Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2: In summary
- Samsung’s follow-up to its Apple Watch Ultra rival
- Set to arrive in July, possibly at a New York Unpacked event alongside new Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip phones
- Rumoured to have a similar price, cheaper than the Apple Watch Ultra 2
- Tipped for a similar design, while more storage could unlock offline maps
It’s almost a year since Samsung unveiled the first Galaxy Watch Ultra smartwatch, giving us effectively the Google Wear OS answer to the Apple Watch Ultra 2.
If the latest speculation is anything to go by, Samsung could be primed to show off the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 in a matter of weeks.
It’s fair to say Tech Advisor wasn’t entirely won over by Samsung’s outdoor-centric smartwatch, so there’s definitely room for improvement in the 2025 model.
So, what does the rumour mill suggest is in store for the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 and will it be one of the best smartwatches of 2025? Here’s what we know about Samsung’s next Ultra smartwatch so far, including our expert analysis and wishlist.
When will the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 be released?
In summary
- Rumours suggest a July launch
- This would make sense, with the Watch Ultra 2 arriving 12 months after the original
- Almost certainly arriving alongside the Galaxy Watch 8 series
As already mentioned, we’re very much dealing in speculation and Samsung hasn’t confirmed or suggested when or if we’ll see the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2.
We can, however, look back to the unveiling of the first Ultra to get a sense of when it might land, especially as Samsung typically sticks to the same timelines for most of its launches.
The Galaxy Watch Ultra was officially announced on 10 July 2024 with pre-orders starting on that day, before globally rolling out a few weeks later on 24 July.
According to a Greek news site’s ‘reliable sources’ (though we are not familiar with this publication), a new Galaxy Watch Ultra will be announced in early July alongside the latest instalments of Samsung’s 2025 foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7.
The likely Unpacked for, primarily, the new phones, is rumoured to take place in New York during the first few weeks of July. It should also arrive with the Galaxy Watch 8 series, which is set to see the return of the Classic model.
Mike Sawh
Sources: Techmaniacs | JoongAng Daily
How much will the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 cost?
In summary
- Rumour suggests a price of €699
- Converted to pounds and dollars, it suggests the price will stay the same as the original
- US price could, however, be affected by tarrifs
The first Galaxy Watch was expensive in comparison to Samsung’s non-Ultra Galaxy Watch smartwatches brandishing a price tag that put it in around the cost of picking up the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and creeping up towards the cost of Garmin’s AMOLED-toting Fenix 8 outdoor watches.
According to the Techmaniacs (link above), the next Ultra will be priced at 699 Euros, which when simply converted would suggest a price of somewhere around £599 in the UK and well over $700 in the US.
That would seem to indicate it’ll stick around the same price as the first Ultra and still cost less than an Apple Watch Ultra 2.
Of course with all the tariff business that’s going on right now, it’s not clear how that might affect pricing of a new Ultra in the US, so those Stateside may end up coughing up a bit more money compared to those keen to strap it on in Europe.
What specs and features will the Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 have?
In summary
- A similar design is expected, and Tech Advisor hopes for a rotating crown, new button layout and a smaller case option
- More storage could result in adding offline maps, a sorely missed feature in the original model
- New Wear OS 6 and One UI 7 software is likely to headline with AI features, possibly via Google Gemini
Design & Build
The design of the first Ultra was definitely a highlight in our eyes. It was clearly a very Apple Watch Ultra-inspired look (including that dedicated Quick button), but was different enough to live a little differently on the wrist.
It also had the materials and level of durability you like to see with titanium and sapphire crystal in play and offered a strong waterproofing rating too. So, where could things change?
Mike Sawh
Techmaniacs, mentioned in the release date and price sections, suggests that the Watch Ultra 2 design will be similar to the first-generation Galaxy Watch Ultra. That’s fine as largely there wasn’t much wrong with the design, but there’s some things Samsung could choose to refine to make things work a little nicer.
The main one, in my opinion, would be to make the crown button a rotating one, which would make navigating through screens on the watch a more intuitive thing to do. It’s an easy win, and if Samsung read any reviews of the device, including my own, it should have taken note.
Re-thinking the button placement would be a welcome change, too; possibly moving one of the physical buttons over to the side of the case would help to make interacting with the Ultra a lot less awkward.
The original Galaxy Watch Ultra was pretty tough, using Grade 4 titanium, both IP68 and 10ATM ratings, and a long list of extreme situations it could survive in. So, expect more of the same in that respect.
It’s typical for an ‘Ultra’ smartwatch to only come in one size, but it would be nice for Samsung to buck the trend and offer a smaller case than just 47mm. After all, there are plenty of people out there looking for this kind of device who have smaller wrists.
Core Specs
So, what features will the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 be packing when it’s unveiled at the next Unpacked?
We can look to the same report to give us some sense of what might be in the offing. The main one being that we could get a new Ultra with more storage space.
The first Ultra offered 32GB of space, which is the same amount offered on the Garmin Fenix 8, but half the 64GB available on the Apple Watch Ultra 2.
Mike Sawh
That expanded storage could point to a feature change that we felt was a big miss on the first Ultra and that’s adding some free offline maps. Pretty much every other outdoor smartwatch and sports watch lets you view data-rich maps and it was strange to see Samsung didn’t offer something similar.
Boosting storage might point to Samsung making room for a feature like this and would help make the Ultra more of a rival for other outdoor smartwatches.
Software
Along with increased storage, it seems we could be treated to a new user interface that could take inspiration from Samsung’s One UI 7 interface. The first Ultra launched running Wear OS 5.0 with One UI 6 on top, which possibly didn’t make the best use of the physical buttons built into the right side of the watch case.
One UI 7 has been rolling out to Samsung phones and tablets, promising an interface built for AI, the addition of a simpler home screen, a new Now Bar with real-time updates and lastly, deeper Google Gemini integration.
With Wear OS 6 set to land this year and Samsung having worked closely with Google on the recent revamp of the smartwatch operating system, it wouldn’t be all that surprising to see the next Ultra get that latest version of Wear. We’ve seen it happen before with previous recent Galaxy Watch launches.
We also know that Google is upgrading its Assistant to Gemini on compatible smartphones, so the idea that One UI 7 offering deeper integration for Gemini could extend to Samsung’s smartwatches isn’t that much of a stretch.
That’s all we currently know about the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, but we’ll update this article when more rumours and official details are announced. See our guide to the best smartwatches you can buy to learn more about what it will be up against.
