Wear OS 5 is the most advanced Android smartwatch software yet. Packed with new AI tricks, fitness and workout tools, and battery-saving optimizations, Wear OS 5 is an exciting update that's already rolled out to many of the most popular watches.
One UI 6 Watch, the Samsung version of Wear OS 5, has its own unique tricks as well. This guide will break down all of the features available on both versions of Wear OS 5, from Watch Face Format to Energy Score.
We'll also explain which watches are due to receive Wear OS 5 (or already have), as well as those Android watches with no guarantee that they'll progress beyond Wear OS 4.
Wear OS 5: New features
Broken down into categories, these are all of the Wear OS 5 features — or apps introduced alongside Wear OS 5 that technically work on older versions — that you need to know about!
Screen size optimization
Previous Wear OS versions showed the same content on your watch display regardless of the size; larger displays simply made certain content appear larger. With Wear OS 5, developers can reflow content to take advantage of the extra space.
Wear OS apps will "work optimally across the range of device sizes and font scales," Google explained in its initial announcement.
The photo above of the Pixel Watch 3 41mm and 45mm shows this UI principle in practice. The smaller display can only fit three sports icons, while the larger watch can show six. This incentivizes people to pay extra for larger screens, knowing Wear OS 5 actually uses the space appropriately.
Plus, Wear OS 5 added a "grid-based app launcher" as an alternative to the app list default on past Pixel Watches. Other Wear OS skins like One UI Watch already offered a grid option before, but this makes it natively available on all watches.
Battery optimizations and WFF improvements
Google's original Wear OS 5 announcement included the promise that "performance improvements" would make certain tasks use less battery life than on Wear OS 4. For example, "running a marathon consumes up to 20% less power" with the same requirements like frequent GPS and heart rate checks.
Google's Hybrid Wear OS interface may be partially responsible for these improvements. It relegates certain tasks like health sampling to the low-powered coprocessor, requiring less battery life in standby mode.
Wear OS 5 also requires watches to use the XML Watch Face Format, which shows information without battery-guzzling executable code or animations. It helps Wear OS 5 watches last much longer with the same capacity, but it also blocks apps like Facer with more creative watch faces from third-party developers. You may lose your favorite faces after this update, even if you already paid for them.
To lessen the sting of this change, Google added many more WFF options as a default for Pixel Watches. It also made them more customizable with colorful "Flavors" for each face (see the slideshow above); plus, it added new complications such as progress towards a fitness goal (like 90% of daily steps done) or "weighted elements" with a pie-chart-like summary of different related stats.
Lastly, Google added a weather complication to WFF, letting you see either the current or upcoming forecast from the main view.
New fitness tools
If you're specifically looking at stock Pixel Watch software, Wear OS 5 added a ton of running tricks. Fitbit Cardio Load and Training Load show how hard you've worked out across the past week (or month) and how much total workout time you should have to improve your fitness. You can see your Daily Readiness in the Morning Brief, create and follow running workouts with intervals, check your post-run form insights, and see your records for distances like 10K.
While Fitbit may eventually become preinstalled on Android phones, we don't know if third-party Wear OS watches will have access. So the global Wear OS 5 fitness updates are more limited.
All Wear OS 5 watches will be able to track Ground Contact Time, Stride Length, Vertical Oscillation, and Vertical Ratio for the first time, with that running form data now shareable through Health Connect.
Also, Wear OS 5 watches support "debounced goals," which is a fancy way of saying athletes can set a workout goal like "keep my heart rate between 130–160bpm for 30 minutes" and have the watch warn them after a short delay if they fall out of range.
New apps and other features
Wear OS 5 introduced some new Google ecosystem apps and functions that connect your watch with other devices. Some are Pixel exclusive; others may be backwards-compatible with other Wear OS versions. We're simply going to include all of the new apps and tools, so you're aware of them.
Recorder: This records files locally with a tap, and has a Tile available. Pixel phone owners can sync their recordings to their phone.
Google Home/ Nest controls: If you have a Nest Doorbell, Google TV Streamer, or other Home devices, you'll now be able to control or access them on your wrist. You can check your Google security camera feed or pause a movie from the watch display.
Improved camera controls: Previous versions of Wear OS had the ability to trigger a smartphone photo remotely. Wear OS 5 lets you access your Pixel Camera app viewfinder to see what photo you're about to take, as well as switch between camera modes.
Screenshot protection: Wear OS 5 adds a "privacy-preserving screenshot detection API" that ensures greater security.
Media output choice: With Wear OS 5, you can "choose which device should play media and show information about the currently-playing media content."
