Key Takeaways
- Samsung has announced its entry-level smartwatch, the Galaxy Watch FE.
- It features health tools like heart rate monitoring, blood pressure tracking, and sleep coaching.
- The watch comes in three colors: black, pink gold, and silver, and you can choose between Bluetooth-only or LTE models.
Samsung’s latest release isn’t much of a surprise thanks to a slew of leaks over the past few months. We’ve had renders and specs leaked of the FE version of Samsung’s wrist-based wearable before, but the wait for confirmation is over. Samsung officially announced the Galaxy Watch FE today. It’s the first FE in the Galaxy Watch line, and while it borrows some features from the Galaxy Watch 6, it’s very similar to the previous Galaxy Watch 4. At $200 for the Bluetooth-only version and $250 for the LTE version, it sits at the entry point into the lineup.
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It’s a bit surprising that Samsung is announcing the Galaxy Watch FE now. The company typically unveils new hardware at its Galaxy Unpacked event in July. But with the Galaxy Watch 7, Galaxy Watch Ultra, and Galaxy Ring expected to be announced, the event is shaping up to be a busy one even without any additional watches. Whatever the reason, we’re happy to take this news now.
Samsung Galaxy Watch FE
- brand
- Samsung
- Heart rate monitor
- Samsung Bio Active Sensor
- operating system
- Wear OS by Samsung
- On-board GPS
- yes
- Lens Material
- Sapphire crystal
- Case Size
- 40mm
- color
- Black, pink gold, blue
- screen
- Super AMOLED full color always-on display
- storage
- 16 GB
- battery
- 247mAh
- Connectivity
- LTE, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n 2.4+5GHz, NFC
- durability
- 5 ATM, IP68, MIL-STD-810H
- Health Sensor
- Samsung BioActive Sensor (Optical Heart Rate + Electrical Heart Rate + Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis), Accelerometer, Barometer, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Light Sensor
- size
- 39.3 x 40.4 x 9.8 mm
- weight
- 26.6 g
- Mobile Payments
- yes
- GPS
- GPS/Glonass/Hokuto/Galileo
Samsung Galaxy Watch FE Design and Features
An entry-level yet durable smartwatch
Samsung / Pocket-lint
The Galaxy Watch FE has a 40mm case size and a 1.2-inch Super AMOLED color always-on display that’s slightly smaller than other Galaxy Watch products. Surprisingly, for an affordable device, the display is made with sapphire crystal glass, offering excellent protection against scratches and breakage. It’s also waterproof to 5ATM and rated IP68, so you can even take this watch for a swim.
The FE comes in three colors — black, pink gold, and silver — and is available with new watch bands featuring blue and orange stitching. These bands feature an on-click design that makes them easy to swap out. You get full access to the Galaxy ecosystem, including the ability to find your phone even when it’s disconnected from your watch. There’s also NFC payments with Samsung Wallet, and you can even use the FE to remotely control your Galaxy phone’s camera.
Of course, being more affordable means there are some compromises. The FE lacks the temperature sensor introduced in last year’s Galaxy Watch 6. It also uses the same Exynos W920 chip found in the older Galaxy Watch 4. Finally, the battery is on the smaller side at 247mAh, with less capacity than all but the smaller version of the Galaxy Watch 4. Here’s hoping Samsung has worked out enough software improvements to make the battery significantly more efficient.
Budget price and health function budget do not match
Samsung
In this day and age, no smartwatch is complete without a full complement of health and fitness tools, and the Galaxy Watch FE does just that. It uses Samsung’s BioActive Sensor to offer a range of health features, including HR Alert to detect abnormally high or low heart rates, and Irregular Heart Rate Notification (IHRN) to monitor heart rhythms that may suggest atrial fibrillation (Afib). Plus, it can monitor blood pressure and ECG right at your wrist.
In terms of training tools, the Galaxy Watch FE can track 100 different workouts and offers personalized heart rate zones to adapt to your body’s unique goals. Samsung says it offers advanced running analytics (also found on the Galaxy Watch 6) that “analyze a runner’s postural asymmetry and ground/air time to improve efficiency and prevent injury.” In theory, these analyze your performance to provide insight and guidance to maximize efficiency and prevent injury. You’ll need to know how to use this data, but it’s handy to have.
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You can also use FE to monitor your sleep. It monitors your sleep patterns and offers sleep coaching to help you create a more conducive environment for sleep and improve your overall sleep. The body composition feature, available from Galaxy Watch 4, estimates the amount of fat, muscle, and bone in your body. Finally, you can choose to receive messages to inspire you to keep improving.
Samsung Galaxy Watch FE Availability
Select models will begin shipping later this month
Samsung
The Bluetooth-only version of the Galaxy Watch FE will be available in black, pink gold, or silver starting June 24 for $200, while the LTE version will be available in October for $250.
