Which Galaxy Watches will receive the One UI 8 Watch update?

As you likely heard or read by now, Samsung is preparing a big new software update for Galaxy Watches. The company will skip version One UI 7 Watch and jump straight to One UI 8 Watch. The question now is which Galaxy Watches will receive it?

Samsung hasn't confirmed anything about One UI 8 Watch or which Galaxy Watches will get the update. However, in February 2022, the company confirmed it will support the Galaxy Watch 4 and future models with “up to four years of One UI Watch and Wear OS” updates.

Based on this statement, the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic are technically eligible to receive the upcoming One UI 8 Watch update at some point in the future.

The Galaxy Watch 4 series debuted in August 2021, and if One UI 8 Watch goes live before August 2025, it will be the last OS upgrade for the Galaxy Watch 4 series.

It all sounds fairly straightforward, all thanks to Samsung's wording a few years ago. Note that Samsung promised “up to four years” of updates rather than “up to four OS upgrades.” If it were the latter, we would've been in trouble, as it is nearly impossible to determine what constitutes a major Galaxy Watch software upgrade.

That's because One UI Watch is based on Wear OS, and in turn, Wear OS is based on an Android version. The Galaxy Watch 4 debuted with Wear OS 3.0-based One UI 3.0 Watch. Wear OS 3.0, 3.2 (One UI 4.0 Watch), and 3.5 (One UI 4.5 Watch) were all based on Android 11.

Needless to say, making sense of Wear OS and One UI Watch updates and figuring out what constitutes a major smartwatch update is a bit of a nightmare. But once again, because Samsung promised support for four years rather than four OS versions, it stands to reason that the Galaxy Watch 4 series should receive One UI 8 Watch as its last big update.

That is, assuming Samsung doesn't delay the update beyond August 2025, in which case we wouldn't be too sure about the Galaxy Watch 4's future.

Based on early leaks, some of the most notable One UI 8 Watch changes and additions are:

Of course, the following, newer Samsung smartwatch models, should also receive One UI 8 Watch: