Samsung’s upcoming products tend to get a lot of attention due to the large number of effects they produce on the scene. With the unfortunate state of the Wear OS and Snapdragon Wear processors, it’s no wonder that many Android fans are waiting for the launch of the Tizen-based Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. Thanks to a recent public firmware leak, we’ve learned a lot of information about Samsung’s upcoming smartwatch, including most of the specs and features. Here is everything we discovered so far about the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3.
But first, a brief summary. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 will be the successor to the original Galaxy Watch, which launched in mid-2018. Samsung has released a few smart watches between the Galaxy Watch and the Galaxy Watch 3, including the Galaxy Watch Active and the Galaxy Watch Active 2, but they skip the “Galaxy Watch 2” brand. Make no mistake, though: this is a Galaxy Watch 2 in everything but the name. Samsung’s Galaxy Wearable app confirmed the name as it has multiple certification requests. We’ve seen photos of the smartwatch, high-quality (and even 3D) renders and partial spec sheets. Now, we are ready to add more fuel to the fire with our publicly available firmware findings for the unreleased Galaxy Watch 3 smartwatch.
Galaxy Watch 3 Specifications
| Galaxy Watch 3 41mm | Galaxy Watch 3 45mm | |
|---|---|---|
| Model number | SM-R850 | SM-R840 |
| SoC | Exynos 9110 | Exynos 9110 |
| Tizen version | 5.5.0.0 | 5.5.0.0 |
| A version of UI | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Charger power | 5W | 5W |
| Battery capacity | 247 mAh | 340 mAh |
| Speaker | yes | yes |
| NFC | yes | yes |
| Screen resolution | 360 × 360 OLED | 360 × 360 OLED |
| Health sensor | TI AFE4930 | TI AFE4930 |
In the firmware dump sent to us for the Galaxy Watch 3, we were able to compile the above spec sheet for the two main variants of the Samsung smartwatch. We hope that both variants of the smartwatch will work with the Exynos 9110 SoC, which is the same 10nm chip found in the original Galaxy Watch, Galaxy Watch Active, and Galaxy Watch Active 2.
The 41mm Galaxy Watch 3 should have a 247mAh battery, while the larger 45mm variant should have a 340mAh battery. While there is a 4mm difference in screen size, the screen resolution will be the same for both 360 × 360 smart watches. Of course, Samsung will use its own OLED panels for the watches. Both watches will have speakers so you can make voice calls. Internally, both smartwatch models will support NFC but not MST for payments through Samsung Pay. The health sensor used in the Galaxy Watch 3 is the AFE4930 from Texas Instruments. This is a minor update on the TI AFE4920 sensor used in the Galaxy Watch Active 2.
Watch Faces
In the firmware, I was also able to find the new watch faces that will be included with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. There are some digital dials along with some analog ones. There is a style for everyone.
With the watch faces on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3, we get new informative digital borders. In the first 3 images, you can see 4 rounded bars around the outside of the watch. These information borders can be customized with many options. These options include world clock, voice memo, timer, stopwatch, timeline, reminder, PowerPoint controller, music, messages, email, phone call log, Bixby, barometer, alarm, recent apps, running, walking, biking , walking, swimming, swimming outside, treadmill, exercise bike, elliptical, other workouts, women’s health, water, food, breathing, stress, heart rate, sleep, calories, sleep, step count, daily activity, putting sun, UV index, air quality, probability of rain, sensation such as temperature, date and weather, climate, monogram, calendar day, battery percentage or nothing.
Informational borders will also have the option of having a digital suggestion. From what I understand from the watch face files, it will automatically switch between steps, battery, heart rate, calories, or weather, depending on what the watch software decides is most important at the time.
Here is another animated watch face for RENAISSANCE (galaxy watch 3) pic.twitter.com/N6yC7TLxEx
– Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) July 5, 2020
Remember the new weather app I was talking about on the Galaxy Watch 3? Well it turns out it’s a watch face! The background should change depending on the weather around you.
Here is one of the animations pic.twitter.com/8qYPW5BBMZ
– Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) July 5, 2020
Another watch face not mentioned above is a new weather watch face. The clock background will display an animation that mimics the weather. If it is snowing, the bottom will show snow. On a sunny day, you will see the sun. Another watch face only shows an animated flower or bubbles (the choice depends on the user) every time you look at the screen of the Galaxy Watch 3.
App updates
A major change is with the email app on the Galaxy Watch 3. Samsung email will no longer be included on the smartwatch. Instead, there will be Microsoft Outlook. Given that Microsoft and Samsung have had a long association for years, this should not surprise us. While I can see that the app is pre-installed on the watch, it may require the user to use the Outlook app on their device instead of the Samsung email app. For Galaxy owners, it will require installing another app, but for other Android owners, it will allow the email function to work.
Non-firmware stuff
We have seen some different leaks on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 that do not originate from the firmware. Evan Blass recently tweeted that there will be 9 different versions of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3: a 41mm Bluetooth model in bronze and silver, a 41mm LTE model in bronze and silver, a 45mm Bluetooth model in silver and black, a model 45mm LTE in Silver and black, and a 45mm Bluetooth model in black titanium. You can find images of these specific models in this previous article we wrote.
There will be 9 different Galaxy Watch3 settings:
– 45mm Black Titanium Bluetooth
– 45mm black BT stainless steel
– 45mm black SS LTE
– 45mm SS BT silver
– 45mm SS LTE silver
– 41mm Silver SS BT
– 41mm SS LTE silver
– 41mm bronze / gold SS BT
– 41mm bronze / gold SS LTE– Evan Blass (@evleaks) July 1, 2020
A recent report from Gizmodo United Kingdom It also talks about some cool new gestures that we haven’t found evidence for in the firmware yet. Apparently, Samsung will introduce wrist gestures to control different aspects of the watch. According to the filtered images obtained by GizmodoMaking a fist pump will accept a phone call while shaking the fist will reject the call. There may also be a gesture that allows you to bring the smart watch to your mouth to activate Bixby, similar to how you can activate Siri on Apple Watch. The report also mentions fall detection and ECG monitoring support is included. For now, it appears that ECG and blood pressure monitoring will be available in South Korea only with a release in more countries later, which is not surprising considering they are already in testing on the Galaxy Watch Active 2 in Korea. Lastly, the report mentions that there will be a running coach who can help you with your pace as you run, with more information after you finish.
Image credits: Gizmodo UK
There is some evidence that the Galaxy Watch 3 could be released later this month. Evan Blass has previously stated that he believes the release date, which is generally the date shown in press reports, is July 22. This means that we could see Samsung’s new smartwatch released soon. However, there is still a chance that this date is incorrect, and the Galaxy Watch 3 is actually announced on the Samsung Unpacked online only along with the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Z Fold 2 on August 5. In any case, we’ll be on the lookout for more information on the Galaxy Watch 3 and other Samsung products, so we’ll let you know if we discover anything new.
