Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 Official; Brings Back Bezel Control

After only six months since the original Galaxy Watch Active was introduced, the new Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 is here. On the surface, it looks a lot like its predecessor, but it brings back one vital feature: bezel control.

However, unlike the bigger Galaxy Watch, the Watch Active 2 doesn’t have a physically rotating bezel. Instead, it’s a “touch” bezel; the whole bezel of the smartwatch is touch sensitive, so you can scroll through the user interface by running your finger over it.

This addition alone makes the Galaxy Watch Active 2 a better smartwatch than the previous model. After all, the Tizen-based operating system was designed with the bezel control in mind, so it would feel a lot more natural to navigate the user interface with the touch bezel.

Then again, it remains to be seen just how refined the Galaxy Watch Active 2’s touch bezel is. Given the fact that it’s not a physically rotating bezel, it may not feel as natural to use. Nonetheless, we’ll give it the benefit of the doubt until we’ve tried out the new smartwatch for ourselves.

Aside from the touch bezel, the Galaxy Watch Active 2 also comes with improved heart rate sensor and accelerometer, which should make for more accurate workout tracking. On top of that, the wearable now supports ECG too: it will be able to track your heart rate and rhythm more accurately than a conventional heart rate sensor.

That being said, the ECG feature will not be available at launch. Instead, it will only be enabled sometime in the future, but Samsung did not give any specific time frame. Chances are, it needs some form of clearance from relevant regulatory bodies before the ECG feature can be enabled.

Other specifications of the Galaxy Watch Active 2 are relatively similar to its predecessor, though it does have a larger 1.2-inch or 1.4-inch 360 x 360 Super AMOLED display for the 40mm and 44mm models respectively. Besides that, it also supports GPS, Bluetooth 5.0, NFC, and 5 ATM rating, which allows for it to be submerged up to 50m for 10 minutes without problem.

Interestingly, the Galaxy Watch Active 2 is not replacing the first Watch Active; both products will co-exist in the market. Of course, this also means the Active 2 is more costly: it retails at $279, which comes up to about RM1,170. There’s also an LTE model, but its retail price has not been revealed yet.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 will hit the market on 27 September in the US. Malaysian availability of the new smartwatch, on the other hand, is not known yet at the moment. Rest assured, we’re confident Samsung Malaysia will bring in the Active 2 to our market.