Samsung Galaxy Watch8 40mm Bluetooth Smartwatch, 1.34in AMOLED 3000 nits, Sapphire, 5ATM IP68, Graphite (SM-L320NDAAEUE)

???? Read this first if you own a Galaxy Watch already: the band fitting has changed. The Watch8 introduces Samsung’s Dynamic Lug System and drops the universal 20 mm quick-release spring bar used since the Watch4. No Watch7 strap and no third-party 20 mm strap will fit. Samsung publishes no page explaining the change — its user guide simply describes pressing the band into the lug — so it catches people out. If you were planning to reuse straps, this is the single most important thing on this page.

Watch8 or Watch7? The genuine changes are: a slightly larger 1.34-inch display at 438 × 438 (up from 1.3″ and 432 × 432), 3,000 nits against 2,000, a cushion-shaped case rather than square (40.4 × 42.7 × 8.6 mm — thinner but no longer symmetrical), a 325 mAh battery, Wear OS 6 with One UI 8 Watch, and new health features. What has not changed: the same Exynos W1000 chipset, the same 2 GB / 32 GB, and — despite the larger battery — the same published battery life of 40 hours with the always-on display off and 30 with it on. It is also 1.2 g heavier.

Health features — and how they are gated. This matters more than the specifications.

• The new Watch8 features — Antioxidant Index, Vascular Load, Bedtime Guidance and Running Coach — run in Samsung Health, which works on any Android 10 or 11 phone. They do not require a Samsung phone.
• But ECG, blood pressure and sleep apnea run in Samsung Health Monitor, which Samsung publishes as available only on Samsung Galaxy smartphones (Android 12 or later). On a Pixel or a Xiaomi the watch works well and those three do not.
• ✅ ECG and blood pressure are available in our market — Samsung’s Greek Samsung Health Monitor page confirms it.
• ???? Irregular heart rhythm notification (IHRN): Samsung Greece published an explicit exclusion for the Watch7. For the Watch8 we could not retrieve the equivalent footnote, and silence is not confirmation. We therefore do not list IHRN as a feature. Ask us if it is decisive for you and we will check the live Greek page with you.

Compatibility: Android 12 or higher with at least 1.5 GB of memory, and a phone with Google Mobile Services. There is no iOS support.

⚠️ Galaxy AI: Samsung features Gemini on the Watch8 but publishes no Greek-language support statement for the watch either way. We make no Greek-language AI claim.

✓ Anyone on an Android phone who wants a full smartwatch rather than a tracker

✓ Running and cycling — dual-frequency GPS works without the phone

✓ Outdoors in bright sun, where 3,000 nits is genuinely useful

✓ Samsung Galaxy phone owners who want ECG and body composition

The Watch8 is a screen-and-software upgrade rather than a hardware generation. The 3,000-nit display is the change you notice daily, especially outdoors here, and the thinner cushion case wears better than the Watch7’s slab. But the chipset is unchanged, the memory is unchanged, and the battery life is identical despite a larger cell — so if you are hoping for a longer-lasting watch, this is not it. Two things to be clear-eyed about before ordering. The band fitting has changed, so any strap collection you own is now obsolete; that is the most common and most annoying surprise on this model. And the headline health features split two ways: the new Watch8 measurements work on any Android phone, but ECG, blood pressure and sleep apnea still require a Samsung Galaxy phone. If you are on a Pixel, buy it for the GPS, the screen and the build, and treat the medical suite as unavailable. Browse our mobile phones if the phone is the next question, or mobile phone accessories.

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