Samsung apparently has another Galaxy Watch for 2021; it might run Android instead of Tizen

Ben Schoon | Feb 19 2021 - 5:42 am PT

Samsung makes some of our favorite smartwatches to pair to an Android smartphone, and out of pattern we might be getting another Galaxy Watch for 2021. In a twist, too, it might run Android at its core.

According to a report from GalaxyClub, Samsung has two new smartwatch models in the works for 2021, both carrying model numbers that imply they will be successors to the Galaxy Watch and Galaxy Watch 3 rather than Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Active lineup. The model numbers in question are SM-R86x and SM-R87x, with the previous Galaxy Watch 3 having SM-R8xx model numbers on its various models.

Most likely, the two model numbers we’re seeing so far are just different sizes of the watch, with the final number indicating the difference between Bluetooth and LTE models.

It’s out of pattern for Samsung to be releasing another Galaxy Watch in 2021, though. Going back, the original Galaxy Watch was succeeded the following year with both Galaxy Watch Active models (the first having an extremely short life), and the year after that the Galaxy Watch 3. It’s reasonable to think that a Watch Active would be coming in 2021, but the evidence so far suggests otherwise.

Another important puzzle piece to this story comes from Ice Universe. The Samsung leaker says that, for its 2021 Galaxy Watch, Samsung will be ditching the in-house Tizen OS it has been using for the past few years in exchange for Google’s Android — note: He did not say Wear OS.

Samsung's new watch will use Android to replace Tizen.
— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) February 19, 2021

Why would Samsung go for Android on its smartwatches over Tizen? With Wear OS critically scorned and Tizen watches generally praised, it seems like a bad move. However, switching to Android would come with benefits. For one, the app and watchface catalog on Wear OS is highly superior to Samsung’s, and the same applies to security, as Tizen has been in hot water for its security flaws several times in the past. Notably too, this isn’t the first time Samsung has been rumored to ditch Tizen on its wearables.

This all remains to be seen, but Samsung will likely be debuting its 2021 Galaxy Watch later this year alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and whatever other devices the company has up its sleeve.