Samsung has been running the Wear OS 6-based One UI 8 Watch beta program since June this year. The program was initially limited to the Galaxy Watch 7 and Watch Ultra, with the company expanding it to include the Watch 6 only in September. Now, two months later, the Galaxy Watch 5 is joining the beta bandwagon and getting a taste of Wear OS 6 in select markets.
Both the Galaxy Watch 5 and Watch 5 Pro are now part of Samsung’s One UI 8 Watch beta program. You can enroll through the Samsung Members app, though for now, only Watch 5 owners in South Korea can join. The beta should make its way to the US soon, but it’s unlikely to reach other regions, similar to betas for other Galaxy Watch models.
Samsung has also been beta testing One UI 8 Watch for the Galaxy Watch 6 and recently released the fifth beta firmware with minor bug fixes. A stable release should roll out soon, unless the company discovers another major bug.
So far, despite the One UI 8 Watch beta program running for months, the company has only updated the Watch Ultra (2024) and Watch 7 lineup to the stable channel.
Samsung will not open the One UI 8 Watch beta program for the Galaxy Watch 4 — its first WearOS 3 smartwatch. Instead, the wearable will be directly updated to stable Wear OS 6, presumably by the end of the year. It will be the last major OS update for the watch, which debuted in August 2021.
One UI 8 Watch brings a bunch of improvements
Wear OS 6 and One UI 8 Watch are among the biggest updates to the platform since their inception. Google claims Wear OS 6 brings improved performance, smoother system animations, and boosts battery life by up to 10%.
In addition to this, One UI 8 Watch brings its own set of improvements, such as revamped tiles and new customization options, Running Coach, an Antioxidant Index, and Vascular Load.
If anything, expect One UI 8 Watch to radically improve the experience of using your Galaxy Watch 5 when it lands later this year.
