At the Galaxy Unpacked event in New York, as well as the new Galaxy Note phone, Samsung has unveiled their latest wearable – the Galaxy Watch – and they’re coming to Australia from October 4th.
Samsung’s latest wearable is the first in the ‘Galaxy Watch’ line, but just like the Gear S watches it also still runs on Tizen OS. The watches have a heavy focus on wellness including options for both stress and sleep monitoring capabilities in addition to the usual health tracking options like step counting, heart rate monitoring and GPS.
The watches will be available with an LTE modem – with an e-SIM inside – to allow you to remain connected at all times. Samsung says the Galaxy Watch is compatible ‘across 30+ carriers and 15+
countries’, so there should be options for it to be on a plan when it arrives here.
Samsung has also focused on battery life with the Galaxy Watch, spruiking up to 80+ hours of battery life from a single charge. This multi-day battery life means you can sleep with your watch on to ensure you can get that sleep tracking.
The Galaxy Watch is available in both 46mm and 42mm with the 46mm model available in Silver, while the 42mm model will come in both Rose Gold and Midnight Black. The watch also supports interchangeable bands – 22mm for the larger model and 20mm for the smaller model – with a broad selection of colours to choose from.
The hardware that makes up and is inside the watch is impressive with a case that’s both IP68 dust/waterproof and also certified for MIL-STD-810G and is able to survive up to 5ATM in water. Samsung’s notable circular, rotating bezel surrounds a 360×360 resolution display which is covered in Gorilla Glass DX. The Full specs for the Watches look like this:
| Galaxy Watch Specifications | ||
|---|---|---|
| Model | Galaxy Watch 46mm Silver | Galaxy Watch 42mm Midnight Black Galaxy Watch 42mm Rose Gold |
| Display | 1.3” (33mm), Circular Super AMOLED (360 x 360) Full Color Always On Display Corning® Gorilla® DX+ |
1.2” (30mm), Circular Super AMOLED (360 x 360) Full Color Always On Display Corning® Gorilla® DX+ |
| Size | 46 x 49 x 13 63g (without strap) |
41.9 x 45.7 x 12.7 49g (without strap) |
| Strap | 22mm (Interchangeable) Option Color: Onyx Black, Deep Ocean Blue, Basalt Grey |
20mm (Interchangeable) Option Color: Onyx Black, Lunar Grey, Terracotta Red, Lime Yellow, Cosmo Purple, Pink Beige, Cloud Grey, Natural Brown |
| Battery | 472mAh | 270mAh |
| AP | Exynos 9110 Dual core 1.15GHz | |
| OS | Tizen Based Wearable OS 4.0 | |
| Memory | LTE: 1.5GB RAM + 4GB Internal Memory Bluetooth®: 768MB RAM + 4GB Internal Memory |
|
| Connectivity | 3G/LTE, Bluetooth®4.2, Wi-Fi b/g/n, NFC, A-GPS/Glonass | |
| Sensor | Accelerometer, Gyro, Barometer, HRM, Ambient Light | |
| Charge | WPC based wireless charging | |
| Durability | 5ATM + IP68 / MIL-STD-810G | |
| Compatibility | Samsung: Android 5.0 or later Other: Android 5.0 or later iPhone 5 and above, iOS 9.0 or above ※ Activation feature for Mobile Network of Galaxy watch with Non-Samsung smartphones may not be available in some countries |
|
In terms of when you can get your hands on them, Samsung Australia has said they will be available to purchase in Australia from October 4, 2018. Samsung will be offering both the cellular and Bluetooth models and can be purchased from selected operator and retail partners as well as Samsung experience stores and online.
The Galaxy Watch will be available in Midnight Black, Silver and Rose Gold, in two watch face sizes (46mm and 42mm). The cellular model will be priced from $649 (RRP) and the Bluetooth model from $549 (RRP).
When is samsung galaxy lte watch being released in Australia?
How much ??
Short answer is next week, on Telstra, for $600 for the 42mm watch, or $648 for the 46mm watch.
“Samsung will be offering both the cellular and Bluetooth models and can be purchased from selected operator and retail partners as well as Samsung experience stores and online.”
Anyone heard anything about a cellular model in Australia? I know October 4 isn’t here yet, but I’ve been following the news on this watch closely since it’s announcement. It annoys me that some other countries know if they are getting an LTE version, but we don’t.
I want an LTE watch. Please?
Hi Colin, Good news, there will be options. Samsung has spoken about eSIM being on the cards when it arrives. It’s possible it may be a carrier exclusive thing, but the good news it it will be possible.
I wish they would hurry up and release it here in Australia. October 4th is too far away! So frustrating since Amazon stopped shipping from the US.
I’ve been a long time Android-everything devotee, but I’m starting to be won over by Tizen. I’ve replaced my shield-connected TV with a Samsung TV running tizen, and the software just works in a lot of ways android tv doesn’t. I’m increasingly unlikely to replace my Galaxy S8 with the new Pixel based on the underwhelming leaks, and android wear on my huawei watch has gotten worse and worse as support for it has fallen away. I’m starting to think tizen on my next watch may not be such a bad thing.
So the LTE will have a sim card? And you can make calls like Maxwell Smart? And you can’t do that on BT? (Sorry, I’m not too to date on smart watches)
Hi Nicky – good question, I’ll add an update into the article. The Galaxy Watch will use e-SIM.
Interesting Samsung is still continuing with Tizen OS. Samsung obviously wants to funnel everyone into the Samsung ecosystem, instead of Google’s.
I’ve got nothing against Tizen. The more competition the better. Tizen is open source (formerly Meego OS), so I presume that would make it open for other manufacturers to use, also.
Google had better come out with something special at its watch announcement on 4 October.
Tizen was never formerly MeeGo (both used v.different foundational architectures, the only similarity was they had similar F/OSS licensing/ideals), MeeGo formed the basis for Mer/Nemo, which in turn is the base for SailfishOS.
October 4th huh? That’s a familiar sounding date…🤔