Samsung has quietly given its first official indication that a Galaxy Watch 6 series is inbound, with an announcement relating to AFib notifications hinting at 'upcoming Galaxy Watch devices'.
Though the Galaxy Watch 6 series wasn't referenced directly, Samsung does note that the upcoming smartwatches will land later this year, and that they'll be the first from the company to support AFib notifications.
The official blog notes that 'Irregular Heart Rhythm Notifications' will launch on the prospective devices in 13 markets upon the arrival of One UI Watch 5 (Samsung's skin of the upcoming Wear OS 4 update), though the feature will naturally trickle down to Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 4 users who update to the latest software, too.
And, as we've seen on other smartwatches, Samsung's devices will track the vitals of users in a more passive way to an on-demand ECG - another method for spotting AFib.
Samsung
According to Samsung, the feature has been given the green light for use in the US, as well as its native Korea, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Panama, and the UAE.
This may mean that Galaxy Watch 6 devices in the UK and Europe won't arrive with the feature at launch, but there's also still some time for the background monitoring to receive approval, of course.
In any case, this all represents our first concrete information relating to the Galaxy Watch 6.
We've seen official-looking renders of the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic emerge, as well as suggestions that it will launch in July instead of August, but we now know for sure that new devices will arrive before the year is out.
We'll have to wait and see just what else Samsung has got up its sleeve besides AFib notification, though, so stay tuned for more whispers and rumors.
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Conor moved to Wareable Media Group in 2017, initially covering all the latest developments in smartwatches, fitness trackers, and VR. He made a name for himself writing about trying out translation earbuds on a first date and cycling with a wearable airbag, as well as covering the industry’s latest releases.
Following a stint as Reviews Editor at Pocket-lint, Conor returned to Wareable Media Group in 2022 as Editor-at-Large. Conor has become a wearables expert, and helps people get more from their wearable tech, via Wareable's considerable how-to-based guides.
He has also contributed to British GQ, Wired, Metro, The Independent, and The Mirror.