Samsung has unveiled its new Galaxy Watch Ultra2 and Galaxy Watch9 smartwatches, introducing brighter displays, larger batteries and expanded AI-powered health features.

The wearables were announced alongside Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold 8, Fold 8 Ultra and Flip 8 smartphones at the company’s Galaxy Unpacked event in London.

Samsung said the new watches were designed to provide continuous health monitoring and turn data collected from the wrist into personalised recommendations covering sleep, cardiovascular health, activity and recovery.

The flagship 47mm Galaxy Watch Ultra2, priced at $1,299, features an 800mAh battery, representing a 35% capacity increase over the previous Ultra model, and is rated for up to 60 hours of use with the always-on display enabled.

It also gains a 1.52-inch AMOLED display capable of reaching a claimed peak brightness of 5,000 nits, making it Samsung’s brightest smartwatch display to date.

Designed for outdoor and endurance activities, the Ultra2 introduces dedicated trail-running functions that track elevation, climbing progress and terrain impact. A new Nutrition Alert feature uses estimated sweat loss to provide hydration guidance during supported workouts.

Samsung has partnered with diving equipment brand Mares to develop an Ultra2 Diving app, due later this year, offering ascent and descent speed tracking along with safe-dive-limit guidance.

The Watch Ultra2 can be used at depths of up to 40 metres and automatically records depth, dive time and water temperature after entering the water. It carries IP69K, 10ATM and MIL-STD-810H ratings and has received EN13319 certification for diving instruments.

Despite its larger battery, Samsung said internal redesigns have reduced the watch’s thickness by 12% compared with its predecessor.

The more mainstream Galaxy Watch9 (below) will be offered in 40mm and 44mm sizes, with Samsung claiming the new model is 25% lighter than its predecessor. The 40mm version starts at $649 and carries a 390mAh battery, which is 20% larger than before, while the 44mm model starts at $699 and has a 445mAh unit. LTE versions are priced at $749 and $799 respectively.

Both sizes feature AMOLED displays reaching up to 3,000 nits and are rated for up to 30 hours of battery life with the always-on display enabled.

Both ranges use Qualcomm’s new five-core Snapdragon Wear platform and run Wear OS 7 with Samsung’s One UI 9 Watch interface.

New health tools include Vitals, which alerts users to significant changes from their normal baseline, a Heart Health Score, Daily Cardio Load, Fitness Index and hearing-safety alerts for potentially unsafe noise exposure.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra2 will be available in titanium silver and titanium grey, while the Watch9 comes in graphite, cream or silver depending on size.

Australian pre-orders open on July 23, ahead of general availability on August 14.