Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic vs. Watch 4 Classic: Should you upgrade?

The Classic model is back with the rotating bezel, but is it really an upgrade?

Samsung's Galaxy Watch 6 Classic brings back the rotating bezels along with the largest screen in any Galaxy smartwatch yet. It also offers things like a bigger battery, a new temperature sensor, and more to stand as a solid upgrade over the existing Galaxy Watch 4 Classic model.Get up to $250 off with an eligible trade-in and a free fabric band on preorders with Samsung. You can save $50 off the retail price buy when preordering with Samsung through XDA.

Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 Classic may not be the latest smartwatch out there, but it's still available from some retailers. The Galaxy Watch 4 Classic also offers a rotating bezel, but it misses out on a few other things, including the temperature sensor, a bigger battery, and more.

Samsung's Galaxy Watch 6 series is now official, and the new models bring bigger batteries, larger screens, and even a better chipset, among other things. This particular series also marks the return of the Classic model with a rotating bezel. That's right, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic comes with a rotating bezel, which was last seen on the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic a couple of years back. The new watch comes with more bells and whistles and is also more expensive than the old Classic model, but it's only fair that we compare the two to see just how much of an improvement the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic really is. Let's dive into the Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic vs Galaxy Watch 4 Classic comparison to learn more about the differences.

The Galaxy Watch 4 Classic made a debut alongside the regular Galaxy Watch 4 back in 2021 for a starting price of $329. It's not available from all the retailers in the U.S. at the moment for obvious reasons, but you can grab one from Amazon for just $167 at the time of this writing. I was able to find both Bluetooth and LTE variants of the watch in stock, but the prices may vary based on the connectivity options and the size you pick. I wouldn't say it's readily available to purchase at the moment, but you should be able to pick one up from Amazon or other retailers. Alternatively, you can even choose to go with refurbished units if you're really convinced to buy the Watch 4 Classic over the newer model to save more money.

The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, on the other hand, was announced only a week ago and is yet to go on sale. However, you can pre-order this particular model for a starting price of $400 to be among the first to receive it once it goes on sale on August 11. You can get up to $250 off with an eligible trade-in and a free fabric band when you pre-order the watch from Samsung and an extra $50 when pre-ordering through XDA. The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, just like the Watch 4 Classic model, is available in Black and Silver finishes.

Here's a quick look at the specifications of each watch to see what they bring to the table for this comparison:

The Classic models of both Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 6 share a lot of similarities when it comes to the overall design. You get a similar-looking case with a rotating bezel on the front, along with two buttons on the right. The Galaxy Watch 4 Classic comes in 42mm and 46mm sizes, whereas the newer Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is available in 43mm and 47mm variants. This means the newer model — regardless of the size you pick — is slightly bigger overall, allowing it to pack a bigger display, battery, and other sensors. The rotating bezel on both models, however, looks exactly the same, and they're both available in black and silver finishes.

The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic features an aluminum frame as opposed to the stainless steel on the Watch 4 Classic. Samsung has also used Sapphire crystal glass to protect the display on the new watch instead of the Gorilla Glass DX on the older model. They both carry an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, and they're MIL-STD-810H compliant (MIL-STD-810G in the case of the Watch 4), meaning they've both gone through a series of tests to prove their durability. The 43mm and 47mm variants of the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic are both a few grams heavier than the Watch 4 Classic models, but they all have the same overall thickness. Both watches in this comparison will let you use pretty much any 20mm bands out there on the market, so there are no differences there, either.

Moving over to the display, the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic sports 1.2-inch (42mm) and 1.4-inch (46mm) displays, both of which are just a hair smaller than the Galaxy Watch 6 Classics' 1.3-inch (43mm) and 1.5-inch (47mm) panels. They're Super AMOLED panels with support for features like the Always-on display, but the ones on the newer models support higher resolution. The higher PPI count makes the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic a tad sharper, but you're less likely to notice the difference unless you compare the two side-by-side. I wouldn't pick or recommend one over the other just because of the difference in resolution here. Instead, you might want to consider the difference in case sizes before making a purchase decision.

Both smartwatches in this comparison are powered by Samsung's in-house Exynos chipset. You get an Exynos W920 chip inside the older watch, while the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is powered by the newer Exynos W930 chip. They're both 5nm dual-core chips with Cortex A55 and Mali-G68, but the new Exynos W930 has a slightly higher 1.4GHz clock speed versus the Exynos W920's 1.12GHz speed. The newer watch also gets 2GB of memory instead of 1.5GB on the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, but they both top out at 16GB of storage.

