Perhaps one of the most exciting announcements from Samsung Unpacked was the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5. Compared to the new foldable devices, which are fairly incremental updates, the Galaxy Watch 5 lineup feels like a huge leap forward. Well, except for one big change.
While we still have to spend more time with the Galaxy Watch 5 (and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro), our early impressions suggest some worthwhile upgrades and make for one of the best smartwatches of the year. The battery life is better, the screen is more scratch-resistant and the $279 price tag for the Galaxy Watch 5 is very attractive.
But the rotating bezel is gone, which is why I won’t buy the Galaxy Watch 5.
I currently have a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, and I wear it most of the time. I wear it to work, it gives me Slack notifications while I’m writing an article and it’s surprisingly useful for sleep tracking. The rotating bezel helps me with that Literally All of these positions.
So, despite the upgraded battery life of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 – which was the biggest issue for me with the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic – I can’t imagine switching to the latest smartwatch, even if it’s considered the best Samsung watch to date.
Seriously, why would we ditch the rotating bezel?
The rotating bezel was a key feature of Samsung smartwatches even before the original Samsung Galaxy Watch. It dates back to the Samsung Gear S2 (not to be confused with the Gear 2). That watch was the first to directly compete with the Apple Watch, and the rotating bezel successfully sets the Samsung smartwatch apart. Especially since Apple has its own rotating crown to provide similar functionality.
Since then, Samsung has introduced at least one Galaxy Watch with a rotating bezel in every generation, with the exception of the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active and Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 versions in 2019. Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 released in 2020, the following year, brought it back. And of course, it continued on last year’s Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.
This is what makes choosing to delete it from the Galaxy Watch 5 lineup so strange for Samsung. She actually tried to loosen the frame once, and then walked backwards. Admittedly, Samsung didn’t really standardize its smartwatch lineup until the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic, so perhaps its plan has always been to return to the frame in the Watch 3 so it has multiple options.
But if that’s the plan, why abandon the plan with the Galaxy Watch 5? Although we do not have sales data for specific models, we do have market share data from Counterpoint Research (Opens in a new tab) For 2020 and 2021, depending on the brand.
In 2021, the year Samsung launched the Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic, Samsung increased market share by 1.3% while its biggest competitors Apple and Huawei lost market share. Samsung even ranked second in Huawei, joining Apple as the only smartwatch maker with more than 10% market share. Obviously the system was working, so why change it?
The rotating frame is a must for me
As someone who owns a Samsung smartwatch with a rotating bezel (Galaxy Watch 4) and without one (Galaxy Watch Active 2), the rotating bezel is a discovery. It makes navigating a lot easier, both in the main user interface between tiles and within certain apps.
One of the hidden gems was discovering that I can control the volume of my phone from my smartwatch using the rotating bezel. Although this sounds like a small thing, it helps when listening to audiobooks in bed so I don’t have to look at the screen to get to the perfect volume. It has become a part of my nighttime routine, and I can’t imagine living without it. A digital frame will not feel the same.
Options for turntable fans
For fans of the rotating bezel, there is only one choice now when shopping for a smartwatch. Although the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic is a year old, it is still on sale as one of the best Android smartwatches. In addition to that file Wear a smartwatch OS 3The software’s compatibility makes it not worth it for all previous generations, even at a reduced price.
Unfortunately for Samsung, the other option is to buy our best smartwatch: Apple Watch 7. While it does not have a rotating bezel, it does have its own rotating crown, which gives users similar functionality.
Switching to Apple could be a drastic and rare move for an Android user committed to Samsung’s ecosystem. But this is an unintended mistake on Samsung’s part that could turn out to be a costly one. Hopefully they’ll fix it by bringing the rotating bezel back to the Galaxy Watch 6, or whatever smartwatch Samsung releases in 2023.
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