The first pictures of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 have emerged and just as you don’t expect much aesthetic change between Apple Watch generations, the new Galaxy Watch will look pretty familiar to fans of the original.
The design appeared on South Korea’s NRRA certification site, where it was promptly spotted by MySmartPrice. Given these pictures are for certification rather than marketing, they’re not exactly the most glamorous of product shots, but they do still give us plenty to go on.
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The good news is that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 will keep the rotating bezel for navigation, alongside two physical buttons. Anybody who used the original will know that’s a good thing, and a little more precise than tapping the tiny touchscreen. That may seem a no brainer, but the Galaxy Watch Active 2 – the most recent of Samsung’s watches – didn’t have an actual bezel, replicating the experience with a touch sensitive strip around the outside.
The leaked pics from South Korea's NRRA certification site
Speaking of the Galaxy Watch Active 2, its existence is presumably why this upcoming device will be called the Galaxy Watch 3, even though there has been no second generation to speak of. Samsung evidently wants to make it clear to everyone that this is the latest and greatest.
So what else do we know? Well, it’ll come in two sizes – 1.2in and 1.4in – with either a 247mAh or 340mAh battery depending on which you opt for. Otherwise, we’re expecting the two versions to broadly be the same, with GPS, heart-rate sensing and water resistance up to 50 meters. It’s also likely to inherit the ECG introduced with the Galaxy Watch Active 2, though adoption of that around the world has been patchy due to local medical regulation.
We shouldn’t have long to wait to see what other secrets the Galaxy Watch 3 is holding. If the fact that it’s entering certification in Korea weren’t a big enough clue, we know that Samsung is planning its next Unpacked event at the start of August. It would be a big surprise if the Galaxy Watch 3 didn’t make its debut then, alongside the Galaxy Note 20, Galaxy Fold 2 and Galaxy Z Flip 5G.
