Wear OS 6 will power the upcoming Pixel Watch 4, Galaxy Watch 8, and OnePlus Watch 4, and it could be the most significant upgrade for Android smartwatches yet.
While we don't have any official information about Wear OS 6, we know from credible reports that Gemini will replace Assistant on Wear OS soon, and that a major hardware upgrade could make this version more powerful than ever.
While the recent Galaxy Unpacked focused on the Galaxy S25, it also gave us clear information on what to expect from One UI 7 Watch later this year.
We also have a fairly clear idea of which watches will receive Wear OS 6, when the update should arrive, and what features it should receive, based on our experience with Wear OS 5.
Let's look ahead at the future of Android smartwatches and break down what to expect from Wear OS 6 in mid-2025.
Wear OS 6 features
Wear OS 6 should arrive first on the Galaxy Watch 8 and Pixel Watch 4, though Samsung's watch will use One UI 7 Watch and have unique features. We'll focus first on Google's mainline version of Wear OS 6.
We don't know what Wear OS 6 will add yet. We assume that we'll learn more at Google I/O 2025, which is slated for May 20, 2025; last year, Google revealed its planned Wear OS 5 updates on May 15. But even without official information, we know Gemini should be a big part of Wear OS 6.
An APK deep dive found evidence that Google will replace Assistant with Gemini on Wear OS watches soon. We don't know if Gemini will arrive with Wear OS 6 or with the upcoming March 2025 update to Wear OS 5; Google hasn't updated the Pixel Watch 3 since November, so it's possible they're pushing out a major AI update before OS 6.
Whenever it arrives, Gemini on Wear OS 6 will be a major shift, delivering a more intelligent assistant and more useful health and fitness insights.
Unlike Android phones with NPUs for on-device AI, smartwatches don't have the capacity for real AI nor the screen space for drawn-out LLM responses. The Pixel Watch 4 could have a new Snapdragon chip with faster performance, but Google has to make Gemini compatible with the older watch models, too.
That's why Wear OS Gemini tools will require your phone to pass data back and forth over Bluetooth; still, we could get the equivalent of Gemini Live using your watch's mic and speaker, only with a slightly longer delay than on your phone.
Otherwise, we assume Gemini on Wear OS will support extensions with other Google apps, so you can ask Gemini to read out a Gmail inbox summary or create a workout playlist in YouTube Music on the fly, all with your phone in your pocket.
One UI 7 Watch
One UI 7 Watch, Samsung's version of Wear OS 6, already has a few confirmed features thanks to Galaxy Unpacked 2025, where Samsung's head of Digital Health, Dr. Praveen Raja, spent a few minutes on stage talking about Samsung Health features coming this year.
He described Vascular Load Indicator, a Samsung Health Labs feature that will track how your "daily activities impact your cardiovascular system" so you can "reduce strain on your heart and maintain long-term heart health."
Samsung Health Labs will also add an antioxidant index graph that will inform the Galaxy AI when making "personalized nutrition advice" and "tailored meal plans and recipes." These will presumably be available on your Galaxy Watch 8.
Most intriguing, Raja promised that Samsung Health will have an AI "Coach" that will let you "ask questions, get real-time insights, and receive personalized coaching as if you would from your own personal health assistant."
This coach may only be available on your phone, but a wrist-based version would certainly be useful for on-the-go insights!
Aside from these confirmed tools, we can assume that One UI 7 Watch will have other AI or health-focused features, just as One UI 6 Watch added an Energy Score, AI-based Wellness Tips, new gesture controls, and auto-suggested replies in Messages.
We also assume recent Galaxy AI upgrades will carry over to One UI 7 Watch. For instance, the daily "Now Brief" that gives you contextual information from your calendar could easily port over to your Galaxy Watch. And maybe we could see an equivalent to the Now Bar, showing contextual information on your watch face instead of making you swipe through tiles to find it.
Wear OS 6 eligible watches
Wear OS 6 will arrive on the Galaxy Watch 8 and Pixel Watch 4 in late summer or early fall this year, before any other smartwatches. After that, there are a dozen other Android smartwatches eligible to receive Wear OS 6.
