Blissful holidays to all my fellow Put on OS watch house owners and a preemptive comfortable new 12 months! Final week, I appeared again on Wear OS’s strongest year yet and promised that I might share my predictions for what might occur with Android smartwatches in 2025. So right here I’m, bearing the promise of presents for loyal Put on OS customers — and a few lumps of pessimistic coal.
I am optimistic that 2025 shall be a transformative 12 months for Wear OS watches, constructing off of 2024’s sturdy basis and the long-awaited payoff of recent Snapdragon {hardware} and Google’s Gemini push.
That stated, we will additionally see warning indicators in what occurred in 2024 that would result in some angst for Android watch house owners this 12 months — relying on which model you personal. So good and dangerous, let’s break down what we count on to see from Put on OS watches in 2025, each for {hardware} and software program!
New Snapdragon {hardware} (and a swap to RISC-V)
Google, Mobvoi, OnePlus, and Xiaomi used the 2022 Snapdragon W5 Gen 1 SoC in practically all of their Put on OS watches over the past 2.5 years. Not like annual smartphone chips, watches haven’t got an software like gaming that requires a lot headroom; these watches are speedy sufficient with 2GB of RAM and outdated silicon. Nonetheless, it is honest to count on an improve in 2025, as the newest Put on used a Cortex-A53 core first introduced in 2012.
I interviewed Qualcomm VP Dino Bekis about Snapdragon Wear in October, and he all however promised that they’d have a Snapdragon Put on chip announcement in 2025. Whereas he supplied no specifics about cores, he described it as a “feature-focused” and “AI-driven” chip that would “scale for a number of years” as a result of it’s going to have sufficient compute functionality to focus on no matter instruments OEMs need.
Assuming it follows Qualcomm’s naming conventions, the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 would most likely energy most Put on OS watches via 2027. It could use RISC-V, the open-source, energy-efficient platform with customized cores that Qualcomm and Google first partnered on in 2023.
Bekis stated the 2 corporations are nonetheless engaged on porting Put on OS software program to RISC-V and that the transition might make Put on OS watches longer-lived, with “per week’s value of battery life” because the purpose. I doubt we’ll hit that anytime quickly, however it’s one thing to hope for.
Anshel Sag, principal analyst for Moor Insights & Technique, referred to as the potential RISC-V change “extraordinarily fascinating,” praising that they’d have cheaper customized chips specialised for the applying and that it will “open the door” for brand new instruments. He warned me that he “thinks RISC-V will nonetheless take a bit longer than anticipated,” however “the payoff may very well be enormous.” That would lead Google into searching for options for its Pixel Watch 4, if it isn’t prepared by the 2025 deadline.
Google faces a Snapdragon/Tensor crossroads
You’d moderately assume the Pixel Watch 4 will use the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2, however one leak steered Google might play it safe and develop a Tensor chip in-house that is primarily a lower-powered model of the Exynos W1000 within the Galaxy Watch 7, with a 2020 Cortex-A78 core and two Cortex-A55 cores.
Google’s present Tensor technique with telephones is to focus extra on in-house growth (partnered with Samsung LSI) and highly effective AI efficiency on the expense of benchmarked energy. Google might take an analogous method with watches, deciding it would not want a lot headroom and placing extra emphasis on a robust NPU for Gemini duties quite than pay Qualcomm a premium to license its Snapdragon chips.
Google’s partnership with Samsung underpins Put on OS’s success, and staying in lockstep would make joint software program growth simpler. Or it’s going to go all-in on RISC-V to attempt to differentiate its Pixel household from Samsung’s. I can solely speculate on which path Google will take; I hope it chooses the latter, just because it will make the Pixel Watch 4 in 2025 extra intriguing, whereas additionally worrying that Google will take the safer route.
Well being and health will stay a main focus
That is such a protected wager that I will not spend too lengthy dwelling on it. Nonetheless, Put on OS 6 will proceed Google and Samsung’s quest to attempt to sustain with health rivals like Apple and Garmin.
A wholesome portion of Wear OS 5 and One UI 6 Watch updates centered on well being options (e.g., sleep apnea / Power Rating / Cardio Load) and exercise instruments (e.g., AI teaching / operating type evaluation / tempo or HR targets throughout exercises).
With Put on OS 6 watches, Google will hopefully add dual-band GPS like Samsung, in addition to give attention to different sports activities like biking and weightlifting to enhance its newfound operating focus. Samsung will most likely copy Google and Apple and implement some type of coaching load function, displaying the short- and long-term affect of exercises.
We might additionally see new well being instruments, however I will stay skeptical of non-invasive blood glucose till it occurs, regardless of what number of instances corporations say they need to do it. And I do not know what different non-gimmicky knowledge factors these corporations have left so as to add; perhaps mental health would be the subsequent smartwatch focus.
Gemini will blow up on smartwatches
Google spent 2024 cramming Gemini into each Google service and product that would assist it, and ended the 12 months promising that Gemini can be the baseline for its new good glasses OS, Android XR. Even when I haven’t got any proof, I am pretty assured Google will make Gemini accessible with Put on OS 6 as a Pixel Watch 4 killer app — probably a stripped-down model of Gemini Live.
