The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 reveal could happen sooner than expected. Although Samsung usually announces smartwatches during late-summer Unpacked events, a scheduled Mobile World Conference keynote suggests a new Galaxy wearable might arrive before the end of this month.
On June 28, the first day of MWC, Samsung is hosting a keynote titled 'Galaxy Ecosystem / New Watch Experience / Mobile Security.' SamMobile spotted the online-only event on the MWC agenda.
- The best cheap smartwatches right now
- Wear OS vs. watchOS: Which smartwatch software will win this year?
According to the keynote's description, Samsung has allotted the time for “reimagining smartwatches, creating new opportunities for both developers and consumers."
This could mean Samsung plans to unveil the Galaxy Watch 4 and/or the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Active before it shares its next smartphone lineup. Previous rumors have pointed to Samsung working on two smartwatch versions for this year: first, a lifestyle-minded Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 follow-up; and second, a fitness-focused Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 successor.
Of course, the company could come out with just one of these models. It could also come out with neither one, at least not during MWC.
It's possible the keynote will cover software instead of hardware, much like Apple's WWDC unwrapped watchOS 8 but not the Apple Watch 7. Samsung could use the spotlight to dive into its new partnership with Google on Wear OS. Both companies already confirmed the next Galaxy Watch will run the refreshed Wear OS, folding in Tizen and borrowing some of Fitbit's fitness tracking features.
Based on what we've heard about the new Wear OS so far, it's poised to change the tides for the divisive platform. The Tizen integration should provide a major boost while bringing future Galaxy Watch customers to Google's wearable software.
We have questions about how Google and Samsung will come to terms with developers, ensuring every app currently available on the Tizen store will also be listed on the Wear OS one. There will need to be compromises on Google Fit vs. Samsung Health and Google Assistant vs. Bixby, too.
Perhaps the June 28 keynote will provide some answers. It could also shed some light on how Samsung plans to support existing Galaxy Watch models, which will not be upgraded to Wear OS. Samsung has already said it will provide software updates for at least three years, but we're sure customers are curious about how the experiences will differ.
Samsung's MWC keynote is taking place on June 28 at 10:15am PT / 1:15pm ET / 6:15pm BST / 7:15pm CET.
- Next: Everything we know about Samsung Galaxy Watch 4
