# Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. What to expect



## Rocket1991

There is upcoming Samsung Unpacked event in late April.
From release times of the past we *know* this year there will be some new Samsung Watch.
So far there are candidates
1. Replacement of Samsung GW Active 2
2. Replacement of Samsung GW 3
3. Some new watch which is not in the series

I am positive Active 3 should take a place and be out. There is no immediate need for it but time vise it should. Active 2 shares exact same internals as GW3 and it's latest and greatest Samsung has to offer there is not much point in replacing it just software improvements/enhancements would of been fine. Compared to my Gear Sport it's very snappy, comes with speaker, has latest GR/blood pressure/VO etc. capable sensors. Which still not approved for EKG and blood pressure in Canada. So even almost 2 years after lunch watch still have not reached it's full potential. Neither GW3 for that matter. Still i think Active 3 will happen this year.

GW4 is a heavy bet. Samsung used to introduce watches once in 2 years and than switched to yearly doses. Do we need to replace it? Not as much but there are areas of improvement which will come with new watches.

Fist: new SOC.
Exynos 9110 (10 nm) used in all latest Samsung smartwatches built on still good at 10nm but 7nm and 5nm are out of the bag and they bring a lot of power sawing and performance. Also Snapdragon 4100 is out of the bag and Samsung should counter it. New CPU will be out. Which model it will use as premier body .. don't know. More RAM, More clock speeds, some new tech... all that jazz.

Second: Samsung was rumored to build WearOS smartwatch. It should be fairly easy for them. It could be out and it could be that announcement. It will be nice if it will be 4100 based one. From Samsung you may expect 2 things either 4100 or new Exynos. Current non LTE Exynos 9110 have 750 MB RAM and it's not good for Android. They may put out 1.5 GB sans LTE though.

Third and most exciting one: Glucose sensor. Samsung was part of research with MIT in non intrusive laser based glucose sensors based on Raman Spectrograph.
Laser illuminates your capillary and sensor reads glucose level. That will be first and there were rumors about Apple incorporating it into AW7 i think it's very exciting and promising new tech. Both for health and athletic applications. Can't elaborate will it be in this year watches but it will some day.

Advanced health monitoring in smartwatches is very exciting subject for me. If done right it has soo much good in store for us!

We may except higher screen resolutions, more titanium, LTE (may be 5G?) and taught model.

All Samsung smart watches are MIL810 compatible (not all standard (fungi resistance anyone?) but like Garmin shock, humidity etc.) so by thought i mean something more rugged looking and designed with beating in mind.


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## rationaltime

Rocket1991 said:


> There is upcoming Samsung Unpacked event in late April.
> From release times of the past we *know* this year there will be some new Samsung Watch.
> So far there are candidates
> 1. Replacement of Samsung GW Active 2
> 2. Replacement of Samsung GW 3
> 3. Some new watch which is not in the series
> 
> I am positive Active 3 should take a place and be out. There is no immediate need for it but time vise it should. Active 2 shares exact same internals as GW3 and it's latest and greatest Samsung has to offer there is not much point in replacing it just software improvements/enhancements would of been fine. Compared to my Gear Sport it's very snappy, comes with speaker, has latest GR/blood pressure/VO etc. capable sensors. Which still not approved for EKG and blood pressure in Canada. So even almost 2 years after lunch watch still have not reached it's full potential. Neither GW3 for that matter. Still i think Active 3 will happen this year.
> 
> GW4 is a heavy bet. Samsung used to introduce watches once in 2 years and than switched to yearly doses. Do we need to replace it? Not as much but there are areas of improvement which will come with new watches.
> 
> Fist: new SOC.
> Exynos 9110 (10 nm) used in all latest Samsung smartwatches built on still good 10nm but 7nm and 5nm are out of the bag and they bring a lot of power sawing and performance. Also Snapdragon 4100 is out of the bag and Samsung should counter it. New CPU will be out. Which model it will use as premier body .. don't know. More RAM, More clock speeds, some new tech... all that jazz.
> 
> Second: Samsung was rumored to build WearOS smartwatch. It should be fairly easy for them. It could be out and it could be that announcement. It will be nice if it will be 4100 based one. From Samsung you may expect 2 things either 4100 or new Exynos. Current non LTE Exynos 9110 have 750 MB RAM and it's not good for Android. They may put out 1.5 GB sans LTE though.
> 
> Third and most exciting one: Glucose sensor. Samsung was part of research with MIT in non intrusive laser based glucose sensors based on Raman Spectrograph.
> Laser illuminates your capillary and sensor reads glucose level. That will be first and there were rumors about Apple incorporating it into AW7 i think it's very exciting and promising new tech. Both for health and athletic applications. Can't elaborate will it be in this year watches but it will some day.
> 
> Advanced health monitoring in smartwatches is very exciting subject for me. If done right it has soo much good in store for us!
> 
> We may except higher screen resolutions, more titanium, LTE (may be 5G?) and thought model.
> 
> All Samsung smart watches are MIL810 compatible (not all standard but like Garmin) so by thought i mean something more rugged looking and designed with beating in mind.


I don't know much about this, but there is a company in Lithuania.
Brolis Sensor Technology has been working on this. Their
technology appears to be based on molecular sensing by infrared
spectroscopy. My thought is they are as far along in practical
transdermal glucose sensing as anyone.

Maybe someone can report any other results that have gone
beyond the laboratory.

