Samsung has announced that its next Unpacked launch event will take place on 10 July and one of the rumoured products is the Galaxy Watch Ultra. But if the leaks are true, I won’t be buying one.
To be honest, I’m surprised that Samsung has taken so long to bring out a rival to the Apple Watch Ultra, which debuted in 2022. However, it looks like it wasn’t worth the wait.
Of course, at this stage, I’m going on leaked information, with Unpacked still a couple of weeks away, but rumours are often true.
The first and biggest problem, in my opinion, is the design. I’ve generally quite liked the way Samsung has approached wearable design, with things like rotating bezels and customisable buttons, but the firm’s Ultra just looks, well, ugly and boring.
@OnLeaks x SmartPrix
If renders posted online by leaksters are anything to go by, then the device will have an oddly bizarre combination of a square body which has slightly curved sides and a circular screen in the middle.
And despite looking like a chunky mess of different shapes and lines, the screen size is reportedly no bigger than the Galaxy Watch 6 at 1.5-inches.
I’m sure the premium smartwatch will be packed full of top-notch tech and features, but I just don’t think I could live with it on my wrist every day.
But wait a minute…
However, during the process of writing this article, a new render of the Galaxy Watch Ultra has come to light from the legendary Evan Blass. It shows a more fetching and stylish dark grey (possibly titanium) edition with an orange accent colour, which breaks up the design in a pleasing way.
Perhaps this is the colourway for me, but I still think it looks too boxy, big and heavy – even for an Ultra.
The other problem, and one that’s somewhat unsurprising, is that the smartwatch is set to cost in the region of $700. That’s not actually as expensive as the Apple Watch Ultra 2 at $799/£799 but still too rich for me.
Whether the leaks are true or not, we don’t have long to find out. And I’ll should be getting hands-on with the Galaxy Watch Ultra and Galaxy Watch 7 range to see what they are like in real life.