Samsung Galaxy Watch 8: Leaks, Gemini, and upgrades

In the past week, we've seen several Galaxy Watch 8 leaks that have entirely changed our perspective on what to expect from the watch! It won't officially arrive until Galaxy Unpacked summer 2025, but we've rounded up every key leak months in advance.

While Samsung allegedly plans to bring back the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic on a biannual schedule, the current rumor is that it will borrow the squircle case from the Galaxy Watch Ultra. That doesn't sound particularly "classic," but who knows!

Samsung has promised that Gemini will come to the Galaxy Watch 8, as well as new Samsung Health tools like an AI coach. And code leaks have suggested familiar One UI phone tools like the Now Bar and Shortcuts will come to the Watch 8, too.

There's still plenty we don't know about the Galaxy Watch 8. Here's what we do know, plus what we want Samsung to upgrade to help it stay as one of the best Android watches of the year.

Galaxy Watch 8: Models

Several leaks have revealed Galaxy Watch 8 model numbers that suggest we'll see six models in total: The Galaxy Watch 8 40mm and 44mm and the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic in one size, each with Wi-Fi and LTE options. Past Classic models have had two case sizes, so this was early evidence that the Watch 8 Classic would be different somehow.

A connected report showed that Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic batteries were certified in South Korea. The report suggests that the larger Watch 8 will have a 435mAh capacity, only slightly larger than the 425mAh Watch 7 44mm battery. It suggests the base Watch 8 will stick to the same 40-hour estimate as the last few generations.

While the Watch 8 may not change much in design, the Watch 8 Classic might. Its name has been hinted at several times, most notably in the Bluetooth SIG database, but most recently in leaked One UI 8 Watch code showing a squircle case surrounding a circular display.

It looks very Ultra-like, though if you look closely, it appears the Classic rotating bezel will remain atop the redesigned squircle case.

During Samsung's Q1 2025 earnings call, Corporate VP of MX Division Daniel Araujo promised "a strengthened premium experience while expanding our lineup across all price segments. We plan to launch a new Galaxy Watch with an innovative design and enhanced health-related features."

We wonder if "innovative" and "premium" point to Samsung recategorizing its Ultra lineup into the old Classic namesake. This makes it hard to predict whether the Watch 8 Classic will cost closer to the Watch 6 47mm ($429) or Watch Ultra ($649), or if the Classic will get a battery boost like the Ultra had.

We also heard a report back in March 2024 that Samsung executives wanted to switch from its long-running circular Galaxy Watch design for a squircle design.

After later hearing that a Samsung exec was "angry" about "design plagiarism" because of complaints that the Galaxy Watch Ultra and Apple Watch Ultra looked too similar, we discounted the idea. Still, many fans of the old Classic design may regret the switch to a square-ish case.

Galaxy Watch 8: Expected specs

We don't have any Galaxy Watch 8 specs leaks yet, so comparing the Galaxy Watch 8 vs. 7 comes down to us knowing that Samsung won't downgrade anything compared to its 2024 watch.

For instance, we know the Galaxy Watch 8, like the Watch 7, will at least have 2GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, dual-band GPS, IP68 dust and water resistance, and a MIL-STD-810H rating for shock protection.

Likewise, we know its two AMOLED display options will have at least 2,000 nits of brightness and 60Hz refresh rates, measuring 1.3 or 1.5 inches (if not larger) with 320+ pixels per inch.

The last two Galaxy Watches had new Exynos processors, but Samsung often uses the same chip for several years of watches. We believe the Galaxy Watch 8 will bring back the Exynos W1000, its 3nm chip with five Arm Cortex cores. But it's possible Samsung will upgrade again to keep pace with the new Snapdragon W5 chip and offer a better AI assistant.

We know that Google is planning a straightforward Assistant-to-Gemini upgrade soon. Gemini on Wear OS may come out before the Watch 8 launch, but it's also fair to guess that Wear OS 6 will bring new AI-focused tricks that'll come to both the Galaxy Watch 8 and Pixel Watch 4.

Galaxy Watch 8: Gemini and expected features

Samsung and Google have confirmed that Gemini is coming to Wear OS, replacing Assistant. They gave examples like having Gemini remember your gym locker number, check messages for the name and address of a restaurant, or summarize your last email.

These all sound like typical Gemini tools, but a recent leak went into a bit more detail about "Gemini Actions" on Wear OS, suggesting that you'll be able to save specific actions like summarizing your inbox as a button in the Gemini tile.