Samsung has promised that all Galaxy Watches will get four years of major updates. The Galaxy Watch 4, which started with Wear OS 3 and received Wear OS 3.5, 4, and 5 in subsequent years, should end its update cycle with Wear OS 6.
All other Galaxy Watches with Wear OS software should receive the latest update as well. We technically haven't gotten confirmation whether the budget Galaxy Watch FE will get four years, but Wear OS 6 is a given.
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 / Watch 4 Classic
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 / Watch 5 Pro
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 / Watch 6 Classic
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 7
- Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra
- Samsung Galaxy Watch FE
Samsung delivered Wear OS 5 to last-gen watches from November–December 2024, so expect Wear OS 6 around that same window in 2025.
Google has promised three years of updates for its Pixel Watches, but wasn't entirely clear on whether that meant version updates or security updates. The first Pixel Watch launched with Wear OS 3.5, so Wear OS 6 will be its final update if Google does support it.
- Google Pixel Watch
- Google Pixel Watch 2
- Google Pixel Watch 3
Google had to roll back its Wear OS 5 update in September 2024 because it bricked some users' devices, and took until November to resume the update. Assuming we don't see similar problems this year, Wear OS 6 should arrive on older Pixel Watches shortly after the Watch 4.
OnePlus confirmed that its Wear OS watches will receive two version updates, making Wear OS 6 the final update for the OnePlus Watch 2 and Watch 2R.
- OnePlus Watch 2
- OnePlus Watch 2R
- OnePlus Watch 3
OnePlus also confirmed these watches won't get Wear OS 5 until "Q3 of this year," meaning sometime between July and September. So we can assume Wear OS 6 will be similarly delayed into late 2026 for the OnePlus Watch 3 and Watch 2 — though the unannounced OnePlus Watch 4 should get it in March 2026, in theory.
Mobvoi doesn't guarantee updates, and its most recent models like the TicWatch 5 Enduro and TicWatch Atlas currently remain on Wear OS 4, with that update arriving in September 2024. It's possible they receive Wear OS 6 eventually, but Wear OS 5 is the first priority; plus, TicWatches no longer support Google Assistant, so Gemini would be wasted on them.
The only other Wear OS brand worth mentioning is Xiaomi, which (like Mobvoi) is about a year behind Google and Samsung's updates. It's possible the Xiaomi Watch 2 and Watch 2 Pro will receive Wear OS 6, but not until 2026 at this current pace.
Wear OS 6 wishlist
Aside from our predicted features above like on-wrist Gemini Live and Samsung training load, we have several features that we'd like to see on Wear OS 6 and/or One UI 7 Watch.
As I wrote in my Wear OS 2025 predictions column, I want to see further battery life improvements with Wear OS 6. Google did a great job extending its current watches with XML watch faces and pushing more processes to the co-processor that uses less battery, but the 5-day OnePlus Watch 3 proves that these watches can go even further for efficiency if Google makes it a priority.
Wear OS 6 should also make watch faces more exciting again. Google banned third-party watch faces on Wear OS 5, which helped with battery life but made your visual options much more restricted and harder to find in the Play Store. I'd like to see Wear OS 6 bring back Facer as an official watch face store for XML faces, as well as a way to generate AI watch faces using Gemini.
Wear OS 5 made some major fitness updates with cardio load, running form analysis, and the ability to follow a target range like pace or heart rate for a workout. Wear OS 6 should continue this fitness focus: It could add downloadable and shareable courses in Google Maps, better syncing with accessories like HRMs or cycling power meters, and better non-running sports guidance like counting gym reps.
On the Gemini front, some kind of Gemini Coach LLM that gives you personalized health advice based on your nightly stats or judges your training load and walks you through future workouts would be a nice perk.
The Galaxy Watch 7 made gestures a priority, so perhaps we could see more recognized gestures across Wear OS brands, not just Samsung watches.
Lastly, I'm hoping Wear OS 6 brings us back to a regular update cadence. After the messy Pixel Watch update rollback and then a months-long wait for new features, it's clear that Google's ambitions for Wear OS sometimes exceed what it can squeeze onto watches at normal intervals. It'd be nice if Wear OS returned to monthly updates to match Pixel drops, and if Google implemented a Wear OS beta program to catch issues before stable rollouts.
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