Wear OS 3 is the biggest update for Wear OS smartwatches yet. Built in partnership with Samsung, it offers faster app load times, fitness tracking powered by Fitbit’s technology, a redesigned interface, and more.
It’s an important upgrade that could breathe new life into the operating system – if consumers and smartwatch makers embrace it.
Below you’ll find full details of everything Wear OS 3 offers, along with information on when, where, and how you can get it.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The latest version of Google’s smartwatch operating system
- When is it out? Now – but currently only for a select few wearables
- How much does it cost? It’s free
Wear OS 3 release date
Wear OS 3 was announced at Google’s I/O developer conference in May 2021, and first became available in August of 2021, sort of. It’s out now, but only on an extremely limited number of smartwatches. Full details of the wearables it’s available on now and soon can be found below.
Wear OS 3 compatibility
Despite being available since 2021, there are currently very few smartwatches that actually run Wear OS 3. In fact, at the time of writing you can only get it on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, and the – very expensive – Montblanc Summit 3.
No previously available smartwatches have yet received a software update to Wear OS 3, but some will do; with the Fossil Gen 6, Michael Kors Gen 6, Skagen Falster Gen 6, Razer X Fossil Gen 6, TicWatch Pro 3, TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, and TicWatch E3 all theoretically getting updated before the end of 2022.
Some of the current crop of the best smartwatches may well get updated as well, but no other devices have been confirmed yet.
We’re also expecting new smartwatches to launch running Wear OS 3 before too long, including the Google Pixel Watch and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 line.
Note that to use a Wear OS 3 watch you also need a compatible operating system on your phone. In theory it works with both iOS and Android, but at the time of writing only the Montblanc Summit 3 includes iOS support – the Galaxy Watch 4 line doesn’t, and neither the Pixel Watch nor the Galaxy Watch 5 line are expected to.