How does the Galaxy Watch compare to Wear OS watches?

Samsung Galaxy Watch 42mm
Samsung Galaxy Watch 42mm (Image credit: Android Central)

If you own an Android phone and want a new smartwatch, one of your best options is easily the Samsung Galaxy Watch.

The Galaxy Watch brings a lot to the table, with some of the highlights being a great design, rotating bezel for UI navigation, Samsung Pay, multi-day battery life, and more. All of that's fine and dandy, but if you're coming from a Wear OS / Android Wear device, how does it compare?

Here's what some of our AC forum members have to say.

I have been strictly a wearos user ever since it came out but decided to give the galaxy watch a try because wearos has been stagnant with updates, performance issues with 2.0 and battery life hasn't been good. I had the watch for about 2 weeks and my feeling are mixed. I miss assistant and being able to send text or play an album while I am driving. I also miss being able to just swipe...

anon(661246)

I tried Wear OS for two days after returning my Galaxy Watch (which I promptly returned and bought another galaxy watch). Bixby sucks. That goes without saying. You can clear notifications as they come, just swipe up in the main notification area (one click counterclockwise from the main watch face). The health aspect is leaps and bounds over WearOS and as you said, battery is crazy. I get 2.5 to...

Nacho1545

I am in a similar position, coming from owning android wear devices since day one, and have switch to give Tizen a try purely based on the hardware. My initial reactions is that Tizen is a better OS for more involved/productivity type things (e.g. the fitness tracking), and the hardware is leaps and bounds over any AW device...but for me personally a smartwatch is primarily about quick access...

spud211

What say you? How do you think the Galaxy Watch stacks up against Wear OS watches?

Join the conversation in the forums!

Joe Maring

Joe Maring was a Senior Editor for Android Central between 2017 and 2021. You can reach him on Twitter at @JoeMaring1.