Those eagerly awaiting the Galaxy Watch 8 family got a big surprise recently when the first leaks revealed a bulging, squircle body replacing the purely round build of years past. A new set of renders circulated among followers of prominent leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks) now confirms the original images’ veracity. The updated design language brings the two less expensive models closer in line with the Ultra variant — especially the Classic version — while retaining a bit of the streamlined elegance of the base model watch.
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The entire lineup will now resemble the Galaxy Watch Ultra’s shape more closely.
Early reactions to the reshaped Galaxy Watch 8 remain mixed. If you only looked at the image of the Ultra version, you’d hardly notice a difference. But expanded, square-influenced corners mark a significant difference for the base — and also the cheapest, and therefore most accessible — model, in particular.
In addition to further legitimizing the previous renders, the latest reveal indicates the rumored Galaxy Watch 8 Classic spotted on eBay might have been real, too. Curiously, that listing went unsold and never received a single bid, possibly because it simply seemed too good to be true.
Renders courtesy of Evan Blass via Substack.
The new images didn’t exactly originate from an anonymous source or unknown X/Twitter account, either. They were released by well-known, well-connected leaker Evan Blass via his Substack mailing list, and show in full color and high-resolution three of the color schemes the new Samsung smartwatch family will be available in.
Release dates for the new smartwatch family haven’t been confirmed. It would make sense, though, if the new wearables landed during the summer edition of Galaxy Unpacked, alongside the expected announcement of new Galaxy Z Fold smartphones. That event is rumored to take place on July 9.
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