Higher efficiency, well being, and health
The Galaxy Watch 7 saved the identical design as final 12 months (solely barely thicker) and shed the stylish Basic improve choice, which you will not like. However the Watch 7’s revamped BioSensor will make the watch extra helpful for well being monitoring, the brand new Exynos chip masses apps sooner, and LTE followers will respect the doubled storage for higher on-wrist music playlists.
For
Quicker, extra environment friendly Exynos chipBetter HR and GPS accuracyNew and upcoming well being options like AGEs indexDoubled storageNo value improve
In opposition to
No Basic optionNo extra Wi-fi PowerShareSame show, battery, and so on. as Watch 6
Solely a step behind
The Galaxy Watch 6 and seven could possibly be twins, not less than on the floor. For those who had been hoping the Watch 7 would make modifications to issues just like the show, battery capability, or general look — or when you have the Watch 6 Basic and love your rotating bezel — then it’s possible you’ll need to stick along with your Watch 6 for now, because it’s nonetheless a superb smartwatch.
For
Comparable design, show, capability, and so on.Helps Wi-fi PowerShareSame Put on OS software program by means of 2027Thinner, with extra band optionsHad a Basic improve
In opposition to
No dual-band GPSNo multi-color LEDs for future Samsung Well being metricsSlower performanceNot a lot cupboard space
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 follows an analogous template to the Galaxy Watch 6. Most Galaxy Watch 7 vs. Galaxy Watch 6 upgrades could be present in its efficiency, storage, and well being/health monitoring.
Modifications to the colours and bands apart, you’d have a whole lot of bother telling the Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch 6 aside; they’ve the identical show sizes, safety, digital bezel, and general look, with their weights differing by lower than a gram.
Under, we’ll examine the Galaxy Watch 7 vs. Watch 6 that can assist you resolve whether or not to commerce in your Watch 6 for the Watch 7 or to carry out for the Galaxy Watch 8. Regardless that the Galaxy Watch 7 is the very best Android watch accessible immediately, it’s possible you’ll not discover sufficient main variations to justify an improve.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 vs. Galaxy Watch 6: Specs
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 vs. Galaxy Watch 6: The whole lot that is unchanged
For those who personal the Galaxy Watch 6, these features of your present watch will stay unchanged with the Galaxy Watch 7:
Shows: Each watches ship in 40mm and 44mm case sizes, with matching 1.3-inch and 1.5-inch shows. They’ve the identical decision (432×432 or 480×480, primarily based on the scale) and the identical 2,000 nits of brightness, which is pretty normal for flagship watches and is simply overwhelmed by the three,000-nit Galaxy Watch Extremely.
Plus, each depend on a digital contact bezel, letting you scroll your finger alongside the show edge to slip down menus or throughout Tiles. We’re ignoring the Watch 6 Basic and its bodily bezel for this comparability.Â
Reminiscence: Each watches have 2GB of RAM, the present max we have seen in smartwatches.
Weight: Technically, the Watch 7 40mm and 44mm weigh 0.1g and 0.5g greater than their Watch 6 counterparts, however your wrist might by no means inform the distinction. It is the identical bodily profile.
Safety: Each watches have the utmost ingress safety for mud and water resistance, particularly lasting for as much as half-hour in 1.5 meters of water or 10 minutes in 50 meters of depth.
Additionally they have equal sapphire show scratch safety. Samsung claims they each handed MIL-STD-810H exams for prime/low temperature, altitude, humidity, immersion, salt, fog, mud, vibration, and drops.
Battery capability: Whereas the Galaxy Watch 7 would possibly last more than the Watch 6 (extra on that beneath), the precise capability stays unchanged for each sizes. The 44mm Watch 7 and 6 have 125mAh additional capability, however the bigger show largely cancels this out.
Connectivity: Both watch gives the identical environment friendly Bluetooth 5.3 normal, NFC funds by way of Google Pockets or Samsung Pockets, WiFi 2.4 and 5 GHz, and LTE connectivity. For the latter, it’s important to pay for the mobile Watch 6 or 7 upfront for $50 additional, then add it to your mobile plan.
Software program: As of early August, the Galaxy Watch 6 hasn’t up to date to Put on OS 5, however that ought to change quickly after the Pixel Watch 3 launch, in line with rumors. From that time onwards, the Watch 7 and 6 could have the identical software program and safety updates till mid-2027, when the Watch 6 runs out of assist. Meaning one other three years of comparable software program perks, when you do not improve.
