Samsung Unveils The Galaxy Watch8 and Watch8 Classic at Unpacked Event

At its much-anticipated Unpacked event in July 2025, Samsung pulled the curtains back on the Galaxy Watch8 and the Watch8 Classic. These smartwatch models, with their refreshed design, mark a return to the rotating bezel pattern after a year’s hiatus. Drawing inspiration from the Galaxy Watch Ultra that was launched the previous year, both models sport a similar squarish case housing a round bezel.

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Samsung Unveils The Galaxy Watch8 and Watch8 Classic at Unpacked Event Bright Display and Enhanced Features Health and Fitness Features Software and Pricing Availability

Bright Display and Enhanced Features

The Galaxy Watch8 stands out with a significant screen upgrade. Its display shines brighter than its predecessor, the Watch7, boasting a peak brightness of 3,000 nits as opposed to 2,000. This upgrade ensures a better viewing experience in bright lighting conditions.

Under the hood, the smartwatch is powered by the Exynos W1000 chip and features a BioActive Sensor. This handy sensor measures your heart rate, EKGs, and even provides a body composition analysis.

Health and Fitness Features

The Watch8 isn’t just about style and performance—it’s also about health and fitness. The smartwatch is equipped with several innovative features that Samsung rolled out recently. For instance, there’s the Bedtime Guidance feature that suggests the ideal bedtime based on your past sleep data. Another notable feature is Vascular Load which gauges stress on your vascular system while you sleep and suggests lifestyle adjustments. The Watch8 also has a Running Coach to help you find your optimum running pace and an Antioxidant index that measures the carotenoid levels in your body. However, the real-life usefulness of these features may vary as they are based on a number of assumptions about the user’s health.

Software and Pricing

The new watches come with One UI 8 Watch based on Wear OS 6. This software release includes Google’s Gemini, letting you ask questions without typing. Gemini is integrated with Samsung Health, Calendar, Reminder, and Clock apps. While the Galaxy Watch Ultra remains unchanged, Samsung is releasing a new Titanium Blue colorway priced at $650.

The Galaxy Watch8 starts at $350 for the Bluetooth model, which is $50 more than the previous generation. The LTE model is priced at $400. This watch is available in 40mm and 44mm sizes in graphite and silver colors. The Galaxy Watch8 Classic, on the other hand, costs $500 for the Bluetooth version and $550 for the LTE version, and it comes in a 46mm size.