It's been a couple of long years since we last saw a Samsung smartwatch with a rotating bezel around the display, but with the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, the manufacturer has brought back the fan favourite feature. Samsung opened up pre-orders for the new watches as soon as the Unpacked presentation lifted, meaning you can place your order now and get your watch in time for launch. And - in classic Samsung style - there are some tempting freebies and trade-in offers available on its new products.
How to pre-order the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic
If you want to get the Galaxy Watch 6 or Watch 6 Classic in time for the 11 August launch date, the best way is by heading on over to Samsung.com and pre-ordering from there.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6
The Galaxy Watch 6 is available to pre-order now and will ship by 11 August, plus you can get a free fabric band if you put your order in early.
Whether you order the regular Galaxy Watch 6 or Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, Samsung is offering early adopters a free additional fabric watch strap when they place their pre-orders, plus up to $250 off if you trade in your existing smartwatch.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic
Pre-order the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic and you'll get a free additional fabric strap when included when it's shipped to you on 11 August.
What makes the Galaxy Watch 6 worth ordering?
There are a few changes from previous versions of the Galaxy Watch, but the biggest - and most obvious - is the display. Whether you get the small or large model of Galaxy Watch 6 or Watch 6 Classic, you're getting a larger display with skinnier bezels. Place them side-by-side with the Galaxy Watch 5 models, and it's the change that stands out the most.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic Battery Life Up to 40 hours (AOD off) - Up to 30 hours (AOD on) Up to 40 hours (AOD off) - Up to 30 hours (AOD on) Operating System Wear OS 4 with One UI 5 Wear OS 4 with One UI 5 Lens Material Sapphire Crystal Sapphire Crystal Case Material Armour Aluminium Stainless Steel Sizes 40mm and 44mm 43mm and 47mm Colors Graphite, silver and gold Black and silver Display 480 x 480 (44mm) or 432 x 432 (40mm) Super AMOLED 480 x 480 (47mm) or 432 x 432 (43mm) Super AMOLED CPU Exynos W930 dual-core 1.4GHz Exynos W930 dual-core 1.4GHz RAM 2GB 2GB Storage 16GB 16GB Battery 425mAh (44mm) or 300mAh (40mm) 425mAh (47mm) or 300mAh (43mm) Connectivity LTE available, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 2.4GHz and 5GHz, NFC LTE available, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 2.4GHz and 5GHz, NFC Durability MIL-STD-810H MIL-STD-810H Health sensors Heart Rate, ECG, Temperature Sensors, Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Light Sensor Heart Rate, ECG, Temperature Sensors, Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Light Sensor Dimensions 42.8 x 44.4 x 9.0mm (44mm) or 38.8 x 40.4 x 9.0mm (40mm) 46.5 x 46.5 x 10.9mm (47mm) or 42.5 x 42.5 x 10.9mm (43mm)
Both versions have the latest BioActive sensor system that can monitor heart-rate, Sp02, ECG and feature advanced sleep tracking and coaching for those who struggle to get consistent, deep sleep. The temperature sensor has been activated too, offering insights into your basal body temperature and helping track menstrual cycles and can advise on when you're ovulating and when your fertile window is. Of course, you get GPS for route-tracking, motion sensors for pace and running posture/performance, and a body composition sensor to inform you of your fat, muscle and water breakdown.
Samsung has also enabled a custom heart-rate zone feature so that you can ensure that its training advice and guidance is based on your personal heart-rate limits, and not based on a pre-set scale that may not be accurate or relevant to your efforts or training.
What's great for this year is that - regardless of whether you buy the regular or classic - there's a small model and a large model. In the case of the regular version that's either 40mm or 44mm, and with the Classic it's 43mm or 47mm.
Both models feature all the same performance, hardware and fitness capabilities, so when choosing between them you're really just choosing whether you want the simpler, sportier-looking watch or the model that looks more like a traditional timepiece and has that rotating bezel around the outside of the display.
With prices starting from $299 in the US, and with some tempting pre-order freebies and decent trade-in prices, there's a lot to like about the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 and plenty of reasons to order it early.