Sensors: Whereas the Watch 7 did get an vital sensor improve, what it tracks is generally unchanged from previous generations: resting and present coronary heart charge, coronary heart charge variability (HRV), passive atrial fibrillation (AFib) detection, energetic AFib detection (ECG), pores and skin temperature, blood oxygen (SpO2), nighttime respiration charge, and menstrual cycles.
You additionally get the identical accelerometer and gyroscope for exercise monitoring, barometer for elevation information, geomagnetic sensor for navigation, and ambient gentle sensor to auto-adjust the show to your environment.Â
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 vs. Galaxy Watch 6: 9 key variations
Why improve from the Galaxy Watch 6 to the Galaxy Watch 7? Listed here are the primary variations, primarily based on variations between our Galaxy Watch 7 assessment take a look at and our Galaxy Watch 6 assessment (and my subsequent months utilizing the last-gen watch):
Higher coronary heart charge accuracy: The Galaxy Watch 7 has 13 coronary heart charge sensor LEDs to the Watch 6’s 4 LEDs. The place the Watch 6 had inexperienced, purple, and IR sensors, the Watch 7 provides new colours — Blue, Yellow, Violet and Ultraviolet — whereas needing fewer photodiodes to energy all of them.
Samsung claims that the Watch 7’s “optimum allocation” of inexperienced, purple, and IR LEDs “extra precisely measures well being metrics resembling coronary heart charge, sleep high quality, blood stress, blood oxygen ranges, and stress ranges” than the Watch 6. Specifically, it is imagined to be 30% extra correct throughout high-intensity exercises.
I carried out a Galaxy Watch Extremely health take a look at — the Extremely and Watch 7 share sensors — and it did very properly for coronary heart charge accuracy, although it nonetheless struggled a bit to trace coronary heart charges within the 170+ bpm vary. Nonetheless, my Galaxy Watch 6 health take a look at gave me much less correct outcomes, so athletes can be pleased with this modification.
Extra correct dual-band GPS: The Galaxy Watch 7 is the primary Samsung watch to have dual-band GPS, which tracks you from a number of satellite tv for pc sorts (older L1s and newer L5s) to bypass sign blockage or reflections off of buildings, mountains, tree cowl, and so forth.
Once more, the Watch Extremely did extraordinarily properly in comparison with a dual-band Garmin watch in our exams, solely 0.01 miles off after practically 10 miles. This accuracy ought to apply to the Watch 7, as properly.
AGEs index (and future well being information): With these additional LED colours, Samsung tracks your physique’s superior glycation finish merchandise (AGEs) index, or the merchandise that type in your bloodstream in response to extra sugar; a excessive AGEs index generally is a warning signal for critical well being situations like diabetes or coronary heart illness.
Samsung’s announcement claims that this new metric is “one of many many new superior options deliberate for the subsequent Galaxy Watch” enabled by the brand new LED colours. In different phrases, any new well being metrics Samsung works on will come to the Watch 7, however not the Watch 6 due to its restricted LED colours.Â
We will not say whether or not this well being information can be definitely worth the replace, and the Watch 6 already catches a number of well being warning indicators. The Galaxy Watch 7 is future-proofed for well being information, however you may most likely wait one other 12 months for the Watch 8, when Samsung has applied extra of those mysterious well being options.
A thicker Galaxy Watch 7: Samsung says that the Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch 6 are 9.7mm and 9.0mm thick, respectively. Neither is that skinny; Samsung would not embrace its BioSensor when measuring its watches, which is kind of deceptive. In reality, the Watch 6 is about 12mm thick, whereas the Watch 7 is not less than 13mm thick.Â
Our Watch 7 reviewer famous that “The dome of the array curves larger, making the watch sit larger on lanky wrists like mine, however for thicker wrists, you should not discover a lot of a distinction.” In different phrases, the brand new and improved well being information has a visible influence on the way it appears in actual life, even when it is similar from the top-down.
Colours and watch band choices: The Watch 6 shipped in Graphite, Gold, and Silver, whereas the Watch 7 is available in Inexperienced, Cream, and Silver.Â
Aesthetics apart, the Watch 6 had extra band choices at launch: Sport, Excessive Sport, Hybrid Leather-based D or Leather-based T, and Material. The Galaxy Watch 7 has three core choices: Material, Sport, and Athleisure. As at all times, there are many third-party Galaxy Watch 7 band choices, however followers of leather-based or extra breathable sport bands is perhaps dissatisfied.
Efficiency: The Galaxy Watch 7 makes use of one ARM Cortex-A78 1.6GHz core and 4 Cortex-A55 1.5GHz cores; the Watch 6 makes use of twin Cortex-A55 1.4GHz cores. As you would possibly count on, this provides the Watch 7 way more capability for high-end processing and sooner app loading instances.
