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Wear OS Weekly
My new weekly column focuses on the state of Wear OS, from new developments and updates to the latest apps and features we want to highlight.
Three years after Samsung and Google announced their Wear OS partnership to save Android smartwatches from mediocrity, I'm happy to state the obvious: the gambit paid off, and Wear OS in 2024 was stronger than ever.
As a relative newcomer to Android watches, I wasn't around for this dismal pre-2021 era of Wear OS watches. When I looked back at editorials from old Android Central editors, I saw years of complaints about sluggish performance, mediocre fitness features, a stagnant app ecosystem for developers, and a general feeling that Google had no idea what it was doing and that Tizen, Fitbit, and Garmin offered better Android watches.
No one thinks that now. It's not that Galaxy and Pixel Watches are perfect, but they've become far more multifaceted, offering more than notifications and Google Assistant. You have more assurance that any watch you buy will get years of support, and you can see how Android OEMs like OnePlus see the potential of Wear OS and think it's here to stay (unlike other Killed-by-Google experiments).
Looking back on the path of Wear OS watches in 2024, I'm optimistic that the best years of Android's wearable ecosystem are ahead.
I'm starting off with the year's low point, in my mind: Fossil decided to stop making smartwatches in 2024, after its Wear OS 3 and 3.5 updates took about a year longer than Google and Samsung's.
Aside from Mobvoi TicWatches stubbornly sticking around, Google's pre-Wear OS 3 clients have quietly given up on the brand, either unable to compete on software or not seeing the upside with Samsung dominating sales.
To remain relevant, Google and Samsung saw that Wear OS needed closer phone-watch integration and improved health tracking. The problem is that this focus leaves little room for Wear OS brands that don't have their own phones to sync software, or the ability to spend billions acquiring IP like Fitbit to compete.
Fossil gave us the Gen 6 Hybrid Wellness, the Skagen Falster Gen 6, and other subbrand options from Michael Kors, Citizen, and Kate Spade; now we've lost that attention to classic-style design and any likely chance of hybrid Wear OS watches with more variety. Even if Google leaving Fossil behind was a necessity for Wear OS to grow, it's still a shame!
Losing Fossil was easier to swallow because OnePlus took its place the following month, launching the OnePlus Watch 2 in February and Watch 2R in July.
The Watch 2 has its issues, likely stemming from OnePlus using two different OSes — Wear OS and RTOS — that didn't always communicate perfectly. But it was also the coming-out party for Google's Wear OS Hybrid Interface, which relegates background tasks to the low-powered coprocessor to save battery life.
OnePlus's watch easily lasts 3–4 days without needing as massive a battery as a TicWatch, giving a cheaper option for anyone who didn't want to shell out the big bucks for a Galaxy Watch Ultra. And this focus on efficiency has paid off for Google and Samsung, too: Wear OS 5 has made their mainline watches last closer to two days in normal conditions when old Wear OS watches always required daily charges (and sometimes twice-daily).
I'll also cheat and bring up Xiaomi, which officially rejoined the Wear OS family in late 2023 with the Watch 2 Pro, a few years after its one ill-fated Wear OS Mi Watch in 2019. It then sold the Watch 2 with Wear OS in February 2024. Now, with the OnePlus Watch 3 already rumored for early 2025, it's telling that Chinese OEMs see the profitability in using Wear OS as their baseline after largely ignoring it for a decade.
It doesn't take an industry expert to guess that Samsung designed the $199 Galaxy Watch FE as its spin on the Apple Watch SE, seeing a chance to target thrifty fans looking for cheap Android watches. It gives you years of Wear OS updates for cheap, but I disliked how Samsung gave a 2024 watch a 2021 chip, making it feel last-gen from the start; I think it needed a newer Exynos chip, with cutbacks in other areas.
Then you have the $229 OnePlus Watch 2R, which has the same chip, display, RAM, battery, and software as the Watch 2 for $70 less, cutting back on premium steel and more durable glass. Basically, it's the same watch, only a bit uglier, which is perhaps why it's not quite as cheap as the Watch FE: better components.
Even if I'm the kind of smartwatch power user who spends extra for quality, most people prefer something affordable without having to buy an older model; Wear OS getting more bargain-priced watches is a good sign that its market has grown outside of Android superfans.
When ten generations of Apple Watches all look largely identical, you have to give props to Samsung for selling three separate Pro, Classic, and Ultra watches in three years, each with a distinct design and perks. The mainline Galaxy Watch design hasn't changed much, but one leak suggested Samsung might try a squircle display for the Galaxy Watch 8.
The point is Samsung is willing to try new things and see what works; the Galaxy Watch Ultra is the result. It's a stylish, rugged watch with a bright display, strong fitness performance, and (unfortunately) a higher-than-usual price tag. You can resent the fact that Samsung has started charging so much for a smartwatch, but it also didn't reserve that many killer features for it, meaning the Galaxy Watch 7 is still appealing for features, just not as much for looks or battery. You won't feel too much FOMO if you skip the Ultra.
Hopefully, we'll see more "premium" smartwatches from Google, OnePlus, and other brands in the future, with designs that aren't quite so...techy.
Google's first Pixel Watch had outdated hardware, limited Fitbit tools, short battery life, and a unique design that drew the eye. Each subsequent generation fixed significant flaws, and the Pixel Watch 3 has gotten even closer to being a truly complete package now that it has two display sizes and more efficient battery life.
Even though Google still falls short of the Galaxy Watch in areas like durability and length of software support, I find that understandable for a third-generation watch up against a seventh-gen watch. And given Google's well-known tendencies to kill projects that aren't instant successes, I'm thrilled the Pixel Watch lasted long enough to iterate into one of my favorite smartwatches, even though we never see Google listed among the top-selling smartwatch brands.
Wear OS 5 made the system more battery-efficient, finally started reflowing content to match larger or smaller displays, made it easier to emulate fitness watches' workouts with "debounced goals," and added or upgraded core Google apps with Google Home controls, Camera viewfinder, Pixel Call Screening, and Recorder. Compared to past Wear OS versions with more boring update logs, it was a strong year.
My only gripe with Wear OS 5 is that it blocks one of my favorite apps for the sake of better battery life.
Samsung's One UI 6 Watch spinoff focused more on Galaxy AI, with tools like Energy Score, Wellness Tips, gesture detection, and AI-suggested replies — though it also improved workout tools and added sleep apnea detection.
The only downside to this feature-packed update is that it made Wear OS updates even slower. Google had to roll its Wear OS 5 update back in September because it was crashing watches, then it took until mid-November to fix the issue. Samsung, which started rolling out Wear OS 4 to old Galaxy Watches in August, only began its Wear OS 5 rollout in November and finished in December. That's a substantial gap!
One big question will be whether brands stuck on Wear OS 4, like OnePlus, Xiaomi, and Mobvoi, will be able to promptly update to Wear OS 5 or remain a year or more behind because of its substantial changes. The other big question is whether this is the new normal and whether Android watches will take as long as Android phones to update.
Aside from the Wear OS 5.1 preview — an Android 15-backed update that adds support for a credential manager and playing music on watch speakers — we're not going to see any new Wear OS updates through March, according to Google.
Still, I expect Wear OS watches to go through even more exciting changes in 2025, and I'll cover my predictions next week, from a major AI focus to long-overdue new watch hardware.
For now, I'll return to my main point: before Wear OS 3, this site recommended non-Wear OS watches to Android users. And if you'd told those industry experts four years ago that the Wear OS market would be this strong, they'd have been skeptical that Google could pull it off. So credit where credit's due! If you're looking for the best Android watch picks today, you're probably looking at Wear OS first.
