Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 & Watch 6 Classic will get One UI 6.1.
If you currently own a Galaxy Watch 4 or Watch 5, hold onto them because Samsung isn’t done rolling out the AI-infused One UI 6.
The company announced earlier this week that it is expanding its Galaxy AI suite of tools to wearables, specifically its range of smartwatches. “By combining powerful in-device artificial intelligence with the extensive Samsung Health app, Samsung is on its way to building some of the most personalized and secure health experiences yet,” the company explained in the announcement.
Features break down into Energy Score—which measures your daily energy levels through sleep statistics—previous day’s activity, heart rate variability, and more. There’s also a newly improved artificial intelligence sleep algorithm, which includes more in-depth measurement of sleep metrics like movements during sleep, sleep latency, and your breathing rate when you’re under.
On the exercise side, a new Workout Routine tool will create personalized workouts with different exercises, while runners get detailed Aerobic Threshold metrics and cyclists can quickly calculate their functional threshold power with AI. The tailored Wellness Tips tool will provide insights on how to move forward with suggestions based on your metrics.
Samsung says these tools will carry over to the new Galaxy Watches likely to be announced next month. Alongside the Galaxy Watch 4, Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, Galaxy Watch 5, Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic through a beta program starting in June.
With the announcement, it seems that the practice of condemning two-year-old devices to the dust heap appears to be on the way out. Technology manufacturers are increasingly adopting a lifespan-focused approach to selling devices. The days of an Android update for $700 devices seem to be over.
The Galaxy Watch 4, for example, was released in 2021. A year before AI as we understand it today hit the scene. Watch 4 owners couldn’t imagine getting a range of cutting-edge capabilities years after they bought it.
But there’s a catch, Samsung has reiterated that these AI tools will only be free until 2025. The company said this when it announced Galaxy AI in January, and hasn’t expanded on its plans since.
The reality is that there is a cost to extending the life cycle of a device. Whether that’s through eight years of software and security updates, or new AI tools that cost millions to develop. Samsung may or may not charge for Galaxy AI features next year, but there’s a tried-and-tested sales method that’s commonly used, across a variety of industries, to lure people into something free initially. We can hope for the best, but these language models from which AI features arise are not cheap to build or maintain.
With this announcement, I suspect Samsung is laying the groundwork for a health subscription plan. Of Apple, Google and Oura, it’s the only company that doesn’t currently have a premium tier for its fitness platform—Samsung Health. The arrival of the Galaxy Ring will likely mean a monthly subscription for in-depth features, which is exactly what Oura does (rumors have also pointed to this).
I can’t think of a clearer example of premium features than those powered by AI. There is a clear path for the Korean company to introduce a new monthly payment plan for its best health features.
Then the question arises, are they worth paying? In the case of Oura, if you’ve already been looking for a smart ring, then yes. The same is likely to apply to the Galaxy Ring. But from the evidence we have of AI-powered features on Galaxy phones, I’m less convinced.
Google’s new One plan, which bundles Gemini Advanced with Nest Aware and Fitbit Premium, wasn’t worth it to me. As good as the Gemini and Fitbit Premium are, they aren’t enticing enough for me to add another monthly payment to my stack. However, if Gemini had full control of my smart home and could process complex natural language requests while syncing with other Google products I use regularly, then yes, I’d pay for it.
Similarly, if Samsung’s Galaxy AI in a smartwatch can provide insights into my health and create a truly personalized fitness plan based on the data it’s collected, then I might be happy to hand over some cash. How Samsung differentiates its AI features from regular smartwatches will be interesting, because the announced capabilities sound like standard Galaxy Watch experiences. If the Korean company expects you to pay for them next year, it will need to have clear and prominent AI features that dramatically improve the Galaxy Watch experience.
