It’s not a colossal secret, but Samsung tends to release a new wave of smartwatches every summer, usually alongside its newest foldable phones , and this year is no different. Accompanying the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 will be not two, but three smartwatches: the Galaxy Watch 8 , Watch 8 Classic, and the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.

All are shaping up to be slightly different versions of their predecessors, but as usual, we expect that the Galaxy Watch 8 will be the best-value new Samsung wearable that will quite possibly turn out to be a bestseller.

Aside from the slightly newer design language, theisn’t shaping up to be drastically different from last year’s Galaxy Watch 7 . But is a new styling all there is to it, or is Samsung cooking another cool new feature?

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Design & Sizes

A pretty major appearance shift

This year, Samsung is seemingly treating all of its wearables to a new squircle-like design language, similar to what we got with last year’s Galaxy Watch Ultra. This means a mostly squircle aluminum case paired with a standard circular screen. No rotating bezel here, just the standard dual buttons on the right-hand side.

This change could potentially help Samsung put an ever-so-slightly bigger battery inside, unconstrained by the circular shape of the previous watch cases, and that seems to be precisely what we get here: a slightly larger battery is rumored to be making the rounds. Other than that, there doesn’t seem to be any other particular reason for the redesign itself, but then again, none was needed in the first place.

That’s in a fairly stark contrast with the Galaxy Watch 7 , which is a standard circular smartwatch, just like most Samsung has released in the years before it. It’s the most recognizable shape for a watch that translated well for the smartwatch offshoot, too, and the South Korea-based giant knew that well.

The Galaxy Watch 8 will definitely come in two size versions: 40 and 44 mm ones, just like its predecessors.