Some of Samsung’s oldest smartwatches and fitness trackers are reaching the end of this mortal coil, it appears.
A report from GalaxyClub in the Netherlands reveals a number of early Samsung wearables will not be compatible with the company’s 2021 smartphones.
Those include the 2013 Galaxy Gear smartwatch, along with the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, Gear S, and Gear Fit devices that arrived into the middle of the decade. A translated notification in the Samsung Members app brings the word down from above.
“The existing service quality of older Samsung Gear wearables cannot be guaranteed and ensured through app updates alone,” it reads (via Android Authority). “Therefore, older Samsung Gear wearables can no longer be used in conjunction with new Samsung smartphones (from the year of publication 2021).”
Related: Best smartwatch 2020
Of course, if you’re not planning to upgrade your handset to a 2021 Samsung Galaxy S21, for example, then your watch will continue to work for as long as you keep that handset. However, as soon as you graduate to a phone made in 2021 or beyond, it’ll be curtains for your old Gear device.
Samsung hasn’t said why it is ending support for the devices right now, but considering the 2020 phones will continue to roll with the Gear devices, it’s unlikely anything to do with the roll out of Android 11 and One UI 3, which commenced this week.
In all truth, it’s unclear how many of these wearables are still in use, given it took a while for Samsung to really make progress on this front.
It’s a different story these days, given the quality of Samsung’s most recent Galaxy Watch smartwatches, which are now emerging as the top choice for gadget fans with Android smartphones. Our reviewer gave the Galaxy Watch 3 4.5/5 stars and called it “a top notch wearable that ticks nearly all the right boxes.”
Have you got good memories of Samsung’s early wearable devices? Share them with us @trustedreviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.