Samsung is gearing up for a busy summer launch season, and its next wave of smartwatches could bring a notable performance shake-up. The company is widely expected to introduce the Galaxy Watch 9 alongside the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, with both wearables rumored to arrive around the same time as the Galaxy Z Fold 8. While Samsung hasn’t confirmed an official date yet, early leaks are starting to paint a clearer picture of what to expect under the hood.
The biggest rumor so far centers on Samsung’s chipset strategy, and it’s especially good news for anyone eyeing the more premium Ultra model. Qualcomm recently announced the Snapdragon Wear Elite platform at MWC, positioning it as the company’s first personal AI-focused wearable chipset. It includes Qualcomm’s Hexagon NPU, designed to handle fast AI processing directly on the watch itself. That could translate into smoother on-device AI features, quicker responses for supported tasks, and potentially better efficiency for workloads that don’t need to be sent to the cloud.
According to a leak shared by tipster Jason C on X, Samsung may be planning a split approach this year: the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is reportedly being tested with the Snapdragon Wear Elite, while the standard Galaxy Watch 9 could stick with Samsung’s own Exynos wearable chip. The goal, the leak suggests, is to create a clearer divide between the standard and premium tiers—something that could make the Ultra 2 feel more distinct beyond just design and materials.
The same leak also mentions the Galaxy Watch 9 running on an “Exynos W10,” though that name is believed to refer to the Exynos W1000. If accurate, that would mean the Galaxy Watch 9 continues with the W1000 family used in recent Samsung wearables. The Exynos W1000 has already built a strong reputation as a capable smartwatch processor, with reports noting it outperforms the Snapdragon W5+ Gen 2. What’s still unknown is how it will compare to the newer Snapdragon Wear Elite in real-world use, especially when it comes to AI features and overall responsiveness.
As with all early leaks, it’s worth treating this information as unconfirmed until Samsung makes things official. For now, the reported model numbers are among the few additional details circulating: the Galaxy Watch 9 is said to carry model number SM-L345, while the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 is linked to SM-L716.
If the dual-chip rumor turns out to be accurate, it could signal a more deliberate product strategy from Samsung—keeping the standard Galaxy Watch 9 powerful and familiar while giving the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 a next-gen processor aimed at premium performance and on-device AI capabilities. That kind of separation could make choosing between the two models simpler: mainstream value and balance on one side, cutting-edge hardware and top-tier features on the other.
