Love it, hate it, or exist anywhere in between, Samsung's new Galaxy Watch Ultra is undeniably a hot topic of discussion now that it's become official at the Paris launch event.
There is a lot of information to unpack and process about this new Samsung wearable device, from its somewhat unusual design and relatively high price to all the great new features and hardware upgrades it brings.
But if none of those things were enough to make you join the conversation around the Galaxy Watch Ultra, its approach to the physical bezel might do exactly that, assuming you're a fan of Classic smartwatches.
Samsung's first Ultra smartwatch adopts a brand-new “squircle” design, as it were. In essence, it has a circular display enclosed in a somewhat rectangular case. The circular display is surrounded by a protruding ring that looks a lot like a traditional rotating bezel made to control the UI and browse through menus and widgets.
The kicker is, that's not at all what is happening here. Surprisingly, the circular ring around the display is purely a design element with no (or almost no) practical purpose. The Galaxy Watch Ultra does not, in fact, have a physical rotating bezel that controls the UI, even though it looks like it could have accommodated this functionality. The bezel is static and can't move around.
It looks good but it's not what it looks like
To be fair, this striking design element around the display doesn't look bad and helps bring the design together. It bridges the visual cues of the display's perfectly round shape and the square-ish outer edges of the case.
Besides, even if it doesn't rotate, the circular ring might have a minimal practical purpose, as it could help guide the user's finger around the display when browsing the UI through the virtual bezel navigation gesture.
Given this realization, one thing is clearer than ever — the Galaxy Watch Ultra isn't a continuation of the Classic series or a sequel to the Watch 6 Classic. But time will tell whether it's the beginning of a new chapter or a one-off experiment like the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro appears to be at this point. And also whether it is here to replace the Classic lineup for good.
Story continues after our hands-on video below…
Rotating bezel or not, there's a lot to like about the Galaxy Watch Ultra, and there is also a reason or two why you might want to avoid it — the price being the big one. But if you're interested in this bonkers new smartwatch from Samsung, designed with durability in mind, you can pre-order one now. Just be prepared to pay extra for the improvements it brings. Hit the pre-order button below for more information.
