You told us: Here's what OS your next smartwatch will run

There are a wealth of smartwatches to choose from with each packing a list of strengths and weaknesses. Some consumers might base their buying decision on hardware, while others may consider the OS that the watch runs. We focused on the latter in a recent poll, asking users which OS their next smartwatch will run. Read on for the results below.

What OS will your next smartwatch run?

Results

We tallied over 2,500 votes on this poll since it went live on October 15. Despite the abundance of choices on the market, our readers gravitated towards the big two. Leading the pack with 49.4% of the vote is Wear OS 3. Google’s new wearable OS, co-developed with Samsung for the Galaxy Watch 4 series, is only set to launch on other companies’ products in 2022. Either these readers are waiting a year to purchase a new smartwatch or they are willing to invest in Samsung’s latest wearable line.

Coming in second, unsurprisingly, is Apple’s watchOS. Notably, claiming 16.4% of the vote on an Android-focused website is no mean feat. We still believe the Apple Watch is the best smartwatch you can buy, and it seems that several readers agree.

So which OS leads the rest? Well, it might come as a surprise. Zepp OS, arriving with the Amazfit GTR 3 Pro and others, garnered 7.4% of the vote, beating the likes of Fitbit, Garmin, Tizen, and HUAWEI’s Lite OS.

Finally, it’s no shock that Wear OS 2 languishes behind the competition with just 2.8% of the vote. Although several new smartwatches, including the Fossil Gen 6, recently launched running the platform, few are guaranteed upgrades to Wear OS 3. As a result, the majority of Wear OS 2 watches are no longer a sure investment.

Your comments

• roaduardo: Apple WatchOS has just been the most consistent for me during my use. I tried Sammy’s Watch 4 Classic for a couple of weeks and that’s given me some new hope that smartwatches on Android won’t be shite but then again it’s really only a great option if you’re using a Samsung phone. Someone on Android needs to at least match Apple’s fit and finish, both in terms of hardware and software reliability.
• Techngro: I saw an ESP32-based smartwatch devkit on Banggood (Lilygo T-Watch v3). Looks like my next smartwatch OS will be one of my own making.
• Kenneth McConkie: Probably Wear OS 2, at least at first. Wear OS 3 is currently exclusive to Samsung watches, which I refuse to buy. I don’t need my experience bogged down by Samsung apps I’m never gonna use, and I despise One UI. My next watch will probably be a Fossil Gen 6, (unless a Pixel Watch is announced in the future,) and that watch is promised Wear OS 3 in late 2022.
• Painfully_Candid: I’m a scuba diver, so I always wear my dive watch. I have no use for smartwatches. My dive watch never needs a recharge or battery replacement (the face is also a PV converter) and it automatically syncs its time with the built-in standard time multi-band radio antenna, in addition to typical diving functions. If someone comes up with a smartwatch that does all that, then I will consider switching. For now, they are all useless to me.
• Nick V: As a current Samsung GAW2 with an OP phone, I am waiting for the release of WearOS 3 on non-Samsung watches. I hope that a new SoC is on its way, but we will see.

That’s it for this smartwatch OS poll. Thanks for your votes and comments. If you missed out on casting your vote, or are interested in adding to the conversation, be sure to drop a comment below.