Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Watch Active - previously referred to as the Galaxy Watch Sport - will be missing one of the best features of previous generations of Samsung's smartwatch lineup: the rotating bezel. That's if a report by SamMobile is accurate. 

If true, it would mean you'll no longer be able to turn the bezel to control elements on the screen, relying on touchscreen and button controls only. 

In all of our reviews we've lauded the rotating bezel as a genuinely useful, and intuitive way to control the watch, something which sets it apart from the competition. With that feature seemingly not appearing in the next fitness-focussed model, that'll mean fewer unique selling points.

Rumours of the forthcoming slimline Galaxy-branded smartwatch have been rumbling for a little while now, with all seemingly pointing towards a more affordable, less chunky fitness-focussed watch. 

Of course, as part of this slimming down process, one of the series' best features being removed is disappointing, but it does make sense. Compare the Galaxy Watch to the Huawei Watch GT, and you'll see why slimming down the bezel is such a big deal.

The screen takes up much more of the available space, both allowing the manufacturer to put in a bigger screen (eventually) without increasing the case width, but also allowing the manufacturer to build much smaller watches.

In the particular case of Samsung's Galaxy Watch and the Huawei Watch GT, there might not be much difference in face width, but the screen taking up much more of its surface area does make for a better experience in terms of how much easily readable information there is on display. 

Other specifications have been rumoured for a little while now, and SamMobile's report corroborates most of those. Those specs include a 360 x 360 pixel, round, 1.1-inch OLED screen and a 236mAh battery. Surprisingly, despite having a smaller case, it's supposedly going to be almost 2mm thicker than last year's Gear Sport. 

One interesting new development, again it sounds like for the worse, is a new desktop charger. Rather than the charging stand that's featured with all the Gear and Galaxy watches from the past couple of years, the report claims we'll have a horizontal pad. Let's hope it's as convenient and easy to use. 

It'll reportedly be water proof up to 50 metres, feature a Samsung Exynos 9110 processor, 4GB storage (for apps/music), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2 and NFC. So far, unlike the Galaxy Watch, it sounds as though there won't be a 4G LTE equipped model. 

We expect the watch to be announced at Samsung's Unpacked event on 20 February, and available to buy a few weeks later. As always, we'll keep you updated with developments as and when they occur.