One UI 6 Watch
Samsung's One UI 6 Watch is based on Wear OS 5, but it chooses which features apply to Galaxy Watches, and it has its own unique features that don't apply to other Wear OS watches.
Energy score: Like Fitbit's Daily Readiness score, Samsung Energy Score judges your "physical and mental readiness" based on your "sleep, activity, and heart rate" on previous days.
Personalized AI Wellness tips: Based on your Galaxy Watch data, Samsung will send you tips on how to improve based on your priorities like Sleep, Exercise, or losing weight. These AI tricks are guaranteed free through the end of 2025, meaning Samsung may charge for the information after that.
Suggested replies: One UI 6 Watch's other AI-powered trick is to come up with auto-generated replies to your messages, so Galaxy Watch 7 owners don't have to bother with the QWERTY keyboard or voice-to-text.
Sleep apnea detection: With FDA approval for accuracy, Galaxy Watches can detect "moderate to severe sleep apnea;" this link shows how to set it up. Samsung promises this feature will come to older Galaxy Watches but is currently exclusive to the Watch 7 and Watch Ultra.
Gestures: The new Buttons and Gestures menu lets you enable three gestures: Double pinch, shake to dismiss, or knock knock. Double pinch lets you "answer calls, dismiss alerts, launch apps, control your music, and take photos." Shake to dismiss "declines incoming calls or dismiss alerts such as alarms, timers, and reminders." Knock knock opens your favorite app.
Workout Routine and Race: With Wear OS 5, Galaxy Watch owners can now race their past times or create a custom multisport workout.
Wear OS 5: Eligible watches
These are the current Wear OS watches that either have received Wear OS 5 or are confirmed to receive the update:
confirmed to receive the update, plus our best guess of the release month:
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 (Launched with One UI 6 Watch)
- Google Pixel Watch 3 (Launched with Wear OS 5)
- Pixel Watch 2 (Received Wear OS 5 in November)
- Pixel Watch 1 (Received Wear OS 5 in November)
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 & 6 Classic (Began rolling out in November)
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 & 5 Pro (Will roll out after Watch 6)
- Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 & 4 Classic (Will roll out after Watch 5)
- OnePlus Watch 2 & 2R (Unknown)
When it comes to the best Wear OS watches, most of them have either jumped to Wear OS 5 already or are due to receive it soon.
Pixel Watches are eligible for three Wear OS updates. Google originally began rolling out Wear OS 5 to the Pixel Watch 1 & 2 in late September, only for user crashes to force a rollback. Google eventually restarted the update in mid-November, with the caveat that the next feature update won't arrive until March 2025. It's clear there's a problem with slow Wear OS updates these days.
Samsung watches receive four Wear OS updates, so all post-Tizen models are eligible for Wear OS 5. One UI 6 Watch began rolling out on November 19 with the Galaxy Watch 6 series; Samsung will then move on "sequentially" to the Watch 5 and 4 series, with no specific guarantee on how quickly it'll arrive.
OnePlus told us that its new Wear OS watches have two guaranteed OS updates. But since Wear OS 5 was announced, we haven't heard any new from them about when to expect the update. We've heard rumors the OnePlus Watch 3 could arrive in January; if that model has a new OS version, then perhaps the Watch 2 series will get Wear OS 5 sometime after that.
The Xiaomi Watch 2 Pro and Watch 2 jumped from Wear OS 3.5 to Wear OS 4 in September 2024 (per Techradar). We don't know if these watches will receive Wear OS 5 or not; if it does, it could be a year behind the competition.
The only other major Wear OS brand still keeping up (somewhat) with updates is Mobvoi. The TicWatch Pro 5, TicWatch Pro 5 Enduro, and TicWatch Pro 5 Atlas all run on Wear OS 4 as of September 2024. Like Xiaomi, we don't know of a guaranteed Wear OS 5 update or how long it would take to arrive. And Mobvoi's version of Wear OS is more limited, as it doesn't support Google Assistant.
Wear OS 5.1
Google surprised us by announcing the Wear OS 5.1 developer preview in late November, shortly after rolling out Wear OS 5 to its older watches. Based on Android 15, 5.1 has two major updates: the Credential Manager API and Watch speaker playback.
The first new feature ensures that your watch will remain signed into apps with the Restore Credentials function in case you backup and restore your smartwatch.
The second feature, as the name suggests, lets you play your music playlists using your watch's built-in speakers instead of having to rely on Bluetooth earbuds.
If you want more details on Wear OS 5.1 and how to test it yourself, check out this Android developer page.
