Samsung Demonstrates microLED Watch

Samsung Display is demonstrating its prototype microLED watch at CES 2025.

The 2.1″ display (418x540px @ 326ppi) emits over 4,000nites of brightness, more than enough for a small lighthouse and more than any watch currently on sale. With favourable developments, it might be in production by Q4 this year.

Competition in the microLED space is hotting up, with Garmin already known to be at the prototype phase several months ago and likely to release Fenix 8 microLED later this year. I strongly suspect that TAG Heuer will beat Garmin to it with the first commercial microLED smartwatch within the next 6 months. Both companies are thought to externally source the microLED panels rather than develop them in-house externally.

Apple is also interested in this technology. However, the Apple-focussed media pointed out that it recently cancelled a contract with a microLED supplier and suggested its interest was done for now.

Others like @Jukanlosreve on X and I have pointed out that Apple probably had more than one supplier it was dealing with!

That said, the issue with microLED is cost. The panels are significantly more expensive than current displays, meaning the high component costs can only be absorbed in watches with relatively high selling prices. The reason why they are expensive is that they have a high failure rate in production (called low yield); this adds the further complication that microLED panels can’t initially be made in huge volumes, again limiting the availability to watches that do not sell in enormous numbers – i.e. there is no way there will be an Apple Watch 11 microLED. Still, there could be a Watch Ultra 3 microLED, a Fenix 8 microLED, and a TAG Heuer Connected microLED. Those products WILL all come to market…it’s just a case of when.