Samsung is here with the third episode of Galaxy History, which looks back at the evolution of Galaxy devices. The first two episodes took us through the journey of its Fold-series foldables and Galaxy Buds. The latest edition recounts how its smartwatches have evolved over the years, switching between the Galaxy and Gear brands, and Android and Tizen platforms. The company is trying to build hype around the Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra launching tomorrow.
Samsung looks back on its Galaxy Watch journey ahead of Unpacked
The Korean tech biggie has been making smartwatches for over ten years now. The first watch was called Galaxy Gear. It arrived in September 2013 running an Android-based platform. The watch was rectangular and featured a 1.63-inch super AMOLED display. It supported voice input and offered calling features. It also featured a built-in 1.9MP camera for capturing photos and videos. Samsung says the Galaxy Gear “set the stage for a new era of smartwatches.”
The following year, the company dropped the Galaxy brand and launched a new model called the Gear 2 in February. It added an infrared sensor and switched to the Tizen operating system. The watch was also available in a “Neo” version without an integrated camera. In June 2014, Samsung returned to Android Wear with the Gear Live. It lacked a camera but came with an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance, addressing the durability concerns with previous models.
Samsung then launched the Gear S in November, its third smartwatch of 2014. It ran Tizen OS, lacked a camera, and offered 3G connectivity. The watch featured a 2-inch curved Super AMOLED display. The Gear S2 followed in October 2015, keeping Tizen OS but switching to a circular design. It was also Samsung’s first watch with eSIM technology and the iconic physical rotating bezel, which the Korean firm calls “a hallmark of the Galaxy Watch Classic lineup.”
The Gear S3 (2016) and Gear Sport (2017) arrived with iterative upgrades without any major changes. But in 2018, Samsung decided to bring its watches back under the Galaxy umbrella as it originally started with. The first-gen Galaxy Watch debuted in August 2018 running Tizen OS. It was succeeded by the Galaxy Watch Active and then the Galaxy Watch Active 2 in 2019. Both ran Tizen OS but lacked the rotating bezel, which returned with the Galaxy Watch 3 in 2020.
Samsung returned to Android-based WearOS in 2021
In 2021, Samsung launched the Galaxy Watch 4 with WearOS 3, Google’s revamped Android-based watch platform that the Korean firm helped develop. The watch arrived in two models, with the Classic featuring a rotating bezel. The following year, the company introduced the Galaxy Watch 5 and a Pro model. Neither featured the iconic bezel ring as Samsung focused on a bigger battery on Pro. Last year’s Galaxy Watch 6 Classic brought back the bezel, though.
This year, Samsung will launch the Galaxy Watch 7 and Galaxy Watch Ultra (its first Ultra-branded smartwatch). The latter has a bezel ring and a massive battery. Both models will go official tomorrow, July 10. Samsung will ship the duo with Wear OS 5-based One UI 6 Watch. Leaks say they will bring new health features among other things. Expectations are high, particularly with the Ultra. It remains to be seen if the Korean firm’s new watches can live up to expectations.