Thanks,
rationaltime


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## Rocket1991

rationaltime said:


> I don't know much about this, but there is a company in Lithuania.
> Brolis Sensor Technology has been working on this. Their
> technology appears to be based on molecular sensing by infrared
> spectroscopy. My thought is they are as far along in practical
> transdermal glucose sensing as anyone.
> 
> Maybe someone can report any other results that have gone
> beyond the laboratory.
> 
> Thanks,
> rationaltime











Samsung Researchers’ Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring Method Featured in ‘Science Advances’


With diabetes and its associated costs on the rise around the world, effective blood glucose monitoring is considered more important than ever. While




news.samsung.com




.

Technique itself is rather standard. Mounting it into the watch is revolutionary.
Raman Spectroscopy been around widely in past 50 years and first research into it was done in 1920s.
Plenty of infra red spectroscopy techniques since it corresponds to energy states of organic molecules.
Lithuanian tech uses different method (slightly different) but they not past clinical trials or wearable device.
Problem with these in smartwatch come in variety of factors from movement because it is on your wrist and not stationary(solved by Samsung), accuracy (Samsung seem to solve it) and miniaturization (not sure where it is).
I remember people trying to do system on chip for analysis with micrfluidics, MEMS and many other things. There been 100s of start ups offering wearable or portable solutions.
Well known Theranos (one of the modern Ponzi schemes) was exactly in same business. Creating portable lab on chip/drug delivery.
All ended up bad but they been successful to raise billions in shares.
Not going to comment on shady modern side of business but technically not all lab prototypes go well beyond lab.
Fact that two major players in industry ready to put it on the market independently is reassuring.


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## janey13

This is exciting news! I agree with you regarding the health monitoring in smartwatches. I heard different stories about how this feature saved hundreds of people's lives. Just these days, I was reading on Facebook about a man who fell and his smartwatch immediately called for 911. I think these are the features we truly need in a smartwatch and that shows how much our technology has evolved. I'm thinking about getting one from my grandma too because she is old and living alone. I was looking on 5 Best Standalone Smartwatches with SIM Cards 2021 [Essential Picks] thinking about which one I should get, but from what I know only the Apple watch has this feature so far. Maybe I should wait for this one to be released on the market. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.


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## Rocket1991

janey13 said:


> This is exciting news! I agree with you regarding the health monitoring in smartwatches. I heard different stories about how this feature saved hundreds of people's lives. Just these days, I was reading on Facebook about a man who fell and his smartwatch immediately called for 911. I think these are the features we truly need in a smartwatch and that shows how much our technology has evolved. I'm thinking about getting one from my grandma too because she is old and living alone. I was looking on 5 Best Standalone Smartwatches with SIM Cards 2021 [Essential Picks] thinking about which one I should get, but from what I know only the Apple watch has this feature so far. Maybe I should wait for this one to be released on the market. Please do correct me if I'm wrong.


Samsung has LTE version too but not on all markets. Not sure which WearOS have it.
Samsung has fall detection (similar to Apple) but i am not sure which market got this "new" functionality. Unfortunately, Samsung don't roll all new features on all markets. Galaxy Watch lost it's VO as it was transfer to new app and for example in Canada app is not available because it's including EKG and blood pressure and for that Samsung did not got approval from medical authorities. So it was removed from main app but other app never came to be. Thus functionality removed. I strongly suggest to check with support prior to buying and review app store. By the time all thing go through it may be time for next watch so not much point in waiting. It's either present or not.


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## Hasaf

My hope, and I realize that it is unlikely, is to see all of the features unbundled from the Samsung Phones. I would like to use the blood pressure app, even though is reported as not being terribly accurate. That said, I don't want it bad enough to go buy a new Samsung phone.


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## Rocket1991

Hasaf said:


> My hope, and I realize that it is unlikely, is to see all of the features unbundled from the Samsung Phones. I would like to use the blood pressure app, even though is reported as not being terribly accurate. That said, I don't want it bad enough to go buy a new Samsung phone.


It works on any android phone. But you do need to install Wear, health and now 3d app. It began to play nice with 3d party e-mail and message clients too. But you right is has far better integration with Samsung app suite. I hate to say it in 2021 but whole thing is still somehow non universal. Including WearOS which also needs slew of manufacturer proprietary apps to make full use of the watch.

I think many people don't go through all smartphone/app/smartwatch settings partially due to lack of proper tutorials and manuals and partially you know that how things work.
For Samsung you need to enable notifications from newly installed apps and check whole list of apps you want to receive notifications. Also check for availability of smartwatch app for full integration. It is too much to ask from average consumer and yes i agree it should of been easier and that's why apple-apple samsung-samsung work best. They already have most of the things preinstalled.


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## Hasaf

Rocket1991 said:


> It works on any android phone. But you do need to install Wear, health and now 3d app. It began to play nice with 3d party e-mail and message clients too. But you right is has far better integration with Samsung app suite. I hate to say it in 2021 but whole thing is still somehow non universal. Including WearOS which also needs slew of manufacturer proprietary apps to make full use of the watch.
> 
> I think many people don't go through all smartphone/app/smartwatch settings partially due to lack of proper tutorials and manuals and partially you know that how things work.
> For Samsung you need to enable notifications from newly installed apps and check whole list of apps you want to receive notifications. Also check for availability of smartwatch app for full integration. It is too much to ask from average consumer and yes i agree it should of been easier and that's why apple-apple samsung-samsung work best. They already have most of the things preinstalled.


I tried going through the "tutorial." It involved putting the watch in developer mode and a very precise set of steps on both the PC and the watch. Basicly, trying to make the health app (the one that says "your phone isn't compatible"" think that it is a Samsung phone and to make the watch think it is connected to a Galaxy phone.

