Five years is a solid run for a smartwatch, but all good things end. Samsung has officially dropped the Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic from its security update list, meaning both watches are done getting software support. No more patches. No more new features. The plug has been pulled, as reported by Android Headlines.
The Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic launched back in 2021, and they were a genuinely big deal at the time. These were the first Samsung Galaxy watches to run Wear OS after the company spent years on its own Tizen platform. Samsung and Google co-developed a refreshed version of Wear OS for these devices, and it was a real turning point for Android wearables. Having a major hardware player fully commit to Google’s wearable platform gave Wear OS more credibility than it had seen in years.
Both watches received updates as recently as late June and again in August of this year. But those were the last ones. Samsung has since removed both models from its mobile security support page, which is pretty much the official signal that a device’s support life is over. The Watch 4 series got five years of updates, which lines up with Samsung’s typical software support policy for its Galaxy devices.
If you’re still wearing one of these watches and it’s working fine, you don’t need to panic. The device isn’t going to stop functioning overnight. But here’s the honest truth: running a smartwatch without security updates does carry some risk, and you’ll miss out on anything new that comes with future Wear OS versions. Features, health tracking improvements, interface changes, none of that is coming your way anymore.
Samsung’s current supported wearables lineup is actually pretty long. The company’s security support page still covers:
- Galaxy Watch 9
- Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch 8 Classic
- Galaxy Watch Ultra
- Galaxy Watch 7
- Galaxy Watch FE
- Galaxy Watch 6 and Watch 6 Classic
- Galaxy Watch 5 series
So if you want to stay in the Samsung ecosystem and keep getting updates, there are plenty of options. The Watch 7 and Watch FE are both solid entry points that won’t break the bank compared to the flagship Watch 9.
This also fits into a wider pattern worth paying attention to. The smartwatch market has been dealing with some turbulence lately, with global shipments reportedly dipping around 4% for Q2 2026. Brands like Huawei and Apple have been grabbing more ground while the broader market cools off. Samsung staying on top of its update roadmap and keeping its lineup fresh is partly how it stays competitive in that environment.
For Watch 4 owners, the message is clear. Your watch still works, but its best days of software support are behind it. Whether that’s enough reason to upgrade is really up to you and your budget. But if you’ve been on the fence, this is probably the nudge you needed.