I simply need Samsung to unlock its Galaxy Watch lineup

Wearables have come a good distance from simply counting steps. Lately, they’re feature-packed wellness companions, monitoring us by means of all the pieces from sweaty exercises to abbreviated REM cycles. For lots of buyers, the thought of a day by day well being hub is the entire level. It’s additionally precisely why Samsung’s method feels more and more self-defeating. It’s now 2026, and a number of the model’s headline smartwatch options nonetheless rely upon what cellphone 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 couple of years (largely due to Put on OS), the nice print hasn’t modified a lot. The entire largest limitations tie again to Samsung Well being Monitor, which stays unique to Galaxy telephones. That features blood stress monitoring, ECG readings, irregular coronary heart rhythm notifications, and sleep apnea detection. Put merely, if it runs by means of Samsung Well being Monitor, it doesn’t absolutely work with no Galaxy cellphone. I can strap Samsung’s {hardware} to my wrist, however entry to its greatest instruments relies on my loyalty to the ecosystem. 

That isn’t to say the model’s watches are bricked with no Galaxy cellphone. A lot of the fundamentals stay extensively 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 means 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 emblem in your cellphone. Google’s Pixel Watch line, for instance, retains its core well being options broadly accessible throughout Android units, not simply Pixel telephones. Certain, region-based limits include the territory for superior well being instruments, however that’s a separate situation (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 firms like Oura and Ultrahuman pair with basically any fashionable smartphone. Towards that backdrop, Samsung’s phone-based gatekeeping feels outdated and, at this level, somewhat cussed. I don’t anticipate 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 an alternative of a Galaxy S26. 

Wanting forward, there hasn’t been a lot in the way in which of significant leaks to date concerning the upcoming Galaxy Watch 9. What has surfaced factors to a fairly 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 season 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 develop entry to the options it already has. Decoupling instruments like ECG, blood stress monitoring, and sleep apnea detection from Samsung telephones would go rather a lot additional than one other incremental spec bump. The Galaxy Watch doesn’t want extra options, it simply wants fewer restrictions.