Here, I found the instructions: Enable ECG(BP Featur) On Non-Samsung Phones for Galaxy Watch 3, Active 2 Step-By-Step

I missed a step somewhere. Some day, when I am in the frame of mind to do so, I will give it another stab.

A quick check of Samsung shows that it still needs a Samsung Phone.

I did a search on "now 3d app" that you mentioned, I didn't find anything relevant. If there is something that will make my non-Samsung (Motorolla) phone run the blood pressure app I hope you will post it or, even better, provide a link.


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## Rocket1991

Hasaf said:


> I tried going through the "tutorial." It involved putting the watch in developer mode and a very precise set of steps on both the PC and the watch. Basicly, trying to make the health app (the one that says "your phone isn't compatible"" think that it is a Samsung phone and to make the watch think it is connected to a Galaxy phone.
> 
> Here, I found the instructions: Enable ECG(BP Featur) On Non-Samsung Phones for Galaxy Watch 3, Active 2 Step-By-Step
> 
> I missed a step somewhere. Some day, when I am in the frame of mind to do so, I will give it another stab.
> 
> A quick check of Samsung shows that it still needs a Samsung Phone.
> 
> I did a search on "now 3d app" that you mentioned, I didn't find anything relevant. If there is something that will make my Samsung phone run the blood pressure app I hope you will post it or, even better, provide a link.











Here's how to use the new ECG function on the Samsung Galaxy Active 2


Tracking various aspects of your health is a great habit to get into, and smartwatches can help make that a little easier. The Samsung Galaxy Active 2 is one of the best smartwatches out there and has lots of sensors packed into its case. One that has recently been enabled allows you to take an...




www.androidcentral.com




Yeah it need Samsung phone and *Samsung Health Monitoring. *Without this app all EKG etc. is not accessible. It's not available in Canada so i have no clue how it working. Samsung support is mum on why it taking so long and how long it will take to get it.


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## Hasaf

Rocket1991 said:


> Here's how to use the new ECG function on the Samsung Galaxy Active 2
> 
> 
> Tracking various aspects of your health is a great habit to get into, and smartwatches can help make that a little easier. The Samsung Galaxy Active 2 is one of the best smartwatches out there and has lots of sensors packed into its case. One that has recently been enabled allows you to take an...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.androidcentral.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah it need Samsung phone and *Samsung Health Monitoring. *Without this app all EKG etc. is not accessible. It's not available in Canada so i have no clue how it working. Samsung support is mum on why it taking so long and how long it will take to get it.


I just didn't see the requirement for a Samsung phone before I purchased the watch. Frankly, if I had understood that it needed the Samsung phone for all options to work, I would have gotten something different. It just annoys me when products are crippled.

I am tolerant when it is something that really makes sense. However, when it appears to be nothing but an attempt to sell complementary goods then I am less tolerant.


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## ronalddheld

Any more news if GW4 will be running WesrOS?


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## Rocket1991

ronalddheld said:


> Any more news if GW4 will be running WesrOS?


Wait till April 28.


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## Rocket1991

Hasaf said:


> I just didn't see the requirement for a Samsung phone before I purchased the watch. Frankly, if I had understood that it needed the Samsung phone for all options to work, I would have gotten something different. It just annoys me when products are crippled.
> 
> I am tolerant when it is something that really makes sense. However, when it appears to be nothing but an attempt to sell complementary goods then I am less tolerant.


Ask Samsung in US all functionality should be open. Push them. You are customer. The more people will push the faster they open this functionality on general android. After all it's pure in watch function. Phone has nothing to do with it. but...

1. The ECG app is not intended for users with known arrhythmias other than atrial fibrillation or users under 22 years old. Show More

2. Requires Samsung Galaxy smartphone with Android 7 or later, and Samsung Health Monitor app (*available only at the Samsung Galaxy app store*).

3. Available on the Galaxy Watch Active2 and above as well as the Galaxy Watch3 and above

4. For security reasons, always pair the Galaxy phone and Galaxy watch via Bluetooth in a private (home-based) setting.Show More

5. A Sinus Rhythm does not guarantee that you are not experiencing an arrhythmia or other health condition. Show More

6. Low heart rates are common in well trained athletes but it could also be caused by certain medications or conditions associated with abnormal activity of the heart.

It makes sense for them to be exclusive with advanced functionality market vise but you right they should be more exposive about this limitation. Not sure how security and medical device certification plays into that. EKG and blood pressure received FDA approval and it may (or may not) play a role.


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## Rocket1991

So, Samsung discounted all Galaxy 3 watches as much as 30-40%. 
My bet new Galaxy is just around corner!


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## Rocket1991

Apparently, April 28 unpacking event was not about Galaxy Watch 4.


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## Rocket1991

Bit of additional rumor mill with links




__





Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 review: Reassuringly familiar - Wareable


The Wareable Media Group is made up of...




www.wareable.com


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## Rocket1991

Ok we still don't know when next Galaxy Watch 4 will be exactly but we do know it will run WearOS.
Samsung essentially confirmed it. During Google I/O





When is remaining unknown and your guess is as good as mine. New WearOS itself seem to be incomplete so details are very general and distant so to say.


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## Rocket1991

New Galaxy Watch pictures "leaked"


https://www.engadget.com/samsung-galaxy-watch-4-classic-leak-121924251.html


There is no significant departures from original design. Pictures could be mix of older Samsung Gear S3 with color variations and sensor from current generation.
For sure take it as one of the rumors but i doubt there will be any significant change to outside design. There is no real need for that.


