Galaxy Watch8 and Watch8 Classic Review: The Crème de la Crème of Android Smartwatches

Just like every year, Samsung’s back with a new pair of Galaxy smartwatches — the Galaxy Watch8 and the Galaxy Watch8 Classic. The Classic plays the middle child between the standard Watch8 and the Ultra; in fact, the gap is closer than ever.

There aren’t any dramatic leaps in design or day-to-day usability, but Samsung’s clearly trying to make these watches feel smarter — literally. The Watch 8 Series is the first smartwatch lineup to come with Google Gemini, which, in theory, should make it the most intelligent Galaxy Watch yet. Both of these introduce new health metrics like antioxidant index, vascular load, and AGEs index, all meant to give you a deeper look at your overall well-being.

Both watches still nail that mix of lifestyle and fitness, but with prices starting at ₹32,999 for the Watch8 and ₹46,999 for the Watch8 Classic — which, funnily enough, costs more than the Galaxy S24 (Snapdragon edition) that just went on sale. The big question is: do these updates really add up? I’ve been using both for over two months now. Here’s how they’ve held up in the real world.

PROS

• Excellent and bright Super AMOLED
• Polished software and smooth performance
• New metrics such as Antioxidant levels, Vascular Load
• Premium build quality on both models
• Good sleep and fitness tracking
• Google Gemini on-board

CONS

• Battery life still disappointing for heavy users
• Few health features locked to Samsung phones
• Expensive

Design and Build Quality

Both the Galaxy Watch8 and Watch8 Classic look every bit as premium as you’d expect from Samsung. The regular Watch8 goes for a sleeker, sportier vibe, while the Classic fits better in a more casual or formal setup. The Watch8 comes in Silver and Black, and the Classic gets White and Black. I’ve been using the White Classic, and while it definitely stands out, the black version feels more subtle and timeless, plus white is easier to dirty.

The biggest design change this year is the new squircle look, something Samsung borrowed from the Galaxy Watch Ultra. It’s basically a circle sitting inside a rounded square, and while people have mixed opinions about it, I absolutely love it. There’s something oddly satisfying about that slightly imperfect symmetry. The Watch8 uses Armour Aluminium 2 with a sapphire crystal display, while the Classic gets a stainless-steel body and the same sapphire glass on top. After two months of pretty rough use during turf football sessions, gym workouts, and even a few knocks during shoots, both watches still look great.

Between the two, the regular Watch8 feels lighter and slimmer, and that’s mostly because of the rubber strap and the lack of a rotating bezel. The Classic, gets a dual-finish strap with the front laced in leather and the back of the strap in rubber. Both models now have dynamic lugs, so swapping straps is super easy. And, you can also get third-party straps from the likes of Spigen or other brands on Amazon.

The BioActive Sensor at the bottom now sticks out a little more than before, which helps it stay closer to your skin. Both watches have two buttons on the right, but the Classic gets a third button in the middle, which you can map to workouts or shortcuts. Both are IP68-rated, so they’ll easily survive sweat, rain, or a quick dip in the pool.

The Watch8 comes in 40mm and 44mm sizes, while the Classic sticks to a single 46mm option. The size difference is noticeable — the Watch8 is more comfortable for all-day wear, but the Classic looks way more like an actual watch.

Display and Hardware

Both the Galaxy Watch8 and the Watch8 Classic come with Samsung’s usual stunning displays. The Watch8 has a 1.47-inch Super AMOLED screen, while the Classic gets a 1.34-inch one. It’s a little smaller than the Watch6 Classic, which had a 47mm body compared to the 46mm frame here. So, the difference in the screen size is quite evident, especially if you are coming from the Watch6 Classic.

What you do get is a beautifully bright and crisp panel on both. Samsung rates them at 3,000 nits peak brightness, and while I didn’t go around measuring that, both watches are perfectly visible even under direct sunlight. Whether I was out for a morning run or checking a notification mid-shoot, I never had to squint. The touch response is smooth, the animations are clean, and everything just feels nicely tuned.

Under the hood, both watches run on Samsung’s in-house Exynos W1000 chip, a 5-core processor based on the 3nm fabrication process, paired with the Mali-G68 GPU. Both watches have 2GB of RAM, which seems to be the sweet spot for Wear OS for now. The regular Watch8 gets 32GB of storage, while the Classic doubles it to 64GB. That’s a huge jump, especially compared to the 16GB we got on the Watch6 Classic. This upgrade is very likely connected to Google Gemini on board.

Connectivity is still solid. You get Bluetooth 5.3, dual-frequency GPS (L1 + L5) for more accurate outdoor tracking, and NFC for Samsung Wallet payments. What’s nice is that performance feels identical on both models. You’re not missing out on anything by picking the lighter, and more affordable Watch8 over the Classic.

