I really like smartwatches. From the convenience to the health tracking and checking the time, I’ve been a fan of these wrist computers for about 15 years.
I’ve used the top smartwatches from nearly every major brand, as well as many niche options. My absolute favorite bit of hardware has been the rotating bezel that Samsung unveiled on the Galaxy Gear S2 in 2015.
Since then, the feature has popped up every few years on a new watch, and with the new Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, it comes back.
Related
The Galaxy Watch 8 Classic is Samsung’s most polarizing smartwatch yet
A face only a mother can love
Classic for a reason
It’s about more than style
Until Samsung debuted the Galaxy Gear S2 in 2015, there were only two ways to navigate info on our smartwatch displays: by buttons or our fingers. The rotating bezel of the Gear S2 felt new and pretty natural.
Being able to rotate the outer ring of the watch and see the screen move with each satisfying click of the ring was unbelievably satisfying.
When Apple released its first Watch, it debuted the Rotating Crown. This incorporated the functionality of the rotating bezel from Samsung into the small, knurled button on the watch’s side.
Many cheered this creation, including me. I’m all for user options, and this added to that list. However, for me, while this method got the job done better than buttons and fingers, it felt uncomfortable compared to Samsung’s offering.
The rotating bezel also looks nicer. Instead of needing a protruding button that can accidentally be pressed and get caught on things, the bezel only alters an existing watch feature.
It enhances the style of the watch by keeping the lines of the design flowing without the interruption of a button sticking out.
Continued refinement
The work marches on
A person wearing the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic
The last time we saw a rotating bezel on a Samsung watch was the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic from 2023. For me, this was the best version of the bezel yet.
The feature was there and worked really well, but the hardware didn’t take away from the overall design. This lent to the classic moniker best yet, including the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic.
I agree with Andy that the latest iteration may be the most polarizing to date. The Galaxy Watch Ultra from 2024 was the first watch from Samsung to adopt the squircle shape, the not-a-square-or-a-circle look.
I am still on the fence about the design, but it creates some interesting design challenges for the watchmaker.
It can be easy for this style to quickly become a mess of rounded shapes on a squared-off body, and I feel that Samsung mostly pulled it off with the Watch Ultra.
However, with the Watch 8 Classic, when “Classic-sauce” is added in with the rotating bezel, it further exacerbates that design challenge.
When Samsung added the rotating bezel, it increased its height and added notches or knurls. The rounded bezel with very defined cutouts appears somewhat like an afterthought.
The feature is solid. I think there could be more work done to incorporate it into the watch’s aesthetic better.
Happy to see it back
Withholding final judgement
A person holding the Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic
Samsung debuted two new watches at its Unpacked event on July 9, 2025, to join the squircle family — the standard Galaxy Watch 8 and the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic.
Both of these wearables get bumps in design and hardware across the board. While there is a new Galaxy Watch Ultra color, the rest of the hardware remains, keeping it firmly in the category of “not ultra enough to be Ultra.”
That sentiment only grows with the Classic being revived this year. In 2024, there was only a standard Watch 7, and the Ultra was unveiled.
The biggest issue I have with the Ultra is the price-to-feature offerings compared to other wearables in the same price category or touting the same Ultra moniker.
With the introduction of the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, priced at $449 or $499, depending on the variant, it’s only $100 to $150 lower than the Ultra.
Aside from getting titanium on the Ultra, I’d argue that the Watch 8 Classic is a more feature-rich device, largely due to the rotating bezel.