Qualcomm have confirmed that the version of Wear OS that is being developed by Google and Samsung can run on current smartwatches which have the Snapdragon Wear 3100 chipset.
The company said to XDA Developers that, “We are working with Google on bringing Wear OS 3.0 to Snapdragon Wear 4100 Plus and 4100 platforms. Snapdragon Wear 3100, 4100 Plus, and 4100 platforms are capable of supporting Wear OS 3.0, but we are not discussing any specifics at this time.”
This should be good news for owners of older WearOS devices but Google or the OEMs have not said anything regarding this. There has been no word on if older devices which support these chips will be getting the update.
Fossil has already confirmed that the company’s older smartwatch models will not be getting the new software. The company will instead launch a new premium smartwatch with the Google and Samsung made Wear OS.
Although Qualcomm have said that hardware is not an issue, it is still down to the OEM to provide users with the update. For that to happen, OEMs will have to work closely with Google and Qualcomm to build updates for their devices. The process can be long and require more effort than just rolling out newer devices with the refreshed software. Google has stated that current Wear OS owners have to wait till later this year to get the new version.
