Skip to main content

Will your watch get Android Wear 2.0? Read our guide to find out

android wear
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
Update: The Android Wear 2.0 upgrade is complete, and the devices slated to receive it already have. Android Wear 2.0 was based on Android 7.0 Nougat, and after many months of upgrades, Google is moving Android Wear devices over to Android 8.0 Oreo. Will your Android Wear watch get Oreo? Check out our list of the watches that will be getting the Android Wear Oreo upgrade.

Google launched Android Wear 2.0 early in 2017, and all new smartwatches run the latest version. A number of older watches were slated to receive the update, and we’ve chased up manufacturers and identified a set number of watches that will receive the update. They’re included below, along with watches that will not receive Android Wear 2.0.

We haven’t listed watches that came with the update, but you can check out our guide of all the Android Wear watches released in 2017.

Watches that will not receive the update

Asus

Lenovo

LG

Samsung

Sony

Watches that have received the update

Asus 

Casio

Fossil

Fossil updated its portfolio of smartwatches to Android Wear 2.0 beginning in mid-March.

Huawei

Lenovo

LG

Michael Kors

  • Michael Kors Access Bradshaw
  • Michael Kors Access Dylan

New Balance

Nixon

Polar

The M600’s update also packs Polar-specific features, like a swim-tracking mode that will measure metrics such as distance, pace, strokes per minute, stroke length, and strokes per pool length. It even touts support for additional languages, a newly designed interface, and boosts battery life to 36 hours.

Tag Heuer

  • Tag Heuer Connected Modular 45

What features are new?

The new update introduces a redesign in how users interact with the operating system. Rather than swiping left, right, up, and down in various screens, Android Wear 2.0 focuses on a simple, vertical design.

Version 2.0 also adds watch face “Complications,” which mimic subdials and act like miniature widgets for notifications and shortcuts for apps. It’s a way for users to see information at a glance, such as calendar appointments, fitness goal progression, and more. You can customize watch faces to perform actions with a single tap, thus allowing you to request an Uber ride or start a workout in mere seconds.

One of the bigger additions is Google Assistant — it debuted first in Allo, and then on the Google Pixel and Google Home.

Speaking of workouts, Google Fit also gets a more specific focus in Android Wear 2.0. The feature now tracks your pace, distance, heart rate — that is, if your watch has a heart-rate monitor — and calories burned while you’re walking, biking, or running. Fit can also track sit-ups, squats, push-ups, and weightlifting reps.

Then there’s the new built-in Play Store and standalone apps, meaning it doesn’t matter if you’re using an iPhone or Android device, and your phone doesn’t have to be near you — more so if you have an LTE-enabled watch. The update enables support for Android Pay, too, though you’ll need a smartwatch with NFC capabilities.

In addition, there are improved input options for responding to texts and messages. You can now use a keyboard, swipe through letters, dictate, scribble, and use smart replies designed to make it easier to type. You can also expand notifications, like you can in Android 7.0 Nougat, and tap on your preferred way to respond. These new input methods work in a myriad of popular messaging apps, such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

But one of the bigger additions in the update is Google Assistant. It first debuted in Allo, a messaging app, and then on the Google Pixel and Google Home. You have to press the power button on your watch to trigger it, or you can say “OK Google.”

Assistant can perform some of the same functions on the Pixel, allowing you to set reminders, find directions to work, book a restaurant, look up the weather, and carry out a host of other useful actions. Sadly, you cannot control your smart home products yet. It’s available in English and German, too, with more language support on the way.

Update: Added complete list of the watches that will be receiving the update, as well as a list of the watches that were not so fortunate.

Editors' Recommendations

Julian Chokkattu
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Julian is the mobile and wearables editor at Digital Trends, covering smartphones, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and more…
Who is likely to update your Android phone more often? AOSMark aims to find out
android 9 pie

Despite Google's best efforts, achieving prompt updates across the Android range continues to be a tough nut to crack. Due to the fractured nature of Android, major OS updates tend to be pushed out by individual phone manufacturers rather than Google -- so while Google may have introduced Android 9.0 Pie in August, many manufacturers still haven't updated eligible phones to Google's latest operating system.

Waiting for the newest version of Android and all its cool new toys can be frustrating, and we try to keep you abreast of the Android 9.0 Pie update schedule where we can -- but some manufacturers are worse than others when it comes to updates. New website AOSMark is ranking manufacturers based on their reliability for Android updates, and it has released its first report of the best 20 Android manufacturers.

Read more
Put down your phone and put on the $200 TicWatch C2 smartwatch
The $200 TicWatch C2 smartwatch is now being sold in the U.S. and U.K.
mobvoi ticwatch c2 ticpods free news gold face

Previous

Next

Read more
This is what an iPhone looks like after a year with no screen protector
Ceramic Shield on the iPhone 14 Pro, with light to show scratches.

Apple says its Ceramic Shield glass over the iPhone’s screen is “tougher than any smartphone glass,” but how accurate is this statement? The Digital Trends Mobile team has each been using one of the iPhone 14 series models for the last year and two of us haven’t put a separate screen protector on, while the third member of the team has. Here’s how the screens have held up — and what we think about Ceramic Shield.

Ceramic Shield was first introduced by Apple on the iPhone 12, and it claimed it went “beyond glass by adding a new high-temperature crystallization step that grows nano-ceramic crystals within the glass matrix, increasing drop performance by 4x.” Apple worked with Corning, the same company that makes Gorilla Glass, which is used on many smartphones from other manufacturers, to produce Ceramic Shield. It’s found on all iPhone 12, iPhone 13, iPhone 14, and now all iPhone 15 models.
iPhone 14 Pro — Andy Boxall
No light shows scratches on the iPhone 14 Pro's Ceramic Shield are invisible Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Read more