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Samsung has released the stable One UI 5 Watch update for the Galaxy Watch 5 series. The update is now rolling out for both models in South Korea. A wider release should follow in the coming days, covering units in the US and other global markets.
One UI 5 Watch is the latest iteration of Samsung’s custom watch platform. Based on Google’s Wear OS 4, it brings several new features and functional improvements to the Galaxy Watch family. The Korean firm has been beta-testing the new platform for its Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 4 lineups since early June.
It rolled out a total of five beta builds to these watches before ending the beta program earlier this month. Shortly after that, Samsung released the stable One UI 5 Watch build for beta testers in South Korea. The stable update is now available for all Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 5 Pro users in its home country, SamMobile reports.
Samsung will now gradually expand the rollout to more markets. It will also simultaneously release the One UI 5 Watch update for the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. If you’re using any of these watches, be on the lookout for a notification from the Galaxy Wearable app on your connected smartphone. You can also manually check for updates from the Settings app on your watch or the Watch settings section of the app.
Galaxy Watch 3 and older models won’t get One UI 5 Watch
Since One UI 5 Watch is based on Wear OS, it’ll only be available for Samsung smartwatches powered by Wear OS. The Korean firm has already shipped the Galaxy Watch 6 series with the new One UI version. It’s now pushing the update to the Galaxy Watch 5 series, with the Galaxy Watch 4 series expected to follow soon. However, older Galaxy Watch models won’t get One UI 5 Watch. That’s because Samsung smartwatches launched before 2021 don’t run Wear OS. They are powered by the Tizen platform.
But the Korean behemoth does have a surprise in store for Galaxy Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch Active 2 users. It’s porting some of the new watch faces introduced with One UI 5 Watch to their watches. Stretched Time and Perpetual are among the few “stylish and informative watch faces” the aging Tizen-powered smartwatches will get this fall. Note that Samsung has already rolled out the Galaxy Watch 6 watch faces to the Galaxy Watch 5 and Galaxy Watch 4. They rolled out separately without requiring a One UI 5 Watch update.