Search results for

All search results
Best daily deals

Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.

Samsung officially out of the Android Wear game (UPDATE: Maybe not!)

Samsung has officially announced that they have no plans to produce any future Android Wear devices. This isn't too surprising, seeing as we haven't seen an Android Wear device from them since 2014.
By

Published onMay 24, 2016

samsung-logo-x-x-mwc-2015 (1)
UPDATE: Engadget has reached out to Samsung regarding the Fast Company report that the Korean company was ceasing development of Android Wear products. Although Samsung's response is ambiguous, it does reveal that the company might just have plans for Android Wear for the future: "We disagree with Fast Company's interpretation. Samsung has not made any announcement concerning Android Wear and we have not changed our commitment to any of our platforms."

If you were (irrationally) looking forward to an Android Wear device from Samsung sometime in the future, we have some unfortunate if not wholly unanticipated news. The company has formally declared that they have no intention of creating any future Android Wear smartwatches. This comes as no surprise to some, who may have noticed that the Korean tech titan hasn’t released an Android Wear smartwatch since the Gear Live all the way back in 2014. The Gear Live remains the only Android Wear device ever produced by Samsung, and it has since been discontinued.

Hands on with Android Wear 2.0!
Reviews

The reason for this decision is fairly straightforward. According to Samsung executives, their in-house wearable operating system Tizen OS has outstripped Android Wear in terms of battery efficiency. It makes sense that Samsung would want to stick with their own OS, especially since they’ve started rolling it out to other, non-wearable devices such as televisions and refrigerators.

It appears that Samsung fans will be left out in the cold when it comes to experiencing all the new features of Android Wear 2.0, but we’ve no doubt that the company will continue bringing improvements and new features to Tizen OS going forward. What are your thoughts regarding Samsung bowing out of the Android Wear game? An obvious move that has been coming for a long time, or something of a disappointment? Let us know your opinion in the comments below!