Samsung launches refined Galaxy Watch Active 2 smartwatch ahead of Galaxy Note 10

As the world awaits the launch of Samsung’s most hyped (and leaked) flagship smartphone, the Galaxy Note 10 on 8 August, the electronics giant as expected went on and announced the launch of its new smartwatch the Galaxy Watch Active 2.

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2  is basically a refined version of the currently available Galaxy Watch Active that retails in India at Rs 19,990.

The Galaxy Watch Active 2 is priced at $279 and will go on sale in the US starting 27 September.

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active 2 will be available in two case options made of aluminium and stainless steel.

The aluminium model will be available in Cloud Silver, Aqua Black, Pink Gold with Fluoroelastomer while the stainless steel model will be available in silver, black and a gold finish with a leather strap.

Both the aluminium and stainless steel models will be available in a 40 mm and 44 mm case and in Bluetooth and LTE variants.

The smaller 40 mm Watch Active 2 features a 274 mAh battery while the slightly bigger 44 mm case packs in a 340 mAh battery.

The smartwatch is powered by an Exynos 9110 SoC clocked at 1.15 GHz and packs in 768 MB RAM along with 4 GB of internal storage.

The LTE models will feature 1.5 GB RAM and 4 GB of internal storage.

Perhaps the biggest update of the Galaxy Watch Active 2 is bezel control, which was missing from the original Watch Active model that was launched about 6 months ago.

While the Watch Active 2 still misses out on the physical rotating bezel (like on the rest of the Watch series) users can touch the touch-sensitive black border around the round AMOLED display which makes navigation a lot easier as compared to the Galaxy Watch Active. There’s also a haptic buzz that according to The Verge simulates clicks of the rotating bezel.

Samsung will reportedly continue to sell the Galaxy Watch Active alongside the Galaxy Watch Active 2 as a more affordable option.