Specific to Galaxy Watches, some One UI Watch leaked code showed that you'll be able to use a double-pinch gesture to summon the Now Bar to the main watch face, showing contextually useful information like directions, media controls, the Now Brief, sports scores, and health updates.

Other alleged Watch 8 features include an adaptive charging tool that halts at a custom percentage, a watch face shuffle option between your favorites, and the ability to add app Shortcuts to the main watch face.

As for more official Watch 8 features, Samsung revealed its upcoming Samsung Health upgrades at Galaxy Unpacked winter 2025 alongside the Galaxy S25 series.

First, they will add a new metric called "vascular load" that's very similar to Fitbit Cardio Load or Apple's Training Load. It monitors how your "daily activities impact your cardiovascular system," to help you "reduce strain on your heart and maintain long-term heart health."

Next, the Samsung Health app will have a "personal health coach" that gives you tips to hit your sleep, weight loss, exercise, or overall health goals. This will include "AI tools" that'll let Samsung Health users "ask questions, get real-time insights, and receive personalized coaching as if you would from your own personal health assistant."

Samsung Health will even let people who log their meals track their "antioxidant index" and offer "tailored meal plans and recipes."

Samsung should also bring back its Samsung BioActive Sensor for heart rate, stress, blood oxygen, ECGs, skin temperature, and BIA (body fat) readings, plus sleep apnea detection.

The Galaxy Watch 7 sensor added new multicolor LEDs, with blue, yellow, violet, and ultraviolet LEDs on top of the usual green, red, and infrared LEDs. Samsung only used them for one new metric last year — AGEs Index — but promised this was "one of the many new advanced features planned" with the upgraded BioActive Sensor.

We suspect Samsung could introduce a new health metric with the Galaxy Watch 8, though the Watch 7 and Ultra will also receive it. We know Samsung is working on blood glucose and diabetes monitoring, but there's no guarantee it'll be ready for the Galaxy Watch 8. So perhaps the antioxidant index will be the only headline feature.

Our Galaxy Watch 8 wishlist

The Galaxy Watch 7 made some significant upgrades: A faster Exynos chip, double the storage, a daily energy score based on sleep and fitness data, three times the LEDs for more accurate health tracking, sleep apnea detection, and more.

The question is, what can the Galaxy Watch 8 do to improve? And what can we expect from the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic? Here is our Galaxy Watch 8 wishlist of features and upgrades:

Improve the core battery life

This seems unlikely, given the leaked 435mAh battery capacity for the Watch 8, but we've seen a 40-hour estimate on the last four Galaxy Watch generations, and it'd be nice to see a boost — especially for the pricier Watch 8 Classic. When you have the OnePlus Watch 3 lasting 4–5 days per charge, it makes us wonder if Samsung can step up its game.

Add UWB or better connectivity

The Apple Watch was the first to add Ultra Wideband, and it lets you pinpoint its location with an arrow guide on your phone. Then Google added it as a way for Pixel Watch 3 owners to unlock their Pixel phones by proximity.

Samsung offers UWB in most of its flagship phones, so you can use them as a digital car key or find them more easily; it'd be cool for Galaxy Watches to add this as well, for an easy tap-to-open on new cars or (more likely) to find your watch when it falls down a couch cushion.

Otherwise, we could hope to see a jump to Bluetooth 6.0 or support for WiFi 6GHz frequencies.

Some kind of design switch-up

I'm not talking about the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic here; the alleged squircle redesign is undoubtedly going to be polarizing, since not everyone liked the Ultra; the larger case, combined with the rotating bezel, should make the Classic bulky to wear.

No, I'm talking about the base Galaxy Watch 8. We've seen minor tweaks the last five years, but aside from a thinner display border, the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 7 don't look that different! And I'd say it's time for something to break the status quo.

Maybe Samsung can shrink the display border even further, making the watch even skinnier, add a crown, or give the edges a softer feel instead of the usual machine-cut look.

Continue to upgrade the health and fitness features

The Galaxy Watch 7 had AI insights into your health, better HR and GPS accuracy, and an upgraded Biosensor. We already know the Galaxy Watch 8 will continue this trend with new vascular load and beta-carotene metrics, plus an AI health coach and nutrition plans.

This all sounds great, but we also expect Samsung to do more with its new multicolor LEDs than AGEs Index this generation. And we'd love to see Samsung Health offer some daily workout suggestions based on your vascular load, similar to what Fitbit and Garmin offer.