Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 vs Galaxy Watch 8: What are the differences?

Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 vs Galaxy Watch 8: What are the differences? The Galaxy Watch 9 is a relatively modest update over last year's model. Samsung's new Galaxy Watch 9 has landed, and on the surface it looks a lot like the Watch 8 it replaces. You get the same slim build and bright display but Samsung has made some meaningful changes underneath, swapping its in-house Exynos chip for Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear Elite, adding a slightly larger battery and rolling out a fresh operating system and interface. It all adds up to a modest refresh rather than a bold reinvention, and it arrives with a $30 higher starting price than the Watch 8 launched at. So the real question is simple: is the upgrade worth paying for, or is last year's model still the smarter pick? Galaxy Watch 9 vs. Galaxy Watch 8 : Design We loved calling the Galaxy Watch 8 a "squircle" and if you've as much as laid your eyes on it, you'll easily understand why. Well, the Galaxy Watch 9 has the same design, featuring a square aluminum case with a circular display that is available in the same two sizes — 40mm and 44mm. The 40mm Galaxy Watch 9 measures 42.7 x 40.4 x 8.6mm, while the 44mm version comes in at 46.0 x 43.7 x 8.6mm — those are identical dimensions to last year's Galaxy Watch 8. There is also a slight increase in weight this time around, though it's negligible in practice. The new 40mm model weighs 31.5g compared to 30.0g on the Watch 8, while the 44mm version rises to 34.0g from 33.7g. Obviously, that's not a difference you'll feel even if you try them on back to back, but it was worth a mention. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 carries over the same Super AMOLED display as the Watch 8, with up to 3000 nits of peak brightness that stays readable even in direct sunlight. The 40mm version has a 1.34-inch screen, while the 44mm version sports a 1.47-inch display. Durability is unchanged too. Both watches hold an IP68 rating and 5ATM water resistance, so they can handle sweat, rain and shallow dives just fine. The 40mm Galaxy Watch 9 will be available in Cream and Graphite, while the 44mm will come in Graphite and Silver. That Cream color choice is new, as we only saw gray and darker gray last year. Pre-orders in the US start straight away, with general availability starting August 7. Galaxy Watch 9 vs. Galaxy Watch 8: Power Although it doesn't come as a surprise, as the swap was teased months ago, Samsung has decided to ditch its in-house Exynos chipsets for the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear Elite processor. This is a model that was announced earlier this year, with the 3nm chip promising faster overall performance and more power for AI tasks. While the chip may be new, the new Galaxy Watch 9 has the same 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage the previous model did. This time around, however, it runs on Wear OS 7 and One UI Watch 9. Much like last year's model, the Watch 9 comes with Google Gemini built-in, allowing voice-based AI queries and making it possible to ask for directions, set remind…