Galaxy Watch 7 gets visual refresh, Now Bar, and new running features with One UI 8 in the US

Earlier this week, Galaxy Watch 7 joined the list of watches running Google’s latest Wear OS 6 interface. It arrived with the stable One UI 8 Watch update, which, until yesterday, was limited to beta testers in Korea. Shortly after, however, Samsung also made the update available to a select set of users in the US, signalling the beginning of a broader release in the region.

Two simultaneous reports indicate that the One UI 8 Watch update for the Galaxy Watch 7 is now live in the US. The first comes from Reddit user akaGustavo, who received the update on their 40mm Galaxy Watch 7 with LTE. A few others replied to the same thread, confirming the release. Meanwhile, Verizon has also officially confirmed the release for both the 40mm and 44mm variants of the Galaxy Watch 7.

While that confirms the release for LTE variants, we’re still waiting for information about the One UI 8 Watch release for the Bluetooth-only models of the Galaxy Watch 7. It shouldn’t take long, though, given that the variants use the same internal hardware.

One UI 8 Watch brings significant improvements to the interface and health-tracking features, including vertically stacking cards on tiles, improved AI-based insights for running, and a condensed version of the Now Bar for the small screen. The update also adds features such as vascular load tracking, improved cues for winding down at bedtime, mood check-ins, and broader support for pinch gestures. Alongside these new features, the update also brings September’s security patch.

Back in July, the update rolled out to the Galaxy Watch Ultra (2024) — after launching with the Galaxy Watch 8 and Watch Ultra (2025). Additionally, Samsung is also testing a beta for the Galaxy Watch 6 and the Watch 6 Classic, and the update is also set to arrive on older models, including the Watch 5 and 4.

If you own a Galaxy Watch 7, you can check for the update in the Samsung Wearable app. In the app, go to Watch settings > Watch software update > Download and install. Since the update is already live in the US and Korea, other regions can be expected to follow shortly. We’ll update you once we have reports regarding the global rollout for the Galaxy Watch 7 or other older watches.