Samsung’s new features for Galaxy Watches are a big plus

If you currently own a Galaxy Watch 4 or Watch 5, hold on to them because Samsung isn’t done with its AI-infused One UI 6 rollout.

The company announced earlier this week that it was expanding its Galaxy AI toolset to wearable devices, particularly its smartwatch line. “By combining powerful in-device AI with the expansive Samsung Health app, Samsung is on track to create some of the most personalized and secure health experiences to date,” the company explained in the announcement.

Features break down into Energy Score, which measures your daily energy level through sleep stats, previous day’s activity, heart rate variation and more. There’s also a newly improved sleep AI algorithm, which includes measuring more in-depth sleep metrics like movements during sleep, sleep latency, and your breathing rate when asleep.

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On the exercise side, a new workout routine tool will create personalized workouts with different exercises, while runners will get detailed aerobic threshold measurements and cyclists can quickly calculate their functional power threshold with AI. The tailored wellbeing advice tool will provide you with information on how to progress with suggestions based on your measurements.

Samsung says these tools will be integrated into new Galaxy Watches that will likely be announced next month. Alongside the Galaxy Watch 4, Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, Galaxy Watch 5, Galaxy Watch 5 Pro, Galaxy Watch 6 and Galaxy Watch 6 Classic via a beta program that starts in June.

With this announcement, it seems that the practice of throwing two-year-old gadgets to dust appears to be on its way out. Tech makers are increasingly adopting a longevity-focused approach to device sales. The days of a single Android update for $700 devices seem to be over.

The Galaxy Watch 4, for example, was released in 2021. A year before AI, as we understand it today, came onto the scene. Watch 4 owners couldn’t have imagined learning a host of cutting-edge skills years after purchasing it.

But there’s a catch: Samsung reiterated that these AI tools will only be free until 2025. The company said this when it announced Galaxy AI in January and hasn’t expanded on its plans since then .

The reality is that extending the life cycle of a device comes at a cost. Whether it’s through eight years of software and security updates, or through new AI tools that cost millions to develop. Samsung may or may not charge for Galaxy AI features next year, but there is a proven and commonly applied sales method, in a different industry, to get people hooked on something for free first. We can hope for the best, but these language models from which AI capabilities are born are not cheap to build or maintain.

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With this announcement, I suspect Samsung is laying the groundwork for a health subscription. Among Apple, Google and Oura, it is the only company that does not currently offer a premium tier for its fitness platform, Samsung Health. The arrival of the Galaxy Ring will likely mean a monthly subscription for in-depth features, which is exactly what Oura does (rumors have also pointed this out).

I can’t think of a clearer example of premium features than those powered by AI. There is a clear path for the Korean company to introduce a new monthly pay plan for its top health features.

The question then is: are they worth paying for? In Oura’s case, if you’ve already shelled out for a smart ring, then yes. The same will likely apply to the Galaxy Ring. But based on the evidence we have regarding AI-based features on Galaxy phones, I’m less convinced.

Google’s new One plan, which bundles Gemini Advanced with Nest Aware and Fitbit Premium, isn’t worth it to me. As good as Gemini and Fitbit Premium are, neither is attractive enough for me to add another monthly payment to my pile. If, however, Gemini had full control of my smart home and could process complex natural language queries, while syncing with other Google products I use regularly, then yes, I would pay for it.

Likewise, if Samsung’s Galaxy AI on a smartwatch can provide information about my health and create a truly personalized fitness plan based on the collected data, I might be happy to hand over some cash. How Samsung differentiates its AI from its regular smartwatch features will be interesting, as the announced skills resemble standard Galaxy Watch experiences. If the Korean company expects you to pay for them next year, it will require clear and remarkable AI features that significantly improve the Galaxy Watch experience.

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