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Samsung’s Gear S4 running Wear OS may arrive w/ ‘Galaxy Watch’ branding, some specs revealed

A couple of months ago rumors started hitting the web that Samsung was going to adopt Google’s Wear OS on an upcoming smartwatch. Since then, we’ve heard mixed reports, but today a well-known leaker is giving us a handful of new details.

To quickly recap what we’ve heard so far, back in May a rumor hit the web claiming that Samsung was switching from Tizen to Wear OS for its next smartwatch. We’ve weighed out the pros and cons of such a move, and the concept is certainly pretty exciting.

Those rumors were given a lot more credence not long after when Evan Blass reported that Samsung was internally testing Gear devices with Wear OS on board. However, he later clarified that Google was the one who set up those watches for Samsung employees to test out. Since then, things have been pretty quiet.

Now, well-known Samsung tipster Ice Universe is giving us a few more details after his initial post. He reiterates in a tweet that the company will be adopting Wear OS (although he calls it by its former name Android Wear) on the Gear S4. However, the watch will actually be called the “Galaxy Watch.” This actually makes a lot of sense, as Samsung has previously patented this name, and having “Galaxy” branding on Android products is pretty typical for the company.

Along with that, the tweet confirms a few details about the hardware. For one, it backs up a previous report that this device will offer a 470 mAh battery. It also mentions “PLP package” which is a new type of chip manufacturing process that results in smaller, cheaper boards which could free up some space inside of the watch. It also reveals that the watch should be able to take blood pressure measurements, something the Galaxy S9 can also do.

Finally, the tweet says this upcoming watch should also have a “new UX interaction.” The details on this are a bit unclear at the moment, as the implications could be fairly wide. It’s possible this could simply refer to different actions with the signature rotating bezel within the Wear OS environment, but it could mean anything. We’ll have to wait for more details to know for sure.

Of course, nothing is official just yet, so take all of this with a grain of salt. But there’s a chance we’ll be learning more about this device at Samsung’s Note 9 launch or maybe at IFA.


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