Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra debuted last year as the company’s flagship new smartwatch sporting a radical new design. The company is now said to implement it across its next generation watch lineup. According to a report, a note in the animation files of the leaked One UI 8 Watch suggests that the purported Galaxy Watch 8 series may ditch the current circular shape and have a “squircle” design instead. Further, the Classic model is reported to get a new Quick button, bringing it to par with Samsung’s top-end Watch Ultra.
Change in Design of Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Series
Android Authority reports that the design change of the purported Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 series was discovered in the files which are part of the One UI 8 Watch build that was recently leaked. The unreleased firmware mentions two smartwatches with codenames “fresh8” and “wise8” which are speculated to reference the Galaxy Watch 8 and Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, respectively.
Photo Credit: AssembleDebug/ Android Authority
The accompanying graphics in the animation files reveals an appearance akin to the Galaxy Watch Ultra, with both watches sporting a circular display and a square dial — a design popularly known as a squircle.
While other aspects of the Galaxy Watch 8 are expected to remain unchanged, that may not be the case for the Classic model. As per the report, the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic may get an additional button as part of a three-button setup. Further, it may also benefit from stronger vibrations, courtesy of extended vibration pattern support similar to the flagship Ultra smartwatch.
The standard Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 is said to be offered in “small” and “large” sizes bearing the model numbers SM-L32 and SM-L33, respectively, although their exact dimensions remain unknown. Meanwhile, only a single SM-L50 variant of the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic could be spotted in the leaked One UI 8 Watch build.
This builds upon several features discovered in the leaked firmware build, including a battery protection feature, new charging animation, a Shortcuts app, support for Galaxy AI-powered Now Bar, and an Antioxidant Index feature.