After weeks of leaks, Samsung has unveiled the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE, a 40mm smartwatch that offers some of the features from its recent premium models at a more affordable price point.
The FE is packing some of the features that made the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 a mainstay on our best smartwatches list. Although the FE seems to be based on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, it includes a Sapphire Crystal display, upgraded from the Watch 4’s Corning Gorilla Glass, swappable bands with a ‘one-click’ system (with the Watch FE boasting new band designs), and some of Samsung’s latest wellness tools.
Over 100 workouts, personalized heart rate zones to improve activity tracking, and advanced running analysis are present here, and welcome. According to Samsung, the advanced running analysis (also present on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6) “analyzes the runner’s posture for asymmetry and contact/flight time to improve efficiency and prevent injuries”.
The Watch FE also retains the Galaxy Watch 4’s body composition tool, which allows the watch to scan your body and estimate the amount of fat, muscle, and bone you’re packing. We tested the same body comp tool on the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro against a smart scale, and found the results were very accurate.
Non-wellness features include Find My Phone, camera controls, Samsung Wallet, and access to the Google Play Store – in essence, all the stuff you’d expect to see on a current Samsung watch.
At present, the above image is our only official look at the device. The Galaxy Watch FE comes in three colors: silver, Pink Gold and Black. The Bluetooth-only version will be available in the US from June 24, and the LTE version will be available later in the year. It’s set to be priced at $199.99 in the US for the Bluetooth-only model, and $249.99 in the U.S for LTE. It’ll be available globally in the coming weeks, but there’s no word on international pricing yet.
Analysis: Samsung’s entry-level watch breaks cover early
Samsung’s worst-kept secret is out! We knew a FE watch was coming, but it’s a surprise to see it unveiled before Samsung’s Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event next month.
The ‘FE’ moniker is Samsung’s equivalent of Apple’s ‘SE’, indicating that the watch is cheaper than other entries in the range, but it’s still going to keep up with Samsung’s updated software, presumably running Wear OS 4 as part of Samsung’s One UI Watch 5 operating system.
What does this mean for the rest of the watches set to be unveiled this year? With a cheaper smartwatch already revealed, Samsung may attempt to copy Apple’s success by introducing the other rumored smartwatch, an Ultra or Pro model, so it could have three watches sitting side-by-side simultaneously in the range.
Of course, the other big question mark is the Samsung Galaxy Ring. We know the Ring will work with at least some Samsung Galaxy Watches by offering additional metrics when worn during sleep and workouts, so it’ll presumably interface with the Samsung Galaxy Watch FE in this way too. Time will tell.
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matt.evans@futurenet.com (Matt Evans)
