Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 renders reveal huge battery upgrade

A fresh set of leaked promotional images points to Samsung swapping out Exynos for Qualcomm's 3nm Snapdragon Wear Elite in the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, bringing a performance bump and the line's first dedicated on-device AI silicon. The watch is tipped to launch alongside the standard Galaxy Watch 9 at Samsung's July 22 Unpacked event.

It's a real departure from Samsung's use of its own silicon in the Ultra. Wear Elite is built on TSMC's 3nm process, and the standout addition looks to be the NPU: Qualcomm's first wearable chip with dedicated onboard AI hardware, opening the door to features such as on-watch smart replies and fitness coaching that don't require a paired phone nearby. The switch isn't limited to the Ultra, either. As we reported separately, the standard Galaxy Watch 9 is also moving to Wear Elite, meaning Samsung's entire 2026 watch lineup drops Exynos in favor of Qualcomm silicon for the first time.

Leaker Evan Blass posted the renders through his newsletter, and they line up with what's been rumored for months about the Ultra's chip switch. One slide carries a "Powered by Snapdragon Wear Elite" badge over an exploded view of the watch's internals—the first time the chip has actually been shown in promotional material rather than just named in a leaked spec sheet.

Battery capacity looks set to land at 800 mAh based on the renders, up from the 590 mAh cell used in both the Galaxy Watch Ultra (2024) and Galaxy Watch Ultra (2025). That's a jump of roughly 36% and the first battery increase the Ultra line has seen since it launched. Samsung has yet to publish official runtime estimates, but a capacity increase of this size should translate into a real gain in multi-day use and battery life with the always-on display enabled once the watch ships.

Samsung is also pitching the case as 12% slimmer than last year's Ultra, a shift for a watch that's typically leaned into bulk over a slim profile. Titanium construction carries over, and the water and dust resistance rating climbs to IP69K. The leaked images show two color options: an olive-green band on a titanium case and an all-black version with an orange ring circling the rotating crown, keeping the Ultra's familiar dual-button setup.

Samsung hasn't acknowledged the leak. We can expect the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 to be announced on July 22 at Galaxy Unpacked, sharing the stage with the standard Watch 9.