Samsung shifts Galaxy Watch 9 and Ultra 2 to Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear Elite chipset

Samsung is set to unveil the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 at its Galaxy Unpacked event on 22 July 2026. Leaked marketing material confirms that both smartwatches will replace Samsung’s in‑house Exynos processors with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Wear Elite silicon built on a 3 nm process. The new chip is reported to deliver roughly a 50 % performance uplift and includes an on‑device NPU for AI features such as Gemini integration.

The Galaxy Watch 9 will keep its familiar round case, offered in 40 mm and 44 mm sizes and three colour options – Cream, Graphite and Silver. The Ultra 2 will retain its titanium case, be 12 % thinner than its predecessor, attain IP69K water‑pressure protection, a 5 000‑nit OLED display and a larger 800 mAh battery for up to 35 % longer runtime. Both models will support Bluetooth 6.0, LTE (optional), NFC and dual‑band Wi‑Fi.

Additional announced features include expanded health sensors (ECG, blood‑oxygen, skin‑temperature), on‑watch AI‑driven health insights, and refined UI elements such as new watch‑face previews. The chipset change marks Samsung’s first major shift away from its own Exynos line for wearables, aligning its flagship smartwatches with Qualcomm’s high‑performance, AI‑ready platform.