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## Rocket1991

Official date of Unpacked event is August 11. Here Samsung will show new GW4 in the flash. May be GW Active 3 too. 








Samsung to launch Galaxy Z Fold 3, Galaxy Watch 4, more on August 11, website confirms [U]


The event date of the next Samsung Unpacked event has been all but confirmed as August 11, 2021 for Galaxy Z Fold 3, Watch 4, and more.




9to5google.com





Fossil probably will hit it by end of August or few days/weeks later.


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## ronalddheld

The new watches will not ship with the new OS?


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## Rocket1991

ronalddheld said:


> The new watches will not ship with the new OS?


GW4 = WearOS it should be with new WearOS.
I think without doubt it will be update in progress but it won't be current WearOS.
There is no technical issue to run current WearOS on Samsung hardware just look at Casio. But it goes against Samsung functionality. It's simply missing from current WearOS.


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## rationaltime

Rocket1991 said:


> GW4 = WearOS it should be with new WearOS.
> I think without doubt it will be update in progress but it won't be current WearOS.
> There is no technical issue to run current WearOS on Samsung hardware just look at Casio. But it goes against Samsung functionality. It's simply missing from current WearOS.


Please, can you elaborate?

I would guess "functionality" is provided by certain hardware and software.
The software is just an application. Apart from writing a driver what about 
the operating system prevents the function from being provided?

What are the legacy features you exect to be missing new release?

Thanks,
rationaltime


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## Rocket1991

rationaltime said:


> Please, can you elaborate?
> 
> I would guess "functionality" is provided by certain hardware and software.
> The software is just an application. Apart from writing a driver what about
> the operating system prevents the function from being provided?
> 
> What are the legacy features you exect to be missing new release?
> 
> Thanks,
> rationaltime


Samsung came with what was superior fitness tracking app and far more exercise types been included.
Health tracking was far superior too including blood pressure and ECG which all together missing from current WearOS. Blood oxygen was added recently.
New wear OS should include all that plus meaningful sleep tracking and ability to provide more than 2-3 days of battery life.
Current WearOS is incapable of doing so.
For Samsung to release their flagship product on current WearOS is impossible because they downgrading customer experience in all possible way apart from google integration.
It won't happen. Also Samsung confirmed new watch will have new WearOS with some distantly shown features.
Fitness tracking was most wishy washy feature presentation. Considering google confirmed some features will be released in 2022 i think it's very safe to claim August 2021 WearOS is still incomplete in some way.

Because of the very general claims in two announcements i can't tell you exactly what will be missing in WearOS next.

I can tell what is missing in current one. It's not like Samsung can't supplement current with bunch of apps just don't see it this way. They promised whole new thing already. Also, it's not a first time functionality *is* in hardware but *gradually* released in software or not seeing light of the day. I am in Canada can't use any of oxygen in the blood, blood pressure or ECG things. Whole Europe and US can though. 2 years after Active 2 was released in 2019 it's still not here. It took about year to finally present it first in Korea and later US and rest of the allowed regions. Active 2 already been shown a door since it's support will end in one year and i doubt i may see all that medical jazz...

Main issue with current WearOS is lack of polish in power saving and running background tasks gracefully. It learned to put thing to sleep to some extent but not on the level of Tizen. It also may lack secure handling of medical data.

To sum it up current WearOS lacks infrastructure and framework to provide similar experience also there is 0 sense for Samsung to spend any resources on implementing it on system which is obsolete (WearOS) while supporting millions of current Tizen wearables in addition to frantically making new WearOS work. Too much of effort and spread of resources.

There are also issues with current hardware too. Implementation of "body battery" on Sunto 7 nixed 30% of battery life. If you do sleep tracking it will mean you need to charge your watch as soon as you wake up so ... not really convenient. There are longevity issues stemming from implementing advanced continuous tracking on current WearOS


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## Rocket1991

Samsung actually leaked GW4.








Samsung may have inadvertently leaked the Galaxy Z Fold 3 & Galaxy Watch 4


A new video posted by Samsung on its YouTube channel gives us a sneak peek at the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.




www.androidcentral.com








It's around 57 seconds.


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## ronalddheld

Anyone actually think a GW4 Classic might be bundled with a Z Fold 3?


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## Rocket1991

ronalddheld said:


> Anyone actually think a GW4 Classic might be bundled with a Z Fold 3?


It may. At some point Samsung had such promotion phone and the watch. So it's possible. Likely.... don't think so.


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## ronalddheld

Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic will pack a hot new SoC to handle Wear OS 3.0


The Wear OS-based Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic should be considerably more powerful than all of the company's Tizen devices released in previous years.




www.phonearena.com


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## Rocket1991

ronalddheld said:


> Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic will pack a hot new SoC to handle Wear OS 3.0
> 
> 
> The Wear OS-based Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic should be considerably more powerful than all of the company's Tizen devices released in previous years.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.phonearena.com


I wrote about new SOC. I think it will be quad core. For sure 64 bit and new GPU/co processors for low level / background tasks. WearOS is very multitasking oriented and multiple cores are must have.
Samsung may bump speed of dual core too but it seems less likely in light of Snapdragon 4100 been quad core and finally catching up with Samsung. More RAM was needed for multitasking. 768 MB seem to be very austere on current Equinox offerings. Won't be surprised that was main issue with old platform.


