First Impressions of the One UI Watch 5 Beta Update

Owners of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 have recently been granted access to the One UI Watch 5 and Wear OS 4 beta updates. These updates are expected to improve and add new features to various aspects of the user experience, such as safety, fitness, and sleep.

Although the beta programme is not available in all countries, we have received feedback from Scott McBurney, a Samsung enthusiast and SamMobile friend. His experience with the first One UI Watch 5 beta was mixed, as is to be expected with unfinished software. While there are several positives, there are also a few drawbacks.

The more vibrant and visually appealing user interface is one of the noticeable enhancements. The interface now has a colourful design, giving it a new look when compared to the previous version. Notifications have also been given a polished makeover, with a grey background that improves their appearance. However, due to the subjective nature of aesthetics, not everyone may find these changes impressive, as evidenced by some screenshots.

In terms of health features, the Samsung Health app’s inactivity alerts are well-received. They serve as a helpful reminder to users to stay active and avoid long periods of inactivity. Furthermore, early reports indicate that the beta release had no negative impact on battery life, which is a good sign for the program’s initial phase. It remains to be seen, however, whether future beta updates will have any effect on battery performance.

Despite the positives, the first One UI Watch 5 beta contains a number of bugs and limitations. For example, the new hard fall detection feature, which is intended to improve safety, cannot be disabled. When a hard fall is detected, the watch automatically contacts the user’s emergency contact. Although a cancellation window is provided, this limitation may be of concern to some users. Furthermore, a bug has been discovered that allows users to add a tile/widget for blood pressure monitoring even if the feature is not available in their country. As such health features are not universally enabled on the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 in all countries, Samsung is likely to address this in future updates.

There are a few notable bugs worth mentioning. First, there have been reports of the screen taking longer than usual to turn on, which can be frustrating for users. Second, certain popular apps, such as Facer, which provides custom watch faces, are currently incompatible with the beta update. However, it is not uncommon for new operating system updates to temporarily break compatibility with existing apps, and this issue is expected to be resolved in the near future.

We will continue to provide updates and share new details with our readers as the One UI Watch 5 beta programme progresses in the coming weeks. While the final release date and timeframe for One UI Watch 5 and Wear OS 4 are unknown at this time, the update is expected to be available for the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 following the official launch of the Galaxy Watch 6 series, which will come with the new software pre-installed.

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