Samsung is back with Part 3 of its Galaxy History series and this time it’s focusing on smartwatches. You can check out previous entries that look at the history of the Fold and Buds series.
The journey began in 2013 with the Galaxy Gear – Samsung’s first step into the world of smartwatches. At that time, smartwatches were still a new product category and manufacturers like Samsung were still trying to find their niche in the space.
Samsung Galaxy Gear
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Apart from its iconic square design, with a 1.63-inch AMOLED display, the device also featured a custom fork of Android. It also had a 1.9MP camera that supported photo and video capture limited to a duration of 10 seconds and 720P resolution.
Speaking of 2014, Samsung launched the Gear 2 in April, featuring an improved 2MP camera, new watch straps, IP67 dust/water resistance, and Samsung’s Tizen OS, which will power the next few generations of Galaxy Gear watches.
Samsung Gear 2
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The Gear S was launched in October of that same year, improving both design and function. It was the first smartwatch with a curved Super AMOLED display for a more futuristic look. Samsung also added support for 3G cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity for a truly smartphone-independent wrist computer.
Samsung Gear S
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2015’s Galaxy Gear S2 moved towards the more traditional round Galaxy Watch design we’re used to today. It added IP68 dust/water resistance and QI wireless charging – something we always wished modern smartwatches had, and also included a rotating watch bezel.
Samsung Gear S2
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The Gear S3 arrived in 2016 and featured Always On Display (AOD) functionality, as well as a built-in speaker and microphone for calls and an on-board GPS receiver for tracking your runs.
Samsung Gear S3 Frontier
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The Galaxy Gear Sport was the last Samsung smartwatch to use the Gear branding. As its name suggests, it was aimed at consumers with active lifestyles who prioritized activities and featured 5ATM water resistance, allowing you to wear it while swimming.
Samsung Gear Sport
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The first-generation Samsung Galaxy Watch was launched in 2018. It was available in 42mm and 46mm sizes and tracked over 39 exercise modes. Samsung launched the Watch Active in 2019 which weighed 25 grams less and was offered in a 20mm size.
Samsung Galaxy Watch
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Samsung Galaxy Watch Active
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The Galaxy Watch3 hit the market in 2020 and introduced even more health tracking options, including blood pressure monitoring, electrocardiogram (ECG) readings, and blood oxygen saturation readings.
Samsung Galaxy Watch3
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The Galaxy Watch4 came out in 2021 with two models – the Watch4 and Watch4 Classic, with the latter bringing back the rotating watch bezel. Both watches featured bioactive sensors measuring blood pressure, ECG, and blood oxygen saturation and ran on Android Wear OS 4, spelling an end to Tizen OS smartwatches.
Samsung Galaxy Watch4
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Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Classic
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A year later we got the Watch5 and Watch5 Pro with improved bioactive sensors, body composition, and temperature sensors.
Samsung Galaxy Watch5
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Samsung Galaxy Watch5 Pro
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The Galaxy Watch 6 series completes this dive down memory lane as the Korean manufacturer’s latest and greatest smartwatches, whose successors are arriving at Wednesday’s Galaxy Unpacked event.
Samsung Galaxy Watch6
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Samsung Galaxy Watch6 Classic
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Which is your favorite Samsung smartwatch to date? Let us know in the comments.
