Samsung Galaxy Watch owners are getting an amazing free features upgrade

New One UI 4.5 features are officially coming to Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, 3 and 2 series smartwatches

Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 smartwatch on a adult male's wrist
(Image credit: Future)

For any owner of a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, Galaxy Watch 3 or Galaxy Watch 2, then today is a great day.

That's because Samsung has officially confirmed that the best smartwatch on your wrist is getting a great free features upgrade.

Writing on the official Samsung Newsroom, the South Korean smartwatch maker states that:

"Samsung is empowering existing Galaxy Watch users with a more complete watch experience, including more customization options and added features that bring benefits to their everyday lives."

These benefits are delivered already in One UI Watch 4.5 on the new Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, but now previous generations will be able to get a piece of the action, too.

Here's what Galaxy Watch owners are getting for free from today.

Samsung Galaxy Watch

New Samsung Galaxy Watch faces as delivered in the One UI Watch 4.5 update.

(Image credit: Samsung)

More customisation, features and convenience

To start, owners of the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 series will be getting six new colorful and interactive watch faces, as well as a palette of fresh new colors and dynamic complications. There's also a new favourite watch face list feature, which makes switching between faces easier than ever.

Galaxy Watch 4 series users also are getting a brand new QWERTY keyboard as part of the One UI Watch 4.5 update, too, which joins the existing voice recognition and handwriting features of the smartwatch.

Meanwhile, Galaxy Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch Active 2 users are getting two new watch faces, snore detection for enhanced sleep tracking, and access through the Samsung Health Monitor app to blood pressure monitoring and electrocardiogram scanning. These Watch 3 and Watch Active 2 features are coming "beginning from the end of September".

Samsung Galaxy Watch

Blood pressure monitoring is being unlocked on Galaxy Watch 3 and Galaxy Watch 2 Active smartwatches.

(Image credit: Samsung)

The T3 take: Great new Galaxy Watch features for free

This is exactly the sort of long-term product support we like to see here at T3.com, with products actively been made better years after their launches by the maker.

The One UI Watch 4.5 update delivers some of the great new features delivered on the Galaxy Watch 5 to previous Galaxy Watch owners for free – there's really nothing not to like there.

As such, we recommend anyone with a previous-gen Galaxy Watch to look out for this update when it drops, which for Galaxy Watch 4 owners starts today, as overnight it will upgrade your smartwatch and give it a new lease of life.

This free update also helps bolster the Galaxy Watch ecosystem against new rivals such as the Google Pixel Watch and the incoming Apple Watch Series 8, which themselves are delivering new features and functionality.

Robert Jones

Rob has been writing about computing, gaming, mobile, home entertainment technology, toys (specifically Lego and board games), smart home and more for over 15 years. As the editor of PC Gamer, and former Deputy Editor for T3.com, you can find Rob's work in magazines, bookazines and online, as well as on podcasts and videos, too. Outside of his work Rob is passionate about motorbikes, skiing/snowboarding and team sports, with football and cricket his two favourites.