Software, Health and Fitness Tracking

Both the Galaxy Watch8 and Watch8 Classic run One UI 8 Watch, based on Wear OS 6, and if you’ve used any Samsung phone or Wear OS watch before, you’ll feel right at home. The UI is straightforward, clean, and easy to figure out after the initial setup. Animations are smooth, and navigation feels fast.

You can answer and dial calls directly from the watch, and if you’ve got the LTE variant, you don’t even need your phone nearby to stay connected. That said, the software still feels most complete when paired with a Samsung smartphone. If you’re using a non-Samsung Android phone, you’ll lose out on features like ECG readings, blood pressure monitoring, and even Samsung Wallet.

The Now Bar also makes its way into the Watch8 Series. It’s a subtle edge bar that sits around the display, and it’s surprisingly handy for switching music or tracking your ongoing workout. You can trigger Gemini with a “Hey Google” or by pressing the top button, and it’s good for quick queries, calendar reminders, or answering small questions. But in reality, I’ve used it maybe five times in the last two months. It’s not that it doesn’t work; it’s just not yet integrated in a way that makes you want to use it daily. For now, it feels more like a demo of what Samsung and Google are building toward rather than a game-changer.

On the health side, both watches get the upgraded BioActive Sensor, which brings in a few new metrics — Antioxidant Index, Vascular Load, and AGEs Index, alongside the usual heart rate, SpO2, ECG, stress, and body composition tracking.

The Antioxidant Index is one of the more interesting additions. It uses light to measure carotenoid levels in your skin to estimate how well your body is handling oxidative stress. It’s not medical-grade data, but it’s a good starting point to understand how your habits, like sleep, diet, or smoking, are affecting your internal health. That said, it’s very easy to fool. For example, if you’ve just had something like Cheetos and there’s still orange bits on your finger, the reading will jump.

Sleep tracking continues to be one of Samsung’s strong suits. The watch accurately logs sleep and awake times, breaks down REM and deep sleep stages, and pushes everything neatly into the Samsung Health app. The Energy Score it generates from your sleep, activity, and recovery gives you a quick sense of how ready your body feels for the day.

Fitness tracking is equally reliable. I tested the walking workout manually by counting 1,000 steps, and the Watch8 was off by just seven steps. You get a long list of preloaded workouts, and you can even create custom ones if something’s missing. The arm curl detection works fine most of the time, though it occasionally misses a rep or two. The new Running Coach is still in beta, but it’s quite interesting. It analyses your running pattern and fitness level, then builds a training plan to help you reach your goals while keeping injury risk low.

Battery and Charging

If there’s one area where Samsung still hasn’t cracked the code, it’s battery life. The Galaxy Watch8 and Watch8 Classic get small internal upgrades, but in real-world use, those gains barely make a difference. After two months of daily wear, it’s clear that this continues to be the biggest weakness in the Galaxy Watch lineup.

In regular use — a mix of notifications, workouts, sleep tracking, and music control — both watches comfortably last a full day, but not much beyond that. Push them a little harder, and you’ll likely see them die out by 7 or 8 p.m., sometimes even earlier if you start the day early. With Always-On Display, continuous heart rate tracking, or other advanced health features, the battery drops noticeably faster. For something that’s meant to be worn 24/7, you’ll still find yourself reaching for the charger every evening, which is a bit disappointing given how mature the rest of the experience feels.

Charging, however, is straightforward. You get a proprietary wireless charging puck in the box, and it takes a little over an hour to go from dead to full. The charging animation is now identical to what you see on Samsung smartphones running One UI 8, which is a nice touch for visual consistency, even if it doesn’t fix the real problem.

Verdict

After spending over two months with both the Galaxy Watch8 and Watch8 Classic, one thing’s clear — Samsung isn’t reinventing the wheel here, it’s just tightening the screws. These watches are about refinement, not revolution, and that’s both their strength and to an extent, their limitation.

The Antioxidant Index, Vascular Load, and AGEs Index make the Galaxy Watch8 series feel smarter and more holistic, even if some of these readings lean more toward “interesting insights” than hard science. The display, performance, and software experience are as smooth and reliable as ever, and the new design gives both watches a distinct identity.

But the story hasn’t changed much where it matters most: battery life. It’s still the Achilles’ heel of an otherwise near-perfect smartwatch. The Classic looks and feels more premium with its rotating bezel and leather strap, but it’s also heavier and pricier. The standard Watch8, on the other hand, feels lighter, more comfortable, and delivers the same performance for less.

If you already own a Watch6 or Watch5, there’s no real reason to upgrade unless you’re curious about the new wellness features or you just love the new design. But if you’re picking up your first Galaxy Watch, both of these are still among the best all-round smartwatches you can buy right now — especially if you’re in the Samsung ecosystem.