I simply need Samsung to unlock its Galaxy Watch lineup

Wearables have come a great distance from simply counting steps. Lately, they’re feature-packed wellness companions, monitoring us by way of every thing from sweaty exercises to abbreviated REM cycles. For lots of customers, the concept of a each day well being hub is the entire level. It’s additionally precisely why Samsung’s strategy feels more and more self-defeating. It’s now 2026, and a number of the model’s headline smartwatch options nonetheless rely upon what telephone you’re utilizing.

The Galaxy Watch lineup contains a number of the most succesful well being wearables you should buy. But, regardless of the lineup getting higher and higher in the previous few years (largely due to Put on OS), the fantastic print hasn’t modified a lot. All the greatest limitations tie again to Samsung Well being Monitor, which stays unique to Galaxy telephones. That features blood strain monitoring, ECG readings, irregular coronary heart rhythm notifications, and sleep apnea detection. Put merely, if it runs by way of Samsung Well being Monitor, it doesn’t absolutely work with out a Galaxy telephone. I can strap Samsung’s {hardware} to my wrist, however entry to its finest instruments is dependent upon my loyalty to the ecosystem. 

That isn’t to say the model’s watches are bricked with out a Galaxy telephone. A lot of the fundamentals stay broadly accessible, together with coronary heart charge monitoring, SpO2 monitoring, core sleep monitoring, exercise and exercise metrics, and physique composition measurements. All of those well being health monitoring instruments work throughout Android telephones by way of normal Samsung Well being and Put on OS help. It’s simply disappointing that Samsung’s most clinically significant options are those behind the wall.

Put on OS isn’t the fragmented platform it as soon as was, and the expectation now’s that your expertise follows your {hardware}, not the brand in your telephone. Google’s Pixel Watch line, for instance, retains its core well being options broadly accessible throughout Android gadgets, not simply Pixel telephones. Certain, region-based limits include the territory for superior well being instruments, however that’s a separate challenge (and one Samsung offers with too). As Put on OS siblings transfer away from brand-based restrictions, Samsung’s restrictions really feel more and more out of step.

Even exterior of Put on OS, the distinction is difficult to disregard. Garmin affords a platform-agnostic expertise, whereas sensible rings from corporations like Oura and Ultrahuman pair with basically any trendy smartphone. Towards that backdrop, Samsung’s phone-based gatekeeping feels outdated and, at this level, a bit cussed. I don’t count on my Put on OS watches to pair with iOS anytime quickly, and I’m not complaining that my Apple Watch solely works with an iPhone, however I do resent dropping key options only for pairing a Galaxy Watch Extremely with a Pixel 10 as a substitute of a Galaxy S26. 

Wanting forward, there hasn’t been a lot in the best way of significant leaks to date relating to the upcoming Galaxy Watch 9. What has surfaced factors to a reasonably typical replace, together with acquainted sizing, comparable battery expectations, and sure a brand new chip, with the standard spherical of software program and AI-driven well being tweaks layered on prime. To this point, there’s nothing that has me clamoring to get to the model’s summer time Unpacked occasion, the place the road will probably drop. 

It’s greater than probably that Samsung will tout accuracy enhancements and different well being function refinements. In actuality, if Samsung needs the Galaxy Watch to maintain main as a health-focused wearable, it ought to broaden entry to the options it already has. Decoupling instruments like ECG, blood strain monitoring, and sleep apnea detection from Samsung telephones would go lots additional than one other incremental spec bump. The Galaxy Watch doesn’t want extra options, it simply wants fewer restrictions.