Wrist tech, much like jeans, goes through phases—chunky, minimalist, sporty, analog. Samsung’s latest Galaxy Watch8 series? It’s in its tailored wellness era. After years of mostly iterative upgrades, the Korean electronics giant has finally trimmed the fat—literally—and made something you’d actually want to wear 24/7.
The new Galaxy Watch8 and Galaxy Watch8 Classic are the thinnest Galaxy Watches yet, and finally bring a sense of cohesion across the lineup with a cushion design inspired by the Ultra. They’re also stuffed with more wellness smarts than ever before. Oh, the Ultra has been updated too.
Samsung says the internal components were rearranged to shrink the profile by 11%, and the new Dynamic Lug system moves more naturally with your wrist, so it doesn’t feel like a fitness tracker fighting your bones. So, yeah, not only does the Fold go super thin, but the watch is thin too. Despite being more compact, the display is now 50% brighter (hello 3,000 nits), and it gets dual-frequency GPS and a beefier 3 nm processor.
But the real headline here is health. New to the Watch8 series are features like Antioxidant Index, which reads your carotenoid levels in just 5 seconds, and Vascular Load, which tells you how stressed your blood vessels are while you sleep. There’s also Bedtime Guidance based on your circadian rhythm, and an AI-powered Energy Score that reads both your physical and mental fuel tanks.
On the fitness front, there’s Running Coach with real-time training plans, and now, thanks to the updated Together feature, you can challenge friends to outrun you virtually. Add in a Mindfulness Tracker and real-time stress alerts, and it’s basically your therapist and PT on your wrist.
Oh, and it’s also Samsung’s first smartwatch to launch with Google Gemini built-in. Need to find a café and text a friend? Just ask the watch—Gemini handles it. Thanks to Wear OS 6 and One UI 8 Watch, you get smoother interactions, customizable tiles, and new notification styling.
Available in 40 mm and 44 mm sizes (or 46 mm for the rotating bezel Classic), the Galaxy Watch8 series starts shipping July 25. A thinner design, smarter tracking, and actual useful AI? Now that’s a glow-up. If you are down, the Samsung Galaxy Watch8 is available for pre-order. The Galaxy Watch8 goes for US$379.99, while the Classic and Ultra (2025) cost US$499.99 and US$649.99, respectively.
Images: Samsung.