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## Rocket1991

Event is tomorrow and all things frankly already been known.
Last piece of the puzzle was shown today.
CPU.
Exynos W920








Samsung Introduces the Industry’s First 5nm Processor Powering the Next Generation of Wearables


The Exynos W920 offers high performance, efficiency and LTE connectivity packed in the industry’s smallest form factor




news.samsung.com




Comes with DDR4 (4100 is DDR3), dual cores. Yes it's dual not quad like 4100 but it's A55 vs A53 on Snapdragon 4100.
New GPU and new coprocessor to deal with always on display solely.
So it did not grew additional cores, it still faster and newer compared to Snapdragon per single core performance (though 4100 has 2X cores).
Last but not least is LTE 4G modem built in. All of them are connected. At least that what Samsung claims. I assume not all models to have LTE or at least LTE enabled.
It's also smallest package around thus either thinner watch or bigger battery potentially possible.
Made with new 5nm process. about 10% more energy efficient and about 20% more productive in CPU tasks while GPU takes a 10 fold leap forward.


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## Rocket1991

https://www.engadget.com/galaxy-watch-4-hands-on-price-specs-availability-wear-os-tizen-body-composition-fat-scan-140031859.html



It's officially presented.
Pre orders are live and it ships from August 27th.


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## Rocket1991

Reviews are in.








Obviously not in depth reviews.
Battery life on smallest one (40mm) was reported to be whole day/night with always on display and "normal" usage included GPS enabled workouts. I think it's very good for always on mode. Without it it's about 2 days which is on par with what i saw on Galaxy Watch Active 2 40mm. 
first reviewer goes on about been locked in Samsung ecosystem but it always been the case and there is no other WearOS watch which is useful without manufacturer app. They all use it to provide some or all critical functionality. 
Not so surprisingly same could be said about non WearOS likes of Garmin and Fitbit etc.


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## tman916

Just preordered mine!


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## tman916

Just got the watch in. It's certainly a lot faster and smoother than the Active 2 so far but some of the watch faces I bought unfortunately are not compatible with the new one. Bummer...


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## Rocket1991

tman916 said:


> Just got the watch in. It's certainly a lot faster and smoother than the Active 2 so far but some of the watch faces I bought unfortunately are not compatible with the new one. Bummer...


I had issues with some older vs new watch faces even on tizen. for example same looking Frontier was available for 2 models and older one did not worked on upgraded Tizen. Probably has to do with connection to certain sensors and appropriate drivers. 
After all watch face is a widget or small program running and using a lot of resources and often providing a lot of shortcuts to other programs starting from alarm, appointment etc. to health functions and such. These shortcuts are often invisible and you just press in certain region of the screen and here you go. 
New one runs on absolutley new hardware and OS so some non compatibility is expected.


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## tman916

Rocket1991 said:


> I had issues with some older vs new watch faces even on tizen. for example same looking Frontier was available for 2 models and older one did not worked on upgraded Tizen. Probably has to do with connection to certain sensors and appropriate drivers.
> After all watch face is a widget or small program running and using a lot of resources and often providing a lot of shortcuts to other programs starting from alarm, appointment etc. to health functions and such. These shortcuts are often invisible and you just press in certain region of the screen and here you go.
> New one runs on absolutley new hardware and OS so some non compatibility is expected.


Absolutely agree. Been playing with it a bit more these past few hours. It's very fast and smooth. The maps capabilities is going to be awesome for driving. Only thing is I can't get spotify to play music from the watch's speakers...


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## ronalddheld

Is it worth trading up from a GW3?


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## Rocket1991

ronalddheld said:


> Is it worth trading up from a GW3?


As far as i remember you have iphone. Currently it does no work with iphone.


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## ronalddheld

Rocket1991 said:


> As far as i remember you have iphone. Currently it does no work with iphone.


Your memory is good
If I get a new Ssmsung phone, will your opinion change?


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## Rocket1991

ronalddheld said:


> Your memory is good
> If I get a new Ssmsung phone, will your opinion change?


Sure. It fully integrated with Samsung. The only way to get full functionality and not 99 or 90 or whatever % is to use Samsung phone.
Considering mishap with sensor i saw on Active 2 (just glued it back) i suggest to take some kind of extended and working warranty.

On a good side if you don't use it for sleep tracking and you don't use always on display. Battery life is decent. Still about 3 days on bigger model.


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## Rocket1991

https://www.engadget.com/samsung-galaxy-watch-4-classic-review-body-fat-scan-wear-os-120026149.html


another review.


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## ronalddheld

Rocket1991 said:


> Sure. It fully integrated with Samsung. The only way to get full functionality and not 99 or 90 or whatever % is to use Samsung phone.
> Considering mishap with sensor i saw on Active 2 (just glued it back) i suggest to take some kind of extended and working warranty.
> 
> On a good side if you don't use it for sleep tracking and you don't use always on display. Battery life is decent. Still about 3 days on bigger model.


So it is either S21 or the Folds?


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## Rocket1991

ronalddheld said:


> So it is either S21 or the Folds?


Anything past S10 included. S10 has all latest software but support will be ending next year or early 2023. s20 got new high refresh rate screen and not much horsepower to run it so battery life is not so good. S21 is for sure better.


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## lvt

It seems that the battery is basically 1-day battery, it means that you have to charge the watch every night, just like an AW.


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## Rocket1991

lvt said:


> It seems that the battery is basically 1-day battery, it means that you have to charge the watch every night, just like an AW.