In observe, our Watch 7 reviewer famous that it is “the zippiest smartwatch I’ve ever used, but it surely’s not magnitudes sooner” than the Watch 6, “not less than throughout on a regular basis actions.” That is just like my expertise with the Watch Extremely, which shares the Watch 7 chip; it masses apps in a short time, however the Watch 6 was additionally fairly quick due to the comparable RAM.
A few of its additional efficiency capability goes straight into working the additional LED sensors, which require extra energy to run. In any other case, the Exynos W1000 is extra future-proofed for future Put on OS updates, which could take extra benefit of the additional energy.
Storage: The Galaxy Watch 6 has 16GB of storage, or lower than 6GB when you account for default Put on OS software program. That does not depart a lot wiggle room when you wish to obtain music, podcasts, or audiobooks for streaming on the go whereas leaving your telephone behind. Fortunately, the Watch 7 has boosted cupboard space as much as 32GB, supplying you with extra wiggle room for media and apps.
(Slight) battery life enhance: Samsung by no means gave us an official battery life estimate for the Galaxy Watch 7. Our reviewer discovered that it lasted two days (48 hours) with normal use and sleep monitoring, whereas it lasted nearer to 33–36 hours with extra out of doors use (which makes use of extra nits of brightness) and one dual-band GPS exercise.
The Galaxy Watch 6 was rated to final 40 hours at launch, and yours has most likely misplaced a bit of of its capability since then. Our Watch 7 reviewer credit the Exynos W1000’s “improved effectivity” as with the ability to deal with sure duties with out as a lot battery burn, and it is truthful to say that the Watch 6 can be much less able to dealing with demanding app duties transferring ahead.
As a facet be aware, some early Galaxy Watch 7 customers have reported the other, with their watch barely lasting a day per cost. We’re hoping this stems from early Put on OS 5 bugs that’ll be resolved quickly, since they might presumably have an effect on the Watch 6, too.
For those who’re not a lot of an energetic Put on OS consumer and primarily use your Galaxy Watch 6 to test notifications and the climate, you are most likely superb. Energy customers will profit from a bit of additional capability, however you may want the Extremely for a real enhance.
No extra Wi-fi PowerSharing: An unintended facet impact of the Galaxy Watch 7’s well being sensor redesign is that it prevented Samsung from making it appropriate with its Wi-fi PowerSharing normal.Â
You may not cost the Watch 7 (or Extremely) by putting it atop your flagship Samsung telephone, whilst you nonetheless can achieve this with the Galaxy Watch 6. It is a helpful trick in case your Watch 6 dies and you do not have a charging puck available, although fairly finicky in case your telephone has a protecting case.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 vs. Galaxy Watch 6: Do you have to improve?
Samsung is providing a trade-in deal of a $99 Watch 7 and a free second band in alternate in your Watch 6. So long as that deal’s accessible, you will have loads of causes to improve. For those who’re paying full value or personal the Watch 6 Basic, it is tougher to justify the change.
The Galaxy Watch 7 is considerably higher than the Watch 6 in key areas, with solely a few minor drawbacks with its thickness and disabled PowerSharing in alternate for higher well being and health information. It isn’t that a lot sooner than the Watch 6, and Samsung has to determine the present battery drain concern, but it surely’s greater than we anticipated, given many Android watches preserve the identical CPU throughout generations.Â
In case you have the Watch 6 Basic, you may lose your trendy metal design and higher bezel controls in alternate for all the above perks and a lighter match. That is most likely a troublesome tablet to swallow until you do not like your Basic.
As for traditional Galaxy Watch 6 house owners, it’s possible you’ll need to wait one other era for the variations to be extra vital. This might rely, nevertheless, on whether or not you consider the rumors that Samsung needs to change to a squircle design with future watches. If the Galaxy Watch 8 finally ends up with a squircle show — which Apple customers love and loads of Put on OS watch house owners hate — then possibly there is no cause to attend.
Higher efficiency, well being, and health
Select the Galaxy Watch 7 when you actually care about its improved well being and GPS accuracy, or when you’re an influence consumer that desires the quickest doable efficiency yearly. Skip it when you like your Basic design or when you’re not impressed sufficient with the modifications; the Watch 8 will arrive earlier than it.
Solely a step behind
Stick along with your Galaxy Watch 6 when you’re not impressed sufficient with the modifications in efficiency, when you do not pay shut consideration to your Samsung Well being information, or when you’re completely satisfied along with your Watch 6 Basic. Improve to the Watch 7 when you discover a good trade-in deal and wish all the newest perks.