Next year’s Samsung phones won’t support older Galaxy wearables

If you love your Samsung Galaxy watch, then you shouldn't upgrade your smartphone before getting a new watch in the new year. A notification in the Samsung Members app has notified users that the company's old wearable won't be compatible with its 2020 smartphones. "The existing service quality of older Samsung Gear wearables cannot be guaranteed and ensured through app updates alone," reads the translated notification. "Therefore, older Samsung Gear wearables can no longer be used in conjunction with new Samsung smartphones (from the year of publication 2021)."

The update has listed exactly 5 wearables that will be affected by the decision. The list includes the Gear 2, Gear 2 Neo, Gear S, and Gear fit. Fortunately, this rule doesn't apply to smartphones released in 2020. If you bought your smartphone this year, it will continue to support wearables. The announcement, however, will affect you if you are planning to buy next year's Samsung Galaxy S21 or any other future smartphone from Samsung. Interestingly, it doesn't mean that the company is dropping support to Android 11 and One UI 3.0.

Regardless, if you are considering an upgrade to your current smartphone, you may be also considering purchasing a new wearable next year as well. Samsung is aiming to remove the support for a handful of older hardware released as part of the Galaxy series. So, could Samsung prolong its support for its Gear fitness trackers? All of these devices are pretty old and it's been a few years since we have seen them in the market. These devices are almost 6 years old and it's not reasonable to expect Samsung to support these for much longer.