Galaxy Z Fold5, Z Flip5, Watch6, Tab S9 hands-on review

Samsung Galaxy Watch6, Watch6 Classic hands-on review

Samsung has been on a constant soul-searching quest with its smartwatches. Interactive bezels of one sort or another have been there at some points in time, then the bezels went static last year. A couple of years ago, the company transitioned from its own OS to Google's, offering better smartphone integration and improved functionality. All the while, different-styled models in several sizes have been part of the roster, aiming to cater to as many different wrists and lifestyles as possible.

The pursuit continues this year with the Galaxy Watch6 family. Once again, there are two main models - a more compact, sportier 'vanilla' Watch6, and a larger, serious-looking Watch6 Classic. The latter replaces the Pro from last year and brings things back to a slightly more sensible naming scheme.

Here's a quick look at the four versions' specs.

With the return to the gen-4 nomenclature, we're also back to a two-sizes-per-model roster - last year there were two Watch5 versions, but only one Watch5 Pro. The Watch 6 comes in 40mm and 44mm sizes, while the Classic commands more presence with 43mm and 47mm cases.

But what's more important this year is that the Classics mark the reintroduction of the physical rotating bezel - a feature Samsung introduced with the Gear S2 in 2015 and has had in at least one model since. Well, except for last year, when the Pro ditched the rotating bezel and we weren't happy. We feel better now.

Galaxy Watch6 Classic 47mm

And it's not just the 4 case types and sizes that limit your options either. Add the multitude of what Samsung calls one-click bands and things work out to a total of 704 case-band options, though that's when shopping from Samsung.com and availability will likely vary wildly by region.

A whole bunch of different bands

One thing that the Pro had last year was a big battery - at 590mAh, its capacity was notably larger than anything you can get with the Watch6s. The bigger versions of the 2023 models (both vanilla and Classic) come with 425mAh cells, while the smaller ones feature 300mAh units. In a way, however, that's still an upgrade (if only a marginal one) over the Watch5 models which got 410mAh and 284mAh capacities. Samsung promises 30h of battery life with AoD on (40h with AoD off) across the range.

Vanilla or Classic, the large versions of the Watch6 have 1.5-inch OLED displays, while the smaller variants feature 1.3-inch units. In both cases you get a resolution bump - 480x480px on the larger ones (up from 450x450px) and 430x430px on the smaller sizes (previously 396x396px). Samsung also boasts 2,000nits of peak brightness and an always-on display brightness adjustment feature to help preserve battery.

A new Exynos W930 chipset with a more powerful 1.4GHz dual-core CPU (up from 1.18GHz) and a RAM increase to 2GB (previously 1.5GB) should keep things running smoothly.

The Galaxy Watch6 generation runs One UI Watch 5, based on Android Wear 4.0. Samsung's placed its focus this year on sleep tracking and will get you in-depth analyses of your sleeping habits, with Sleep Score Factors for various metrics, Sleep Messages, Sleep Coaching, and can show you your Sleep Animal. Body composition analysis and an array of heart health related features will also be available in some regions.