It's one day with always on display and advanced (5 metrics) sleep tracking. Meaning your watch runs screen always and more or less frequently does HR tracking, stress tracking and SPo tracking. Plus reviewers cite some kind of GPS enabled workout and some short music streaming. It will double or more if you disable always on screen and won't do sleep tracking. It's still better than AW. Yet with all turned on hardly impressive. 
When i read comparison to Garmin and such i can't shake polite disagreement.
Garmin us very different in way it runs and way it built (it's still on BT 2.1 due to ancient and primitive internals it's using). There is no magic. Just lower resolution screen and lower clocked CPU with lesser amount of background tasks running.

Works for many if they want just fitness but hardly full smartwatch the way AW or Samsung is.


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## ronalddheld

Rocket1991 said:


> Anything past S10 included. S10 has all latest software but support will be ending next year or early 2023. s20 got new high refresh rate screen and not much horsepower to run it so battery life is not so good. S21 is for sure better.


Sounds like I should plan for an upgrade, assuming I can sell the GW3 at a large loss.


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## Rocket1991

ronalddheld said:


> Sounds like I should plan for an upgrade, assuming I can sell the GW3 at a large loss.


I think it still goes for 150$ -200$ at least on e-bay. which is very reasonable for a used 350$ smart watch.
It actually helps: they sold out in most outlets so not much competition from Amazon, best buy and such.


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## ronalddheld

Thanks. Have to sell the old one, before I can afford the new one.


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## Rhyalus

I have the GW4 and S21 ultra if anyone has any questions.

R


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## lvt

Rhyalus said:


> I have the GW4 and S21 ultra if anyone has any questions.
> 
> R


Does the message reply feature work with other phones than a Samsung phone? Thanks.


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## Rhyalus

Sorry my friend, that would require me to have a different phone. You will need to google that one.

But I would guess yes. So far the most limiting stuff is the Samsung health app which is needed for the ECG and blood o2. The basic functionality should work with any android phone.

R


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## Rocket1991

Rhyalus said:


> I have the GW4 and S21 ultra if anyone has any questions.
> 
> R


What about battery life and usage scenarios? I mean like always on screen vs flick, sleep tracking vs not and how it affects performance.
In my case i would love to hear from freaking Canadian Samsung we got all functions working or at least honestly answer when they actually deliver it, but it's more or less case for you. You get it as full as it can be.

Q1. So regarding these missing functions. Does it have SPo (blood oxygen) and stress measurements built in?

Q2. Have you tired to install 3d party apps from google store? Anything useful?

Q3. Another one. Does it count floors climbed?

I liked this feature but it was removed from GW3 grade firmware and health app too.
Did they added it back?

Thank you for your time!


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## Rhyalus

Rocket1991 said:


> What about battery life and usage scenarios? I mean like always on screen vs flick, sleep tracking vs not and how it affects performance.
> In my case i would love to hear from freaking Canadian Samsung we got all functions working or at least honestly answer when they actually deliver it, but it's more or less case for you. You get it as full as it can be.
> 
> Q1. So regarding these missing functions. Does it have SPo (blood oxygen) and stress measurements built in?
> 
> Q2. Have you tired to install 3d party apps from google store? Anything useful?
> 
> Q3. Another one. Does it count floors climbed?
> 
> I liked this feature but it was removed from GW3 grade firmware and health app too.
> Did they added it back?
> 
> Thank you for your time!


Hi - so in the US, I have SPO2 and stress apps... it also does ECG, body comp and of course, heart rate. The measurements seem pretty good. There are a lot of online reviews you should check out.

The access to the Google Store directly from the watch is cool, but VERY limited.... there are some menu choices to install apps on your watch that are already on your phone, "essential" apps, "featured" apps, "track your workout", "play time", "streaming audio" , "watch faces" and "get it done". But to be honest, there are no more than 5-7 apps in each category. I expect this to really grow over time. To be honest, I installed a compass app, and Google Fit and thats about it. There are some surprising apps on my phone that have counterparts on the watch that I will not load up, like YouTuybe music, MyFord Mobile, and Lunescope (a moon phase app which I installed on my phone for my moon phase watches!).

There is a string on Android Central where people discussed the floor tracking, and floors "can" be tracked, But just like the earlier versions, no one is impressed with how good that tracking is, so far.

Battery life is too new to judge...I had the watch on last night while sleeping and I included regular SPO2 readings, and it only ate up ~12% of the battery over night. I'll report back after a few days...the power settings just started showing my power left - it says I am at 85% and I have 1 day 14h left. Everyone is going to have a different experience based on how much you use some of the workout trackers, etc.

FYI, I made the move from the first Galaxy Watch - not the GW3. The GW3 had the same chipset and I knew the GW4 would have a better sensor - so I waited. I am happy with the new watch - the design is good and I love the built in compass, GPS, etc. Give Samsung and Google time to get their act together on the software.

R


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## Rhyalus

Rocket1991 said:


> I think it still goes for 150$ -200$ at least on e-bay. which is very reasonable for a used 350$ smart watch.
> It actually helps: they sold out in most outlets so not much competition from Amazon, best buy and such.


FYI, Samsung has a trade in of $135 or the GW3 on their site.

R


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## Rocket1991

*Rhyalus*, Thank you for answers!!!!
12% overnight seem to be reasonable. Considering it does track your sleep.


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## Rocket1991

New review of GW4.








Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Sports & Fitness Video Review Posted


This is a super quick post for folks waiting on the Samsung Galaxy Watch4 In-Depth review, to note that the video review is now up and available! I’ll have the written review out shortly, but this gets you a head




www.dcrainmaker.com




It's by DCRainmaker and focused on sports tracking.


