Google’s Wear OS platform has long been the laughing stock of the laptop community, but eventually the tides are changing. After years of neglect, Wear OS is finally getting a fair chance.
There’s been a lot more to get excited about in the world of Wear OS over the last year. The Snapdragon Wear 4100 series reinforced Fossil’s latest crop of watches to make them perform fairly solidly, and the Galaxy Watch 4 ushered in Wear OS 3. Plus, Google is finally making a Pixel Watch!
But today there has been the biggest boost in the Wear OS market to date: Qualcomm is finally making a good chip. This is one of the two things that clearly gives Wear OS a chance to grow and thrive.
Qualcomm markets the minimum for the maximum effort
The impact of today’s revelation of the Snapdragon W5 + Gen 1 chip cannot be underestimated.
Qualcomm has been the key name in Android smartwatch chips since the platform became known as Android Wear, but the company has always introduced the bare minimum.
The 2016 Snapdragon Wear 2100 had some smartwatch optimizations, but it was built with old technology. The chip used a 28 nm process, far removed from the 14 nm process used by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 the same year. At the time, that was great. Android Wear was not particularly demanding and the smartwatch market was still in its infancy.
Two years later, however, Qualcomm doubled down on using this old technology with the Snapdragon Wear 3100, which was effectively the same chip but with a coprocessor to download some tasks. The pressure was on at the time. The 2018 Snapdragon 845 used a 10 nm process and Google’s platform demanded more performance. A 28 nm chip actively maintained Wear OS and even doubling the amount of RAM was only going to improve performance.
The Fossil Sport was the first Snapdragon Wear 3100 watch
With the Qualcomm pattern established, that meant waiting two years to put the next chip in its place. That moment didn’t work at all, as the smartwatch market started to really grow in 2019 and COVID hit 2020, it only further increased the demand for laptops, but left Wear OS behind. Qualcomm finally launched the Snapdragon Wear 4100 series later in 2020 with a much improved 12 nm process, but it was too late to capitalize on it. Mobvoi was the only customer in the 4100 series for almost an entire year, and Fossil’s offerings for the 4100+ were average at best. Google had moved on to bigger things, preparing its Wear OS 3 update which was announced in 2021 and which later debuted in the excellent Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 series.
Now, Qualcomm has finally changed things. The Snapdragon W5 and W5 + are based on a much more efficient 4 nm process with great promises of performance and battery gains, and frankly, we believe them. The Galaxy Watch 4’s 5nm chip surpassed what Qualcomm offered before, so a Samsung with a Snapdragon chip should be in at least the same realm.
Simply put, this is huge
And the most important thing here is that this chip is not just for one device. Samsung has not yet made the Galaxy Watch 4 series Exynos W920 available to anyone, but the Snapdragon W5 series will be available to basically everyone. Mobvoi and Oppo are already on board, and it’s hard to imagine Fossil not taking the opportunity for the next few months or so.
Chips have always been the main problem of Wear OS. Google’s platform itself was pretty good, but slowed down by poor performance that also hampered apps. But that was always a “hen and egg” situation. Qualcomm had no incentive to make better chips for smart watches that people didn’t buy, and people didn’t want to buy smart watches slowed down by these problems that came from the chip.
Finally, Qualcomm has taken a step forward in solving the problem and, combined with Wear OS 3, is a perfect storm to give the platform the breathing space it always needs.
The Galaxy Watch 4 was a sign of things to come
Google is giving Wear OS the Android model
But beyond the chip that, again, has always been the main problem, Google is also making Wear OS a much more flexible platform.
During its launch as Android Wear, Google explicitly said that its OEM partners could not alter the platform as they do with traditional Android phones. An Android Wear smartwatch would be identical in terms of basic software whether it comes from Motorola, Samsung, Sony, LG or anyone else: side note: hey, there were so many partners in their day.
This is a rule that Google has slowly eroded over time. Some partners would include custom applications, others would adjust system colors. Mobvoi began to include its own app drawer in recent models, and over the past two years Google has opened up great customization to some overseas partners, such as Oppo.
But Wear OS 3 is the real turning point.
Samsung was our first sign of what was to come. The Galaxy Watch 4 runs a version of Wear OS that can’t be recognized by Google’s taste. It doesn’t use the Wear OS app and everything works differently. The only items that open are Play Store, some key elements of the system and applications: Do you find it familiar?
Wear OS is very clearly adopting the Android model, where Google provides a basic operating system that its partners have the authority to adjust to suit their needs. Some will make heavy customizations, like Samsung. Others, like Montblanc, seem more satisfied with Google’s designs.
Montblanc has its own configuration app, as do all the others
But outside of the watch itself, this also allows smart watch partners to better connect with their customers. A single application will no longer be used for each smartwatch. Samsung has its. Montblanc has his. Fossil is working on his own, and everyone else will do the same; even Google has a “Pixel Watch” app up and running. While this creates a headache for people like me who wear multiple smart watches, it’s great news for the average customer.
Smart watch makers can create an app that completely includes the experience they want to create, from pairing to management and fitness.
Will it work?
But the real question here boils down to where we are going from here: the stars are aligned for Wear OS to finally see significant growth and success. But has it already been done too badly? Samsung is clearly happy and finding success with its shift to Google’s platform, but can Mobvoi, Fossil and other brands recover from years of being left to fend for themselves?
Really, we’ll have to wait and see. But one thing is clear: there has never been a better time to look for a smartwatch to go with your Android phone.
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