It is turning out to be a successful year for Samsung on all fronts — from devices to semiconductors. On the back of the well-received Galaxy Fold7 and Flip7, Samsung also has a couple of watches — the Galaxy Watch8 and Galaxy Watch8 Classic. And the Classic is a fun and attractive wearable, competing with the likes of Apple and Garmin.

Smart design

This is the smartwatch that breaks the mould in terms of design and features. The base Galaxy Watch8 has a pleasing design and enough features. But the Classic has one thing I personally enjoy — a physical rotating bezel.

The squircle design of the Watch8 Classic is noteworthy. It has a stainless steel case, which gives the watch a refined, almost conventional look, and the spinning circular bezel that Samsung introduced in 2015, discontinued for a while, and then resurrected. The spinning bezel is, in short, fun… and far more effective than swiping.

Samsung has paid a lot of attention to details — the grooves on the bezel, for example. The buttons are also metal. This is truly a smartwatch, not just a fitness band.

Adding to the timepiece look is the faux leather band with its pronounced stitching, which looks great. But, as with everything in life, there is a quibble. Samsung switched to a new proprietary lug system. It was a necessary step to make the watch more comfortable. When you sleep, the watch hugs your wrist gently. Yet, it means the old bands will not be compatible.

The squircle design is something you will appreciate once you see the watch in person. It also helps protect the screen from accidental scratches.

One observation: There is a black bezel with numbers printed inside the rotating bezel. It takes up some space, and if removed in a future design, the screen size could be extended. Since there are watch faces designed with numbers built into them, the permanent numbers could be eliminated in future iterations.

The rotating bezel, on the other hand, is charming and can be turned with a single finger. There is also a satisfying click as you rotate it.

The Quick Button is another helpful hardware element — it allows you to dive into exercise mode quickly. You can also use it to control the stopwatch, switch the flashlight on or off, or open the camera controller.

New health metrics

Now to the most important aspect — WearOS 6, powered by Samsung. The company has added plenty of its own touches to Google’s OS, opting for an interface motif based on pill shapes, displayed on a circular screen, embedded into a squircle casing.

This is a fun wrist computer. Samsung is quick with the details, whether exercise-related activities or sleep tracking. Even a few years ago, Samsung Health delivered one too many buzzes on the wrist. That has been fixed. Now you feel the buzz only when it truly matters.

The smartwatch comes with a rotating bezel and Quick Button for easier navigation. Picture: Mathures Paul

I have been using the new Samsung watches for a few weeks, and they have been recording all my walkabouts automatically. They have even helped frame remote selfies and tracked plenty of fun activities… mostly around the park. Throughout, the watch has been offering daily insights into how I might be feeling and what I could do to change that.

As for the new antioxidant sensor, well, I’ve been told I’m not eating enough vegetables like carrots. It’s something that will take a few weeks to correct, so I’ll know more toward the end of September. At first, I thought it might not work well. But since I have been using both versions of Samsung’s new watch, I have seen slight improvements in the readings after making some changes to my diet.

During workouts, the watch performs quite well, capturing sudden elevations in heart rate or other metrics with ease.

The new band material is also comfortable on the wrist. It looks like leather on the outside, but on the inside, it’s a soft, rubbery material. It grips the wrist well without being abrasive, which helps when wearing the watch to sleep.

Another significant improvement comes in the form of the UI. The new tiles work smoothly and allow multiple panels within a tile. These panels can be from any category you want. This means you can have a fitness panel, a SmartThings panel, a weather panel, and whatever else you like within the same tile.

The notification system has also been updated — you can now swipe through them instead of having to tap on each one.

Staying with software, having Gemini available at the press of a button is useful. You can ask specific questions, such as listing the ingredients in your refrigerator and having Gemini suggest what you can prepare. You can even save the recipe to your Google Notes.

The processor is, of course, the latest one — it performs faster and smoothly overall, while also helping to save battery.

Respectable battery life

Usually, I like to keep my display always-on, yet it has not affected battery life as much as I expected. The vibration options have been expanded to include longer and stronger buzzes, which is good, and the haptic motor is almost as powerful as the one on Apple Watches.

With all the sleep tracking tools available on the watch, I was still able to get a full day out of the device. There are days when I leave home at 4:30 am to take photos around the city and its outskirts, which involves plenty of walking. Yet, I still manage to make it through the day. If you are accustomed to charging while showering, then you can definitely stretch close to two days of battery life.

The battery can support one night of sleep tracking and plenty of workout tracking. But if you want to use the top features often — like ECG and blood pressure monitoring or tracking a six-hour hike — while keeping the always-on display enabled, it will be difficult to get more than a day out of the battery.

There are a few smartwatches — and we are not talking about fitness trackers — that offer longer battery life, but they tend to be slightly thicker to accommodate larger batteries.

When it comes to charging from completely dead, about 30 minutes of charging gets me around 40 per cent of battery life, but a full charge takes around 80 minutes.

Make the call

Samsung has added quite a few health features, such as vascular load and antioxidant index, which may make you want to upgrade from an older Galaxy Classic. The watch is also faster and more comfortable on the wrist. There is always the option to buy the Galaxy Watch Ultra if longer battery life is your priority, but getting a full day out of a smartwatch the size of the Watch8 Classic is quite good. The biggest win is the bezel, so you are not missing out on what makes a wearable truly convenient. Most importantly, the watch showcases what Samsung is planning for its upcoming devices.

In case you don’t care about a rotating bezel, the digital bezel on the Galaxy Watch8 will suffice. The Classic, however, looks a little more dressy, more in line with an analogue-style watch, while still being workout-friendly. One interesting difference between the two watches is the sizing — the regular Watch8 comes in 40mm and 44mm, while the Classic comes in 46mm.

By tracking data like sleep time average, previous day activity and sleeping heart rate, Galaxy AI provides tailored insights. Picture: Mathures Paul

It remains to be seen whether Apple upgrades its Watch processor to better handle on-device tasks, which could pave the way for a more responsive, Gemini-like assistant that truly belongs on your wrist.

Overall, the Galaxy Watch8 Classic is a great buy, and having Gemini on the wrist is a helpful addition. It’s a beauty that works equally well at the gym, in the office, and at parties.

At a glance

Device: Samsung Galaxy Watch8 Classic

Price: ₹46999

High notes

Can measure antioxidant index, ECG and
blood pressure

Rotating bezel makes it easy to navigate

Stylish and sits flush with the skin

Excellent app support

Good battery life

UI allows plenty of customisation

Gemini support from the wrist

Muffled note

Comes in one size