Leaker claims Samsung may stop major updates for older Galaxy Watches

According to Korean leaker kro, who posts under the pseudonym kro_roe on X, Samsung is reportedly considering ending major updates for Wear OS on its "older" Galaxy Watch models. The leaker shared this information on October 29, stating that while security patches would still be provided, new operating system versions—and thus new features—would no longer be available for these devices. The specific models affected have not been named, but the leaker suggests this may relate to watches launched in 2021 and 2022 or could indicate a broken promise on updates for newer models.

Samsung’s update policy for Galaxy Watches has been unclear

In the same message, kro notes that Samsung has never had a clearly defined update policy for its Galaxy Watches. However, during the Galaxy S22 launch in February 2022, the company promised four years of One UI Watch and Wear OS updates for the Galaxy Watch 4, Watch 4 Classic, and subsequent models. In July 2026, this was extended to five years for the Galaxy Watch 9 and Watch Ultra 2. Samsung had already included some flexibility, stating updates would be provided as long as the hardware supported them and the user experience could be optimized.

Galaxy Watch 4 has already reached its update limit

The Galaxy Watch 4, released in 2021, has already received its four major updates, with the last being One UI 8 Watch. Samsung removed it from its list of supported devices in September 2023. The Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro, released in 2022, are now waiting for their fourth update, One UI 9 Watch, based on Wear OS 7. As of now, Samsung has not opened a beta for these updates and has not provided a timeline for their release.

Stopping updates for newer models could break promises

If Samsung stops updates for the Galaxy Watch 5, it would be following its own rule, but this would not apply to the Galaxy Watch 6, Watch 7, first Galaxy Watch Ultra, and Watch 8, which still have several years of major updates promised. Depriving these models of future Wear OS versions before the end of their support period would contradict Samsung’s earlier commitments, particularly for devices purchased less than two years ago.

Samsung faces challenges with hardware and performance issues

The leaker suggests Samsung may be hesitant to continue updating older models due to ongoing hardware and performance issues. Users have reported declining battery life, slowdowns, and even overheating on the Galaxy Watch 5 Pro. Samsung has also begun using its own Exynos chips on the Galaxy Watch 9, switching from Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear Elite. Locking older devices on a stable version would prevent running newer software on outdated hardware, but users would also lose access to new features. Samsung has not yet responded to the leaker’s claims.