Galaxy Watch 6 to get a new and improved Exynos processor

Samsung has reportedly developed a new processor for its smartwatches. Sources have told SamMobile that the upcoming Galaxy Watch 6 series will ship with an unannounced Exynos W980 chipset. The Korean firm will probably officially announce the chipset closer to the watch’s launch later this year.

Galaxy Watch 6’s Exynos W980 is about ten percent faster

Samsung has used the same processor in the past two generations of its smartwatches. The Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 series are powered by the Exynos W920, a 5nm chipset featuring two ARM Cortex-A55 CPU cores, an ARM Mali-G68 GPU, an integrated 4G LTE modem, and a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) L1. It appears the company won’t use this chipset for the third year in a row. The Galaxy Watch 6 series will get a new and improved processor.

According to the new report, the Exynos W980 is more than ten percent faster than the Exynos W920. The publication doesn’t yet have access to the CPU and GPU details of the unannounced chipset, though. So it’s unclear what else has changed. We’ll have to wait for more details to emerge before we can tell if it’s the same chipset with an overclocked CPU and GPU or if Samsung has developed a new semiconductor chip from scratch.

While we hope it’s a completely new chip, there’s also a possibility that it’s a re-branded Exynos W920 with performance improvements. That’s based on the recent rumors that Samsung has made major changes to its 5nm chip fabrication process. Industry insiders claim that the changes would bring a notable performance boost to the new manufacturing lot of existing Exynos chips. The Exynos W980 could be an Exynos W920 manufactured on the improved process node.

Either way, it appears the Galaxy Watch 6 series would offer much better performance than Samsung’s current smartwatches. We are also expecting improved power efficiency. On top of that, the new watches are seemingly getting bigger batteries too. All of this should allow for much-improved battery life. On the aesthetic side of things, the new watches will reportedly feature bigger screens with slimmer bezels. The vanilla Galaxy Watch 6 may get a curved screen while the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic will bring back the iconic physical rotating bezel.

Samsung will launch the new smartwatches in the second half of 2023

The Galaxy Watch 6 series is still a few months away. Samsung isn’t expected to unveil the new smartwatches before August of this year. The launch event should also bring the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Z Flip 5 foldables and a new pair of TWS earbuds. As usual, leaks about these devices should come more frequently as the launch draws closer. We may also hear more about the Exynos W980 in the coming months. Stay tuned and we will keep you updated.