Galaxy Watch 2 leak suggests Samsung had a change of heart
Like any other manufacturer, Samsung makes changes to its product designs and rarely does it backtrack on those changes. There have been a few exceptions, of course, like the premature removal of the microSD card slot in the Galaxy Note 5 that was met with so much backlash that Samsung put it back next year. The removal of the rotating bezel from the Galaxy Watch Active was definitely disappointing but not as controversial so it's both surprising but also reassuring that it might make a comeback in the Galaxy Watch 2 in a few months.
To be fair, Samsung never really made any official statement on the removal of its somewhat iconic rotary smartwatch control. Debuting as far back as the Gear S2, the physical control has become a staple on Samsung smartwatches until the Galaxy Watch Active and the Galaxy Watch Active 2. It might turn out that the absence of that feature is simply a Galaxy Watch Active family trait only.
According to SamMobile's source, the next Galaxy Watch, which simply presume will be called the Galaxy Watch 2, will bring back that rotating bezel control on the watch face. Just as with its removal, Samsung is unlikely to say anything about its return. It might simply be the case that the "magic digital bezel" on the Galaxy Watch Active 2 that mimicked the control didn't sit well with customers in the end.
Other than, much of the upcoming smartwatch is still a mystery. An FCC sighting hints at two models, one of which will be a 45mm timepiece, and another leak suggests the existence of a pricier titanium variant. What other features it will have, we'll have to wait in about two months for its debut.
The smartwatch market has more or less stagnated again after a brief surge of interest thanks to Apple's success in health-centric features. Samsung has been catching up with features like ECG and blood pressure monitoring, the latter a rarity among commercial smartwatches, but it faces the same regulatory hurdles in getting those features enabled everywhere.