer "tailored meal plans and recipes."

Samsung will also bring back its Samsung BioActive Sensor for heart rate, stress, blood oxygen, ECGs, skin temperature, and BIA (body fat) readings, plus sleep apnea detection.

The Galaxy Watch 7 sensor added new multicolor LEDs, with blue, yellow, violet, and ultraviolet LEDs on top of the usual green, red, and infrared LEDs. Samsung only used them for one new metric last year — AGEs Index — but promised this was "one of the many new advanced features planned" with the upgraded BioActive Sensor.

We suspect Samsung could introduce a new health metric with the Galaxy Watch 8, though the Watch 7 and Ultra will also receive it. We know Samsung is working on blood glucose and diabetes monitoring, but there's no guarantee it'll be ready for the Galaxy Watch 8.

Our Galaxy Watch 8 wishlist

The Galaxy Watch 7 made some significant upgrades: A faster Exynos chip, double the storage, a daily energy score based on sleep and fitness data, three times the LEDs for more accurate health tracking, sleep apnea detection, and more.

The question is, what can the Galaxy Watch 8 do to improve? And what can we expect from the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic? Here is our Galaxy Watch 8 wishlist of features and upgrades:

Improve the core battery life

This seems unlikely, given the leaked 435mAh battery capacity for the Watch 8, but we've seen a 40-hour estimate on the last four Galaxy Watch generations, and it'd be nice to see a boost — especially for the pricier Watch 8 Classic. When you have the OnePlus Watch 3 lasting 4–5 days per charge, it makes us wonder if Samsung can step up its game.

Add UWB or better connectivity

The Apple Watch was the first to add Ultra Wideband, and it lets you pinpoint its location with an arrow guide on your phone. Then Google added it as a way for Pixel Watch 3 owners to unlock their Pixel phones by proximity.

Samsung offers UWB in most of its flagship phones, so you can use them as a digital car key or find them more easily; it'd be cool for Galaxy Watches to add this as well, for an easy tap-to-open on new cars or (more likely) to find your watch when it falls down a couch cushion.

Otherwise, we could hope to see a jump to Bluetooth 6.0 or support for WiFi 6GHz frequencies.

Some kind of design switch-up

The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic shouldn't be any different from the Watch 8, aside from the rotating bezel and better style. It's the watch to buy if you want a bit more class. But the fact is, the Galaxy Watch 8 default style has gotten a bit stale, hardly changing over the last several generations.

Maybe Samsung will add a squircle (though we doubt it) or give up on the polarizing digital bezel and add a crown like everyone else. Otherwise, Samsung needs to optimize the design somehow, maybe by shrinking the display border even further or slimming down the thickness by another millimeter. Give us something to break the status quo!

Give us (useful) Gemini

As we said above, Gemini is coming to Wear OS, and we think One UI 7 Watch built off of Wear OS 6 could upgrade it in key ways.

By default, you'll be able to say "Hey Google" or use a shortcut to wake up Gemini, then ask a question and get an LLM-based reply. The real question is whether this upgraded assistant will be able to do more than that, such as communicate with other apps via Extensions or enable better automations or on-device tasks.

That may be too much to ask for a Galaxy Watch with 2GB of memory, since the Pixel 9a can't run some on-device Gemini Nano tricks with "only" 8GB of RAM. But hey, maybe Samsung and Google will surprise us!

Continue to upgrade the health and fitness features

The Galaxy Watch 7 had AI insights into your health, better HR and GPS accuracy, and an upgraded Biosensor. We already know the Galaxy Watch 8 will continue this trend with new vascular load and beta-carotene metrics, plus an AI health coach and nutrition plans.

This all sounds great, but since this is a wishlist, we'll be greedy and ask for more. For example, we'd love to see some kind of daily suggested workouts in Samsung Health based on your vascular load, similar to what Fitbit and Garmin offer. Or perhaps it can emulate Google's Loss of Pulse feature for emergencies.

We'd also like to see Samsung do more with the new HR sensors than its AGEs Index, which didn't seem to be especially accurate or helpful on the Galaxy Watch 7. Hopefully, the Galaxy Watch 8 will bring new data that's a bit more polished from the start!