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## Rocket1991

Additional runners review of GW4


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## ronalddheld

SOT, but any discounts expected for the holiday season?


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## Rocket1991

ronalddheld said:


> SOT, but any discounts expected for the holiday season?


Probably. Samsung still sells them cheaper than some competition which hiked prices. Like Garmin. Apple and Samsung kept it at bay. We should expect some firmware updates too. GPS and heartrate been buggy is software.
WearOS 3 is expected to be "complete" next year anyway.









The first Galaxy Watch 4 firmware update is already out and waiting for you


With roughly one week left before the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic start shipping to customers, Samsung ...




www.sammobile.com













Another Firmware Goes Live For Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 & Watch 4 Classic


Samsung is rolling out yet another firmware update for the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic that brings Samsung Health to the Settings menu and more.




www.androidheadlines.com





it already had 2.

It likely will live through quick cycle of updates in year to come.


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## MirzaSarajevo

Hey all 

I have the Galaxy watch 4 Classic, the silver 46mm version.

After reading this thread thought i'd chime in with my humble opinion of said smartwatch.

I am really pleased with it. It is my first smartwatch, and i have to admit it outdid my expectations.
The screen is phenomenal, dark blacks bright whites etc, it is very comfortable to wear, there were quite a few complaints regarding the strap (reviews and first impressions and unboxing videos), although admittedly the strap is the worst part of the watch it works just fine for me...no rashes, excess sweating, quite comfortable in fact...the colour isn't the greyest grey there is, in fact, i was concerned about it being too white (i have an avid aversion to the anything white in colour, i expect this is derived from my not so protruding love of hospitals) i even went to see the greyness of it before it was even launched, i got the watch on the day of its global release on the 27 of August i believe it was...so the strap, alas, is quite fine, i have had somewhat of a rash when i wore my few Casio's, the bands on those are rubber, i even had a few pink spots on my wrist when i wore a stainless steel bracelet on a Cartier Pasha watch, have to admit Rolex's stainless steel was fine though...
Now the battery life, i don't use any of the sensors on the watch, save the step counting sensor, i get about 50% of bat life when i take the watch off to go to sleep (put it on at 06:00am take it off for bed cca 09-09:30h), i do however use the AOD without any regard for the power saving features of the face in use, i "floor it" so to speak, now this battery dynamic is quite tiresome, because i cant use the watch for a proper 2 days and when i do take it off at night it has about 50% bat life left...i am still quite a new user of smartwatches so it might be that my inept use of this new form of technology is somehow affecting the battery, who knows...
As for the ECG function, i have not tried using it, i think that it is even region dependant, seeing as i live in a third world country i expect that this feature will not be available here, the BPM function is fine, as is the step counting and all the other tracking features...so if there are any fitness buff-s reading this, the watch is more than capable of fitness tracking and is accurate while doing so as well, i don't work out at all now, but i did play football (soccer) when i was younger, even got paid some for it, so i think that i can assess these features assuredly...
I am however, let down, so to speak, by one instance, the watch faces...when i watched various reviews of this watch i got the distinct impression that samsung provided "thousands" of free watch faces...the reality is that you install an app called samsung wear on which you have about 40 watch faces max, i think it to be far less, i have installed facer, and am using it right now, without it i have to admit that id be quite disappointed by samsungs "variety" or lack there of 
All in all, i am, as i stated above happy with this watch and would def recommend it, visually, for me, it tops the apple watch, have not seen the 7 in person but the 6 looks amateurish, square design, bezels et cetera and from the apple event a few days ago the 7 looks blindingly similar to the 6...

For me, the main reason that i went with the classic not the active was indeed the bezel size, i just think that large bezels look 1980 to me, dated so to speak...samsung has managed to make the classic virtually bezel free with the addition of a physical rotating crown...
Another strong argument for me for getting this watch was the 5nm tech used for the CPU, i saw that the fossil gen 6 and other newer wear OS watches will use the 4100+ chipset with 8 or 7 nm tech, this speaks for itself 
the only thing i might augment regarding the classic, is the strap, although fine, i trust that a grey cloth strap would be dapper  i just have to figure out how to get one here, first 

Thanks to one and all for reading and have a wonderful week all!!

Cheers


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## Rocket1991

https://www.engadget.com/samsung-galaxy-watch-4-amazon-deal-of-the-day-114508809.html


GW4 is on sale on Amazon.


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## Rocket1991

MirzaSarajevo said:


