So Samsung just announced their latest watch ahead of the new Note 10 release, Galaxy Watch Active 2, which is supposed to be Samsung’s updated Galaxy Watch Active with better features, better sensors, and the most prominent feature of Samsung’s watches, the bezel control.

So how does it match up to its predecessor? What’s new and what’s better; read on to find out.

Build Quality

The build is definitely a one up from the previous generation model. There are two versions of the Watch available — Bluetooth and LTE in 40mm and 44mm sizes.

The LTE version is stainless steel while the Bluetooth version is aluminium. Nevertheless. both versions feel great on the hand and are super lightweight to wear.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 announced: Specs and release date — *Watch Active 2*

There are also a lot of colour and strap options. The colour options are somewhat of a comeback from the previous generation and so are the straps. Although you can always replace them for whatever you like as the watch uses a standard pin type strap. The watch looks like quite a regular smartwatch when you’re wearing it. Nothing shouts smartwatch from external appearance, but once you get inside the hood, boy there’s a lot going on.

Also read: Galaxy Watch Active 2 vs Apple Watch Series 4 vs Fossil Gen 5

Features

This is where things get really exciting. At the first look, it’s a Galaxy Watch Active, but — and it’s a big but — almost every sensor on the inside has changed. But first, we have to talk about the feature that has Samsung fans most excited — the bezel.

No, there’s no physical bezel on the watch, so still no satisfying clicks. The bezel is instead a touch-sensitive strip around the watch face that acts like the bezel. Just like the bezel on the older models, you can use the bezel to navigate around menus and select actions. For what it’s worth, it is still a slick way of navigating around the menu, still way better than trying to tap on the tiny OLED screen.

Amazfit Verge 2 vs Galaxy Watch Active vs Fitbit Versa — *Samsung Galaxy Watch Active*

You get a better accelerometer, better GPS, better Heart Rate monitor and apparently ECG support as well. The ECG isn’t going to be available at launch, but Samsung will rather implement it in a later update.

Another very exciting thing Samsung has done is the ability to adapt the watch face to match whatever outfit you’re wearing. All you need to do is take a picture of whatever you’re wearing and it’ll automatically generate watch faces according to your outfit. Super cool stuff.

Apart from that, as I said, it’s just a Galaxy Watch Active. Sports tracking still works great, battery life is pretty much the same, might be even better. If you’ve used a Galaxy watch before, you’re going to feel right at home with this. Same Tizen interface, same app menus, same everything.

Oh and Bixby works better than before (if you use it anyway) and this time around you get better Spotify integration, including the ability to play music offline. And you can watch YouTube videos. There’s a dedicated YouTube app for the watch that Samsung has released. Not sure why anyone would want to do that, but it’s there.

The Galaxy Watch Active 2 is going to be available starting September 27 with the Bluetooth model coming first at around $279 and for the 40mm and $299 for the 44mm and the LTE model will follow on later with prices yet to be announced.

Also read: Amazfit Verge 2 vs Galaxy Watch Active vs Fitbit Versa