One UI 8 Watch looks like the enemy of Galaxy Watch bezels

Because smartwatches have much smaller screens than other mobile devices, I've always viewed Tiles as an integral part of the Galaxy Watch experience, even more so than conventional app shortcuts. Tiles offer information at a glance and double as app shortcuts in and of themselves.

The upcoming One UI 8 Watch update will make Tiles more colorful, but I can't say I'm happy with this decision. On the face of it, adding more color to Tiles sounds like a good idea, but I feel like this is a double-edged sword. One UI 8 Watch Tiles are the enemy of Galaxy Watch bezels. Allow me to explain.

Standard Galaxy Watches, i.e., non-Ultra or Classic models, have visible screen bezels. I'm referring to the actual Super AMOLED display bezel rather than the rotating Classic bezel or the metallic circle surrounding the Galaxy Watch Ultra's screen.

The bezels around the circular Super AMOLED display are considerably thinner on the Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 7 and much more pronounced and thicker on older models like the Galaxy Watch 4, Watch FE (which is a rebranded Watch 4), and Watch 5.

Cleverly, Samsung designed its One UI Watch Tiles with a black background. This always seemed like a conscious choice. Super AMOLED displays achieve deep black levels by turning pixels off. And Tiles with a black background easily blend with the non-active bezel around the AMOLED screen. This can create the illusion that the bezel isn't there.

However, based on early leaks, One UI 8 Watch appears to be going against this thoughtful design philosophy. As a Galaxy Watch 5 user, I have issues with this new approach.

I'm guessing that colorful Tiles will look fine on Galaxy Watches that cover the inactive display area with a physical bezel, i.e., the Classic and Ultra models. Maybe even the newer standard version will get away with it.

However, this may have the opposite effect on older standard Watches. Colorful Tiles will only accentuate the thick screen bezels and make the standard Galaxy Watch models look more outdated.

For reference, below are a couple of photos of what these colorful One UI 8 Watch Tiles look like on a standard Galaxy Watch (via @GerwinvGiessen).

First things first, let's address the elephant in the room. For whatever reason, these One UI 8 Watch Tiles have an oblong shape that doesn't match the perfectly circular shape of the display. I think it looks out of place. I just can't call this a visual upgrade over the current design.

But even if we assume that these colorful One UI 8 Watch Tiles will be perfectly round by the time the update goes live officially, I still can't say I'm a fan. Once again, the colorful backgrounds make the display bezel stand out way more than the existing black Tiles.

In my mind, this is a classic case of “more is less,” where adding color sounds good in theory but might actually hurt the user experience — again, at least for standard Galaxy Watch models. And if these leaks are accurate, it seems like it might be too late to go back. Samsung may have settled on this idea, and right now, I can't embrace it.

My cynical side wonders if Samsung designed these One UI 8 Watch Tiles to purposefully accentuate the bezels on the standard Watch models and convince more people to upgrade to the pricier Classic and Ultra variants.

Then again, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that Samsung may have overlooked its older standard smartwatches or doesn't care if they'll look worse. Maybe Samsung believes that adding more color to its One UI 8 Watch Tiles really is a good idea. Unfortunately, as a Galaxy Watch 5 user, I don't share that sentiment.

Nevertheless, One UI 8 Watch isn't out yet, so I will reserve my final judgement until I see the final Tiles with my own eyes on my Watch 5. Maybe there is still hope for change and improvement.