How many software updates will the Pixel Watch 2 get?

The Pixel Watch 2 is in many ways what people were hoping the original model would be, with substantially better performance, battery life, and fitness tracking. But something Google has been cagier on is whether the watch will get the same extensive software support planned for its new Pixel 8 phones. So what’s the situation? Can you count on your Pixel Watch getting updates several years down the road?

How many software updates will the Pixel Watch 2 get?

Google is planning to issue at least 3 years of updates for the device, based on our talks with the company. That’s a much shorter window than the 7 years Google is promising for the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro. It’s worth noting here that the Pixel Watch 2 is Google’s first device with its self-developed Wear OS 4, including expanded Google Assistant capabilities and preloaded Gmail and Google Calendar apps. Until now, only some Samsung watches have had the OS.

Given both Google’s other Pixel promises and the use of a first-party OS, it’s not clear why the Pixel Watch 2 would be covered in such a limited way. Wearables do use more specialized hardware, which might make them more complex to support while at the same time having fewer features to fix or enhance than there is on a more powerful, general-purpose device like a smartphone.

Nevertheless, some owners could be upset if their expensive smartwatch isn’t automatically slated to get, say, Wear OS 6. We’ll have to wait to see where Google’s roadmap goes.

How does the Pixel Watch 2 software update promise compare to the competition?

Although it could be worse, it’s not great, either. Samsung has promised four years of updates for every Galaxy Watch since the Galaxy Watch 4, a policy that matches what it has for many of its recent phones and tablets.

Garmin doesn’t seem to have an explicit public position, but the company will sometimes issue software updates long after a device’s launch. The Fenix 5 for instance was updated as recently as February 2022, despite originally launching in March 2017. The Fenix 7 shipped in January 2022.

Apple is arguably a leader in this area, even though like Garmin, it doesn’t have an official support window. Released in September 2023, the watchOS 10 update can be installed on any Apple Watch dating back to 2018’s Series 4. There may be an unstated five-year timeframe, since the Series 3 was left out of watchOS 9, but there were fundamental changes to the Series 4 that left the 3 as something of an albatross around the platform’s neck.