Qualcomm Silicon Confirmed for Galaxy Watch9 in Newly Surfaced Renders
Long-standing rumors about a chipset transition inside Samsung’s next smartwatch have gained substantial visual backing. Promotional renders shared by Evan Blass through his leak newsletter depict the upcoming Galaxy Watch9 carrying the explicit tagline “Powered by Snapdragon Wear Elite,” aligning with earlier reporting on the hardware shift. One of the images includes an exploded view of the watch module, offering the first graphical confirmation of the component change rather than a line item on a specification list.
Manufacturing Shift and Early Performance Indicators
The move sees Samsung replace its in-house Exynos W1000 processor with Qualcomm’s newer wearable silicon. While both platforms are built on 3 nm process technology, their origins differ significantly: the W1000 relies on Samsung’s own foundry node, whereas the newly designed Wear Elite is fabricated by TSMC, a manufacturer widely regarded to deliver superior process maturity at this scale. Benchmarks obtained from a pre-release test board and reported by SamMobile suggest the Wear Elite achieves roughly a 50 percent lead over the W1000 in Geekbench multi-core results.
Perhaps more transformative is the architecture supporting on-device intelligence. The Wear Elite marks Qualcomm’s first wearable chip to integrate a dedicated neural processing unit for local AI acceleration. This hardware addition is designed to power contextual smart replies and AI-driven fitness coaching directly on the wrist, reducing dependency on a tethered smartphone connection.
Familiar Design with a Broader Palette
Visual assets also outline an expanded selection of case finishes. The watch body appears in four colorways—white, navy, olive green, and black—each paired with a matching silicone band. The physical housing retains the circular display, button arrangement, and overall silhouette established by the series, indicating a conservative design refresh focused on internal upgrades rather than external reworking.
Samsung has not issued a statement regarding the marketing materials. The Galaxy Watch9 and a larger Galaxy Watch Ultra2 are both anticipated to be unveiled on July 22 during the summer edition of Galaxy Unpacked.
Sources: www.sammobile.com, evleaks.substack.com