I remember when Samsung originally rolled out the first few Galaxy Watches, which looked more like the ever-beloved Pebble or the Apple Watch. Of course, the company then pivoted away from that squared-off design for a circular one — something that Google eventually followed with its own Pixel Watch.
However, Samsung might be ready to return to its roots. As reported by SamMobile, “Samsung is looking to bring back the squarish design for its smartwatches. It would be similar to previous models like the Galaxy Gear, Gear 2, and Gear Live.”
According to the outlet: “The idea is enthusiastically being considered internally and it’s very much on the cards that the switch is going to happen.” So, it seems that the question is when rather than if this design change is going to happen. All we need to know now is if the company will make the change for the Galaxy Watch 7 or wait for a future generation.
SamMobile says that they are unsure which generation of Galaxy Watch will make the switch from a circular design to a square one. So, it sounds like we’ll need to wait until more leaks come down from the internet sleuths to find out.
Regardless of which generation makes the switch happen, I can already see the eruption from Apple Watch fans that Samsung is now trying to rip off Apple’s smartwatch in order to boost its own sales. Once again, Samsung is ripping off something from another company instead of going down its own path of design and experience for its customers.
Regardless of the Apple vs. Samsung fan battle that will inherently ensue once Samsung unveils this new squared-off smartwatch, I think it’s a great idea. While a circular smartwatch can obviously set your brand apart from others from a design standpoint, it is a more limiting experience just for the simple fact that you can get more screen real estate on a wrist with a square smartwatch.
That’s more room for apps, complications, widgets, text from messages, buttons to press, and whatever else you might want to get on the screen. Apple has been able to push the number of things you can interact with on one screen (without scrolling) to the limit with the Apple Watch Ultra. Samsung Galaxy Watch owners could benefit greatly from having the same kind of screen real estate.
I personally own an Apple Watch Ultra, and while my watch face isn’t jam-packed with complications since I prefer something more minimal, some of the watch faces (like the Modular Ultra) will let you customize seven different complications onto one watch face. That’s a lot of widgets that you can get into right from your watch face.
The key for Galaxy Watch customers is that, if Samsung does make the switch to a squared-off design, it takes advantage of that extra screen real estate with an accompanying software update. It did take Apple some time to really take advantage of its own real estate, so hopefully, Samsung is able to knock both of these things out in one shot.
If Samsung does make the switch, that would leave Android-based smartwatch fans with one big brand to turn to if they want to stick with a circular design: Google and its Pixel Watch. Being that Samsung and Google devices still have yet to play really well together, you might just want to grab a Pixel phone if you’re going to buy the Pixel Watch. It’s all or nothing in this world.
