There’s a limit to how big these watches can get.
. It’s also common for “Pro” models to act as the premium option with longer battery life, better materials, and, unfortunately, the biggest honking display possible.It’s possible that Samsung could figure out a way to include a bigger battery without increasing the size of the watch. However, recent smartwatch trends hint otherwise. Take the Apple Watch. Therevealed that the Series 7’s batteries were 1.6 percent larger for the 41mm and 6.8 percent larger for the 45mm.
As someone with petite wrists, I can say that watches beyond 42mm start to become uncomfortable. To get the same performance — especially during workouts — I have to make certain adjustments for fit. And while people of all genders come in all shapes and sizes, excluding smaller options ends up excluding a large number of women. The result is you end up treating smaller people as an afterthought.
Take Garmin’s Fenix 6 and Fenix 7 lineups. The Fenix 6X Pro was the first to get solar charging. People with smaller wrists who might have wanted that feature had to wait. And now, two years later, the 51mm Fenix 7X is the first and only model to get an LED flashlight. It’ll likely trickle down to smaller sizes in the future, but only Garmin can say when. As a woman who occasionally runs at night, I would’ve loved to have that feature on the smallerI tested.
At a certain point, this becomes unsustainable. There’s a limit to how big we can make these devices before the battery gains are offset by discomfort. It’s bad business to exclude potential customers who happen to reside in smaller bodies. Some of this is just the current limitations of wearable tech. Also, nothing is set in stone yet. Samsung could just scrap the whole idea of a “Pro” watch.