We're still in the process of testing the new Galaxy Watch 6 models to give our final verdict, but I don't expect to see a major difference in performance between that and the Galaxy Watch 4 for day-to-day usage. They should be able to handle all the apps and deliver a reliable experience without any issues. The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic supports Bluetooth 5.3 instead of Bluetooth 5.0 on the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, but the rest of the connectivity options are pretty much identical. You can also buy an optional LTE variant of these watches with support for eSIM.

The Watch 6 Classic runs a newer version of One UI Watch 5 based on Wear OS 4, whereas the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic is still on One UI Watch 4.5. Samsung is said to be working on upgrading to the new software for older watches, but there's no way to tell when it'll arrive for your device. They're both pretty good platforms with support for plenty of great features but Wear OS 4-based software on the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic brings some new tricks like text-to-speech, improved backups, and more. The updated software is also said to be more stable and good for the battery life of the watch, which is always a good thing. There's also no way to tell how many software updates these watches will receive over the years, but it's safe to say that the newer Galaxy Watch 6 Classic will receive better support and will remain more relevant longer than the Watch 4.

The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic models also feature a temperature sensor which Samsung is using in new and improved ways to deliver more meaningful health metrics to users. Not only will this sensor be useful to give more accurate sleep and other health metrics, but it'll also allow you to take the temperature reading of, say, the water before hopping into the pool. Samsung has also opened up the temperature sensor's API, meaning we'll see more useful third-party apps taking advantage of this new sensor in no time. The rest of the sensors are all the same, so you get an identical fitness-tracking loadout on both watches otherwise. They can measure your heart rate, detect workouts, support SpO2 monitoring, and more. The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic supports improved sleep tracking too, but that is a part of the new One UI Watch software, which the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic is also likely to receive, but is in beta now.

As far as the battery life is concerned, you get a 300mAh and a 425mAh battery inside the 42mm and 47mm Galaxy Watch 6 Classic models, respectively. They go against a 247mAh unit inside the 42mm variant and a 361mAh battery inside the 46mm Galaxy Watch 4 Classic models. It may not seem like a significant difference, but those numbers add up when you consider things like the always-on display, activity tracking, heart rate monitoring, and more. The 42mm variant of the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic lasted two days on a single charge when we reviewed it, but your mileage may vary based on your usage. We haven't had a chance to test the battery life of the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic variants, but I'd say they'll fare well, considering the relatively bigger batteries. However, Samsung states that the wearable can get up to 40hrs with the always-on display disabled and 30hrs with it on.

Both smartwatches support wireless charging, but the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic will get to a full charge a lot quicker than the older watch, thanks to 10W fast-charging support instead of 5W. You get a WPC-based wireless charger with both watches, but you'll have to bring your charging brick as Samsung doesn't include one in the box.

The Galaxy Watch 6 Classic, as you can see, is just an iterative update, and it's more similar to the Galaxy Watch 4 Classic than you'd think. That being said, there's no denying that it brings some nice improvements to the table, making it a better option overall. Both watches in this comparison look very similar to each other, but the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic variants have bigger batteries, larger screens, and a slightly improved chipset. The new models also have a temperature sensor for additional health tracking features, and they also run the latest One UI Watch software that's based on Wear OS 4, bringing a bunch of new features. Not to mention, the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic is more widely available compared to the older Galaxy Watch 4, so new users should definitely consider buying the updated Classic model.

Samsung's Galaxy Watch 6 brings the largest screen in any Samsung smartwatch yet, and also features a new and improved rotating bezel, plus longer battery life. Get up to $250 off with an eligible trade-in and a free fabric band on preorders with Samsung. You can save $50 off the retail price buy when preordering with Samsung through XDA.

As an existing Galaxy Watch 4 Classic user, however, you don't necessarily have a lot of reasons to upgrade unless you really want a bigger battery or the new temperature sensor and the benefits that come with it. In that case, you might want to trade in your existing Classic model and pre-order the new watch to get up to $250 off and a free watch band. Any existing 20mm watch bands that you may have will also work with the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic model, so there's no need to worry about that either.

If you're not impressed by either of these watches and are open to exploring some other options, then you might want to stop by our collection of the best smartwatches, in which I've highlighted plenty of other reliable options.

Samsung's Galaxy Watch 4 Classic maybe a couple of years old now, but it still performs well and comes with a rotating bezel, and covers all the basics.

An evergreen writer at XDA Developers serving up reviews, buying guides, deals, and more on smartphones that you care about. I have over six years of experience in covering smartphones and their companion products. Before joining XDA Developers, I was a senior reviewer at Digit, a popular tech magazine in India. I have an unhealthy relationship with gaming, so you'll either find me yelling at my monitors while playing an online shooter or simply lounging with an open-world RPG in my free time.