This assumes Google can take Gemini Nano — the “smallest” model for smartphone on-device AI instruments — and port it right down to work on a smartwatch processor. It’d rely on what sort of energy the Snapdragon W5 Gen 2 can ship, and will shut out present Android watches with last-gen {hardware} not designed for Gemini.
“On the Gemini entrance, I believe Google nonetheless wants to determine a technique to get Gemini to run easily on such performance-limited {hardware},” Sag informed me. “That would include RISC-V or another extra succesful platform.” However he agreed that “proper now I do not assume Google Assistant efficiency is the place it ought to be,” and stated that he might see AI changing into “the connective cloth between all of our wearables.”
If I am unsuitable that Gemini might be scaled right down to wearable type, I nonetheless count on Google so as to add extra AI-powered methods to Put on OS in some type. For instance, it might add its Fitbit Insight Explorer to the Pixel Watch 4, so you might ask for context about your current exercises — just like Zepp Coach on Amazfit watches.
Samsung, which has all the time supplied Bixby and Assistant, would additionally get entry to Gemini. It just lately unveiled Bixby AI with LLM capabilities, however it’s unique to Chinese language telephones for now; we do not know if it might be prepared by the Galaxy Watch 8. Nonetheless, One UI 6 Watch had loads of AI methods like Power Rating and auto-suggested replies, and Samsung will most likely give attention to different area of interest options, with a mixture of cloud computing and on-device methods.
Samsung WON’T go the squircle route with Galaxy Watch 8
In March 2024, SamMobile reported inside knowledge that Samsung was “seeking to carry again the squarish design for its smartwatches,” with “enthusiastic” inner assist for the plan. The Galaxy Watch 8 appeared the most probably candidate.
Samsung hasn’t bought a squircle watch for the reason that Gear S in 2014; though the Galaxy Watch Ultra seems to be extra square-shaped because of its titanium bezel, the show remains to be round. On the time, some Galaxy Watch followers resented the idea of abandoning the standard watch search for the squircle design so carefully related to Apple Watches.
I did not thoughts the thought on the time and located the report believable. However I just lately remembered this August report that Samsung chairman Lee Jae-yong allegedly lambasted the MX Division for “design plagiarism,” with the Galaxy Watch Extremely and Galaxy Buds Pro 3 too just like the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and AirPods Professional in options and appears.
Lee’s “indignant” response makes me doubt that Samsung’s inner enthusiasm for squircles will make it onto a mainline Galaxy Watch. Even when Samsung designed a squircle watch earlier than Samsung, most individuals would nonetheless see it as copying Apple, and that appears to be a sore spot for its chairman.
So do not be stunned if the Galaxy Watch 8 seems to be quite a bit just like the final 4 Galaxy Watches: machine-cut, flat, and bezel-less. As for different fashions, we’re due for our biannual Galaxy Watch 8 Traditional, and Samsung would possibly preserve promoting the Extremely as is for an additional 12 months earlier than progressing to the Extremely 2 (or abandoning it prefer it did the Watch 5 Professional).
Put on OS will carry again Facer
This can be nothing greater than wishful considering since Facer was one of my favorite Wear OS apps earlier than Google made the XML Watch Face Format the default on Put on OS 5 to increase battery life and left the decade-old app and its builders excessive and dry. However I need Facer again, and I believe it’s going to occur in 2025.
Google will not return on its restriction and let battery-guzzling faces again on Put on OS; they make the watches look short-lived for aesthetics. However its present answer — scrolling via a protracted listing of watch faces within the Play Retailer with none group — is horrible. Facer says it is “working arduous with Google to unravel this problem” and supply another, and I consider them.
My guess is that Google will as soon as once more enable third-party apps to share watch faces to Put on OS so long as they’re XML-coded, which might let Facer again onto new Put on OS watches — even when most of its 500,000 faces aren’t appropriate anymore. On the very least, enjoyable XML watch faces can be far more findable on Facer, which might, in flip, incentivize builders to start out making artistic XML faces for us.
My much less dependable 2025 Put on OS predictions
Not one of the above is definite, however I no less than have proof or strong causes for speculating. Now I will throw out my 2025 Put on OS predictions that are not primarily based on something besides vibes:
I will not be stunned if one other Android OEM makes a Put on OS watch. Motorola, which as soon as bought the Android Put on-based Moto 360 however now focuses on price range Moto OS trackers, looks as if a attainable candidate.
I am additionally nervous about slower Put on OS updates in 2025. Admittedly, this has been a problem since Wear OS 3, however I am nervous that manufacturers like Mobvoi will actually battle with Put on OS 5 and preserve promoting Put on OS 4 watches within the interim. And with Put on OS 6, the hole between when new and last-gen watches get it may very well be even wider.
We might very nicely see the primary Wear OS watch with Masimo health sensors, although it is attainable that the {hardware} will not be prepared to include into watches till after 2025.
Lastly, I will exit on a limb and guess that Google will make Fitbit accessible on all Put on OS watches in 2025. Even when it means dropping that exclusivity for Pixel Watches, the info payoff can be value it for them.
