What you need to know
- Samsung announced a wider, official rollout of One UI 6 Watch (Wear OS 5) for the Galaxy Watch 6 series to the Galaxy Watch 4 series.
- Users can expect several new features like Galaxy AI's "Suggested Replies," Energy Score, Race, Workout Routines, and more.
- Samsung is rolling this update out globally; however, the Galaxy Watch 6 and 6 Classic will receive it before other past-gen devices.
Samsung's next major Wear OS upgrade is starting to hit users with several of its past-gen watches.
Galaxy Watch owners should expect One UI 6 Watch (Wear OS 5) to start hitting their devices today (Nov 19). In a Newsroom post, Samsung states the following devices are eligible: Galaxy Watch 6, 6 Classic, Galaxy Watch 5, 5 Pro, Galaxy Watch 4, 4 Classic, and the Galaxy Watch FE. The company adds that this update will be arriving on these devices "around the world," but the times may vary.
More importantly, Samsung's year-old device, the Galaxy Watch 6 series, is the first to receive this update. The post states the update will "become available sequentially to previous generations."
However, an official rollout date for the other watches was not stated.
Samsung highlighted several new features its Galaxy Watch owners can expect, such as "Energy Score." Wrapped in its health update, Energy Score will calculate an "intuitive" score based on the wearer's sleep, physical activity, sleeping heart rate, and more. The number displayed the next morning will give you insight into whether you should push yourself or rest.
Sleep tracking also gets an update via Samsung's "advanced AI algorithm." The company paired that with new metrics like "movement during sleep," sleep latency, heart rate, and respiratory rate.
Users getting active will find new features like "Race" for running and cycling alongside "Workout Routines" for combining exercises.
During Samsung's initial One UI 6 Watch beta post, the company highlighted Galaxy AI's influence as "powerful on-device AI" was set to take the stage. The stable Wear OS 5 update for Galaxy Watches leans on its software to bring "Suggested Replies" for text messages. Users will also find an assortment of new watch faces.
One UI 6 Watch's rollout today (Nov 19) means users who weren't in the beta can get their hands on it. Samsung wrapped up its beta for the OS update in October; however, its stable variant only rolled out for previously enrolled testers. It arrived for the Galaxy Watch 6 before trickling down to other past-gen devices. It's worth remembering that the Galaxy Watch 7 launched with Wear OS 5 already, so these other devices are simply getting what's due.
Consumers should also be aware that the provided Galaxy AI features will remain free "until the end of 2025."
