Last week, Google released the Wear OS 6 update based on Android 16 for the Pixel Watch 2 and 3. Owners of the first generation of the smartwatch were left out. Google has now commented on this at the request of heise online.
The distribution of the update to Wear OS 6, which includes Material 3 Expressive, a pinch more battery life, and other new features such as a dynamic color scheme based on the watch face, as well as revised alarm, stopwatch, and timer apps, is reserved for the newer Pixel Watch generations. This means that only Pixel Watches 2 to 4 will receive the update, although Google’s support document on the update guarantee for the first Pixel Watch 1 smartwatch promises updates until at least October 2025. Accordingly, the watch should theoretically still have received an update.
Pixel Watch 1 remains on Wear OS 5.1
But this is not the case, as Google confirmed to heise online: “We’re committed to providing you with a great experience across the Pixel Watch portfolio so that your devices get better and better over time. This includes three years of support to bring you new features, improvements, and security updates. The Pixel Watch 1 did not receive Wear OS 6 with the October update and will continue to run Wear OS 5.1.”
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The first Pixel Watch will therefore remain on Wear OS 5.1 and will no longer receive the major update to Android 16. Wear OS 5.1 is based on Android 15, which was released in April 2025 for the Pixel Watch 1 to 3 models. According to Google, the first Pixel Watch will still receive security and bug fixes despite the end of support after October.
The manufacturer indirectly hints at a specific reason why Google is denying the first Pixel Watch the major Wear OS update by saying that it wants to offer “a great experience” with the watches. Given that the first generation of the smartwatch had a fairly old processor from 2018 on board in the form of the Exynos 9110, which was also used in the Galaxy Watch 3, it is likely that this is simply too weak for the new operating system. When the Pixel Watch was launched in 2022, the chip was already four years old. For a product that is only three years old, this decision by Google is nevertheless extremely annoying.
Unfortunately, Google also only promises three years of software updates for its more recent Watch models. The current Pixel Watch 4 will receive updates until October 2028, while Google has been more generous with its Pixel smartphones: since the Pixel 8, the devices have received new Android versions, security patches, and Pixel Drops, which bring new features every quarter, for a period of seven years. Google should apply a similarly generous update policy to its watches.
(afl)
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This article was originally published in
It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.
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