The Galaxy Watch Active 2, what will reportedly be Samsung’s expensive follow-up to the budget-friendly Galaxy Watch Active, will feature ECG and Fall Detection, SamMobile reports.
“ECG” is short for “echocardiagram,” so Watch Active 2 users will be able to capture information on skipped, irregular, or abnormal heartbeats in an ECG app to arrive on the upcoming smartwatch to send to their doctor if they need to.
Additionally, Fall Detection, another feature of the recent Apple Watch 4 Series, will help seniors and other smartwatch users if they fall. On the Apple Watch 4 Series, an on-screen popup and wrist vibration alerts the smartwatch wearer with options to contact emergency services if necessary. If the Apple Watch 4 doesn’t get a response within an allowed amount of time, it will automatically contact emergency services on behalf of the person.
Afib notifications will allow patient suffering from atrial fibrillation to check their heart rhythm in the background. In the same way that the heart rate monitor can check the wearer’s heartbeat every so often, it’s possible that Afib notifications will work much the same way, though we won’t know for certain until the feature launches on the Watch Active 2.
Aside from features of the upcoming Galaxy Watch Active 2, we know first, that the name will be “Galaxy Watch Active 2” and not “Galaxy Watch 2” because of Samsung’s new fitness-centric focus for its smartwatch lineup.
The new Galaxy Watch Active 2 is also said to come in 44mm and 40mm sizes and lack the rotating bezel that has been a trademark feature of Samsung’s smartwatches since the Gear S2 and is also on the Gear S3 Frontier, Gear S3 Classic, and last year’s Galaxy Watch. LTE and Wi-Fi-only models will be available for this watch as has been the case with previous smartwatch series.
The reason behind Samsung’s decision to do away with the rotating bezel may have something to do with a minimalist approach to the upcoming smartwatch, though Gear S2 and Gear S3 users may find this to be a drawback instead of a demand.
The rotating bezel of the Gear S2 and Gear S3 Series allowed smartwatch users to turn the bezel left and right to navigate Samsung’s smartwatch UI. The smartwatch maker even published a commercial (see YouTube video below) showing users that rotating the bezel is an intuitive action in the same way that turning the steering wheel in a car or turning a doorknob is intuitive.
It made sense for Samsung to remove this feature from the first-generation Galaxy Watch Active because the smartwatch was priced at $200 instead of the usual $300+ and it gave smartwatch users a more budget-friendly option under the Korean giant’s wearables brand. It seems a bit out of step for Samsung’s most expensive smartwatch, though. If anything, Samsung’s rotating bezel made the case for why bezels should even exist on smartwatches.
The rotating bezel helped Samsung’s smartwatch stand alone, taking its inspiration from divers’ watches at the time. With the feature gone on the upcoming Galaxy Watch Active 2, Samsung’s smartwatch series is taking a turn for the subtle — a smartwatch with smarts that aren’t as obvious as previous generations. Whether this translates to greater sales is up for grabs, though Samsung seems to believe this decision will prove financially lucrative.
Finally, battery sizes for the upcoming smartwatch are 237mAh for the Wi-Fi-only model and 340mAh for the LTE model. With the Galaxy Watch last year, Samsung gave a larger battery to the 46mm model as opposed to the smaller 42mm model, so perhaps the 44mm model will get a larger battery (across the board) this year than the 40mm.
At this point, Samsung has yet to reveal when it will launch the Galaxy Watch Active 2. Sources say it could arrive on the market as early as this Fall after a possible Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy Note 10+ announcement.
Samsung has been known to announce new smartwatches at IFA in Berlin, so a September announcement seems possible as well. Only Samsung can decide when the time is right, but with the new smartwatch leaking at this time, we may be closer to the watch’s unveil than we think.