Samsung’s new Galaxy Watch runs Tizen, lasts “several days” on one charge

Enlarge (credit: Samsung)

Alongside the release of the Galaxy Note9 smartphone, Samsung also debuted a new wearable: the Galaxy Watch. It's the first Samsung wearable to deviate from the Gear family name, but it looks like a successor to the Gear S3. It's also the first Galaxy-branded product to run anything other than a flavor of Android, as it runs on Samsung's Tizen wearable operating system rather than Google's Wear OS (formerly known as Android Wear). Tizen works on both Android and iOS, so users will not be limited by the operating system of their smartphone.

By nature of it being a Samsung wearable, the Galaxy Watch will challenge the Apple Watch in many ways. Two of the most important new features to consider are LTE access and battery life. The Galaxy Watch will have optional LTE, allowing users to receive calls, texts, and other alerts even when their Galaxy smartphone isn't with them. Samsung says it's working with more than 30 carriers in more than 15 countries to bring LTE-enabled Galaxy Watches to users who want an untethered smartwatch.

Samsung didn't give specifics about the Galaxy Watch's battery life, but it did suggest that it may be better than other traditional smartwatches. The watch will last "several days" on a single charge thanks to its new optimized processor and low-power technology built into the device. That's pretty vague, so we'll have to test it to get a better idea of what "several days" actually means.

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