Samsung has a good lineup of smartwatches running Google’s WearOS, but they aren’t exactly affordable.
To alleviate the high pricing concerns associated with Samsung’s flagship Galaxy Watch lineup, the company is planning to bring an affordable alternative by essentially refreshing an older model.
Earlier, we reported on this “Galaxy Watch FE” with the model number SM-R866, which is expected to be a refreshed Galaxy Watch 4 from 2021. However, it has now been reported that this affordable Galaxy Watch will actually not launch under the FE (Fan Edition) lineup.
A new leak by a reliable source, Max Jambor (via @MaxJmb on X/Twitter), says that there will not be an FE version of the Galaxy Watch, and instead, the new affordable smartwatch will simply be called the Galaxy Watch 4 (2024).
This move is not exactly surprising since the new watch was rumored to be named that way long before the “Galaxy Watch FE” moniker actually surfaced.
Now that the Watch FE moniker has been debunked, the 2024 FE lineup will include the S24 FE, Z Fold FE, and Z Flip FE, with a possible Buds 2 FE on the way.
Moreover, Samsung has already done a similar year-name refresh this year by giving its older Tab S6 Lite a chipset change to the Exynos 1280 (from Snapdragon 720G) and naming it the “Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024).”
If Samsung is indeed planning to do the same with the Galaxy Watch 4 for this new affordable smartwatch, we may or may not see a chipset change.
If they are planning to change the chipset of the Galaxy Watch 4, I feel the company cannot go wrong with the Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 chipset, as the Exynos W920 of the original Galaxy Watch 4 is now a very dated chip.
As of now, there is no pricing or availability information available for the Galaxy Watch 4 (2024), which is expected to compete with the likes of the OnePlus Watch 2 and Xiaomi Watch 2 when it launches.
