The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 brings back the bezel control, with a twist

Just a heads up, if you buy something through our links, we may get a small share of the sale. It’s one of the ways we keep the lights on here. Click here for more.

Samsung’s Unpacked event is tomorrow but it seems the company couldn’t wait to get off the starting line with its latest smartwatch.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 comes just six months after the first model, bringing back the sorely-missed bezel control. It also now has an LTE-enabled model, for phone-less connectivity, and a new ECG sensor (that, just like the Apple Watch, will get switched on sometime after launch).

Samsung just released the Galaxy Watch Active 2 smartwatch

The rotating bezel of the Samsung Galaxy Watch is back, just this time it’s a nifty touchscreen ring around the watch, not a physical bezel. That’s pretty darn cool, and I hope more smartwatches do something similar.

• Samsung is hoping style will win the day, with multiple watchbands and a feature that generates your watch face to match your outfit
• Google Translate is now onboard
• The ECG sensor hasn’t been cleared by the FDA yet, with no solid timeline for when it will be switched on
• New coaching features including a real-time running coach
• More LEDs on the heart-rate sensor, which might enable Samsung to take your blood pressure at some later date
• Apps will use single sign-in, so you won’t have to login to anything you already use on your phone

With pricing starting at $279 for the non-LTE, 40mm face, and $300 for the 44mm, it’ll be fairly expensive when available on September 27. Then again, it’s still cheaper than the Apple Watch, for a very similar feature set.

What do you think? Interested in the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

• Google Assistant can now read your messages from third-party apps
• Apple will not let you use its Apple Card with a jailbroken iPhone
• Cloudflare is no longer sheltering 8chan behind its firewalls
• Free supercharging is coming back to Tesla Model X and S ranges

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.