Galaxy Watch: Android returns after 7 years?

Galaxy Watch: Android returns after 7 years?

Galaxy Watch

When Samsung's first smartwatches arrived, these were based on Android. Obviously not with the classic smartphone interface we know but with a customized one to be used easily on such a small display.

It was 2014 and still the proprietary Tizen operating system was not ready. It was shortly after and, in support of the fact that Samsung had a very specific plan for wearables, it decided to update them all to Tizen OS and eliminate Android.

Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 Well, after more 7 years, the South Korean company could retrace its steps and update the current Galaxy Watch 3 to Wear OS. Not only that, the two new smartwatches arriving during the course of 2021 (Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch Active 3) would be equipped with Wear OS on day one. This version would be highly customized and be dressed in a new OneUI for wearable.

The indiscretions, provided by the famous leaker Ice Universe, stop there but the turning point towards the Google OS could be derived from the lack of App present on the Wearable Store for Tizen OS. Samsung's move could materialize with a positive outcome after the Galaxy company and Google have come closer in recent months with collaborations and the use of personal software on both sides.

In the Galaxy S21, for example , the SMS application has now become Messages by Google that we find on the Pixel. And again, Samsung Daily has also been replaced by Google Discover after the constant use of its news app in all smartphones equipped with OneUI 3 and below. Looking beyond smartphones, there are also collaborations between the two companies on household appliances and devices. And now it could be the turn of smartwatches with the use of Wear OS for wearables.

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Samsung apparently has another Galaxy Watch for 2021; it might run Android instead of Tizen

Samsung makes some of our favorite smartwatches to pair to an Android smartphone, and out of pattern we might be getting another Galaxy Watch for 2021. In a twist, too, it might run Android at its core.


According to a report from GalaxyClub, Samsung has two new smartwatch models in the works for 2021, both carrying model numbers that imply they will be successors to the Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Watch 3 rather than Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active lineup. The model numbers in question are SM-R86x and SM-R87x, with the previous Galaxy Watch 3 having SM-R8xx model numbers on its various models.


Most likely, the two model numbers we’re seeing so far are just different sizes of the watch, with the final number indicating the difference between Bluetooth and LTE models.


It’s out of pattern for Samsung to be releasing another Galaxy Watch in 2021, though. Going back, the original Galaxy Watch was succeeded the following year with both Galaxy Watch Active models (the first having an extremely short life), and the year after that the Galaxy Watch 3. It’s reasonable to think that a Watch Active would be coming in 2021, but the evidence so far suggests otherwise.


Another important puzzle piece to this story comes from Ice Universe. The Samsung leaker says that, for its 2021 Galaxy Watch, Samsung will be ditching the in-house Tizen OS it has been using for the past few years in exchange for Google’s Android — note: He did not say Wear OS.


Why would Samsung go for Android on its smartwatches over Tizen? With Wear OS critically scorned and Tizen watches generally praised, it seems like a bad move. However, switching to Android would come with benefits. For one, the app and watchface catalog on Wear OS is highly superior to Samsung’s, and the same applies to security, as Tizen has been in hot water for its security flaws several times in the past. Notably too, this isn’t the first time Samsung has been rumored to ditch Tizen on its wearables.


This all remains to be seen, but Samsung will likely be debuting its 2021 Galaxy Watch later this year alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and whatever other devices the company has up its sleeve.

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