Samsung announces $200 Galaxy Watch Active made for fitness addicts

Samsung went nuts and announced a boatload of new gadgets at its Unpacked event today.

The star of the show was no doubt the Galaxy S10, but Samsung also made room for a new smartwatch: the Galaxy Watch Active.

Samsung is no stranger to smartwatches and has been releasing them since before the Apple Watch even launched.

Over the years, Samsung’s tried myriad designs, from the original rectangular Galaxy Gear to the most recent round-shaped Galaxy Watch.

The new $199.99 Galaxy Watch Active is once again similar, but different compared to the regular Galaxy Watch.

Most notable is the removal of the Samsung’s signature bezel around the watch’s 40mm display. The bezel wasn’t merely for show — rotating it controlled the Tizen OS-powered interface. Having used both, I can honestly say it was a solid alternative to the Apple Watch’s Digital Crown.

Getting rid of the rotatable bezel means the touching and tapping the Galaxy Watch Active is the only way to interact with the smartwatch.

As its name implies, the Galaxy Watch Active, is geared towards sporty people. In addition to the usual fitness-tracking features (steps, distance, automatic workouts, etc.) the Galaxy Watch Active also monitors your sleep and blood pressure. There’s also a breathing app to better help manage your stress.

The Galaxy Watch Active is compatible with Android and iOS devices. However, as usual, many of the smartwatch features work best with Samsung phones.

The pricing is the real story here. At $199.99, the smartwatch is significantly cheaper than the Galaxy Watch, which starts at $349.99. It’s also cheaper than the Apple Watch Series 4, which starts at $399.

The Galaxy Watch Active launches on March 7 and pre-orders start on Feb. 21. Anyone who pre-orders by March 7 will also get a free wireless charging pad.

This story is developing…