Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 fans are getting a treat this week, with a new update that adds enhanced health and wellness features aimed at helping folks stay fit and reach all their goals.
This includes advanced interval training features for building custom workouts, a new sleep coaching program, and new insights for a better understanding of body composition.
For the body composition insights, Samsung Health has partnered with Centr, a digital fitness program curated by Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth. Centr offers a well-rounded approach to a healthier lifestyle, including everything from workouts and guided meditations to meal plans and lifestyle tips. All Galaxy Watch4 owners will receive a complimentary trial for full and unrestricted access to Centr for 30 days.
Those who prefer to work out on their own instead will appreciate Samsung’s new interval target feature, which lets runners and cyclists have preset parameters for custom workouts, including duration, distance, and number of sets. The Galaxy Watch 4 will then use those preferences to guide wearers through a custom session that combines an ideal balance of high-intensity and low-intensity workouts to meet those goals.
Get a good night’s sleep
Samsung is also taking the Galaxy Watch 4 beyond mere sleep tracking with the addition of a new sleep coaching program that will help people actually apply the sleep-tracking capabilities in practical ways.
After seven days of sleep tracking, the program will identify the wearer’s sleep type and guide them through a four- to five-week coaching program to help them get a better night’s sleep. Users must also fill out two sleep surveys.
To make the experience more fun and whimsical, Samsung will use one of eight sleep symbol animals to represent the person’s sleep type, from an “Unconcerned Lion” or “Sensitive Hedgehog” to a “Sun Averse Mole” or “Exhausted Shark.”
As an added bonus, the Galaxy Watch4 will now be able to recognize when you fall asleep so that it can automatically switch off Samsung SmartThings-enabled lights around your home.
Samsung is releasing the software update with all these new features to coincide with its Unpacked event on February 9. When it arrives, the update will be available through the Galaxy Wearable app on the Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 4 Classic.
New straps and watch faces
Galaxy Watch 4 owners will also be able to enjoy a wealth of new customization options to make the wearable their own. New straps will be available in burgundy and cream colors, along with new fabric band and link bracelet styles.
More colors and fonts are also coming to personalize the watch face, coordinated to match the colors and styles of the new bands. The new watch straps will be available later this month.
What’s coming next
Although it’s not arriving in this week’s update, Samsung has announced that it plans to continue bringing the Galaxy Watch 4 into even tighter harmony with the Android ecosystem.
To this end, an additional update is coming soon that will allow streaming YouTube Music directly to the Watch4 over Wi-Fi or LTE. Samsung is also bringing Google Assistant to the Watch 4 in the coming months, offering an alternative to its Bixby voice assistant.
