In August 2021, fans of smartwatches got what many of us had always hoped for: a Samsung laptop with Google software. The watch that aimed to usher in this new era of Android wearables was the Galaxy Watch 4 series running a Wear OS 3 developed jointly by Samsung and Google. It had the core of the previous generation of Wear OS software, except for one notable omission: Google Assistant.
This is not a new revelation, but in the last few weeks it has made me think about the peculiar situation with the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, Google Assistant and the rumored Google Pixel Watch. Since Samsung released its smartwatch last fall, consumers have been told that Google Assistant was on the way – several times. But it’s almost eight months since the watch’s release date, and it’s still not here. I do not think it’s a coincidence.
To get our hopes up
I bought the Galaxy Watch 4 – twice – and although Google Assistant was not a significant contributing factor in any of the purchases, it lifts its annoying head every time I want to use it on my watch. I was so excited when it looked like the feature would be rolled out to the laptop any day now, only to find out it was a bug.
Then came the massive Pixel Watch leaks that happened over the last week. While it was all going on, it struck me that Wear OS 3’s exclusivity on Samsung’s smartwatches, the lack of Google Assistant on them, and the hopeful announcement of a Google wearable might be related.
The Galaxy Watch 4 is an overall great device, but its lack of Google Assistant is confusing.
Ok, what I’m about to say is completely speculative and based on my own crazy thoughts – but listen to me. What if the deal gave Samsung the exclusive rights to Wear OS 3, but it did not get Google Assistant. This is because Google has planned the Pixel Watch and wants to debut the voice assistant on its own smartwatch on Google I / O. Following the announcement, Google Assistant would then find its way to the Galaxy Watch 4 series and in the coming months Wear OS 3 to other brands.
A plausible theory
I reached out to Jitesh Ubrani, head of research for IDC’s worldwide device tracking, and presented my theory to him. He told me: “Given how prominent Google Assistant is on Pixel phones and how it is used as an important differentiator, I think it’s natural that Google would probably do something similar with Pixel Watch by making the Assistant a central function and that’s probably also the reason why Samsung’s latest watches have not activated this function yet. “
Whether this theory is true or not, as someone who keeps trying to love the Galaxy Watch 4, the lack of Google Assistant is a thorn in its side. Especially considering that every other Wear OS watch on the market – except the one that has the latest version of the software and no doubt has the more advanced internal specifications – does not have it.
With the Snapdragon 4100, Google Assistant is far smarter and actually useful.
A few years ago, having Google Assistant on a Wear OS watch was less than an ideal experience. Although it was possible to use the assistant on older watches, it required a lot of patience. But with newer devices using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 4100 series, like the TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra, Google Assistant is far smarter and actually useful to the point that I miss it when I do not have it.
I asked Ubrani if he felt the Galaxy Watch 4’s lack of Google Assistant had held back the clock, and he said, “I do not think the lack of Google Assistant has held back the success of the Galaxy Watch 4. In our estimation, Samsung sent the 7 , 1 million WearOS watches in the second half of 2021, significantly higher than the 5.6 million Tizen watches it shipped during the second half of 2020. Much of this growth was driven by Samsung’s aggressive marketing rather than the fact that it ran on Google’s latest OS. My point is that when it comes to Samsung’s wearables, their success is based on Samsung’s hard work, not Google’s services. “
It does not make sense that a feature so ingrained in the best Android smartwatches is absent from the flagship watch.
The figures show that Samsung has not had trouble sending a lot of its Wear OS smartwatch, but according to Android Central’s editor of Dope Shit, Jerry Hildenbrand, the laptop is still a flop. Now it can be discussed what fully constitutes and causes failure. Is it due to lack of apps? Is it because there are more Apple Watches in the wild than Galaxy Watch 4 devices? Again, in this case, why and if the watch is a failure is something that can be discussed with nausea.
But that a feature so ingrained in both the best Android smartwatches and Android phones is absent from the “flagship watch” eight months later just doesn’t make sense – unless it was for a good reason. Maybe a Pixel Watch is the reason.
As the Galaxy Watch 4 approached its release, the leak and the discussions pointed directly to Samsung. As for what it should do with the newly built Wear OS 3, I was worried that Google was giving up too much on Samsung – and until recently, I still felt that way. But maybe it’s all been part of Samsung’s plan and deal to focus. The OEM is the face of Android smartphones, so why not give it the same chance for watches?
Maybe it’s all been part of Samsung’s plan and deal to focus.
The other part of the Wear OS 3 story is that no other watch has a device running the software at this time. A common thread among the devices that have Google Assistant is that they all run a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor – the Galaxy Watch 4 does not. And if the rumors are true, neither does the Pixel Watch.
I asked Ubrani what he thought of another strategy idea from Google to support a Pixel Watch. Could a slow rollout of Wear OS 3 to other brands be similarly strategic and beneficial? Ubrani replied: “When it comes to other brands, I think having some sort of exclusivity period for Google’s latest certainly plays a role, but maybe it’s also added development time to have a different chipset.”
Time will tell
All of this has been to say a few things. I’m tired of waiting for Google Assistant on my Galaxy Watch 4 Classic. With all the leakage and rumors surrounding the Pixel Watch, I want even more for Google to stop messing around and release the case. Finally, I want to see Wear OS 3 arrive on other smartwatches. But there’s nothing I can do about any of it, and this is just my way of trying to understand it in my head.