Samsung will provide five years of software updates for its new Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2, keeping the watches current through 2031. The commitment, first reported by 9to5Google and confirmed by SamMobile, makes these the first Samsung smartwatches to get a five-year update guarantee (Engadget).

Samsung showed off the Galaxy Watch 9 and Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 at its Galaxy Unpacked event in July 2026. The Watch 9 is aimed at everyday health tracking, covering sleep, heart health, exercise, and recovery. The Ultra 2 is designed for serious workout tracking and structured training in tough conditions (Samsung Newsroom.

The five-year update promise is one year longer than Samsung gave its previous watch. The Galaxy Watch 8 was guaranteed four years of operating system updates. Samsung's five-year commitment to security patches, which fix vulnerabilities and protect the watch from threats, already applies to older Samsung wearables and is not new with this announcement (Engadget).

For comparison, the Google Pixel Watch currently comes with three years of software updates. Samsung's new policy puts it two years ahead of Google's watch on software support and one year ahead of its own previous generation (Engadget).

The broader context here is that smartwatches have always received shorter software support than phones. Samsung's Galaxy S24 phone, launched in early 2024, came with seven years of updates. Google's Pixel 8 phone matched that. Smartwatches have smaller batteries, run hotter, and generally wear out sooner, so both Samsung and Google have been more cautious about how long they promise to keep them updated.

Five years on a smartwatch is still a meaningful step. A watch bought in 2026 getting updates through 2031 could see four major software upgrades, assuming Google keeps releasing a new version of its watch software roughly once a year. Whether the watch's hardware, especially the battery and the internal chip that runs it, actually lasts that long is a separate question from whether the software support is there. Samsung is making the software promise; the hardware will be tested by real-world use.

The competitive dynamic is worth noting. Samsung and Google are the two main companies making watches that run Wear OS, Google's smartwatch software. Google makes the software; Samsung sells the most watches. When Samsung outlasts Google on update longevity, it tells you something about where each company thinks it can win. Google may respond by offering longer support on its next Pixel Watch, which would make five years the standard across the board.

For businesses buying watches in bulk, longer update windows matter for a simple reason: replacing devices is expensive, and security patches determine whether a watch can stay in workplace use. Samsung's five-year security patch policy, already extended to older Galaxy wearables, fits the kind of support timeline that IT departments want when deciding whether a consumer watch can do a job at work.

The practical takeaway for buyers of the Galaxy Watch 9 and Ultra 2 is that these watches will receive software updates through 2031. That is one year more than the Watch 8 received and two years more than the current Pixel Watch offers. Security patches run even longer and extend to older Samsung wearables as well. Whether the hardware holds up across that full window is an open question, but the software commitment is now the longest Samsung has offered on a smartwatch.