> Hey all
> 
> I have the Galaxy watch 4 Classic, the silver 46mm version.
> 
> After reading this thread thought i'd chime in with my humble opinion of said smartwatch.
> 
> I am really pleased with it. It is my first smartwatch, and i have to admit it outdid my expectations.
> The screen is phenomenal, dark blacks bright whites etc, it is very comfortable to wear, there were quite a few complaints regarding the strap (reviews and first impressions and unboxing videos), although admittedly the strap is the worst part of the watch it works just fine for me...no rashes, excess sweating, quite comfortable in fact...the colour isn't the greyest grey there is, in fact, i was concerned about it being too white (i have an avid aversion to the anything white in colour, i expect this is derived from my not so protruding love of hospitals) i even went to see the greyness of it before it was even launched, i got the watch on the day of its global release on the 27 of August i believe it was...so the strap, alas, is quite fine, i have had somewhat of a rash when i wore my few Casio's, the bands on those are rubber, i even had a few pink spots on my wrist when i wore a stainless steel bracelet on a Cartier Pasha watch, have to admit Rolex's stainless steel was fine though...
> Now the battery life, i don't use any of the sensors on the watch, save the step counting sensor, i get about 50% of bat life when i take the watch off to go to sleep (put it on at 06:00am take it off for bed cca 09-09:30h), i do however use the AOD without any regard for the power saving features of the face in use, i "floor it" so to speak, now this battery dynamic is quite tiresome, because i cant use the watch for a proper 2 days and when i do take it off at night it has about 50% bat life left...i am still quite a new user of smartwatches so it might be that my inept use of this new form of technology is somehow affecting the battery, who knows...
> As for the ECG function, i have not tried using it, i think that it is even region dependant, seeing as i live in a third world country i expect that this feature will not be available here, the BPM function is fine, as is the step counting and all the other tracking features...so if there are any fitness buff-s reading this, the watch is more than capable of fitness tracking and is accurate while doing so as well, i don't work out at all now, but i did play football (soccer) when i was younger, even got paid some for it, so i think that i can assess these features assuredly...
> I am however, let down, so to speak, by one instance, the watch faces...when i watched various reviews of this watch i got the distinct impression that samsung provided "thousands" of free watch faces...the reality is that you install an app called samsung wear on which you have about 40 watch faces max, i think it to be far less, i have installed facer, and am using it right now, without it i have to admit that id be quite disappointed by samsungs "variety" or lack there of
> All in all, i am, as i stated above happy with this watch and would def recommend it, visually, for me, it tops the apple watch, have not seen the 7 in person but the 6 looks amateurish, square design, bezels et cetera and from the apple event a few days ago the 7 looks blindingly similar to the 6...
> 
> For me, the main reason that i went with the classic not the active was indeed the bezel size, i just think that large bezels look 1980 to me, dated so to speak...samsung has managed to make the classic virtually bezel free with the addition of a physical rotating crown...
> Another strong argument for me for getting this watch was the 5nm tech used for the CPU, i saw that the fossil gen 6 and other newer wear OS watches will use the 4100+ chipset with 8 or 7 nm tech, this speaks for itself
> the only thing i might augment regarding the classic, is the strap, although fine, i trust that a grey cloth strap would be dapper  i just have to figure out how to get one here, first
> 
> Thanks to one and all for reading and have a wonderful week all!!
> 
> Cheers


Not sure how it on GW4 with faces but you get them from Samsung store or install facer and get it through it. Not sue how it works on non Samsung phone.


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## Matter of Time

How does the 02 monitoring work on the GW4? I know it you can set it to monitor while you sleep, and you can also take a manual reading during the day. However, I haven't been able to find any info regarding background monitoring during the day. For example, the Garmin watches can do 24x7 blood oxygen tracking. Is there a way to do this on the GW4? If not, can it at least do it during a workout?


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## Rocket1991

Matter of Time said:


> How does the 02 monitoring work on the GW4? I know it you can set it to monitor while you sleep, and you can also take a manual reading during the day. However, I haven't been able to find any info regarding background monitoring during the day. For example, the Garmin watches can do 24x7 blood oxygen tracking. Is there a way to do this on the GW4? If not, can it at least do it during a workout?


Try asking them directly. For me in Canada it's does not work on Active 2. So no clue whatsoever but in US it was available.


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## MirzaSarajevo

Rocket1991 said:


> Try asking them directly. For me in Canada it's does not work on Active 2. So no clue whatsoever but in US it was available.


Hi Rocket,
thanks for reading and your reply.
I guess i was overoptimistic about the sheer number of faces available, the selection on the wear app is very small (abysmal if we're honest), facer helps...a lot, there is something on it for everyone's fancy, i surely misunderstood Michael Fischer aka Mr. Mobile (there are a plethora of "tech reviewers" online but this one has very nice scenery when film, guess i just like NY, have never been though, mrwhostheboss is good as well, but i presume i am bias because he speaks in a British accent and has very good diction but no Hudson river on his videos  ) when reviewing something or other, it just kind of stuck in my mind that you have thousands of faces, and i believe that there indeed are that many, it's just that i am somewhat selective when it comes to choosing, i like the face to be nice and bright in its AOD mode, absolutely hate the BPM when its shown, my heart rate is sometimes high, i really don't need a reminder of this, very cowardly of me i know, i try and limit my worrying as best i can...all in all i am most satisfied with the fact that i seem to have gotten rid of my obsession with atomic time, when i first got the Classic i observed that in one instance it was indeed 2 seconds off from UTC (it might have even been 3 great gosh) but i genuinely was not bothered, i was just happy with my new toy...as far as im cencerned im team smartwatch from now on...might even sells my other watches since i won't be wearing them....

Have a great weekend everyone

Cheers


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## ronalddheld

Go for GPS or LTE?


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## Rocket1991

ronalddheld said:


> Go for GPS or LTE?


i can answer it from my prospective as someone who needed watch for running training.
your mileage will vary. If you want to leave phone at home and still receive e-mails and calls go for it. 
For anything else non LTE model is fine. LTE comes with considerably shorter battery life too.

Things like fall detection, having emergency contact just in case, if you hike in the woods yet still within the range... things like this also point towards LTE. You can disable LTE and use watch without it.
It's eSIM





eSIM - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org




so it's not like you have hole to insert it or can't change provider later.


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## MirzaSarajevo

ronalddheld said:


> Go for GPS or LTE?


I have the GPS model, seeing as i can't even buy the lte version let alone use it
cheers


----------

