Is Wear OS any good?

[novicestar]

I am an Android user and the whole smartwatch market is very confusing. It seems like Wear OS is the official Smartwatch operating system. Yet most of the smartwatches are using other platforms. Is Wear OS very poor? Should I even consider watches in this segment?

 

[WatchSmarty]

Wear OS doesn't have the greatest history. Has been not the best performing operating system with many noted bugs. Sluggish user experience has been common. Another problem is poor battery life.

This could be changing with the new Snapdragon 4100 chip. Better performance and battery life addressing some of the concerns. Need to see more watches using this processor before determining if Wear OS has life.

 

[ridelink]

I am looking at the Kospet Pro 2. Is this considered a Wear OS watch? It comes with Android 10.

 

[WatchSmarty]

Android 10 is a category on its own. Essentially they are smartphones running Android 10 shrunk down to a watch form factor. They do not use Wear OS. They have access to the full pay store but currently don't have Google Pay functionality.

These "Full Android" watches are typically designed to replace your smartphone rather than complement it.

 

[lobstertail]

When the big smartphone makers like Samsung stay away from Wear OS and create their own operating system, that must tell you something. I would avoid.

 

[WatchSmarty]

You are correct...Samsung, Huawei, LG all had Wear OS watches and have moved away.

Personally I would wait until we see a good Snapdragon 4100 watch on Wear OS. Also note that Google is going to be doing a major Wear OS update in 2021 that will update the OS to Android 11. Supposed to have 1 week battery life, better UI and more health features.

 

[microdemic]

I avoided Wearos due to some of those concerns. Currently have a GT2 Pro and it meets my needs. I guess if you are looking for Google Pay or Google Assistant, Wearos makes sense, but those are not features I was looking for.

 

[WatchSmarty]

Really there are 3 things that Wear OS offers. Google Pay, Google Assistant as you mentioned. Google Play store is great since most of the other proprietary Operating Systems have a very limited number of apps.

 

[nerok]

Unless Google revamps Wear OS and creates a Google Pixel smartwatch, don't think much will change.

 

[kospetuser]

I suggest looking at full android watches. Has google play, assistant and recent models are pretty decent.

 

[silverfox]

I don't like that there are no affordable Wear OS watches.

 

[lobstertail]

Would go with Samsung if you are looking for a well-rounded watch. I debated getting a Ticwatch Pro 3 but will be ordering the Galaxy Watch 3 instead. Seems to be an all around better watch...only drawback is no google playstore.

 

[jaipur]

Wondering with Google's purchase of Fitbit will mean for Wear OS? Doesn't make sense for Google to have to wearable platforms.

 

[WatchSmarty]

Expect it will be a few years before we see any changes. Google needs to complete the acquisition then determine what to do. Expect eventually there will be one Google wearable brand and operating system.

 

[dobb]

I have the Ticwatch Pro 3 and so far it seems to meet all my needs. Just need to figure out how to stop notifications when DND is on.

 

[novicestar]

Interesting. Seems like the Android watch market is a mess. No wonder Apple does so well in this area.

 

[WatchSmarty]

Apple does a much better job in this area. That is a fact.

 

[kospetuser]

I don't have much faith that Google will do a good job with Fitbit.

 

[novicestar]

I think I am going to take a chance with a Fossil Gen 5 that is selling for $139. At that price, seems like a reasonable choice. Will report back on what I think of WearOS once I get it.

 

[LondonDriver]

I am not a fan of Fitbit watches. The premium fee for extra data doesn't seem right when you are paying so much for the watch up front.