Hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: The bezel is back

What was old is new again — again. On top of updates to its Galaxy Z Flip and Fold and refreshes to its Galaxy Tab line, Samsung announced an improved pair of wearables, the Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic, as part of Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2023. The two smartwatches offer some new features and the return of some old favorites, but are they worth the investment? We got to go hands-on with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic for some first impressions.

We’re at the beginning of a new era. Not necessarily because Samsung packed heaps of innovation into its Galaxy Watch 6 series, but rather because it fixed one of the least popular decisions of the Galaxy Watch 5 series. That’s right — the rotating bezel is back. It’s a perfect example of Samsung rewinding to a beloved design, kind of like Apple bringing back ports and ditching the Touch Bar on its recent MacBook Pro models.

Although there’s no denying that the bezel is back, Samsung’s new rotating bezel isn’t an exact copy of the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. Rather, the new and improved bezel is 15% smaller than before, offering a border around your watch face that’s 30% smaller. The untrained — and even the trained — eye might not notice much difference, but it’s good to see Samsung pushing the boundaries (literally) in small ways with its newest smartwatches.

As with previous generations, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic come in two case sizes. If you opt for the base model, you can pick between 40mm and 44mm, while the Classic is larger at 43mm or 47mm. You’re more likely to notice the smaller border on the base Galaxy Watch 6, partly thanks to the fact that Samsung has a few new watch faces to accentuate the feature. We didn’t get to cycle through them all during our time with the device, but there’s plenty of room for customization.

Mentioning customization, Samsung’s most important update might not have anything to do with the display or bezel at all. Instead, the decision to adopt quick-release watch bands is a game changer. Rather than fiddling with a tiny little pin on each side of the 20mm band, Samsung now offers designs with a pill-shaped button for easy press and release. It’s still a little tricky to insert the watch band the first time, but I got used to it after just a few minutes with the Watch 6 Classic. Band junkies will also be happy to know that Samsung announced a new fabric band designed to be more comfortable for sleeping.

Some of the Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic’s most significant changes from the Galaxy Watch 5 lie inside. Both models now feature Samsung’s in-house Exynos 930 chipset to keep the lights on and slightly larger batteries. The smaller Samsung watches (40mm Watch 6 and 43mm Watch 6 Classic) get 16mAh bumps to an even 300mAh, while their larger counterparts (44mm Watch 6 and 47mm Watch 6 Classic) grow by 15mAh to 425 mAh. Both batteries still fall well short of the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro’s 590mAh capacity, so you’ll want to stick with the previous generation if battery life matters most. On the bright side, the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro is sticking around, so that remains an option.

The new Galaxy Watch 6 series also features a few health-tracking improvements based on the BioActive Sensor, including temperature-based menstrual cycle tracking. We didn’t have time to test many of these new metrics during our hour or so with the device, so you’ll have to come back to learn more in the full review.

The quest for unified software on Wear OS smartwatches is well-documented at this point. Everyone was headed in their direction, at least until Google and Samsung teamed up to resurrect Wear OS — kind of like the return of the rotating bezel, no? Now, Samsung has taken the lead, making its Galaxy Watch 6 series the first to launch with Wear OS 4 onboard and the One UI 5 skin. The latest version of Wear OS is based on Android 13, which was mainly a refinement of Android 12’s laundry list of changes. Using the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic doesn’t feel like an all-new experience, but it’s a bit more refined.

In the long term, Wear OS 4 and One UI 5 should be more efficient than the current Wear OS 3.5 platform, which  means better battery life. Samsung also pointed out that you no longer have to fully reset your watch when swapping from one device to the next, which is a meaningful change, even if you don’t have to take advantage of it very often. We’ll have to wait and see if Samsung brings some Material You-style theming to its Galaxy Watch 6 series — as if you needed even more room for customization.

No matter what Wear OS 4 brings or doesn’t bring, Samsung has already confirmed that the Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic feature improvements to workout autodetection for running, rowing, and swimming, as well as personalized VO2 Max heart rate zones depending on your effort. Once again, we didn’t have a chance to test the auto-detect accuracy during our brief session with the Galaxy Watch 6 series.

Samsung Wallet also gets a pretty big boost, offering full-scale support for mobile payments, membership cards, and transit passes without an attached phone. A few new features also require you to pair your Galaxy Watch 6 with one of Samsung’s foldables. If you open your phone’s camera in Flex Mode, you’ll automatically get a notification on your watch asking if you want to use it as a remote viewfinder and shutter button. It worked quickly and accurately during my testing, and the three-second timer is long enough to set up those group selfies.

It’s not easy to craft a refined opinion of a smartwatch after just an hour with it. There are too many time-sensitive software features and health-tracking metrics that I can’t form an opinion on quite yet. However, what I can do is praise Samsung for taking a step in the right direction — even if that means a step backward. It’s good to see a company listen to feedback and bring back one of the best features from previous generations in the rotating bezel.

I spent nearly all of my time with the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic using that bezel for navigation, rarely defaulting to the touch screen. Sure, you have to use the touch screen to type out messages and emails, but the rotating bezel is often more precise when scrolling through menus — unless you have slender piano fingers. I do not, so I’ll keep spinning the bezel to get around.

At the end of the day, you’re probably wondering whether or not you should pick up the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 or the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic. Well, that’s a tricky question to answer. It’s great to see Samsung bring back a beloved design feature, yet there’s nothing life-changing to love about either watch. If you have a Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, you may want to upgrade depending on how your current watch is holding up, while most Galaxy Watch 5 wearers are probably perfectly content with the watch they already have.

With prices staying right around the previous generation, the Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic are some of the best smartwatches to pair with your Samsung Galaxy smartphone. They may not offer mind-blowing innovations, but sometimes the best way forward is a step back.