The Rise and Fall of Wear OS: The importance of a new processor for Gen 6 watches, or how Google really wants to take into account the burgeoning world
The results are not as impactful as Google may have wanted, but Wear OS is certainly in a better place now with watches like Samsung’s Galaxy Watch5 and Google’s new Pixel Watch. They have more apps than ever, operate smoothly and are reliable when it comes to health metrics like heart rate, SpO2, and electrocardiograms. You can’t give Fossil’s Gen 6 Wellness the same praise.
It’s our goal to have a new version of Wear every year, partly because we need to support mobile, says Kilburn. “If new functionalities added in Android are critical for watches and hearables, then we’ve got to find a way to get it into the watch.” That said, there will still be quarterly Wear updates to bring ”new experiences” throughout the year.
Wear OS 3 is different from Wear OS 2 because watch manufacturers are responsible for over-the-air updates. You’ll need to start checking a manufacturer’s software update policy just like you would with an Android phone. For example, the new Google Pixel Watch will get three years of software updates, and the Samsung Galaxy Watch5 gets four years of updates. It’s worth noting that Apple supported the Series 3 for four years.
It can be convenient to own a watch but you do not really need it. You can see and reply to notifications without pulling out your phone, you can change music tracks without leaving the house, and you can look at the next coffee shop when you need a warm cup of coffee. If it becomes annoying to use, then you may as well have just thrown money in the bin.
It is odd that I have used other Gen 6 watches such as the Fossil Gen 6 and the Skagen Falster Gen 6, which have the same spec, and have not seen this type of poor performance, which is likely due to Wear OS 3. There is a chance that it will get better over time.
It’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 4100+ chipset (with 1 GB of RAM), which isn’t the latest processor, but in a meeting, a company spokesperson enthusiastically reinforced how it’s a newer chip than what Google’s Pixel Watch uses. Alas, much like Draco and the Slytherins flying the newer Nimbus 2001 broomsticks in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, that doesn’t really mean anything.
The ghost that accompanies the watch is something that is annoying. Yes, really. It decides to turn functions on or off every few hours. Whenever I get a notification, I don’t want the Gen 6 to ping loudly. The ringer is set to only vibrate. Yet every so often … ping! The same thing happened when the watch had the Battery Saver mode, which seemed to randomly turn on and cripple the watch’s functions. Even the Always-On Display, which I’ve tried to turn off, seems to turn back on after every night, and I have to constantly toggle on tilt to wake again too. It’s frustrating.
I want to be positive. There are some things that this watch has to offer. There’s NFC, and I’ve used it to pay for my subway fare here in New York City. The 1.28-inch AMOLED screen is also bright and colorful, and the whole watch is 3 ATM water resistant, so it’ll be fine in the rain.