Smartwatches have long come in one of two camps. Circular watches that look more traditional, and square watches that embrace a more optimized form factor. Samsung, though, is splitting the difference with its next Galaxy Watch and it begs the question – which one do you actually prefer?
The Galaxy Watch series, like many other Wear OS smartwatches, has long picked the route of using a circular display and body that mimics a more traditional watch design. Some legacy watchmakers even stepped into the game for a while, with Fossil, Montblanc, and others crafting gorgeous timepieces that happened to run on Google’s platform.
Those days are gone, though. The smartwatch is continuing to evolve into more and more of a fitness-first device, and that’s led to more brands looking to copy the wildly-successful Apple Watch rather than cater to those who prefer a more traditional design.
Samsung, though, seems to be unable to make up its mind.
Top comment by JK
The watch 8 leak shows the DISPLAY is still circle, the body is what is squicle; more like the Ultra now. Not a huge fan, the big draw was a traditional round watch shape. I dont think WearOS handles a square display anyway.
Last year’s Galaxy Watch Ultra introduced a design that used the same circular display as prior generations, but on a body that’s closer in shape to a square. A bit of a strange choice, but it made sense to keep up with the rest of the lineup that was still circular.
For the Galaxy Watch 8 series, though, Samsung is apparently giving up on a fully circular design entirely. New images leaked this week showing that the Galaxy Watch 8 and Galaxy Watch 8 Classic look a whole lot like the Galaxy Watch Ultra and its “squicle” design. That seems like an odd choice, as it’s the least efficient way to use the space. The display no longer takes up the entire face of the watch and the body just turns into wasted space. The argument could easily be made that Samsung should just go all of the way and adopt a square display, like the Apple Watch, instead of a now-pointless circular one.
Why Samsung chose this route is unclear (though it very likely has something to do with a fruit company), but there’s an easy question to get started. Do you prefer a square display or a round display on your smartwatch? Vote in the poll below and let’s discuss in the comments!
More on Wear OS:
- Google reminds Pixel Watch owners that you can transfer to a new phone
- Samsung’s next big Galaxy Watch update leaks with new health features, Gemini, more
- Google Assistant branding is being phased out on Wear OS
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