Samsung Team Talk Galaxy Watch Design, Upgrades

When Samsung Electronics introduced the Galaxy Note 9 earlier this month, it also put the spotlight on its other new products including its first Galaxy Watch-branded wearable. For the most part, the Galaxy Watch is Samsung’s replacement to its Galaxy Gear series. But the design team behind it thinks it’s more than that.

Samsung Newsroom sat down with the Galaxy Watch designers Tommy Choi, Hyemin Bae, Jaehyung Hong and Sanhui Oh recently to talk about the latest addition to the Galaxy family of devices. For them, the Galaxy Watch is a representation of the meeting of connectivity, wellness and design. It is a refinement towards perfection that serves as an intelligent timekeeping companion.

So, how did the team come up with the Galaxy Watch’s design? Choi and his colleagues said that they thought of Millennials while drafting the design of the device. For them, Millennials are a generation that prioritizes stylishness and loves living an active lifestyle, so they put this in mind as they envisioned the appearance of Samsung’s new wearable series.

“Our answer to the needs of this generation was an outer design that covers a wide range of styles — from classical moods with elegance to casual moods with a dose of freedom,” the team said. “We also made sure to preserve the legacy of the real watch philosophy that we have held over the years to instill the watch with a complete identity.”

The team admitted that they opted for a more sensitive design for the Galaxy Watch compared to its predecessor, which featured a more masculine identity with its bold thickness and weighty body. They intentionally came up with a tight-knit and low-cut knurling finish for the bezel so as to create a style that’s suitable for women as well and one that minimizes malfunctions.

Speaking of battery life, the design team said that it was always a challenge for them to come up with a device upgrade that has better battery life than its predecessor. With the Galaxy Watch however, they easily overcame the challenge through the inclusion of the 10nm chipset. The smaller processor is more powerful in terms of performance but consumes less power than previous models, so the Galaxy Watch is capable of running for 80+ hours on a single charge.

Choi and his fellow designers also tackled the hardware changes on the Galaxy Watch. The most obvious of which is the increased number of sensors at the back of the smartwatch’s body. The team said they needed to do this in order for them to enhance the precision of the wearable in detecting information about the user’s conditions.

Lastly, the team explained why they came up with multiple straps for the Samsung Galaxy Watch. They said that in order for them to capture the preferences of many users, they created various straps in multiple colors. This way, each user can mix and match the strap with the timepiece’s body for a more personal design that matches the wearer’s mood.

Aside from giving owners numerous options for the color combination of the smartwatch, the designers also grabbed the opportunity to make the colorful straps match with the Galaxy Note 9’s case. This makes it possible for consumers to have a smartwatch and a smartphone that complement each other.