Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 3 firmware leaked — here’s what we know

Apple might be the world’s most popular smartwatch maker, but Samsung is a (not particularly) close second. And if any item is going to somehow knock the Apple Watch down a few rungs, then Samsung’s Galaxy Watch is probably your best bet.

So, what does the Korean tech giant have in store for us next? Well, the firmware for Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 3 has been leaked and now we have a far clearer picture.

Last night, Max Weinbach tweeted a range of info he’d pulled from the software, summarizing the main points succinctly here:

To sum up what I found in the GW3 firmware:

Rich notification icons
New watch faces
New weather app
Outlook replaces Samsung Email (further going with my theory Samsung email will be replaced by Outlook)
New Music widget
Information edges in watch faces
More customizable faces

— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) June 30, 2020

What I think is the coolest addition is the updated weather app. With this, the background changes depending on the current weather. It’ll look like this:

pic.twitter.com/eSUuWj6C8G

— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) June 30, 2020

The other element that a lot of people will find interesting is Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 3’s new faces. You can find the Twitter thread of those here. But you can also slam your peepers on this fancy example:

Weinbach mentioned that the lines around the outside are called the “informative digital edge,” and the info they deliver can be customized. He also stated that Samsung will finally include a period tracking feature, which is a positive move, but one that’s come far, far too late for me to be anything but disappointed about.

The first version of the watch was released in August of 2018, which means it’s taken two-fucking-years for what should be a basic feature to appear.

Anyway, Weinbach finished his firmware leak saying that he has more information on upcoming features, but he’ll wait a while before sharing them. The tease.

We also know what Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 3 will (probably) look like, due to previous leaks by Evan Blass. Check this out :

All-in-all, this seems like a reasonably solid upgrade, but I can say something for certain now: there’s no way this will come close to knocking the Apple Watch off its top perch.

With the upcoming WatchOS 7, the Cupertino-based firm are including an automatic hand-washing countdown, expanding on the workouts that can be tracked (including dancing), and overhauling the sleep tracking features.

This could be negated if there was a substantial price difference, but it’s expected that Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 3 will retail for around $400, which is the same price as the entry-level Apple Watch 5. Even though, it’s important to point out that some models sell for much, much more.

Whatever the case, it appears that Samsung’s smartwatch is genuinely a couple of years behind Apple’s.

But, that doesn’t mean all is lost — far from it. The Galaxy Watch 3 has a few positive points. The fact that it’s Android-centric makes it a far better purchase for a lot of people than the Apple Watch.

Design-wise, Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 3 also has some benefits. The fact that it genuinely looks like a normal watch means wearing it isn’t some sort of wanker-ish statement, the way that an Apple Watch can be.

Many are expecting that Samsung’s Galaxy Watch 3 will be launched on July 22, with a press event expected on July 8 — but keep your eyes on Plugged for more updates.