Samsung has officially announced the Galaxy Watch FE today, following the watch’s brief appearance in the rumor mill. Without big surprises, the first FE-branded Galaxy smartwatch brings a cheaper price tag in a familiar hardware.
Basically, the Galaxy Watch FE is a rebadge to the 2021 Galaxy Watch 4 (review). Except that the newer and cheaper Galaxy smartwatch is bringing a pair of improvements.
What’s new in the Galaxy Watch FE?
Samsung’s Galaxy Watch FE comes in a single case size of 40 mm—sans the 44 mm option — and features a circular 1.2-inch OLED display that supports always-on mode. The main difference it has over the Galaxy Watch 4 is that it uses a sapphire crystal on top, which adds tougher resistant to scratches and cracks.
The overall dimensions of the first FE smartwatch have not changed as well when compared to its counterpart. It weighs at 26.6 grams and measures 39.3 × 40.4 × 9.8 mm, which is to no surprise given sensors and internal components are carried over. While in ruggedness, it is rated with 5 ATM, IP68, and MIL-STD-810H.
A minor change is seen in the bundled rubber strap, which is accented with blue and orange, and is applicable to all colorways of the Galaxy Watch FE. There are also new bands in a woven nylon that go with the finishes of the smartwatch. Speaking of colors, the Galaxy Watch FE is available in black, blue, and pink/gold options.
Another bigger chance in the Galaxy Watch FE is a faster Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, resulting in a more stable connection and longer range when paired with your smartphone and possibly a slightly better battery life as well. It keeps the usual array of other connectivity like GPS and NFC on top of Wi-Fi.
Internally, the smartwatch is equipped with a dual-core Exynos W920 processor instead of a newer W930 chip in the Galaxy Watch 6 (review). Furthermore, the memory configuration comes in 1.5 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage, so there’s still enough to store your tracks for offline playback. The device has 247 mAh battery capacity and supports wireless charging.
The Galaxy Watch FE boots on One UI 5 Watch based on Android Wear OS 4. Plus, it ships with a plethora of health tracking features like continuous heart rate monitoring and cycle and sleep tracking, and ECG and blood pressure level reading through the Samsung Health app. There are also more than 100 workout modes you can find along with heart rate zones and body composition.
Samsung has priced the Galaxy Watch for $199, which is a $100 cheaper than the Galaxy Watch 6. There’s a 4G cellular model that costs $249. It will be available starting on June 24 from online and retail stores. Likewise, are you looking to pick up one?
