Last week, unofficial renders gave us a first glimpse of what Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active 4 would look like. But it appears that may have been mislabelled, as an official looking promo image shows an identical wearable labeled “Samsung Galaxy Watch 4."
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 image, pictured above, comes from 91mobiles which obtained them via a “reliable industry source.” The design of the purported marketing material – from fonts to layout – certainly feels like Samsung press material, though it wouldn’t exactly be the hardest style to mimic.
- The best cheap smartwatches in 2021
- Apple Watch 6 vs. Apple Watch SE: Which should you buy?
- Plus: iOS 15’s best feature will help you from falling down the iPhone rabbit hole
Assuming the images are legitimate, the most striking thing is that the physical rotating bezel for selecting apps and navigation is no more. This has never been part of the Galaxy Watch Active range, but the second generation introduced a digital rotating version to compensate, where a haptic buzz would simulate real resistance. It’s plausible Samsung has similar plans here.
That said, it’s possible that Samsung will keep the physical version for another model. The well connected Max Weinbach, who has a solid record when it comes to tracking Samsung’s movements, claims that both styles exist.
Maybe they'll go Galaxy Watch4 across the board? Back to Classic branding? Maybe it'll be titanium or stainless steel and they'll go with Apple way. Both exist. We just don't know names.June 25, 2021
In any case, for the pictured device, 91mobiles claims it will come in 40- and 44mm sizes with GPS built in. The Galaxy Watch 4 could be pretty rugged, boasting 5ATM water resistance, Gorilla Glass DX+ and MIL-STD 810G durability. As you can see from the pictures, the watch will apparently come in black, white, dark green and rose gold colors.
Samsung Galaxy Watch 4: Body composition readings
In terms of new innovations, Weinbach has another interesting tip. The Galaxy Watch, he claims, will come with a BIA sensor. That stands for “bioelectrical impedance analysis” and it’s the system that smart scales use to estimate your body fat percentage, where a small electrical current is sent through the body. Because fat and muscle have a different composition, the resistance the electrical current faces can be used to estimate the body’s makeup of each.
A wearable would likely have the user completing the circuit by touching a part of the watch with their hand. From the user’s perspective it should work in the same way that ECG scanning does on the Galaxy Watch 3.
While the benefits of having such tech on the wrist should be obvious, making it work reliably is a pretty big challenge. Even BIA sensors built into scales have patchy reliability, so building a wrist-based version could well have its own problems. But with Apple reportedly ploughing ahead with blood sugar and other health metrics in future Apple Watches, it certainly wouldn’t be surprising if Samsung did pursue something like this.
If 91mobiles’ leak is accurate, we should know soon enough. The site reports that Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Watch 4 this coming week on June 28, so hopefully we’ll have a new candidate for our list of the best smartwatches very soon indeed.
- More: Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 vs. Galaxy Watch Active 2
- Apple Watch 7 could stand on its own — with this one upgrade
