If you’re an iPhone user, it’s easy to throw your wallet at the Apple Watch, thanks to its eminent connectivity with all things Apple, but Samsung’s smartwatches should never be overlooked, especially if you’re on the Android side of the fence. Rumour has it that the Gear S4 – or Galaxy Watch as it’s also being called – is about to hit the scene.
What’s all the more exciting is that Samsung hasn’t updated its flagship line of wearables for a while (last year’s Gear Sport was an incremental update at best), which suggests something big is almost definitely up the tech giant’s metaphorical sleeves. We’re not sure whether it’ll be called the Gear S4 or the Galaxy Watch, but we’ve gathered all the information you need to know about Samsung’s next wearable
We’ll be updating this page as and when more information emerges, so be sure to check back in to see what’s in store for the Samsung Galaxy Watch, Gear S4 or whatever it will be called.
READ NEXT: Our full review of the Samsung Gear S3
Samsung Gear S4: How much will it cost and when will it arrive?
The Samsung Gear S4 is expected to launch before the end of 2018, although there’s no concrete arrival date just yet. Heck, the wearable isn’t official yet, so hold your horses.
Looking at past release dates, the Gear S3 was announced in August 2016 and its predecessor, the Gear S2, showed up in August 2015. We expected to see the Gear S4 in August last year but, as you’re reading this, that clearly never happened.
Instead, the Samsung Gear Sport was launched last year, but it failed to measure up as a fully featured multisport watch. Samsung is expected to pull back the curtain at IFA 2018 at the end of August, however, so stay tuned for more details.
As for how much the Gear S4 will cost, well, we don’t know those details either. Its predecessor, the Gear S3, launched for £349, so we reckon the Gear S4 will debut at a similar price, perhaps with a marginal Brexit-related markup.
Speaking of which, if you can’t wait to get your hands on a Samsung wearable, the Gear S3 has recently received a generous price cut on Amazon – it’s now only £230.
Samsung Gear S4: What will it look like?
Word on the street is that “it” might become a “them”. SamMobile’s recent blog post suggests the Korean firm will offer the watch in two different sizes. This should make the watch more appealing to those with smaller wrists, who are deterred by such a large watch face.
A recent Samsung Gear smartwatch patent spotted by Patently Mobile appears to show a Samsung watch with an extra display built into the frame of the watch. Given that the Gear S3 already has a bezel that can be rotated, it’s easy to imagine a bezel-display hybrid as a high-tech upgrade. It’s only a patent, however, so might not make it past the realms of ideas.
Samsung Gear S4: Features and specs
The Gear S4 is rumoured to be getting a bigger battery compared to the Gear S3, with reports suggesting a bump up from 380mAh (which already lasts around two to three days in our testing) to 470mAh. If true, this could make the Gear S4 one of the longest-lasting smartwatches on the market.
Another patent suggests that the Gear S4 will feature a built-in blood-pressure monitor, perhaps in a bid to tap into the wellness trend. If it doesn’t appear in the Gear S4, it’s likely that Samsung is honing the tech for later inclusion in another smartwatch.
Other features and specs are still under wraps but Samsung, unlike Apple, isn’t known for its ability to keep things hush-hush until launch (see: the Samsung Galaxy S8 reveal). So, we expect many, many more rumours and leaks to be dropping ahead of the imminent arrival of Samsung’s Gear S4, Galaxy Watch, or whatever Samsung decides to call its latest wearable.